The
Tooling U sales staff recently held its annual sales meeting over the span of four days in Scottsdale Arizona. While initially it might appear to make most sense to hold meetings at our Cleveland headquarters, the sales staff unanimously agreed to give up low-30s temperatures, rain/snow mixes, and 2 ½ hours of daylight so that the sales team could focus on 2008 goals in a remote location free of distractions... except for gambling. That distraction was deemed allowable.
The location of the sales event was the
Radisson Fort McDowell Resort and Casino, which provided comfortable rooms, tasteful dining options, and the adjacent casino for evening entertainment. Greg Herlevi, Director of Content Development, was also relieved to find out that he did not have to share bunk beds with Len Scaffidi, despite the numerous and contradictory reports made earlier from various salespeople.
The series of meetings kicked off on Thursday, January 10th with presentations focusing on updates and projections from both Content and Site Development. James Coufalik, Director of Marketing, also presented his activities for the year and unveiled the company's new logo and color scheme.
Bryan Knaack, Director of Business Development, focused on the new roles of the Government and Education group, as well as training installations for new customers. The remaining meetings addressed standard processes and documentation for sales. Although the meetings were long, the ideas exchanged were very useful and engaging.
Friday night consisted of fine dining in the casino's steak house, followed by various scenes of entertainment: Toni Neary dancing, Chad Schron counting cards, and Dan Pruitt losing Mark O'Bryan's money.
Saturday afternoon, after wrapping up the group meeting sections of the agenda, the entire sales team participated in a team-building event that involved a two-hour cattle drive. Each person was paired with an appropriate horse and given the task of guiding cattle through the Arizona landscape. Hamid Farzad was in charge of guiding his horse "Rainbow" in circles, and Dan Pruitt could be viewed proudly riding his horse "Hummer H2." As is true with any team building event, the sales team learned a few key lessons: groin and glute soreness typically lasts three days, and horse droppings are green.
On Saturday night, after numerous appetizers, I presented my individual awards. Dan Sloan received the Diamond Award for Best Sales in 2007, and Cindy Bernosky, Toni Neary, Len Scaffidi, and Dan Sloan all received Star Achievement Awards for their individual contributions and superior efforts during the year. Steve Klein also received a Mediocre Fantasy Team award.
In general, the event was a noteworthy success, and the entire sales team looks to even greater successes in 2008. Thanks to all those key people who participated.
Director of Sales
The Tooling U sales staff recently held its annual sales meeting over the span of four days in Scottsdale Arizona. While initially it might appear to make most sense to hold meetings at our Cleveland headquarters, the sales staff unanimously agreed to give up low-30s temperatures, rain/snow mixes, and 2 ½ hours of daylight so that the sales team could focus on 2008 goals in a remote location free of distractions... except for gambling. That distraction was deemed allowable.
Bryan Knaack, Director of Business Development, focused on the new roles of the Government and Education group, as well as training installations for new customers. The remaining meetings addressed standard processes and documentation for sales. Although the meetings were long, the ideas exchanged were very useful and engaging.
On Saturday night, after numerous appetizers, I presented my individual awards. Dan Sloan received the Diamond Award for Best Sales in 2007, and Cindy Bernosky, Toni Neary, Len Scaffidi, and Dan Sloan all received Star Achievement Awards for their individual contributions and superior efforts during the year. Steve Klein also received a Mediocre Fantasy Team award.
Cleveland, OH – Tooling U, a provider of online manufacturing training, has developed a series of online training classes that address programmable logic controllers (PLCs). These new PLC classes will be included with other classes that address electrical systems, motor controls, and mechanical systems to provide comprehensive training for maintenance professionals.
Cleveland, OH – Tooling University, a provider of online manufacturing training, has developed a new multi-language interface to deliver content in multiple languages. The interface includes all the key features needed for users to fully utilize Tooling University's learning management system (LMS). The company's web site is currently used to deliver content in English, Spanish, and German, with additional training content in simplified Chinese expected by January 2008.
Hermosillo, Sonora, México – Tooling University, an online manufacturing training provider, has partnered with CANACINTRA Hermosillo (Cámara Nacional de la Industria de Transformación) and ICATSON (Instituto de Capacitación para el Trabajo del Estado de Sonora) for the implementation and delivery of a strategic industrial training program to develop its workforce in the state’s capital Hermosillo. This new training initiative was made possible with the support of the State Secretary of Economy (Secretaria de Economía) and the Secretary of Education (Secretaria de Educación y Cultura). Supporters of this unique training initiative expect the student base to expand throughout the state of Sonora as well.
Cleveland, OH – Tooling U has partnered with The National Coalition of Advanced Technology Centers (NCATC) to provide a new blended learning solution to NCATC members. This new partnership will combine Tooling U's extensive list of online training classes with the hands-on training resources of NCATC members to offer manufacturing companies a solution for improving the skills of their workforce.
