PlattForm Life and Times

When you join PlattForm, you are automatically expected to be adept in planning/throwing/hosting parties and/or showers and/or wingdings.

It’s borderline mandatory.

We are a company that lives for Happy Hour. We thrive on streamers. Our lives are not complete unless there’s confetti.

So it’s really no big surprise that PlattForm has branched out to hosting a benefit concert to raise funds for our upcoming American Diabetes Association walk. Best of all, YOU’RE invited!

On Saturday, August 16th, I’d highly suggest traipsing down to Jerry’s Bait Shop to eat, drink and make merry. (Jerry’s is conveniently located within stumbling distance of PlattForm’s new digs. Specifically, 13412 Santa Fe Drive Trail in Lenexa.) A $10 donation gets you in the door for a free pizza buffet from 4pm- 8pm … and the opportunity to listen to some of KC’s finest local musicians.

You like acoustic? Check! We’ve got the one and only Jason Kayne keeping it unplugged for you. Blues rock more your speed? Check! BB Miller Band will keep you rockin’ in the free world! And if you’re ready to kick up your spurs, you won’t want to miss the one and only Billy Doores Band’s country-fried country music. Of course, Billy’s band features PlattForm’s own Trey Bland on drums. (Yes, a shameless plug — I know. But it’s still for a good cause.)

In case you didn’t know – diabetes has gone from being rampant in America to becoming a national epidemic. Nearly 8% of the population suffers from diabetes. That’s a whopping 23.6 million people! Five million of whom are undiagnosed. And diabetes does not discriminate. It is the seventh leading cause of death in the United States.

So stop on out to Jerry’s Bait Shop on Saturday, August 16th. Drink some beer. Listen to some rockin’ tunes. Eat some pizza. All for only $10 … with proceeds going to benefit the American Diabetes Association! (Visit www.jerrysbaitshop.net for more info!)

Can’t make the concert? Never fear – you can help sponsor one of PlattForm’s employees in our upcoming ADA Walk on September 27th. Or, even better, feel free to join us. We always say the more, the merrier.

Speaking of merry, I gotta go … I’m late for another Baby Shower. Mercifully, NOT mine. At least not that I know of! Must be something in the water around here.

July 11th, 2008. 7/11. Or what some of us tech-geeks refer to as the iPocalypse. This was the day that my face in the crowd would be attaining the holy grail of communication technology. Some of you may think of it as ’simply a phone’. But the few of us who are either obsessed with the newest technologies or have consumed the Steve Job’s Kool-Aid looked at it as much much more. Ok, so really it is just a phone, but it brings us ahead in the future of mobile communications.

Before I get too far into the details of the day, I’d like to take a moment to explain why its such an important technological device. Up until recently, most have been aware of the “cool” factor of the iPhone. Touch screen, sleek design, large memory capacity for being a portable tune & video powerhouse, and even the ability to unlock or “jailbreak” the phone in order to install custom applications that let you do anything from create a power-point presentation to play old-school NES games on the go are all pretty well known. But what run on sentences and the iphone both had in common was its complete willingness to disregard what most would consider a business rule. Those of you who had the pleasure to toy around with the last generation iphone probobly realized the same things- that it was behind current technology with its EDGE based speed, its GPS was a poor incarnation of what comes standard on other “lesser” devices, and that, most importantly, it was missing the ability to be a fully functioning mobile email tool. Sure you could use gmail, or yahoo mail, or even web-server based mail, but poorly compared to the holy grail of business men and women, the blackberry. Its inability to be synced up with Microsoft Exchange meant that it was a poor replacement for the instant, real-time email, schedule and contact syncher that we had become accustom to with the Blackberry.

Steve Jobs looked down from his post as the technological Fonzy, and smiled upon us. In this newest incarnation of the iPhone, we find all three missing features. A 3g network (roughly 5-times faster than the connection speed of the previous iphone), a more advanced GPS chip for better localization and mapping servicing, and, most importantly a fully functioning email tool in the way of Microsoft Exchange compatibility. There is much much more that was given to us lowly consumers, but for time sake, google those details. With how long its taken me to get even this out, I’m sure you’ll appreciate the brevity of others. And if you aren’t a Mac user, let me help:

brev·i·ty
n.
1. The quality or state of being brief in duration.
2. Concise expression; terseness.

So, kind readers, I’m sure one’s of you are wondering, “why was such a grand day referred to as the iPocalypse?” Apple, in their infinite wisdom, decided to teach us a lesson about patience it seems, wisely making sure they and their partner, AT&T were unequipped to handle the massive amounts of server needs to handle the “activation” portion of the launch. Oh, Apple! Always teaching us! To explain deeper, every iPhone required an activation process to occur in the store where you purchased it, where the sales rep would plug the iPhone into their computers and connect it with those ill-equipped servers. With this process failing completely all over the world at the same time, a few hundred thousand enthusiasts were forced to return home with an effectively useless iPhone. And, of course, even more people went home without any iPhone.

But just as Jobs taketh away, so too he giveth. Within about twelve hours, the servers for activation were up and those few hundred thousand were scrambling to get their itunes up and running so they could activate and impress their co-workers with 3g speed, awesome email management (that makes the blackberry look like an a-trac) and lightsaber duels.

Recently, at my 20 year high school reunion, I had the chance to mingle and kibitz with many of my former classmates … many of whom went on to bigger and better. (The rest just got bigger. Thank God we chose an all-you-can-eat buffet!)

There were surgeons and lawyers and beauticians … oh, my! One of my classmates has won three Grammy awards which make my sole Emmy win pale in comparison. Everyone had a story and I wanted to hear all of ‘em. What struck me funny was that most people were doing absolutely nothing related to their degrees or field of study. Or they were in the midst of a full-on career change.

I always knew I wanted to be in TV. Or on TV. Or watching TV. I’m not picky. I even got my degree in Broadcasting to prove to the world I was not only educated, but well-versed in sitcoms, game shows and Oprah.

I had a ball at my reunion playing catch-up with everyone. People broke out pictures of their kids right and left. Of course, I dutifully pretended to care. And while I’m not Catholic, 99.2% of my classmates were — which would explain why they have so many kids they should live in a shoe.

The guy you thought would be a banker … went into banking. And yes, he’s still incredibly dull. The girl you thought would be a stripper … followed her dream.
And the list goes on and on. And yes – in case you were wondering — we had our fair share of Medical Coders and Medical Assistants and Pharmacy Technicians.

Few people surprised me, but those who did literally SHOCKED me. The biggest jock in our school ended up in advertising … where, go figure, he’s still big man on campus on the West Coast. All the girls voted “Most Likely To Become Successful Corporate Drones” all chose Mommy-hood instead. Funny to think while they became Becky Home-Ec-ky, I was busy being Rebecca Homewreck-a. And so it goes.

But it was good to see everyone and relive my youth for a night. Even Anne, my mortal enemy in high school, had mellowed. And it was phenomenal to hear everyone’s educational and professional success stories. Heck, several of my classmates even went on to become teachers and professors. Or so I heard. I was too busy schmoozing with my classmate who owns Denver’s hottest bar in LoDo to pay attention.

Two weeks ago, I traipsed off to see an acupuncturist that a friend had suggested. Was I in bad health? No, but between you and me — I’d always wanted to try it. My doc is known as an energy healer … or spiritualist … or guru … or swami … or something. That would explain why he is not covered under PForm’s HMO.

Now I typically have an open mind about things … and I’ll try anything once. Heck, that’s how I fell in to advertising! My motto: Nothing ventured, nothing gained. This does not apply to Brussels sprouts, however … which I have never tried because they resemble green turds.

So I’m sitting in his office when – as God as my witness – he starts waving his hand over me with this magic wand-thingy. I was intrigued. I was perplexed. And I was starving and wondering when he’d finish up.

He informed me that I had far too much wine to drink the night before. True, but how did he know that? Was he psychic? No – my liver was “sending off bad energy”, according to him. He also informed me I had a fracture in my ankle (which I failed to mention on my 36-page questionnaire because said fracture happened when I was eight years old). And he found great humor in the fact that I had recently injected multiple vials of Botox in my face. He (and the magic wand) knew that because my face was “toxic and devoid of energy”.

I was now shocked … amazed … and stunned. And even though it wasn’t registering on my face (thank you, Botox!), the doc immediately knew I was impressed.

After quickly deducing I had a crappy diet, he thoroughly chastised me. And immediately put me on something called the “Candida” diet. Which means I can only eat things while listening to Tony Orlando and Dawn. Kidding. I can eat meat and vegetables and that’s it. Or as he put it … “steak and potatoes … minus the potatoes because they are too starchy.”

Two weeks later the weight is literally falling off me. I’ve never looked better. I’ve never felt better. And it’s all thanks to trying one new thing. Which just goes to show you … you can teach an old dog how to get thin quick. Nothing ventured, nothing gained … at least on the scale.

Where an adult can be a kid! Last Thursday PlattFormers gathered together in a not-so-faraway place where we were all able to bring out the inner child in ourselves. Our annual all company meeting was held at the huge, hidden, entertainment center gem (as much sense as that makes) of Johnson County, Power Play.

Under one roof you can race go-carts, ride bumper cars, compete in Whirlyball (the world’s only totally mechanized sport!), play some cosmic mini golf, ride carnival rides, and play laser tag. Not to mention there are over 250 arcade games. Shooting games, racing games, dancing games, jump rope games, the list goes on and on. And you can’t forget the redemption games. You know; the ones where you can earn tickets to exchange for ridiculously overpriced novelty prizes? Well let me tell you, I know a little about these.

Walking around Power Play with heaps of ticket in my arms, I happened to be (or at least looked like) a professional arcade game player. Having been swiping my little Power Play card in every machine possible, I came across what seemed to be the tallest arcade game of all time. The object of the game? Punch a button and the claw drops a ball from way up top, to hopefully fall into the jackpot hole, rather than any of the other insignificant holes. Well, me being the professional I am (right?), hit that button just right (seriously there is no way that what I did had anything to do with whether that ball did what it was supposed to do or not), and boom, JACKPOT! Tickets started streaming, and I mean streaming, out of that contraption from two different slots. They just kept coming! Seriously, at the time, I honestly thought maybe the game was malfunctioning.

550 tickets came out of that towering arcade game. Combined with the other tickets I’d accumulated, I was on my way to the shopping spree of a lifetime at the redemption store! 700 tickets were sure to get me something marvelous! OR… NOT. 700 tickets wouldn’t even get me the little Dora the Explorer kickball. Seriously, I walked out of that redemption store with a measly Barbie doll outfit for my boyfriend’s daughter. Un-freakin-believable. I guess it’s all for the fun of the game.

After 2 hours of food (I’ve failed to mention the enormous buffet that provided everything from pizza to taquitos to coke flavored ICEEs) and fun, we all crammed into the Power Hall to get down to business. Well, if you know PlattForm at all, business typically has some silly fun intertwined…

We went over PlattForm’s budget and numbers (we’re doing quite well). The new building and upcoming revised dress code (we don’t have to say bye to the beautiful sound of flip-flops coming down the hall). Each department had a chance to do a presentation of some sort (i.e. – make fun of at least one of their co-workers). Kevin Kuzma read a beautifully written story. And Dave Admire ended it all with a quote that let us know how he really feels. “If you want to create an extraordinary company, you have to fill your company with extraordinary people, and that’s what you all are.”

All in all, I don’t think we could have asked for a better afternoon at “work” . Whoever said you can’t mix business and pleasure definitely never worked for a fantastic company like PlattForm.