Benson & Associates - What's News?

With the Holiday season upon us, the Benson & Associates team would like to thank you for continuing to choose us as your Information Technology partner. We’ve had a very busy year and have welcomed many new clients and staff into the fold. In order to get to know our new employees better, we have asked our new and old employees to give us a hint as to what is on their Christmas Lists – but we will not divulge whether they are on the Naughty List or the Nice List. The big man in red (not Kris Benson) is the only one who knows…

Guang Xin (Leon) started with us in September and has been busy with network device upgrades for some of our clients. He is also a whiz at server virtualization and network restructuring.

His wish list: I would like to have a new network storage device (1 or 2 Terabytes) to share pictures, movies and games with house mates. It streams music, photos and video to existing network media players without a computer and, also, it can be used to back up the data. (He’s also REALLY into remote controlled helicopters.)

Aimee Wong, graphic designer extraordinaire, has been busy designing websites, logos, marketing packages and branding packages for our clients. Her keen eye and excellent technical skills have made her invaluable to the team, and we love her new design of our own website, www.bensonit.ca.

Her wish list: She would love a Powerbag Deluxe Charging Backpack, which would let her charge her iPhone, Galaxy Note, and laptop while she’s on the move. Second on her list was a combination toaster/egg maker.

Gillian Eichel (that’s me) has been busy writing newsletters, creating SEO-friendly copy for client websites, and getting immersed in the Search Engine Optimization and Google Analytics world to monitor and improve client website traffic.

Dear Santa: I would like a “Fix It!” button for all of the websites I see that display poor grammar and terrible spelling - of course, none that WE have built! My inner grammarian dies a little death every time.

Cesar Rueda joined us in May and has been an integral part of the team for our Drayton Valley customers. We even received a (totally unsolicited) testimonial from a client who said, “He takes the time to listen, explain, and communicate any changes that he needs to make. He is very prompt on returning calls or helping us out when needed”. Way to go, Cesar!

His wish list: Tablet Asus 810. Why: Because it is an indispensable tool to do my job. With the 4G capabilities it allows me to support clients at any time and from anywhere, quick and easy.

Kimhai Tang joined us in July and quickly became our “man on the move”. He has been busy travelling from B.C to Ontario on a major project for one of our national clients, and expects to be in the Maritimes early next year.
He would like a handheld UV Detection lamp for all those hotel stays.

Jeff Galbraith became our go-to guy in Edmonton and area in April. He spends most of his time performing on-site maintenance and break-fixes for our Edmonton clients, as well as spearheading various IT projects for Benson & Associates in central Alberta.
Jeff wins for coolest gift request: a 3D printer such as the Makerbot Replicator 2 (http://store.makerbot.com/replicator2.html) It prints plastic 3D objects – he wants to “print” endless toys for him and his son, and also to replace the knob on the washing machine that broke off. At a cost of approximately $2200, I think duct tape would be cheaper.

Will Long joined our team in September, and has spent time at several of our local clients for onsite Managed Service, as well as travelling to various locations for other project work. His participation in the Benson & Associates annual Movember Moustache competition was… well… just plain creepy.
His Christmas list has a bunch of classic vinyl LP’s on it. He is indeed a Renaissance man.

Brandon Peek-Philpott became our newest employee in October, and has quickly become indispensable to both our clients and our office staff. Like all of our dedicated technicians, much of his time is spent doing onsite Managed service at client locations, as well as being involved in networking and deployment projects.
His wish list includes Havana Club Dark Rum and “any sort of Lego (because Lego is awesome)”. Santa has requested Brandon’s ID to see if he is old enough for the rum.

Ashley Butler took over the cattle prod as our Office Manager in August. She keeps very busy making sure this place runs as smoothly as possible – with our motley crew it’s a challenge. She is expecting a very special arrival in April (Congratulations Ashley!), and has declined our offer of a water birth in the Benson Boardroom.
She wants the new Surface tablet because she thinks it’s cool, and she can also download every baby book ever written. “Benson” is at the top of the list of the office baby name pool.

Dom Garieri has been a master of all trades this year, busy setting up virtual servers virtually everywhere, and getting his hands dirty in the Microsoft Exchange world. For some reason we can’t figure out, our clients continue to enjoy working with him, so I guess we’ll keep him on a bit longer.
Dear Santa, Dom wants a Galaxy S3 and an iPhone5. I think he’s being greedy. On a side note: The Galaxy beat out the iPhone for best device of 2012 according to CNet (Galaxy S3 beats iPhone 5 for best device of 2012 | - CNET Blogs).

John Dawson continues to service our clients in Kelowna, and manages not to tease us too much about our weather. We welcomed some new clients in Kelowna this year, and he’s enjoying introducing them to the great Benson & Associates team.
His wish list: A cast iron skillet. And an adult sized onesie with feet.

Kris Benson, our fearless leader, has been busier than ever this year. His focus on building up our team, expanding our client base and fostering mutually beneficial relationships has resulted in unprecedented growth for Benson & Associates in 2012. He is finally going to get some downtime with a trip to the ranch for some peace and quiet, and maybe a little hunting. He’s hoping to get to Phoenix after Christmas for some warm weather and golf.
His wish list: Continued success and exciting new opportunities for all in the New Year. Oh, and some funky socks.

We wish you all a very Merry Christmas, and a fantastic New Year!

The team at Benson & Associates