Archive for the 'Chris N.' Category
January 14th, 2010
Scott Cramer, our Director of Sales, loaned me a book off his shelf: Quiet Strength, by Tony Dungy (former coach of the Indianapolis Colts). I’ve heard Coach Dungy speak at my church and have heard all the buzz in town about what an amazing guy he is. I like to watch the Colts play: when I was in the Navy it was nice to see the camera scan downtown and be reminded of home. As a result, I’ve always been a pseudo-fan of the Colts. Beyond that, I’ve never been a huge football fan – though in recent years putting my feet up to watch a game with the kids on a Sunday afternoon has had a certain appeal that’s difficult to describe! I have to admit, after reading this book, I’m now a bigger fan of the league as a whole and of the Colts in particular. I had no idea the strong Christian faith embraced by so many of the players and coaches in the NFL. The Colts franchise (and several others) have regular bible studies – and all of the coaches in Indy read the bible all the way through every year.
The consistent theme that ran through Quiet Strength was the focus on putting the important things first and doing the common things in an uncommon way: never making drastic changes as a result of outside pressures if your strategy is solid and working.
Read more of “Do What We Do”…
November 25th, 2009
It’s our favorite time of year at the Nelson household: there is a crisp Indiana breeze in the afternoons, the leaves have turned beautiful colors and litter the ground, and it’s a time of year to reflect on our many blessings and the things for which we’re thankful. At our house, we’re thankful for a lot. Our beautiful little girl Barbara (named after both a wonderful sister and close family friend) was born. Our son Tommy has grown about a foot and is loving his first basketball team. We’re serving in the Special Needs ministry at
our church – and being deeply rewarded by it.
Recently, our church held a Special Needs “Parent’s Night Out” – where we provide a night of respite to parents of Special Needs kiddos. We had close to 200 folks there (including our volunteers and kiddos). Oddly enough, we had chosen a theme of “Thankfulness.” There were several times during the 4 hour event where we transitioned from event to event with the kiddos and tried to really focus on something for which we were personally thankful. If you know anything about kiddos with Special Needs, you know that transitions are tough. For whatever reason, these kids struggle a lot when moving from one activity to the next: so a personal story goes a long way in helping these kids focus on something other than the transition itself. I found myself thinking a lot about Delivra and the team we’ve built here. Now, don’t get me wrong, I didn’t spend a lot of time talking then about the Team we’ve established – I just mentioned that I really enjoy my job. I kept thinking I’d have to find another outlet – so here it is!
Here in the office,
Neil is able to keep us laser focused on providing reliable service to our customers. I’m thankful for a new paradigm. When I came to Delivra, I was seeking a different perspective on Information Technology and Software as a Service in general. Many companies where I’ve been fortunate enough to work and gain experience have been far more focused on customer acquisition than on actually providing reliable service to existing customers. I would never have been able to articulate that simple principle in quite that way, but I knew that there was something missing in the generally accepted “corporate philosophy.” Take a look around our team here at Delivra and you’ll find that same perspective from a lot of folks.
I know that virtually every company says that “customer service is number one” – but here at Delivra, it’s so much more than lip-service. When we sit down and look at our Product Roadmap, we’re not just looking at new and exciting features: sure those are important! What we look at first is how new features will affect our existing customers. You’ll find that word a lot when we talk about customers – first. We really do keep our customers at the top of mind with every decision we make, and for that I’m thankful: after all, isn’t that the way business is supposed to be?!
So, this Thursday, when we sit down for our Thanksgiving dinner and go around the table talking about that for which we’re thankful, I’m going to include our customers and our team. Through our customers and our team, I’m able to provide for my family and have enough to serve in many capacities and in many places.
Thanks to all of you!
Chris Nelson | IT & Security
November 4th, 2009
As a fan of Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, I believe it’s important to make time for those things that are important and not urgent. To me, that means trying to stay on top of industry news and keeping track of a variety of opinions in this rapidly changing industry we call Information Technology. One unlikely source of great information and insight is a publication I receive every month called CIO Magazine. Why “unlikely”? Those in my position can attest to the fact that there is a magical mailing list somewhere in the world – as soon as you get into IT management, your name goes on the list. Once you’re on the list, look out – the magazines are going to start showing up quickly! As I sort through my stack every week, a lot of magazines go straight to the recycle bin. However, this one usually has some great sources and is well written – and that’s what makes a good read (in my opinion).
This month, there was a short article on a recent Forrester report. Elizabeth Montalbano wrote a great summary and provided some insight in her article called Forrester: Social Networking Grows Up. Some shocking statistics jumped out at me:
- More than half of adults between 35-44 are members of social networking sites
- 75% of adults older than 55 use “social tools” more than once a month
Those numbers are significant. With those numbers in mind, how could you not focus part of your Unified Marketing Plan towards Social Networking?
Recently, Chris Broshears wrote a great blog entry on Social Networking and Email. He talked about Delivra’s philosophy on integration with Social Networking (and just how critical it is). We know that you’re trying to do more with less, and that expanding your current marketing efforts into this space by yourself might not be easy. That’s why we spent a lot of time trying to make this integration as easy for you as possible – allowing you to remain focused on your core business! Check out how we’ve integrated with social networking. We think you’ll find it easy to pick up and tap into this important communication channel!
Chris Nelson | IT & Security
October 30th, 2009
Flu-Related Telecommuting Could Clog Web Traffic, Feds Warn
By Pam Baker
TechNewsWorld
10/29/09 2:22 PM PT
Fears that the H1N1 flu pandemic could bring down the Internet may be overblown, but it’s quite possible that some ISPs could succumb. Internet traffic patterns would be drastically altered if a huge number of people were to start working from home all at once, and there’s no easy and obvious way for ISPs to manage those shifting loads.
Read more….
Chris Nelson | IT & Security
October 20th, 2009
Here at Delivra, we are serious about our Teams and our Team spirit. We’re proud of the fact that we manage by consensus – there are no silos of information at Delivra. We fully leverage the size of our staff to remain as nimble as possible, often making decisions in hallway discussions or sitting around the white board in a Manager’s office. We’ll gather all the affected people up and make our decisions rapidly – without a lot of fan fair and certainly without the overhead of “pre-meetings” and “wrap-up sessions”. There is a power in this kind of management style: you’d be amazed at the time savings. You’d also be surprised at what it does to morale. If anyone can just call a quick gathering, toss ideas on the table, and then make an informed decision, without all the hassle of getting on several people’s calendar for an hour – when all that’s needed is five minutes! Obviously, there is some risk in this style as well. Fortunately, we’re not dogmatic about not having meetings (in fact, the Management Team has a few standing weekly meetings) and everyone on staff knows when it’s time to make a more formal gathering and allow some preparation for attendees.
Of course, with all this focus on the Team and with all the joking and laughing our Technology staff does, an outside observer might think that we are quick to gloss over problem areas in design or in ideas presented to the group: nothing could be further from the truth! This was illustrated last Friday when one of our lead Developers came into my office with a few sheets of paper and an idea about the new “trash can” feature we’re adding to the media library (to allow users to un-delete something that was deleted on accident). He talked me through several points of consideration and we differed on one small aspect of the design in particular. Well, I knew that we weren’t going to get anywhere fast – so I hollered through the wall at our Development Manager (Chris Broshears). I figured the Developer would want some backup and Chris and I are known for our epic debates. Chris came over to my office, immediately saw the conflict and jumped right in on the Developer’s side.
As often is the case, Chris and I got a little heated and even a little loud – we’re very passionate about our users and the user experience of our UI (User Interface). It didn’t take long before our lead Developer walked right up to the door and yelled “Manager Fight!” The whole room cracked up. Needless to say, I eventually came around to seeing the Development Team’s point and we met in the middle with a fantastic new idea that we never would have thought of without that conflict. Our Team knows us well enough to know that we’re quite close friends – you’ll often find us out on a lunch break GeoCaching together! Immediately following our debate, though somewhat heated, neither of us left with hard-feelings. At the end of the day, we’re looking out for our most precious resource – our customers: and I’m always up for a good debate about how to take better care of you! In the end, everyone wins.
Contact us today and see how serious we take customer service!
Chris Nelson | IT & Security
October 5th, 2009
Delivra is proud of our Indiana heritage and our refusal to have a “big company” corporate culture. As many in the small and medium sized business market know, that’s one of the many perks of a privately held business – you get to set the direction and tone of the office: want to wear jeans – no problem, want to have lunch every Friday on the deck for all the employees to get together – no problem! At Delivra, we find a laser-focus on our core business is critical.
Our philosophy is that our strength is in email marketing and serving the needs of our customers. We don’t want to go down the road of trying to be all things to all people – that just doesn’t make sense. We’ve found that in a lot of cases we’re able to deliver a much better solution to our customers by finding quality partners. We carefully screen our partners and make sure that they are a good fit for our customers: everything from how long is the company’s usual sales cycles to the company’s Management philosophy. It’s this kind of attention to detail that drives our relationships with our partners and produces a much better solution for our customers.
At Delivra, we want to be that kind of value-add partner for you. Unlike a lot of others in this space, you’ll find Delivra is always eager to get to know you – we recognize that if we can make you look like a Marketing Rock Star then you’re more likely to refer others – and you’re more likely to stay a customer. Do you need help with a solid strategy for email marketing – we can help you! Are you considering an integration but afraid it’s too complex? Don’t worry, our Development Team is second to none and can quickly and easily get you up and running: putting more information and tools directly into the hands of your Sales and Marketing Teams. We’re always thrilled to hear about our customers’ successes – and we’d like to make you more successful by allowing you to focus on your core business while we handle your email needs. Looking for a trusted partner that will take the time to get to know you and how to make you more successful? Look no further – contact us today.
Chris Nelson | IT & Security
September 29th, 2009
The littlest Nelson....Miss Barbara
In the Nelson home, and the IT Department in general, it’s been a time of new beginnings! Our beautiful baby girl (our second child) was born last month. That was followed quickly with another new beginning in the IT Department – our database administrator and his wife had twins (one boy and one girl)! All babies and moms are doing great. I posted some pictures to the internal company Web site with the disclaimer that I love to share pictures, and that baby pictures are an acquired taste – so I won’t bore all of you with more than one picture of our little ones (of course, if you’re on the North side of Indy any time soon, come on by on a Friday. I’d be happy to show you dozens over our weekly Delivra lunch on the deck – I’m sure Brent would be happy to share too). Whenever you have a new baby, you start taking a hard and critical look at everything around you: priorities adjust, you examine all your relationships, you see the world through a new lens, and all the sudden a vast sea of possibility seems to stretch out before you and the precious life in your hands. You really take a hard look at your actions and your life – you try to make sure your walk matches your talk.
Now me, I’m a pretty black and white guy. I find a peculiar comfort in the binary nature of computers – it’s on or it’s off – it’s a one or a zero. In the business world, in the world at large, it’s not always that simple: the older I get, the more gray area I find. That’s why, at Delivra, we take our business seriously: to us, it isn’t “just business”. One of the primary reasons I came to Delivra was because of the company’s philosophy of being debt free, of being ethical, of putting our customers first. We don’t manage in silos: the Department heads meet multiple times weekly and share both tactics and strategy. We share a weekly lunch meeting (not our Friday lunch) where we each make sure we’re on the same page and we’re putting our customers first. We’ve got a great group that loves to really dig in to issues and ferret out truth: if you’re not putting our customers first, you’re going to hear about it, and you’re going to change direction. After all, the security of my family depends on your satisfaction – whether you’re a customer or an employee.
So, as I’ve been looking around and taking stock – I’m proud to serve you in the capacity of IT Manager and Security Officer for Delivra. How are we doing? We’d love to hear your feedback and serve you better. Give us a call or stop by and say hi.
Chris Nelson | IT & Security
