They say that New York City is the City That Never Sleeps, and if that’s true then Evosus Business Management Software is the New York City of software development companies. July through September was crazy busy at Evosus. Between preparing for and hosting our user conference, Evosus Engage, coding a new Evosus version with new industry integrations (watch out for v6.7 release announcement on support.evosus.com), going all out for Spirit Week, hosting our annual company party, and some office clean up at Evosus headquarters in Vancouver, WA, we’ve had our hands full. Here’s a recap of everything that went down:
Evosus Engage
The most important, exciting event of the year, Evosus Engage, took place August 1st - 3rd. 150 Evosus clients joined us in beautiful downtown Vancouver, WA to celebrate Evosus’s birthday, educate themselves on Evosus Software, and have a great time.
Dan McManus, President and CEO of Evosus, took to the stage like a preacher to the pulpit during his keynote presentation, Creating Value at Every Level of Your Pool, Spa, or Hearth Business.
Leah Williamson, the VP of Client Success at Evosus, lets the audience know how serious she is about preserving the livelihood of your business by giving them her infamous dead stare, known to stop tornadoes and terrify raccoons, during her keynote presentation, The Power of Duplication.
Ted Lawrence, Corporate Retail Category Manager at POOLCORP, gives an enraptured audience an enthusiastic lecture on the benefits and best practices of retail marketing.
Jennifer Goldfinch, Financial Services Manager at Evosus, isn’t giving her best Fonzie impersonation -- she’s actually sharing key details about the exciting things to come in Evosus Software v6.7.
The 2018 Evosus Engage theme was #goBIG, and that we did. We pulled out all the stops for this user conference -- from calling in industry leaders such as Ted Lawrence of POOLCORP and Alex Soubliere of Friendly Fires to ordering a heavenly amount of deliciously unhealthy food. The event was jam packed with Evosus training, best business practice discussions for pool, spa and hearth professionals, and sooooo many afternoon snacks.
Keynotes weren’t the only sources of knowledge at Evosus Engage -- attendees also learned all they wanted to know about Evosus Software through a customized class schedule. While newbies to Evosus learned the basics in Evosus 101 classes, seasoned Evosus users attended Evosus Advanced classes, which focused on targeted subject matter. Among the instructors was Nicole Ragel of Patio Pools & Spas, Nick Day of Gohlke Pools, Alex Soubliere of Friendly Fires, and David Goldhammer and David Michaels of Aqua Quip.
After classes let out, Evosus employees and Evosus Engage attendees alike socialized with each other as they listened to live music at beautiful Esther Short Park in downtown Vancouver. On Friday, everyone headed to the Smokin’ Oak for drinks.
Evosus Engage attendees listening to indie band Flexor T at Esther Short Park.
Esther Short Park packed with people.
Account Managers Krissy Turner and Carol Wendel pose with Kimberly Marcy, Director of Communication and Education, and her son.
Senior Software Engineer Mike Donald joined Client Success team members Miranda Williamson and Brandon Hoek and their leader, Leah Williamson, at Esther Short Park.
I felt the personalization that everyone on the Evosus Team took, to make themselves available to answer questions was notable. However, my biggest take away in reflection was the way each training started with personal information about Evosus staff. I may not remember specific program features - how to get to all of them or implement them fully (yet!), but I do remember that Ashley is a foodie and likes to incorporate her heritage into a fusion of new dishes, or that Miranda is interested in Foster parenting. I even looked up Adrian’s YouTube posts to check out his passion for writing and playing music. Finding out the personal significance of Kimberly’s farmhouse tattoo and Dan’s favorite hike with his daughters, again – WELL DONE. It’s the culture and the relationships started that resonate for me from this conference.
— Michael McGullam, Leisure in Montana, Inc.
Spirit Week 2018
Immediately following Evosus Engage was our annual company event, Spirit Week! We take this week to celebrate Evosus's birthday through silly outfits and team building.
TOOL DAY
Monday was Tool Day, when every team was challenged to come to work dressed as any kind of tool. Of course, this left open a lot of room for creativity, which each team took advantage of.
The Money Team, aka the Financial Services and Sales & Marketing departments, look stylishly coordinated with their matching shirts. These shirts were specifically created by Jennifer Goldfinch, Financial Services Manager, and printed with APIs, which are tools to tech nerds like us.
You can almost hear Client Success yelling youuuuuu as they pose with their handcrafted Slack logo necklaces. Our team uses Slack to communicate across the company quickly.
The Development Team spends every waking moment fixing, constructing, and implementing code, so dressing up like construction workers was just another day-in-the-life for them.
The Operations Team, as always, took the theme way too seriously and actually tried welding the building.
DECADES DAY
Tuesday was Decades Day. Some teams went with a cohesive theme, others did not. One person (Sheryl Smith, Operations Coordinator) actually traveled back in time from the year 2300 to join us.
The Operations Team slayed the game, looking like time travelers from completely different decades brought together by their love of software.
The whole company poses, looking very much like mirror-verse versions of themselves.
Client Success dressed up as a medley of decades, from Galen Drake’s (Hardware Specialist) mullet to Kimberly Marcy’s (Director of Communication and Education)’s grungy 90s pigtails.
The Money Team decided to travel back in time to the 1950s, with Monica Jarnport (Financial Services Specialist) and Jennifer Goldfinch (Financial Services Manager) wearing poodle skirts and Dan McManus (President & CEO), Adrian Amposta (Solutions Engineer), and Natalie Thomson (Marketing Coordinator) dressed as greasers.
SUPERHEROES VS VILLAINS DAY
Wednesday was Superheroes vs Villains Day, and while some employees just came wearing their favorite superhero shirt, others arrived in full out costume.
Right before this picture was taken, Client Success had jumped off the roof and made perfect superhero landings.
Kimberly Marcy (Director of Communication and Education), Leeonna Hinsley (Director of People and Operations), and Courtney Potter (e-Learning Coordinator) all had the brilliant idea of dressing up as the greatest heroes of all -- moms.
No, that’s not a screencap from The Purge, it’s actually the Development Team dressed up as Fly Guys from Super Mario.
The city was saved thanks to Evosus Software.
TEAM THEME DAY
Thursday was Team Theme Day, when each team decided on a unique theme to execute.
The Operations Team stole the show with their circus get-ups.
The craziness of this group photo almost resembles Mardi Gras.
The Money Team lives up to their name by making it rain the lobby.
Client Success buzzed into work wearing their handcrafted paper wings and googly-eye sunglasses.
AQUA & ORANGE DAY
Friday was Aqua & Orange Day to celebrate Evosus’s two main colors. For those of you that don’t know, our two main colors are references to the industries we serve -- aqua references the pool industry while orange references the hearth industry.
Company Party
Topping off Spirit Week was the 2018 Company Party, which as you can see, was a complete blast.
The right people in the right places
Dressing up and partying wasn’t all that we did for the rest of summer 2018. Immediately following Evosus Engage, the entire company has been cleaning out closets, sweeping away cobwebs, tossing old desks, and overall cleaning up -- both internally and out. From reorganizing storage closets to changing offices to tidying up our databases, we’ve sacrificed tears, sweat, and calories to get our headquarters in order.
Accompanying this restructuring fever is the promotion of three employees and the creation of a brand new department: Communication and Education.
Kimberly Marcy
Director of Communication & Education
Leeonna Hinsley
Director of People & Operations
Emily Schmitt
Product Manager
The Communication and Education Team is lead by Kimberly Marcy, who has become the Director of Communication and Education. Kimberly will lend her extensive industry knowledge and experience to the promotion of Evosus Software and the education of Evosus clients.
Leeonna Hinsley was also promoted to Director of Operations and People. Leeonna manages the operations team and oversees accounting. Like Big Brother, she is always watching.
Last but not least is Emily Schmitt, who recently changed departments, going from an Account Manager in Client Success to the Product Manager of the Development Team. Emily’s experience and ingenuity is vital in the testing and implementing of Evosus Software updates.
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