Ever have a tough time writing? I have a bad case of writer’s block this month. I suspect it’s because there is so much, I don’t know where to begin – or end, for that matter.

Do I share the incredible experience we had hearing Jim Collins (Good to Great, Built to Last) speak? Regale you with how I nearly burned the house down (with 16 guests inside) on Thanksgiving Day? Update you on our 2013 plans? Send condolences to the clients who have experienced personal losses this month? Pontificate on why there have been so many this month?

Instead, I will simply say “Hello!” It is so easy to be swept up in the frantic pace of the holiday season and I want to help you pause for a moment and breathe. My wish for you is that you are able to achieve your 2012 goals before the calendar flips to the new year and that you are able to relax and relish your accomplishments, too.

Happy Holidays,

Jennifer Whitlock
804-282-2282 x113

Please join us in welcoming Myron Lindsey to The HelpDesk Company team! Myron spent sixteen years with the Federal Reserve Information Technology group where he provided technical support to both clients and employees of the Federal Reserve Bank. After a couple of years as an independent consultant, we are happy to have Myron call The HelpDesk home. Myron shares our commitment to providing a positive client experience and brings a strong combination of server and desktop skills. He is a great addition to our team and we are confident you will enjoy working with him, too.

We asked, and you answered – and you didn’t hold back. For that, I send a heartfelt THANK YOU.

As many of you know, we recently worked with Usry Strategic Partners to conduct a confidential Client Satisfaction Survey. Although the majority of the feedback was quite positive, we have heard your concerns and frustrations. Since receiving the survey results on October 8th, we have:

• Re-established Primary Support Teams for all of our Business Care clients
• Eliminated the Service Manager position
• Moved Wendy Layton into the newly-created Service Coordinator role (on her 2nd anniversary with us, no less!)
• Conducted a confidential Employee Satisfaction Survey, and
• Approved our newest team member to begin working directly with clients (meet Myron below)

And that’s just the list of what’s completed – you should see what we’re working on behind the scenes! Whew – no wonder I’m exhausted.

I am also thrilled to share that we are continuing to grow. Please help us welcome our newest client, James River Grounds Management, and welcome back an old friend and life-saving non-profit, Safe Harbor. We are excited to be working with you!

The holiday season is just around the corner. I encourage each of you to take a few minutes each day to notice the beautiful show nature is providing us now. It’s amazing the creativity such beauty can spark. And, of course, give us a call if that spark requires technology to catch fire.

Wishing you blue skies and bright ideas,

Jennifer Whitlock
804-282-2282 x113

Fall is my favorite season – the weather, the sports, the routine of school schedules, and the re-engagement of our business community! It seems like there is an opportunity to network within the community almost daily now. And, I’m loving the great conversations we’re having with clients and prospects about the best way to simplify their computers while also maximizing their productivity.

This fall has already been one of many new beginnings – kids starting new school adventures, new neighbors moving into our building, new clients (welcome to Altadis USA and Meadow Glen of Richmond), new employees (we’ll make a proper introduction next month), and new roles.

New roles, you ask? Why yes. After 8 years with Todd leading the Support team and my leading Sales, we have decided to trade places. We are capitalizing on our strengths while also bringing fresh perspectives to these critical areas of the business. The swap has re-invigorated us both and we are looking forward to learning the results of the client surveys being conducted – the only way to be the best is to understand where we can improve.

As always, we’ve included several articles with tips and tricks for you. If you only have time for one article, I encourage you to check out “6 Reasons Why Your Internet is Slow”. As so many of you are moving to the Cloud, it’s critical that you know how to maximize your Internet speed.

Best regards,

Jennifer Whitlock
804-282-2282 x113

What a month it’s been! We moved into our new office space, sent our kids to sleep-away camp for two weeks, took our annual family vacation (two houses, three generations), and welcomed our newest client – Benefits Solutions. And to cap it off, we get to watch my favorite sporting event – the Summer Olympics! Don’t know about you, but that’s a pretty awesome month in my book.

Although we had a few minor bumps with the move (who doesn’t?), the overall process has been wonderful and we love the new space. We are almost settled and look forward to showing it off to everyone at Oktoberfest this year (yes, the ability to pitch a tent every fall was a prerequisite). Feel free to stop by sooner if you don’t want to wait.

We are thrilled to have worked with so many great locally owned businesses to make this happen:

• Ball Office Products
• Commonwealth Commercial
• Evolve Architecture
• Lingerfelt Companies
• Signs Now
• Think804

And, huge thanks to our realtors, Gareth Jones & Charlie Polk of Jones Lang LaSalle; they worked tirelessly with us for months to find just the right space.

May the rest of the summer find you relaxed and happy,

Jennifer Whitlock
804-282-2282 x113

We survived the end-of-school madness and are starting to get the hang of our summer camp routine – just in time to tackle our office move! I was amazed by the number of people I know (or have known over the years) who had fifth-graders graduating. I guess great minds think alike! Maybe we can lean on each other as we help our now sixth-graders navigate through middle school.

It struck me the other day how similar the challenges of middle school can be to those of growing a business beyond startup. No longer a little kid yet not grown up; dealing with internal and external pressures to mature yet remain youthful. We are grateful to be able to help our clients with the technology challenges that arise as their businesses mature and change. I’d like to think that we are reducing some of the pressures they face.

Regardless of where you are in your business growth, I trust you will find some relief in the articles below – whether it’s how to increase productivity by choosing the right monitor setup or making your cellphone last longer.

And, if you need some pressure relief at home, then we’ve got a great deal for you. We are partnering with our long-time client, the Richmond SPCA, to provide an exciting opportunity next week. Keep an eye on our Facebook page or theirs for details!

Last, and certainly not least, please help me welcome our newest clients:

• Nexten Stauer, LLC
• Winks-Snowa Architects

Do you know businesses like these? Heard anyone complaining about their computers recently? We’d love the opportunity to speak with them.

Wishing you fair skies and good times,

Jennifer Whitlock
804-282-2282 x113

I am writing to you from my balcony overlooking the golf course at Kingsmill Resort in Williamsburg. I have a few moments to enjoy the symphony of nature; each bird call (I’ve singled out 7 so far) like a different instrument, the rain providing a gentle underlying rhythm. It’s beautiful. If I weren’t so excited about attending my first Virginia Council of CEO’s retreat, I could easily spend the day in this peaceful spot.

I am thrilled to share that, with one quarter down, 2012 is promising to be an exciting year here at The HelpDesk Company. After saying goodbye to two team members (thank you for your years of service, Will & Jordan), we have welcomed three great folks to the team (Donna Cigich, Joe Aprile and Kevin Bush). As you can imagine, we have outgrown our space and I look forward to sharing our expansion plans soon.

Even better than our internal growth, is the addition of some great organizations to our family of clients. Please join me in welcoming them:

• Fuqua Schools
• Chestnut Grove Assisted Living
• Global Employment Solutions
• Microdermis Corporation
• Intertactive Inc.

On the technology side, we moved one of our oldest clients into our data center. They are now officially “in the cloud” and enjoying increased speed, the extra office space from removing their servers, and peace of mind that failover internet and alternate power sources bring.

It’s time for me to leave my little sanctuary and learn from some of the best on how to improve our organization to provide the best experience possible for our clients.

Wishing you moments of peace in this fast paced world,

Jennifer Whitlock
Principal
804-282-2282 x113

Is it just me, or has January flown by? Of course, the fact that our house has been a virtual infirmary since late December hasn’t helped. I feel as though I blinked and the month has gone. No wonder our kids seem to be growing up so quickly!

January has been a month of NEW for many of our clients and friends – new employees, new technology, new business initiatives…and several new babies!

The HelpDesk Company is joining the NEW movement, too! We are adding new employees (Click Here for current openings), welcoming new clients (www.InteractiveInc.org, www.BigRiverAdvertising.com), and putting the finishing touches on a few new business offerings. And, while there are no new babies on the horizon, we are looking at new office space to accommodate our growth.

No fears. We are not losing sight of our core as we add all this NEW. The HelpDesk Company team remains focused on partnering with our clients to provide a highly productive infrastructure with highly responsive, friendly support and guidance to make the best decisions for their business.
Here’s to a fabulous February!

Best regards,

Jennifer Whitlock
Principal
804-282-2282 x113

Having the right kind of email system in place can do wonders for increasing productivity, especially for people on the go. It’s important to note the distinctions and feature differences of the email systems available to you, so you can be sure that what you’re using is the most efficient and cost-effective solution.

Whether you work from an office or are productive while on the go, email most likely plays a big factor in the way you go about your business. Unbeknownst to many, some types of email systems have certain limitations that by extension can also limit the level of productivity of your business, and especially for people in the organization who must also work while out in the field.

One major issue for many people is synchronicity. Many people need their emails to be accessible on their mobile phones, PDAs, or other mobile devices, and they need them to be properly synchronized with their desktop workstations. The need to constantly update conversations and email threads from mobile devices to desktops with certain types of email can prove to be tedious and unproductive– and some email system types don’t include this ability at all.

Depending on the way you use your email, especially when on the go, having full access and full control of your account can define how productive you and others in your organization can be. Besides providing a much better degree of synchronization and integration with mobile devices, certain types of email systems also have features for sharing and collaboration features that allow you to set schedules and share files from your mailbox, as well as central storage for emails that allows you to access your account seamlessly with any mobile device, regardless of where you are located.

Of course, having a full-featured email system might not be best for everyone. The key is to know whether adapting a more bare-bones system is cost-effective for your business (especially in the long run). Sometimes the top of the line may be needed, and sometimes all you need is a bit of tweaking on your less fully featured system. Not sure which is best? Call us and we’ll be glad to sit down with you and assess what kind of email system is best suited for you and your business.

“Where were you when…?” So often this question is followed by a devastating national event – JFK’s assassination, the Challenger disaster, the collapse of the Twin Towers. Catastrophic events sear memories into our brains – creating a sort of internal memorial.  The associated emotions are fraught with fear, devastation, loss, grief. We ask each other this time-honored question – validating the enormity of our emotions and finding comforting in the shared experience.

Once again, we are asking the question of each other as we digest the earthquake that shook most of the eastern states yesterday. Historically, I’ve responded with a heavy heart.  Is it odd, then, that I am answering cheerfully this go ‘round? I don’t think so.

The earthquake caused fear as many of us experienced our first earthquake and many “veterans” were questioning why here.  However, there has been little loss. We have weathered the storm – and can now focus on preparing for the next ride Mother Nature has planned for us.

Is your business prepared for these extraordinary events? If you are in our Business Care program, it is. Our Rapid Recovery and Offsite Backup solutions paired with our Loaner Equipment ensure not only your data’s security, but – just as importantly – your ability to get back to business quickly. Want to learn more? Give us a call.

Wishing you blue skies and solid ground as the weekend approaches!

Best regards,
Jennifer Whitlock
804-282-2282