Most people think I reside in Burlington since that's where our corporate headquarters have been for the last year. No, I still live in western New York and work remotely from my home office. There are three of us in that situation. We make the trip to Burlington several times a year to see familiar faces and get caught up in a whirlwind of meetings. Such was the case this week when Phil, our marketing analytics guru, and I jumped into a Jeep rented from Enterprise and hit the road. Kelly, our marketing communications manager, is a brand new mom, so she's not taking any road trips right away! We left under sunny skies and were soon on our way on the NYS Thruway.
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| Lots of snow everywhere but on the road. And, yes, that very light cloud cover is our definition of a bright sunny day here in New York.... |
Six hours later, we pulled into the parking lot at 47 Maple Street.
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| Being Prez has its benefits! |
47 Maple is the home of JDK, our brand managers, Terry Precision Cycling and several other businesses. It's a converted warehouse with tons of ambiance. The floors dip, dive and creak under foot. The exposed brick and massive steel beams are a reminder of the strength of the building and the wonderful times it has seen. (You know how I feel about steel!)
Branding is everything. Even the door into our office hasn't escaped it!
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| Yeah, baby! |
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The first office you see when you walk in is that of our CEO, Liz Robert. That beauty of a bike is her new Fast Woman -- a titanium version designed by me and specially built for us by Lynskey Performance. (Gotta love anyone who works out of a glass office in full sight of the front door. No hiding from or by this woman!)
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| It's all about the bike. |
Hugs all around for all the Terry employees who have been plugging away for the last year in Burlington and handshakes for the new faces we've only known as a voice over the phone. Winners, all of them! Later, we'll relax and talk about things. Right now, it's upstairs to "the roof", where we'll meet with our JDK brand managers to talk about progress so far.
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| This is the view from JDK's "roof" conference room. |
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| No time to enjoy the view. We have work to do. That's Liz at the head of the table. Next to her is Michael Jager, one of the brainiest brand guys you'd ever want to meet. |
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That's how our whirlwind tour went -- a series of meetings. Time flies when you're with neat people and you can see the fruits of your labor. But when evening comes and the building empties out, it's time to relax with friends at one of Burlington's great eateries. There are so many, it's tough to choose one. Sigh -- I wish we had that problem where I live!
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| No explanation necessary. |
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On the third day, we headed home, but not before a stop at our warehouse which is a few miles away from HQ. This is where the rubber hits the road. Your orders are filled here by people who want to make sure you're a happy customer. Theirs is a tough life and they do an amazing job for us.
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| I'll take the UPS orders; you take the USPS orders! |
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Outside, snow was falling and the weather prediction was for a whole lot more, so we hit the road while there was still time to get out of Dodge. Sure glad that Jeep had four wheel drive!
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| Slow going, but beautiful nonetheless. |
We arrived home safely and are looking forward to the next trip to Vermont under warmer conditions!
