Our Team Has Grown Again

As we mentioned in yesterdays post, we're committed to you and your event and in order to provide you with the best service possible, we've added to our team again. As with every company, there comes a time to grow. And that’s what is happening at Synergetic! Back in March we hired a new project manager, a new warehouse manager and promoted one of our other employees and we owe all of that growth to you, our customers and partners!

Michael Kirch is our new Project Manager. Michael will be handling all of the details on our production jobs once they have been booked. Many of you will be hearing from him now that he is completely up to speed on our processes. He comes from an extensive background in production - both touring and stage, so he is the perfect fit and will help us grow even more.

Zackery Ritter is now managing our warehouse and handling all of the gear for every event. Zack also comes from a solid production background and has all of the skills needed to make each event perfect.

Nikki Kennedy is now our administrative assistant. Many of you are used to Joan, but in February, she decided to do something a little different with her career. Nikki stepped right in and has been a huge asset! Almost everyone of our clients, partners and prospective clients will get a chance to talk to her.

Make sure you introduce yourself to each of them, ask some questions and get to know them. We want all of you to know who is on our team and what their roles are.

Thank you for your continued trust in us. It is because of that trust that we can hire new people, when others seem to be letting go. It is because of you that we can do what we love everyday! Thank you, from all of us at Synergetic!

The Men of Synergetic

We're finally ready to spill the info on the thing we've been hinting at for a few months now.

A few of our photographer friends mentioned that it could be fun to do a calendar featuring the “Men of Synergetic.” After a few laughs, we figured, why not? So after some brainstorming and getting some friends involved, we decided to do the calendar and donate all of the proceeds from the sale of it to a charity.

After getting the ball rolling and putting the key players in place, we took some time and put some serious thought into where we wanted the money to go. We try to give back multiple times a year and we always make sure to do so locally. We ultimately decided that we wanted all proceeds to go to the Philadelphia Ronald McDonald House. Every one of us is a kid at heart and want to do everything we can to help others enjoy a safe, happy and healthy childhood. We love what the Philadelphia Ronald McDonald House provides and stands for and we are thrilled to be able to help them in their mission.

The Philadelphia Ronald McDonald House provides a home away from home for families of children with life-threatening illnesses receiving care at local Philadelphia hospitals. The House also runs the Ronald McDonald Camp in the Poconos for oncology patients and their siblings as well as two Family Rooms in the Oncology and Cardiac Centers at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia to provide respite space for families away from the bedside. For more information please visit their website.

For a $10 donation ($13 if you'd like us to ship it to you), you can have your very own calendar! Checks can be made out to Synergetic Sound and Lighting or you can call with credit card information. Our ultimate goal is to donate $2500, so please help us to reach that goal! If you have any questions or are interested please email me, beckyd@synergeticsounds.com.

-Becky

The Synergetic family has a new member

Jessica, one of our lighting designer's and her husband Ryan welcomed baby RJ on October 31. He was a healthy 8 pounds, 5 ounces! He loves listening to music just like his Uncle Jay and he loves to look at lights. Jessica said being a mom is the best experience in the world but the most tiring! We're so happy for them and wish them all the best!

A DJ in training

An Eagles fan from the start!

-Becky

Our better halves

One of the commonly overlooked aspects of this business is how the other people in our lives are affected by what we do. Every weekend we go to work and leave behind our wives, husbands, girlfriends, boyfriends, etc., and work the hours most people have off. We work nights, weekends, holidays, and all through the summer. And for the most part, our better halves never complain - and often go without thanks. This is to acknowledge them and to let them know that I, as well as everyone else in the Synergetic family and our clients appreciate them. We appreciate your understanding and support. It means a lot to all of us, but even more so to me, because I am the one who pushes for us to grow every year.

So to all of our significant others - thank you!

-Jason

Synergetic Staff - Becky

One of the keys to our success is that we always try to be one step ahead when it comes to our marketing. And a lot of (alright almost all of) that responsibility falls on Becky. She is the one who makes sure people know about us and are up to date with everything we do.

Becky has been with our team since 2008 and has made a great impact. We have always had great ideas, but never anyone to carry them out. With Becky, all these ideas are now becoming reality. In fact, you have probably all received an email or phone call from her at some point, maybe even several phone calls! So now, if you haven't had the chance to meet her, you can put a face with the name/voice.

The only down side to her is that she isn’t a Philadelphia sports fan! Ugh, I know. Our office is always in a debate when it comes to talking sports. But we forgive her!

She and her husband Matt welcomed their baby girl into the world back in December. She is such a cutie.

-Jason

(Thanks so much to Jenn Childress for taking this beautiful picture of Addie and I. -Becky)

Synergetic is happy to welcome Kelly Devlin to the team!

Well we can finally say it! We are so happy to announce that Kelly Devlin has joined our team. For the last 6 months, we have been looking for the perfect person to add to our DJ/Lighting sales team. We didn’t want to just hire anyone, so we took our time and made sure that the person we hired would be a perfect fit, and Kelly was.

Kelly brings a lot of event experience to our team. She started at Conroy Catering in 2004 as a sales person and then a few years later, the sales team took over the planning as well, so she worked with her clients from before they booked until the week of their wedding. We have worked with Conroy catering for a long time so Kelly knows well what we do and who we are as a company - she also knows most of the key players in the company. And on top of that, she has been recommending our company for over 4 years now, so she knows what our core beliefs are.

All of our clients (past and present), prospective clients and fellow industry professionals will be better served now that we have Kelly on our team. We can’t wait till she is fully up to speed and ready to go. Make sure to email her to say hi at kellyd@synergeticsounds.com.

We are excited to be growing as a company and have the ability to expand our team, especially in a time when so many jobs are being cut. We are able to do this thanks to you our clients (past and present), our fellow industry professionals and friends. Thank you for supporting our company and allowing all of us to do what we love!

A little about Kelly-
Kelly started at Conroy in 2004 with no background in catering/events. She was unhappy with the direction her job at the time was going and decided she needed a change. She kept thinking about what she loved to do and what she could see herself doing – and it involved events/weddings! She lived in the neighborhood where Knowlton Mansion is located and just loved it. She started to talk to her boss at Knowlton, Jenn, not to look for a job, but to get some insight into the industry. They met a few times over the course of a year, and then Jenn called one day out of the blue and said they had a position open and offered her a job.

Kelly met Jason within the first 6 months of working at Conroy. She saw Jason and the Synergetic team working events and knew they rocked! Jason also did a few of her friend’s weddings - she knew that Synergetic was a company she could recommend not just to her brides, but to her personal friends.

Kelly was born and raised in Philadelphia – went to Cardinal Dougherty and LaSalle University. She is obsessed with the Phillies, she loves to shop, she loved the beach and she loves to read.

Make sure to say hi the next time you call the office. We're so glad to welcome Kelly to our team!

Synergetic Staff- Dana

One of the many things we love about what we do is that we can give people the opportunity to learn about business and what it is like in the “real world." Okay, so were not the biggest business and probably don’t have the most “real world" experience, but for a high school student, we're not a bad place to start.

Each year, we hire a high school junior or senior, who wants to learn more about business, to come in and do all the little things that we need done. In return, they get to be a part of our weekly meetings, planning sessions and watch us run the business. It is a great learning experience for them and allows them to see how a small business operates.

This past year, we had Dana. She just graduated from Nazareth Academy and has helped us out tremendously. From small data entry tasks to bigger, more complicated marketing concepts, she has been a part of our team that we will surely miss. Dana will be attending the University of Scranton next semester and we wish her well!

Thanks for all of your hard work Dana! We hope you enjoyed your time with us at Synergetic and we hope you will come visit us!

-Jason

May Employee of the Month - Ed

Every month Jason chooses an employee of the month - someone who stands out among all of our (fantastic) employees. Jason sends out periodic updates to the staff and always includes the employee of the month, we also have an "employye of the month" section in each of our Newsletters.

We deicded it was time to share our employee of the month with all of our readers here and our fans on facebook as well. Not only do you all deserve to know, but our employee of the month deserves to be "shown off."

So, the Synergetic employee of the month for May is Ed.

"It would be impossible for Aaron to do everything when it comes to getting our events ready and packed each week. So in steps Ed.

On the weekends he is one of our lead production guys and during the week, you can find him out back in our wharehouse handling all the little things that Aaron needs help with.

Ed is a tough guy who played quarterback in highschool and college, so he knows how to lead and can handle a lot - which is good because we throw a lot at him! You can’t imagine what our warehouse looks like on a Monday after 20+ events! Sometimes I really feel bad for him.

Needless to say, when we play our annual football game every year, he is always the quarterback, and does his best to make us look good.
-Jason"

Congrats Ed! Keep up the good work!
-Becky

Synergetic Staff- Aaron

A companies success almost always goes hand in hand with their sales team - the people constantly getting business and bringing in the revenue. But the sales team can only do so much. Once the job is sold, it is time for the real work to begin. In steps Aaron. Aaron is the magic behind getting 30 shows a weekend to run flawlessly. He makes sure that each job is fully prepared and equipped. Many people never see him, but he always busy planning, preparing and managing our upcoming events.

Every company needs someone like Aaron . We are lucky to have found him and appreciate all that he does for us. Next time you stop by the office, if you see a guy with long, rock star hair who kinda looks like Steve Perry, that’s Aaron. Make sure you say hello!

-Jason

Goodbye ... till March

As of 4:00today I am officially on maternity leave. My husband and I are expecting a baby girl, due December 26. We are extremely excited and could not ask for a better gift! I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season and a happy new year! I look forward to speaking with you again in March, when I will be back in the office full time!

Thanks so much to my friend Jen (http://www.jencleary.com/) for the picture!

-Becky

Synergetic Staff- Joan

In 2007, we realized we needed some help doing the day to day things. So we set out to find an administrative assistant to help us with contracts, answering phones, getting the events organized, etc. Two years later, she's still here and is a vital part of our company. Her name is Joan.

When she first started here, she didn’t know much about the special event industry. But, little by little, she picked it up. Today, she is a great first person for our clients and potential clients to speak to. With us, it is the little things that count, because all of those little things add up. Being prepared is just as important as doing a good job, and Joan makes sure we are prepared and headed in the right direction.

Joan is a huge Philadelphia sports fan. Depending on the season, you'll find her sporting her jersey or talking about the game from the night before. She has a wonderful family and sings in her church choir.

Next time you call in, make sure to chat with her a bit. She will be more then happy to talk to you about your event and give you information.

-Jason

Synergetic Staff- Matt Blank

If you've called the office inquiring about our DJ's, you've talked to him. If you read the last few issues of Brides Magazine, you have seen his song suggestions. And if you have been to one of his receptions, you danced.

Here's the scoop on Matt. He graduated from Millersville in 2005 and since then has worked for us full time as a DJ and our General Manager. He is one of the biggest reasons our company is as successful as it is - and I think that is mostly due to the fact that he cares. He really spends time with potential clients and clients to better understand what they want, what they need for their reception and address any questions or concerns they may have. He gets a lot of phone calls from potential clients thinking they're going to hear the same thing from Matt that they heard from the last company they called, but by the time they hang up, they know who we are and what they can expect from us and they feel much more comfortable.

I can also tell you first hand that he is one of the friendliest people I know. Matt is always up for making people laugh, making sure everyone is enjoying themselves and dancing. And he can dance. And not just your typical dancing, he can bring some serious salsa and meringue!

Matt is also a huge Philadelphia sports fan. He's a Phillies season ticket holder and he goes to at least 2 Eagles games a year and always gets us to sponsor local charity golf outings. Matt and Becky work across the hall from one another, and this Phillies thing is killing her (if you've forgotten, she's a Mets fan)!

Oh and the man can cook. All kinds of things too. Our office is always filled with the aroma of the meal he made the night before.

Hopefully if you haven't already, you'll get the chance to chat with him soon.

-Jason

Synergetic Staff - Becky

Throughout the next couple of months, I thought I would tell you a little bit about our staff. These are the people that you email with, talk to on the phone, and greet you when you come in. These are also the people that make our company what it is, and the seven of them are awesome! So I figured it was time to formally introduce them.

First up Becky, our Sales and Marketing Manager.
Becky, and her baby, yes, she is pregnant and is due at the end of December. Becky handles all kinds of information in our company, but her most important role is getting our brand out there. She follows up with all of the professionals we work with, attends networking events, manages all of our marketing components and still has time to do a whole boat load of other things.

She does however have a few bad qualities - for example, she's a New York Mets fan - but hey, she wasn't born in Philadelphia, so I can't really hold it against her.

-Jason