Gather Spotlight - February 2017
Hey there, co-workers! This month's Spotlight was tons o' fun and whether you weren't able to attend or you want to review what you saw yesterday, we're here with the coverage of yesterday's Gather Spotlight.
Out the gate we started with Robin Green, president of Sandler Training-- he stepped away from the podium and took an up-close-and-personal approach to telling us all about who he is and what he does. 
Straight from Robin's LinkedIn:
"Sandler Training is a leading global sales and management training organization. Our clients are ambitious business owners of all sizes and sectors, who are committed to growing their companies.
We give salespeople the tools to be effective sales professionals, giving them the skills and confidence to find and close business. We give management the tools to lead and manage their people and develop high performing teams. "
Robin said that he takes "a different approach to sales," going on to say that the customer 'treats us like salespeople because we act like salespeople. [...] Stop trying to convince people to buy what you're selling; you can't convince people to buy -- you can only help them discover." Compelling stuff!
Check out their website here!
Next up is Dave Jasinksi, owner of Chesapeake Environmental Communications.
Dave spoke quite a bit on the need for a greater level of communication between the science community and the general public; and as a matter of fact, if you take a look at their website, here, the first thing you'll see in big, bold letters is "WE BRIDGE THE GAP BETWEEN SCIENCE & UNDERSTANDING." Such effort is greatly applauded and even moreso, greatly *needed!*
Straight from their website: "Effective communication allows science to both capture the imagination and be applied to real-world decisions. CEC helps our clients identify and deliver their messages to meet their objectives, from stakeholder engagement to addressing regulatory actions. Our team develops curated scientific content to clearly explain technical concepts, creates custom graphics, and builds content delivery mechanisms."
Of the many interesting talking points addressed in his presentation, Dave mentioned an environmental iBook put together by his company; a "living document," a *free,* interactive textbook regarding the Chesapeake Bay. The "Chesapeake Bay Ecosystem Atlas - An Interactive Guide to Chesapeake Bay" can be found here.
Last --but never least-- we finished with Ryan Leach, CEO of Stratos.
The name of Ryan's --and Stratos'-- game is the "Vinnsulator." The Vinnsulator is a vacuum-sealed bottle that will keep hot drinks hot for 12 hours and cold drinks cold for 24. The product is somewhat new to the market, but with their thoroughly thought-out design as well as their remarkably convenient and accommodating customization options, their sales are through the roof!
Ryan started out working for Vector Marketing, selling Cutco knives-- particularly en masse as branded gifts for businesses to give away. When some conflict arose that would cut his comission in half, he decided to start his own company. Bravo!
He even gave away three of his Vinnsulators at the end of his presentation, and at least one person purchased one on the spot! If you're itching to have one like everybody else, walk --don't run!-- to their website right here.
