Volcanoes Nation: Salem-Keizer Volcanoes BP for Charity

Great post from my west coast brother! Take a peek. Volcanoes Nation: Salem-Keizer Volcanoes BP for Charity: Editor's note: to learn more about contributing to Salem-Keizer Volcanoes charities, and specifically of the Volcanoes charity work wit...

Go Big or Go Home......Independence Day 2013

The excitement, like the humidity was palpable in Montpelier on Wednesday afternoon. It was parade time again, and my bank was submitting another of its now legendary floats (see prior posts). You see since we opened up shop in Montpelier back in 2001 we have had a float submission in the annual parade, this year would be no different. Well actually it would be different, in a big way, so big in fact that we had to add a float to accomodate the level of awesomeness we planned to bring! And we were convinced the kids in the crowd would really appreciate our level of madness this year! (let me pre apologize for the level of exclamation points and use of the term awesome (in all its forms)).



The crew pre parade, it would be a hot humid ride, and we all dropped a few pounds along the way, but thankfully we were prepared to stay properly hydrated!

  The most fun about this year's parade was that we had a wonderful mix of folks helping out with the floats. Jackie, one of our unstoppable tellers, and her son and soon to be daughter in law brought their A game in a big way! Jackie was our Chewbacca, and her son and DIL came in homemade Sith (if you don't know what a Sith is stop reading now) costumes to terrify the little parade attendees! Jackie's husband once again stepped up to help get the floats decorated! Jackie's boy also brought along a vintage Return of the Jedi Stormtrooper costume, that a customer, Mr. Scott (Scotty too Hotty) Kerner, happily wore for the show to include a jet black, full body lycra bodysuit (I remind you it was 80 something with 199% humidity!)!


Unimogging

Did I mention Ms. Regan Howard and Mr. Pat Malone taking the time to drive their wicked sweet Unimog so we could get all our folks up and off the street? I had no idea what a Unimog was but after seeing this bad boy I want one! Joe Preddy, from our trust group (CFSG), showed up as a stormtrooper as did yours truly. We can always rely on JP to take one for the team!




This thing had a hand grenade for a shifter, seriously, how sweet is that?



It doesn't stop there, we randomly tossed in the Statue of Liberty, eloquently played by Natalie out of Montpelier and who can forget Princess Lorraine, err I mean Princess Leia?? And how about the forelorned walkers?? Joanne, Kathy, Linda (1) and Linda (2) and Jen kept a good pace to keep up with our little army of awesomeness. So we had a beautiful mix of workers, family, friends and customers all helping out!




The pre game was as much fun as the actual parade, with a few customers popping by to check out the scene!

 

And how could we forget the annual operator of our main float Putt, who somehow is 12 for 12 in not losing any of the fine folks perched atop the float (and trust me we were operating at a balance disadvantage based on the pre game festivities). 




All hands on butt! No one said we were an eloquent bunch and the Unimog was a bit of a challenge to get up into BUT many hands make for easy work. How many bankers does it take to get a Princess in a Unimog? Turns out a commercial lender, teller and mortgage lender!


  We spoke to a ton of folks in the crowd that commented that when they heard John Williams "Imperial March" and saw our floats round the corner there was a wave of excitement that flowed through the crowd of 20,000 strong! The Stormtroopers, armed with water guns, couldn't spray the crowd fast enough to cool them down! We heard a ton of "that's my bank!" which is always fun and saw so many friendly, familiar faces throughout the parade route! The humidity had an added bonus, anyone that was in a costume easily dropped 10 pounds from start to finish!




Vader's Fist


So now we start planning for next year but frankly its going to be difficult to top this one! A big thanks again to all of you that came to help, participate or that cheered us on along the way! Booyakasha!

 

Princess Lorraine stole the show!




Pretty sure if the neighbors on Winter Street never hear the "Imperial March" again they will be ok with that! and yes, we threw the Statue of Liberty on the float, random I know, but we thought it was funny...



Everyone Loves a Parade!

Tis the season, time to dust off the costumes and get ready for some fun. No I'm not talking about Halloween, I'm talking about the annual Independence Day celebration in Montpelier VT. When I started working at the bank I'm at now it was a prerequisite to get up on a float and smile and wave to the 20,000 strong that come every year. At first I resisted, after all that can be pretty intimidating but I quickly overcame any inhibitions.




Blowing kisses to my wife and kids!

 

So the first year I was pretty traditional, opting to dress as my favorite founding father, Benjamin Franklin (my boy is named Benjamin after BF, and also after the greatest Jedi Master from the old republic, Ben Kenobi (Obi Wan to the layperson)). That was fun, we smiled and waved and no one knew who I was.

Then this happened:




Terrifying

 

Yup, that is my daughter dashing out of the picture frame, and no one believed that I would show up as Jumpsuit Elvis. I did and it got a ton of laughs and was more fun than I genuinely care to admit. I was joined by two other Elvises (is that how you pluralize Elvis?) but they were more traditional than the nightmare outfit you see to your right.

So how do you top chubby Elvis? Well you surprise everyone in your group by showing up dressed as a Stormtrooper. Why? Why not? Throw in two squirt guns and you have yourself a recipe for some real fun! You see when you are hidden away behind a mask the world is yours for the taking, and we took quite a bit last year! Sorry to any of you that got the bad end of the squirt gun thing by the way....




Washington was a bit surprised when I strolled up in this outfit!

 





Again, sorry to those of you I got,,,, not really.

 


No that isn't a PBR. Get your eyes checked.

  So we're at it again this year, July 3rd in Montpelier. And we are going all in with Star Wars! We'll have two stormtroopers, Chewbacca, Princess Leia, a group of Jedi Knights and one very bad $%^ Sith Lord. If you are around check out the parade, it starts at 6 and there is a ton to do downtown before and after!

Moral of the post, get up, get involved, and make it your own! Have fun, after all everyone loves a parade!

Saying Thank You.....

When was the last time you thought about your customers not in terms of balance sheets and income statements, but in terms of what they bring to the community? How do they give back? More importantly, how do they positively impact those around them?

Does that even matter? I think it does. I was lunching with one of my favorite COIs (that's center of influences) a few weeks back and he asked me why I liked my job? He commented that I seemed to have somehow struck the right balance of work, family and fun. Well that isn't entirely the case but I try like hell to keep a balance of all of them. More importantly I try to combine them as often as I can. A day in the office for my daughter is as fun to her as a day at Santa's Village, I know right? Any chance I get to include the kids here to be a part of my daily chaos that is work I get them here. I call her my little assistant, she sets up at the closing table and colors and ensures I'm properly hydrated. I've mentioned before my son's first closing was when he was 6 months old. And work is a lot more fun when they are around.

But what about the customers? How do I be their banker and still have some fun with them? It seems to me (and this is my blog so I guess I can do this here) the most important thing you can do is really get to know the folks you bank (yup, that can mean beers and golf). Not just get to know them but also their employees and if you can their families. I'm thinking of one customer in particular where I know everyone's name or they know me, and this is a pretty big company with 40+ employees. You see when you really get to know your customers, and not just in terms of their financials or when the next great opportunity will arrive, but really get to know them and what motivates them you gain a real appreciation for them. Which makes you want to serve them better. Oh yes, and it can be a great deal of fun getting to know them along the way. After all if you have to work all day you may as well enjoy the folks you work with!

Think of it this way as I can tell I'm getting too verbose here, look at the number of employees your customer has, then think about the number of families within your community that are impacted by their being in business...... Right? Makes a difference doesn't it? Puts a more real face on what could otherwise be seen as just another "transaction". And why not say "thanks for your business" every once in a while? Or better yet, "thanks for all that you are doing to make our community stronger". I find that sometimes when I say this customers don't get my meaning and I tell them what I noted earlier, you aren't just a business, you are the support system for (insert number of employees) and their families!

So go ahead, go out there and get to REALLY know your customers, AND their employees. Put a smile on some of their faces in the next few days by simply saying thank you for what you do!