Recently HPM was honored with The Best In Business award by the Small Business Commerce Association.  A fine honor, to be sure!  They sent me a lovely notice that I was able to integrate into a timely press release which has been distributed all over the world, and back again!  I've received kudos from as far away as the middle-east, and as close as just down the street.

So I got to thinking, wow, people take this kind of thing pretty seriously; "Winning" is a big deal!  I mean, if someone's willing to take the time to notice something about HPM and then take even more time to send me a congratulatory note, "Winning" must hold some meaning that I better not diminish.  I definitely don't want the Universe to think of me as ungrateful because I am not; I deliberately and consciously live a life of gratitude, hoping that I don't take very much for granted.  Since I'm not perfect, it's obvious that I don't acknowledge all the goodness and abundance in my life, but I hope I do a progressively better and better job of noticing and being grateful each day.

So what does winning this award mean to me?  It means I now have an opportunity to publically do what I did privately-to acknowledge and thank each person on staff who makes HPM the company it is; without these amazing human beings HPM wins nothing.  Really.

In purely alphabetical order of their first name, I offer my love and gratitude to:

Anne Johnson, our TV PI Specialist.  Anne is as kind as she is tireless in her efforts and results for HPM!  She opened up TV for our agency and continues to build our reach into this very important platform!

Janelle Hutter, our Database Specialist.  Jan's so detail oriented and careful that she has an accuracy rate of something like 99.998%... as flawless as a human being can get.... in an environment that demands accuracry, Janelle excels!

Jennifer Seelig, our Chief Finance Specialist.  Jennifer brought her significant accounting background and made an instant impact on helping me get a clearer grasp of the financial consequences to the company's actions.  She's better than a bean-counter because she allows for the human element in the numbers!

Paul Leonardi, our Traffic Specialist.  Paul's attention to detail in making sure the right media outlet receives the correct media is pretty much unparalleled in the industry.  I think along with Janelle, he sports an accuracy rate of upwards of 99.998%... just amazing!

Rian Wing, who runs our Quality Control area.  Rian and his team are responsible for making sure every toll-free number we manager rings to the correct end-point... the right call center, the right client... so that our cients and media partners know that our reporting is 100% accurate.

Rod Simas, our Data Processing Specialist.  Rod is a software engineer who has learned the PI Advertising business and now guides the weekly lead-processing system through its paces every week.  He's created cross-checks and internal audits that uncover call center reporting errors and allow us to approach 100% accuracy in reporting to our Media Partners!

Roger Eon, Jr.  Roger, or more casually known as "Gator" is our Media Development and Affiliate Relations master!  His mastery is love, if you will!  He loves our media partners, loves finding new media partners, loves the relationships he's developed... and serves as the primary resource for HPM's Media Partners.  Gator knows media, but even more importantly, Gator knows people and loves them!

Stephanie Klein, our Operations Specialist.  Steph is the single point of entry for so much of what goes on within HPM, she is the glue that holds so much of who we are, together.  Steph is the guardian of processes and systems, which to me, is the mark of a truly professional organization.  Steph's keen eye, and talents for getting things done more quickly than any human being I know, are just a few reasons for which I'm thankful!

So, as you can see, HPM is truly a "Winner"... and for all these reasons and people.  It's an award that superficially might look really cool.  It's only when you begin to peel back the layers and see the substance behind it do you get a sense of just how great this company is!

And I'm grateful for it all!