Celebrating 25 Years of a great Profession

Wow it's 25 years this week since my professional career started right after graduating from the University of Windsor with a Bachelor of Commerce degree!

Thought I'd take this opportunity to thank so many terrific people who have supported and helped me along this awesome journey!   Thanks to Carmela for always being there and believing in me.  To Haley and Sydney for helping me bring balance in life. 

Here are some of my favourite highlights to share with you and challenged with selecting only a few stories.

First day was April 25th, 1988 at Computerway, subsidiary of Epson Canada.  Ironically, this location is just around the corner of our current building.

The manager provided a quick overview of the two main computers; the 286 or AT and the 8088 or XT..... and that's how it all started by learning specifications, talking to first time buyers and answering their questions.  Not many options to choose from except monochrome screens available with green, white and the latest with amber text.

By the way, the 386 was released and Epson had national contracts for all 386's so none were available for quite some time.  This was the first of ongoing "out of stock" items we seemed to face in our industry over the years.

Drastic price drops and discontinued products without any warning was the norm.   Memory chips would be quoted at $595 only to drop to $199 the following morning.   Excellent news for the consumer.   Not great news with product in transit or product sitting in our warehouse.   No price protection!  

Around 1994 the Internet was starting to catch on and e-mail was being used first internally and then to the world.  The wealth of information on the 'Net was incredible for all of us "newbies" and it was always interesting to see what most people were looking for. 

The Retirement - lasted for 6 weeks in early 1996.  For some reason it felt right at the time for a career change.  So glad Shawn called asking to consider joining AlphaKOR.  It was a very easy decision to make since Ali, Mazen and Shawn provide the best service second to none.

We were very early in our discussions about websites in 1996 and Y2K in 1997.  Most businesses were not ready for either conversation.  The early website discussion was about having your company domain name and adding an e-mail address under your fax number.

By the second half of 1999 there was panic about Y2K and everyone wanted to talk about it now.  Our game plan was in place long before this and it all turned out good!  

Moving in the fall of 2008 on the eve of very tough economic times was a bit scary.  As most companies scaled back, they leaned heavier on us for support.  Our team more than doubled after moving growing from twelve to thirty-two today. 

Our leadership in the industry for over eighteen years can be seen in our excellent service, our solutions for networks, data disaster recovery, website development, online marketing, custom software and mobile applications to name a few.

We are thankful for the support in the business community.  We give back to the community by the team volunteering, participating in charity events and our involvement in associations.

One of my challenges to the team for 2013 is for everyone to be involved in at least one group or activity every year as part of our mandate of giving back to our community.

I truly enjoy being involved in a number of organizations and have found it very enriching.  Being part of the Windsor Executives Association, WEtech and being a mentor are a few of my current favourite roles.  It is very exciting to mentor entrepreneurs building on their dreams and turning them into a successful business. 

Building the WindsorEssex Circle networking group with an associate has been a personal goal of mine.  The Circle' mandate is to connect like-minded people with good discussions and to create opportunities for each other.   

As we rely more on technology with all our social networks and social media keep in mind people enjoy interacting with people.   Don't forget the face-to-face discussions at the boardroom table.    Remember to pick up the phone and have more  conversations to compliment your digital world communication.  It really works!
 
It is such a great honour when the media and the community recognize our commitment and dedication to service.    The two that stand out the most are both from the Chamber Business Excellence Awards;  Service Company of 2009 and Entrepreneur of 2012.  

Thanks to the AlphaKORians, our loyal clients, associates, friends and families for being a part of our success.  

Looking forward to the next 25 years of this journey and beyond!