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I am fortunate enough to wear several hats for Optima. My primary responsibility is managing and supporting the sales force and support staff. I believe in giving my team specific directives on how to conduct themselves and conduct business, and then encourage them to use their own talents and skills to implement those directives. I am also very fortunate to deal with our customers (those who sign my paycheck!). I travel 50% of the year and truly enjoy interacting with customers - it is one of the most enjoyable elements of my job. I also routinely work with Customer Service, Marketing, R&D, and Production to ensure that products and services purchased from Optima are superior to any other source.I am originally from Wisconsin (yes, I do like cheese) graduated from Beloit College in '91 with a degree in English and minor in Journalism. My goal was to be a TV weather man in Las Vegas - how hard can it be to stand in front of a Blue Screen and read the forecast every day - hot and 110! Seemed so simple. However, I got side tracked and started selling tradeshow displays and in 1996 joined the Optima sales team. In 2000, I left briefly to work on the custom side of the business for Exhibitgroup / Giltspur and returned to Optima in 2002.I have a wonderful wife and two hilarious children who put a smile on my face every day. I enjoy triathlons with my claim to fame being completion of an IronMan triathlon in 2005 - it made for a long day. I know swim competitively in a Masters program and am training to swim the English Channel. I enjoy a good challenge, I guess that is why I like the tradeshow business, but the idea of swimming 21 miles in the busiest shipping channel in the world seems like fun. As a consolation with my wife, I have had to promise that I will never attempt to climb Mount Everest - so for now, the ichallenge is the channel. | 