Posts Tagged ‘provo’

eHarbor names final MVPs of 2009

Friday, December 4th, 2009

By Robert Lockard

We’ve had quite a few MVPs in 2009. MVPs are eHarbor, Inc. employees who go above and beyond their normal job requirements to accomplish something extraordinary. This month, eHarbor’s leaders selected winners for both November and December in preparation for the big announcement on December 10.

On December 10, at the Hawaiian Christmas Party in the Provo City Library, we’ll find out who is the MVP for the whole year. They’ll select someone from all of the MVPs who’ve been named in 2009. But that’s the topic of a whole other blog entry. For now, I’ll talk about November’s and December’s MVPs.

We had one winner for November and two for December. Designer James Gentry is the November MVP, and Developer Matt Walker and Customer-Support Representative David Smith are the December MVPs.

I can’t take credit for writing all of these MVP descriptions. I wrote the one on David while my coworkers Alyssa Udall and Britnee Nguyen wrote the spotlights on Matt and James, respectively. Britnee was actually last month’s MVP. You can read about her in my blog entry, “eHarbor MVP creates 6-month PR plan.”

On with the MVPs!

James Gentry
eHarbor, Inc. MVP James GentryWith hard work and dedication, James has really made an impression on his coworkers and earned the November MVP! Recent changes to the Design team opened up a position for a design manager, which James was unanimously appointed to.

Coworkers say that James “stepped in greatly” with his new promotion and continues to “go above and beyond and is always available to help and give his advice.” This new position enables him to “make sure customers are happy and that our Design team stays happy with their work,” his team leader said.

He loves recording and mixing music, eating peanut butter M&Ms, tacos, watching the shows 30 Rock and Community, and his favorite color is #669900… green.

Matt Walker
eHarbor, Inc. MVP Matt WalkerMatt’s Web-development skills have been valuable to eHarbor for the last three years he’s worked here. Matt’s the recipient, along with David, of the December MVP award for his combination of working hard behind the scenes and being a nice guy.

With the other developers, he’s been keeping things running smoothly throughout the company. He’s also a friendly guy who assists new coworkers around the office. “Matt always does such great work and is always so nice and pleasant to work with!” said one of his nominations.

Matt enjoys programming, which is a good thing since it’s his job, but he also likes to read, write and play video games. His favorite movie is Dead Poets Society and his favorite dessert is chocolate velvet. You can catch him watching Mythbusters and Doctor Who on TV or eating sushi at Sakura.

David Smith
eHarbor, Inc. MVP David SmithDavid works hard to give top-quality customer service to everyone who calls in. He goes the extra mile in helping customers by answering people’s questions thoughtfully and following up to make sure they are satisfied with their custom Internet-marketing solutions. Well done, Dave!

His favorite candy is Reese’s Pieces and his favorite food is gum. Interesting. Like James, his favorite color is green… forest green. For fun, he enjoys working on cars and playing sports, as well as listening to bands like Weezer, Pearl Jam and Saves the Day. His favorite movies are V for Vendetta and Gladiator, and his favorite TV show is It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

Merchant-service expert wins eHarbor MVP

Wednesday, October 7th, 2009

By Robert Lockard

It’s time to spotlight this month’s eHarbor, Inc. MVP. This month it is Jeni Lavea, an eHarbor employee who took on an amazing amount of work with our Merchant Services unit. Remember my blog entry on the new Magellan Commerce merchant services? It’s a lot like that.

eHarbor MVP Jeni Lavea

Most of the content in this blog entry was actually written by Alyssa Udall, who writes lots of great blog entries on the Submit Solution Internet marketing blogs. We included most of this in our monthly company newsletter, which we distribute to our employees at the start of the month. I’m sure she won’t mind me sharing it here, though.

When we asked people around the office, “If you had to describe Jeni in one sentence, what would you say?” we received one response that stood out from the rest: “Jeni is the girl who loves you on your worst day; she works hard and is determined to do everything the best she can!”

Anyone can see that Jeni is very friendly toward everyone and is always cheerful. She always works hard and she never complains.

Originally from Temecula, Calif., Jeni now lives in Provo, Utah. She loves spending time with friends and family. Jeni enjoys Tim Burton movies, Mexican food, Disneyland and reading books like Pride and Prejudice and the Twilight series.

Plus, her favorite holiday is Halloween. I’ll talk more about our exciting Halloween Party in my next blog entry on Friday. Be sure to stay tuned!

This is the fourth time I’ve spotlighted an MVP in the eHarbor Blog. You can read about last month’s winner, Jeff Ashby, in my blog entry, “ThemeFury.com creator named eHarbor MVP.” I’ll keep showing off our MVPs accomplishments in future blog entries.

eHarbor softball rides again

Monday, August 10th, 2009

By Robert Lockard

I love keeping promises. In my earlier blog entry, “eHarbor, Inc. softball ends season in good form,” I said, “[eHarbor’s softball team] might play again in the fall, so I’ll keep you posted if we do.” Guess what. We are playing softball again, and I get to keep you informed on how we do again.

eHarbor softball players

The eHarbor softball team, which we affectionately call the eHarbarians, ended its spring season with their best record ever, 6 wins and 4 losses. We then made it two games into the playoffs before being eliminated. It was a fun rollercoaster.

For our first game of the summer/fall season, we played a team sponsored by a local Hogi Yogi restaurant. Ironically, Hogi Yogi provided the food for our company-wide meeting earlier this month where the July MVP was announced. Funny. Anyway, our team played on Wednesday, August 5, 2009 at a new field in Orem, Utah, instead of Provo.

And we won!

That’s right, we fought hard and brought home a 9-8 victory. Hopefully we’ll have many more victories to report as the new season progresses. Be sure to keep coming back to the eHarbor Blog for updates on our company, as well as helpful tips on Internet marketing and ecommerce.

eHarbor June MVP returns to work after breaking her neck

Thursday, July 9th, 2009

By Robert Lockard

Each month, eHarbor, Inc. singles out one of its employees as the Most Valuable Player or employee of the month. They announce the winner at a company lunch on the first business day of each month. The MVP is someone who has done extraordinary work, going above and beyond his or her duties to help the company succeed. On July 1, Alisha Walton was named MVP for her exceptional actions in June.

eHarbor June MVP: Alisha Walton

It takes an amazing kind of person to come back to work so soon after enduring a terrible car collision, a month-long hospital stay and several surgeries. Alisha is definitely an amazing person.

She was riding a motorcycle in May when a car came and hit her at full speed, knocking her to the ground and breaking her neck. Thankfully, Alisha’s neck injury did not paralyze her. She spent a month in the Utah Valley Regional Medical Center in Provo, Utah. You can read a quote from her about her experience in a Daily Herald article, entitled “UVRMC trauma team: Life in the balance.”

Six days after her June 3 release from the hospital, Alisha returned to work while still wearing her halo and being confined to a wheelchair. Amazingly, she got right back into her job, despite the pain and struggle she faced. She has a great sense of humor about her situation. For instance, she said her hobbies include photography, reading, surfing and now wheelchair racing. Her spirit is truly indomitable.

I’ll keep you updated on MVP winners each month from now on. We have quite a few exceptional workers at eHarbor, so it will be great to give them the recognition they deserve. By the way, I was also named the MVP for June along with Alisha, but I prefer not to call attention to myself. It’s nice to be noticed for my hard work on the blog and other projects, though.

Be sure to enjoy our great blog posts on ecommerce and search engines next week in the eHarbor Blog!

eHarbor, Inc. softball ends season in good form

Tuesday, July 7th, 2009

By Robert Lockard

This is my last blog entry about eHarbor, Inc.’s softball team this season. We played what turned out to be the last game of our season on Wednesday, July 1, 2009. The playoffs were a double-elimination tournament and we lost our second game.

eHarbor Inc. softball fans

We started our season with a perfect 5-0 record. We then ran into some of our league’s best teams and our success was tempered with four losses. But our final record of 6-4 was still the best record we’ve ever had. We put up a great fight in the playoffs, losing after a great effort in our first game and then having our post-season come to an end last week.

All in all, it was a great season. We might play again in the fall, so I’ll keep you posted if we do. Even though the season is over, we’ve still got plenty of great information about eHarbor that I’ll be happy to share in future blog posts. Not to mention all the important updates on ecommerce and Internet marketing.

Stay tuned to the eHarbor Blog!

Celebrating Independence Day in style

Friday, July 3rd, 2009

By Robert Lockard

John Adams, one of the Founding Fathers who signed the Declaration of Independence and went on to become the second president of the United States, wrote on July 3, 1776:

I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more.

Fourth of July fireworks

What he was referring to was, of course, the Fourth of July. His words are literally fulfilled every year on July 4 as we celebrate our independence as a nation and a people. Few holidays measure up to the greatness of this one, in my mind.

Here are some interesting facts I recently learned about the Fourth of July, which I would like to share with you:

  • The first Fourth of July celebration as held one year after the Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776. In Bristol, R.I. and Philadelphia, citizens fired 13 gunshots in honor of the 13 colonies.
  • Bristol is also noteworthy for having the highest number of consecutive Fourth of July celebrations, starting in 1785.
  • The term “Independence Day” was first used in 1791.
  • In 1870, nearly a hundred years after the country was founded, Congress made Independence Day a federal holiday.
  • In 1931, Independence Day became a paid federal holiday.

I must say I’m impressed by the Fourth of July celebrations I’ve encountered in Utah. As a newcomer to this land, I am excited to see what America’s Freedom Festival holds this year. It will culminate in the Stadium of Fire at Brigham Young University’s LaVell Edwards football stadium on July 4. I don’t know if I’ll be able to attend that event, but I hear it will be great.

Be sure to keep coming back to the eHarbor Blog for tips on ecommerce and Internet marketing. But in the meantime, enjoy your Independence Day!

The photo of fireworks in Salt Lake City, Utah is from Flickr, and it is the copyright of deltaMike.

eHarbor, Inc. softball fights valiantly in loss

Wednesday, July 1st, 2009

By Robert Lockard

What a game our softball team played on Wednesday, June 24! The other team pulled ahead to an early eight-point lead, but eHarbor, Inc. closed the gap and remained tied for several innings before the other team finally scored a few runs at the end to barely beat us. It was an exciting game, even though we lost.

eHarbor softball player swinging

Here are the highlights of our first postseason game:

  • Two players went 4 for 4.
  • One of those players got an in-the-park home run, two doubles and a single.
  • The other player got two triples and two doubles.
  • eHarbor CEO Oliver Bigler managed to hold onto the ball at home plate as a runner smashed into him. Thanks to his effort, the runner was out.

The good news is we are not out of the running, yet. This is a double-elimination tournament, so if we win our game tonight, we’ll still be able to move on. I hope to report good news in my next blog entry about our softball team.

eHarbor, Inc. softball enjoys best season ever

Thursday, June 25th, 2009

By Robert Lockard

eHarbor, Inc.’s softball team closed out its regular season on Wednesday, June 18 with a 6-4 record. That is the best record we have ever had.

Oliver Bigler crosses home plate

The final game gave eHarbor a rematch with one of the teams it lost to a few weeks ago. You can read about that game in my blog entry, “eHarbor, Inc. softball humbled by 2 losses.” The good news is that our loss against this team was by a much closer margin than in our previous game. Hopefully, we’ll meet them again in the post-season, which began this week, and we’ll win when it really counts.

Here are the highlights of our last game of the season:

  • Two players went 3 for 3
  • Our outfielders made several amazing catches
  • Our defense was strong, keeping the other team from scoring too many runs

Some season highlights include:

  • The top batter on the team went 13 for 15
  • Two players had batting averages above 80 percent
  • 12 of our 13 batters had batting averages of 50 percent or better
  • Oliver Bigler, our CEO who is featured in BusinessQ magazine, went 10 for 17

As I said before, our record this season is quite good for an Internet marketing company. We’ll keep you posted on our post-season games in the eHarbor Blog. We hope to make it all the way this year!

eHarbor, Inc. softball humbled by 2 losses

Wednesday, June 17th, 2009

By Robert Lockard

After its 26-0 blowout victory on May 27, the eHarbor, Inc. softball team was humbled by two losses, one on June 3 and the other on June 10. The good news is that tonight our team has a chance to return the favor to the team that beat us by more than 10 points on June 3.

eHarbor softball player swingingHere are some of the highlights of the June 10 game:

  • One eHarbor player batted 1.000
  • Three of our players went 3 for 4
  • One of the players who went 3 for 4 hit 3 doubles
  • One player hit an out-of-the-park home run

Tonight’s game will be our last game of the season before heading into the post-season playoffs. Our record is 6-3 right now, which is pretty good for a company that focuses on ecommerce and online marketing. Speaking of which, we’ve got a great blog entry on search engine optimization and computer viruses on Friday. Stay tuned to the eHarbor Blog!

Triumph after defeat for eHarbor, Inc.

Thursday, May 28th, 2009

By Robert Lockard

eHarbor, Inc.’s softball team suffered its first loss on Wednesday, May 20, 2009 to the only other undefeated team in the Provo/Orem area’s recreation league up to that point. We lost by the closest margin for either team this year: 11-14.

eHarbor, Inc. softball teamBefore its first loss, eHarbor won the two previous games by 12 points and 15 points, respectively. You can read about those victories in my last two blog posts about eHarbor softball: “eHarbor unbeatable after 5 games” and “eHarbor softball wins by 15 points.”

Last night, however, our team bounced back, redeeming itself with a stunning blowout. Expect more eHarbor victories as the season continues.

I will return to ecommerce and online marketing on Monday with an awesome blog post about changes coming to the paid-search industry. Stay tuned!