We set up an email account years ago called thecrew@. I liked the sound of it. It said to me we are a down-to-earth company. It said that not one person, but all of us care about what we are doing and your success. And it wasn't info@ either. I often fantasized about a customer talking about "the crew" over at SendLabs. It sounds personal and real. Sounds like we're a bit closer to our customers than a regular customer/vendor relationship and that's exactly what we're after.

With that said, I figured it was time to get personal and talk a little bit about "the crew" here. I want you to know who's doing what on our team each day to help you become a better email marketer. (I also want you to know who to blame when things go wrong. Just kidding.) This post will be of course my view of the crew, so understand, these descriptions are biased. If you work with us already, maybe you have your own impressions and I'd love to hear them. In this first post, I am going to tackle introducing you to a couple of smart fellas in particular. Here goes...

First up, let's meet Mike Longver.

Mike is one of the co-founders and the Director of Technology. Mike eats, sleeps and breathes anything technology. I like to think that Mike provides a lot of the confidence around here, even if everyone doesn't fully appreciate or understand it at times. When I think of technology, I guess that is what it is supposed to do: go unnoticed. So in a way, Mike has a thankless job. He ensures all systems are running smoothly and that the right technologies are in place. When we internally, or a customer, is facing a technical challenge, there is no one's opinion I want more than Mike's. Now that said, he can be stubborn (for the right reasons), a little off the beaten path (again, seems to be for good reasons at the end), but in the end, give Mike enough dwell time and he'll come up with the right approach - guaranteed.

Next up, Steve Wheeler.

Besides being a good friend, I like to think Steve is the voice of reason around here. Let's face it: when you're trying to do great things as a team, there will be times when emotions run high. People get passionate. Disagreements happen. No one I know has the ability to keep emotions in check better than Steve. This doesn't mean he isn't a passionate guy. Steve has firm convictions. I guess the thing coolest about the way he goes about things is that he also balances his beliefs, knowing that he doesn't know everything and keeps a humble let's solve this together approach. With Steve, all ideas are welcome. So what the heck does he do here? Steve does a lot. His core responsibility is on the technology and support side of our company. As our Director of Deliverability, Steve is the guy who is on a first-name basis with the ISP's and corporations helping our customers and our delivery servers maintain a great reputation and ultimately get emails into the inbox.

At the end of the day and as a group, the crew here is made up of dedicated, good and smart people. In my next post, I will try and pick on a few others floating around this office.