Sales Kick off Meeting and Celtic Game

January 18-20 we had a Sales Kick off Meeting hosted at the Fairmont Battery Wharf in Boston.

I have never had the pleasure of attending a meeting like this before. At Xactware when they would have these meetings only the National Sales team got to go no other sales people were invited. It was a great way to see what to expect for 2011 at Ipswitch. It was a great way to introduce the working of new product releases and what type of feature to expect to be included. We talked about ways in which we can improve the product as well as ways we can improve our selling techniques.

This is the lobby of the hotel. I spent a few breaks out here to just relax.

The room with the red chairs is where we ate lunch everyday. The food was amazing!

I wasn't feeling well during the time of the meetings so I had a orange-lemonade cocktail that I drank warm to sooth my throat and I would visit the Bar here multiple times a day to have them heat me a glass of juice.

This was the lights in our conference room. I thought they were pretty cool.

At the end of the first night we were treated to dinner to Joe's American Bar and Grill. I had Lobster Raviolis and they were Delicious. We also had clam chowder and Salad to start the meal off and ended with Chocolate cake.

At the end of our second day we had a surprise event. We didn't know what it was till the day we got to the meeting. When we got there and heard the announcement it was pretty amazing. We were all being treated to the Celtic game in the premier box seating. They had catered food and drinks in 3 suites for us all. It was a good time to be able to eat, lounge, visit, and watch the game.  

Dancers but it is hard to see!

This was a fruit platter in one of the rooms. It was nice to end all the other food off with some fruit.

Me, Brian Jacobs (Atlanta office) Johnny Ward

The surprises were not over yet. Ennio comes in and says we have arranged to have the championship trophy brought in for everyone to see touch and take pictures for 3 minutes per room. So we had to snap photos fast.

Johnny didn't have a camera and wanted his picture too so I helped him out.

This was the biggest of the three rooms we spent time in. There were couches in the room as well but it is to the far left to where you can't see them.

I feel so spoiled working for Ipswitch. There is always something on the horizon to look forward to. They really think of nice and special ways to help people feel appreciated. I have been so fortunate to be able to take advantage of so many fun opportunities in the short year I have worked with them so far. I look forward to many more years with Ipswitch and I hope in return I can be the best employee for them.

Ipswitch Holiday Party

January 8th Ipswitch had their company holiday party. It was held at the House of Blues Foundation Room. 

Me in my fun new dress for the party. Waiting for people to arrive. 

 The Foundation Room is for select parties and groups. It is a really cool place. The wall tapestry is made from wedding dresses of women from India patch worked together to make wall paper.

 At the end of the room is the Table were the food was served. It was buffet style which allowed people to still mingle freely with everyone. 

 This was one of the rooms off the side of the main room. I think it was called the meditation room. 

This is most of all the people I work directly with. on the far left at the very bottom is Ennio Carboni the President of our division and next to him is Pat Loring the VP of Sales. It was a fun night and it is always fun to get all dressed up and to go out for a night on the town. 

Hot Stove Cool Music Charity Concert

January 15th there was a Charity Concert which was a roll over from the roundtable dinner the night before. I scored 2 free tickets to this event as well. When Ipswitch does something they don't go half way on something they go all the way with the saying "Go Big or Go Home." The tickets for the concert event included VIP pass. Which meant Mingling for 2 hours prior with food and open bar. The food was amazing. There were a variety of local restaurants that brought food in to sample some of their popular or new items to try and bring people to their restaurants.

This is a lobster roll and it was divine. My favorite item of the night was the rice balls. They looked like meatballs but it was rice on the inside. That came with a dish of eggplant Parmesan with marinara sauce drizzled over the rice balls. They were so good I went back for more. I don't like eggplant but this was so good you didn't even know it was eggplant. Okay so the rice balls and eggplant tied with the lobster rolls. They were both really good dishes and I went back multiple times for some.

Me and Judi (Judi is my co-worker Brian's Wife) We also got some frozen yogurt parfaits that were really yummy. Another place had these really cute bit size cupcakes and brownies. They were the perfect size so you could have more than one and try different flavors.

Estieven Sierra was my lucky friend for tonight.

Here is most of the gang from work. From Front left to right to the back.

Me, Dave Carroll, Judi Quinn, Friend 1 of Matt, Friend 2 of Matt, Brian Quinn, Matt Lentine

Mike O'Malley from Glee MC tonight's event as well. He was pretty funny in trying to get people to donate money.

Me, Monica and Johnny Ward

Johnny is the person who introduced me to Ipswitch. I am forever grateful for him getting me an interview with this amazing company.

One of the things auctioned off was a dinner with Kevin Youkilis one of the Red Sox players.

Bronson Arroyo graced us with his presents again tonight and he and his band performed. He has a really good voice and did an outstanding job performing.

Yes that is Bronson without his shirt on. Mike decided to auction Bronson's shirt right off his back.

The evening was a good time had. The entertainment was great and it was fun to hangout with my co-workers and have a good time outside of work. Thanks Ipswitch for providing such great opportunities.

Hot Stove Cool Music Sports Roundtable Charity Dinner

 January 14th I get to work and there were tickets left for a Charity dinner that Ipswitch was sponsoring. They had 5 tickets and no takers so they were given to me and they were $100 a ticket. I felt like a high roller. I was only able to get 3 other friends to join me so I gave one of the tickets to my co-worker to get another one of his friends to go with him. This charity is to help underprivileged children. There was some yummy food and amazing chocolate from a company called Berkshire Bark Chocolates. They had one chocolate that had chucks of cranberries in it and another with whoopers in it. They were really tasty.   

There was a discussion on pitching and they had Curt Schilling who use to be a pitcher for the Red Sox. 

 Me with the entire roundtable members. 

 Cassie got married over the Christmas break and it was fun to have her come and hang out with us. 

 Me and Jeremy

 Jarrod Saltalamacchia he is a current pitcher for the Red Sox

 Look at this cute couple me and Bronson Arroyo. He use to play for the Red Sox and now plays for the Cincinnati Reds. 

 Jeremy, me, Micaiah

 Micaiah, Jeremy, me, Cassie

 We got to go out in the stands and it was fun to see them covered in snow. 

 Yup those are the seats. 

Theo Epstien the GM of the Red Sox. Yup that is Jeremy and Me trying to sneak  in a picture with him.  

Hear we are eating our dinner and listening to them talk about pitching. Well Cassie and I didn't understand most of what was going on so we had our own conversation to keep ourselves entertained. 

It was a good time and a fun experience to be able to have an opportunity to go to a dinner $100 a pop yeah I would say that would be a once in a life time experience. I am one lucky person to be able to do these kinds of fun things due to the amazing company I have the chance to work for.