Travis AFK, whatever happened to this guy?

So, its been a while since I've posted. Here's an update.


Work: I had been in Cali, near Sacramento working on the irrigation district there. We (the commissioning team) upgraded their existing systems to Wonderware 10.0 and ArchestrA. Basically this upgrade will enable them to do cool things, save time in implementing changes, and create a need for more training for their SCADA techs. :) We commissioned 8 sites in 3 weeks. I worked, worked out and went to bed...for 3 weeks. It had been a while since I had worked 60+ hour weeks and it was good to get home and relax a bit. Now I have so much time on my hands I'm getting antsy again, lol.

Upon returning I got an offer on paper. It was very generous and now I can wipe that from the back of my mind and relax a bit. I'm buckleing down now and continueing to push forward and learn as much as I can. I purchased a PLC off Ebay and am going to create a small test setup at home so that I can continue to learn PLC, Wonderware, Archestra, as well as setting everything all up!

Workin out: For those of you that keep up with my workout journal, or at least whats posted here, when I was in Cali I decided to go on a shake diet. I was literally drinking my calories most of the time, with occasional meals on weekends. I used "Nature's Best Isopure, Low Carb, Meal Replacement" packs for my shakes. At first it was very hard to get by. As I progressed through the days however, it became easier. When I got back Pam thought I looked more lean than I've ever been! I still want to lose 4 more lbs, but am satisfied with my progress so far. I think for a final weight and physique, that I want to bulk up a bit more, then just work on maintaining a low body fat. I've had a lot of fun learning about bodybuilding, nutrition, exercise, and most of all, developing a strong work ethic to continue down this road.

A link showing my cut results in a forum on bodybuilding.com (If you don't want to see my in undies, don't click! Speedo pics are much worse though :))

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=107832531




Other stuff I've been doin. Well I don't think I've posted on Grad school yet. I'm applying to UC Boulder. My reccomendations have almost all come in and then I just have to complete a written assessment as well as a letter of intent in order to finish up my application. I'm looking forward to this endeavor, and hope to be accepted so that I can start. In addition, to help boost my worth, I'm signing up for the FE exam in October. This is something that I should have done a long time ago when everything was fresh! I didn't realize how important this would be if I ever left Oregon, or wanted to pursue a PE license and am kicking myself a bit for passing it up.

I guess thats about it for now, looking forward to a three day weekend!

Congratulations Travis!!!

So a big congrats to Travis as he just got his official offer for Full Time Employment, no more contract work. I am sure he will tell everyone about it, but I wanted to say congrats because I am so proud of him.

Name!

So based on some feedback from a few of you, I have decided on a name, PJP Marketing Solutions. The great thing about this name is that just incase I ever happen have a change in last name :) The initial is the same. Happy Friday!

Marketing Solutions

So I have been going back and forth about this for a while and I have started to take the initiative. I am currently working as the marketing person for my parents sign company, though back in Oregon, and hoping to begin doing work here in Colorado and perhaps for other small businesses in Oregon through referral. Through all my years of listening to and working with my parents I came to a conclusion. Small businesses and small business owners know how to run their company but are unaware of really how to run and promote their business. My hope is that I can take my experience working with them, helping them and truly understanding the mind of small business owners and what their hot buttons are.

The plan I have for my parents is going to be implemented in phases. Phase 1 will consist of a completely new website which will include information about the company, their services, their employees, their clients and the obvious of how to contact them. What I am doing as part of the content is instead of just listing clients, include case studies or solution studies for various clients and incorporating a blog to their site. The blog will be written by each of the employees on various aspects of the sign business. The designer will discuss design problems, solutions, new programs, tips, ideas, etc. They can review new products, new techniques, articles in trade publications, events, best practices. This will allow them to continue to have a presence, have a reason for people to visit their site and to build their reputation as a leader in Oregon and the Northwest as a sign solution provider. We will also post events on the website, switch out the studies and pictures on a consistent basis to keep the site active. I am also working with a friend of mine whose company will be providing an FTP site for graphics transfers and SEO (search engine optimization). The point of SEO is to optimize the site for search ability from the engines such as google, yahoo, msn, etc. SEO ensures that the website has key words included in the pages that are searched for such as signs, Portland, banners, etc. There are many others ways to be optimized that is just an example.

Phase 2 I am planning on having them choose their PMS colors for branding purposes, to ensure consistency across their collateral, such as business cards, letterset, email signatures, portfolios, etc. They are also working on creating a portfolio to be finished during this phase that anyone can take on sales calls, use as a visual for customers. Each sign will have a description of what the sign was made for, the purpose, the products used, the client, etc. A story. I will also send out an email blast to all of my parents customers announcing the new site and the features, giving them a reason to visit the site. In Phase 2 I would also begin designing a newsletter for them, they can discuss new projects, new products, client success story, charities, organizations they work with and other interesting facts and tips. The newsletter would be a quarterly feature and would be added to the website as well.

Phase 3 would be creating a plan of attack for leveraging their current clients. This would involve reports from their client database to see what industries they are in and what associations they belong to. From this information we could determine who else the clients know, who they can introduce us to and grow the business based on associations and networking.

I have other ideas that keep coming to me, but this is what I can think of right now for them. I would also at some point create email blasts to clients on new products, new ideas, news and announcements to continue to keep the company in the front of their clients mind.

So here is what I need from you guys, I need some opinions on names for the company I am going to make. I have come up with one idea but Travis has said it is a bit too girly of a name, Chic Marketing. The other idea was PJP Solutions, something simple.

Let me know what you all think, I would love the input.

Pam

Hiking Today

So I went for a hike today after church by myself, was a little weird to hike by myself in a place I didn't know but about 10 minutes in I was good to go. Enjoy some pictures from my killer hike,. Started at about 8000' and ended at about 9200' and was about 2 hours and got in about 5 miles.

Pam

So May = Winter

So I woke up this morning after finally sleeping through a full night, haven't been able to since Travis left. Another shocker.......it is freaking dumping snow!!! I easily have one inch behind our house, and it is starting to come down harded. I know it beautiful and we live in the mountains essentially, but I am so ready for summer!!!!

Here are some pictures I took out our back door.