Awards – Passionate Opinions

ocsst08 Awards…Did you know that this is one of my greatest passions? Awards, yup the ones that you should receive when you have gone above and beyond. Here is the story. I used to work for a company and I was in sales. In fact, I was their top salesperson for this year. I was very excited. The hubby was staying home with the kids, I had a new dress and my hair was styled. I drove to Palm Springs from Newport Beach and was singing all the way. I arrived in time to socialize with people I only saw at these functions. The evening was about to begin. By the way, this event was an award ceremony for the promotional product industry. The awards in the past were nice. But I was starting to line up the same awards year after year. I must admit I was hoping for something different. When you’re in this industry you are aware of what is available. The evening started. This year they gave all of us leather portfolios. I sell these so I had several but this one was nice and had my name debossed on it. The next awards were also leather portfolios. Gee, I had two now. Soon the time came for the big awards to be handed out. I was called on stage and a speech began about how well I did and what I accomplished. I felt so special. Then it became clear that I was not going to receive anything special. They handed me a bigger portfolio and I look at it and my name is not spelled correctly and it is just handed to me. The audience was applauding and then they said to me oh and you also are being awarded the highest volume stellar award. They handed me the exact same thing they gave me for the highest volume. I now had four leather portfolios that were stacked on the table. No special presentation or packaging. I was not impressed. I did not feel special. I was not honored for all my hard work. I enjoyed seeing my old friends and we all discussed the way they presented the awards. I did not feel that the company put any thought into the awards for the evening and they were in the business. So I drive home the next day and come into the house with my awards. I express to my husband what had happened and he said, “why don’t you become an Awardpro”. This is the day that Awardpro was born. I want to make a difference. To be continued…