The company I work for held a staff meeting today. We have them every so often, but usually always one in proximity to the annual holiday party. One of the agenda items at the December meeting is to recognize employees who have reached 10 years of service. The company is 17 years old. I am in the hall of fame, first in line behind the two company founders. I have more than 15 years of service. Four others with 10 to 14 years are also on the list. This year, 6 colleagues join “the club.”
Joining Silverchair was a leap of faith. I was 24 and tired of the nights and weekends of the newspaper copy desk job I landed out of college. When I interviewed for the job, the work sounded interesting, I was confident I could do it, and one of the partners reminded me of John Corbett’s character, Chris, on Northern Exposure, one of my favorite TV shows at that time. I don’t recall being too concerned that I was considering joining a start-up company where I would be the 2nd employee hired by the three partners. I had faith in my skills and abilities such that if this didn’t work out, I’d go find something else. With little debt and no strong ties to Charlottesville yet, I felt like I had nothing to lose.
Well, as you can surmise, it worked out just fine. As years passed and people asked “do you still work at that publishing place?” I’d say yes, I’ve been there X years. That would often be met with surprise at having been at the same company for more than 5 or 6 years. Although I work at the same company, my job has evolved as the company has grown. Those changes and challenges have kept the job interesting. Until earlier this year, there was one constant thread through my tenure: book composition. Essentially, taking manuscript and images and turning them into book pages. But the company had been moving away from print and more into technology and information delivery platforms, until now print has been phased out. So this year, another leap for me. Out of my comfort zone of the previous 15 years and into a new realm of project management for web sites, full of new challenges.
Today’s meeting also brought news of plans for 2011. There are some new initiatives and contracts in the works that will bring more growth and challenges. That small start-up of 15 years ago has accomplished much and is on the brink of even bigger things. This was one leap that has turned out well and I’m excited about being a part of what comes next!
Of Syllables and Syllabubs 