If I Ran the Zoo (or the Team Building Company)

It has been a challenging first quarter and I for one am glad it is over. Bring on the warmer weather, baseball and summer outings. Although this is my blog and TeamBonding is my company, I want to take this time and this space to acknowledge my team and thank them for helping me in more ways than I can share get through the last few months. Many of you know who they are and how good they are at what they do. This will also give you a little insight as to who we are and how we do what we do. The TeamBonding process starts at sales goes through production and delivery, follow-up and accounting. These people make it all look easy.

Now imagine you are on the sidelines of the NCAA Final Four and I am introducing my starting lineup:

Jayne Hannah is celebrating 8 years at TeamBonding as our Corporate Events Manager but that doesn’t aptly describe what she does once your program hits her desk. Jayne is from the UK and I always find that people think better of me when they know Jayne is on my team. Jayne manages the production department and puts all the pieces together and helps you the client feel good about the program you have chosen and the facilitator who is delivering it. Jayne really cares and that comes through from start to finish.

Jeff Davies is celebrating 4 years this week and he is our Director of Sales and a great one at that. With a background in travel and sports venue marketing, Jeff has transitioned easily into what we call the “face of the company”. Jeff is often the first point of contact with TeamBonding as he is a regular at MPI, ISES and the CVB. He knows the programs even better than I do.

Scott Flynn was brought on as our CEO a few years ago as a long time friend and my first boss and Scott is now our West Coast Sales Manager. Scott helped create an infrastructure and consistency that helps in every aspect of the company. He helped us get on the right track and put a plan of growth and a solid foundation together as we fine tune our programs, marketing and develop Scotts area of the country, the West Coast.

Shannon Stillings is one of the most energetic and enthusiastic people you’ll ever meet. As a Corporate Events Manager Shannon can often be seen writing a scavenger hunt, uploading a video, taking a reservation for our dinner theater and sending an email, all at the same time. We all should have the passion that Shannon brings to TeamBonding.

Jennifer Smith was a stage manager in her previous job and she is the go to gal for all things production as the Production Manager as she has taken her skills and adapted them to handle our shipping, purchasing and makes sure that all of our facilitators have everything that they need to deliver the programs fully equipped.

Eliseu Depina (We call him Sue) started as a temp and has moved up to be the backbone of our accounting office handling the Accounts Payable and Accounts Receivable. He is a warm, kind and caring individual and an “asset” to our team.

Nanci Kirkland has brought a new warmth to our sales department. She really takes good care of her clients and enjoys not only selling them the program that best fits their needs and budget but going to the program to make sure that all goes according to plan. As a member of NACE and PMA, you’ll be seeing Nanci out and about more often.

Karen Snow has recently stepped in as our Business Manager and she is the right person at the right time. With a cool and calm demeanor Karen adds that extra special accounting and business knowledge that a creative business like TeamBonding needs to get through tough times and the busy times ahead.

Etienne Lavail has joined us from France as a marketing and production intern. He will be with us through August assisting and learning and giving us more of an international flavor in the office. His overall project is social marketing and he is learning and teaching the rest of us!

These fine teambonders are people that you will come in contact every step of the way when we help you create the perfect team building event for your team. There are so many more I could thank including our program designers and facilitators.

TeamBonding is not only getting through this tough time, we are positioning ourselves for growth on the other side by making improvements in every area of the company; from programming to marketing.

I owe a big thank you to my team and will be doing another team building event in April for our staff.