We here at CompanyCam love to celebrate the little things. Maybe it’s the fact that we’re a company made up of solely Millennials (except Jeff, I think he belongs to The Greatest Generation), but we are firm believers in the participation trophy. Don’t get us wrong, we’re all well versed in shit-giving, but sometimes we like to cut everyone some slack.
Across our different departments and teams we’ve got a plethora of awards, trophies, and tiny ceremonies to memorialize the small victories, milestones, and good days. We thought it would be fun to tell our loyal blog reader(s?) a little bit about how we like to do things around here.
The Sales Team:
Sales has some traditions that go way back to the beginning and some new ones that have come out of the woodwork, but we’ll start with the classic.
- Bird Dog Shots: Any time one of our Customer Success Reps nails a sale with 10 or more users, the Sales department celebrates with a shot of Bird Dog whisky — not for the faint of heart.
- The Kick Ass Call trophy: This one is just for our CSR department, aka the folks on the phone all day long. All calls CompanyCam makes are recorded, so CSRs can submit any especially good call or conversation they’ve had for nomination to our Head of Sales who then bestows the award on the call that blew him away. And yes, it’s an ass — no, not that kind of ass.
- The Gong: The gong is new, and it’s … a lot. Whenever a CSR hits their monthly and/or quarterly sales goal, they get to bang the gong. It’s always an exciting, but mildly alarming, day when the gong is heard around the office.
The Marketing Team:
Marketing has a couple different trophies and mini ceremonies that take place as well.
- The original marketing award is the Terrence Zavadil Swinging Arm Award. Yes, that’s its name. The Terry Z is awarded every Monday morning during the Marketing team meeting to the team member who got sh*t done the last week. It’s a fun award to give and receive because it’s passed on between peers, rather than a top-down situation. The previous winner of the Terry Z picks who they’ll bestow the award upon and gives a short explanation of just exactly why they think that marketing team member deserves the award. It’s typically followed by a golf clap and a reluctant acceptance speech — we’re not big on the spotlight here in the marketing team.
“The Terry Z appeared to me in a thrift shop and I knew we needed it for the marketing team,” explained Kyle King, marketing director. “I thought it could serve as an important reminder to recognize people for a job well done. I think when recognition comes from your peers it’s just as, if not even more, meaningful than if it were to come from the top down, so that’s how we decided it would be given out by fellow team members.”
Jennifer, designer and notorious woman of few words, has received the Terry Z more than anyone else on the team. When asked for a comment on her sentiments toward the trophy she requested that I look up a famous acceptance speech and credit it to her. Well played and respected.
- Another marketing award that gets passed around is the DAds Pimp Cup. Again, yes, that’s its name. Some explanation — DAds is the Digital Ads arm of the marketing team and the pimp cup is, well, a pimp cup. We found it on Walmart’s website and knew that it was somethin’ special, in all its bejeweled glory. The Pimp Cup ceremony takes place the first Monday of each month during the DAds team meeting. The award can be given to members of the team or other CoCam employees that have busted their butts for the digital ads cause that past month. Rather than one single person awarding the pimp cup to another individual, the team hosts a discussion and decides collectively who has earned the honor to hold the pimp cup for the next month.
The Development Team:
Development’s only reward is creating a kickass product that our customers love. They’re not big on the material things in life, and would rather be rewarded for a job well done with a sturdy high-five and stiff drink a la Kevin.
Not to be that employee, but the culture of CompanyCam is really the best thing about working here. Sure, a steady paycheck and benefits are great perks, but working with people who make sure you feel valued and the work you do is appreciated makes a world of difference. When you’re constantly hearing stories about startups where everyone just kinda hates each other, it’s nice to know CompanyCam is creating an environment where you’re seen and heard and #cherished by the people around you.
Good job doing your job, folks.
