WorkSmart strives to be the premier provider of IT services. With colleagues like Eric, this initiative is possible.

“Eric has been a great addition to our team.  His ability to stay on top of all the different service calls and coordinate the appropriate Consultant for each task and this keeps our office running smoothly, “said Greg Miller, WorkSmart General Manager of the Charlotte office.  He continued with a smile, “With his English major, he is very capable of communicating with everyone.

Eric joined the WorkSmart team in May of 2010 with the TECHie acquisition.  As the Client Support Coordinator, Eric is extremely busy making sure all appointments run are scheduled and run smoothly.  He is also rather busy being “green” as he enforces the recycling policies in the Charlotte office.  As noted earlier in the quote from Greg Miller, Eric has a reputation amongst his colleagues for being witty but always prepared to give a straight answer.  For everyone with a soft spot for new parents, Eric and his wife recently welcomed their first child, Matthew - one of two new babies in the Charlotte office.

In order for you to get to know him better, we’ve asked him to complete the following survey.  Although he missed his submission deadline by eight minutes, we will still post his answers!

Hometown:   Charleston, WV aka “no, the other Charleston”

Favorite Kool-Aid Flavor:   don’t they all taste like sugar?

If you could have theme music, what would it be? Jimmy McGriff - Electric Funk

Favorite Beverage: black coffee

If you could change your name, what would it be to?  Sylvester McMonkey McBean. That guy was a genius.

Any cool or “hidden” talents? I enjoy speaking in pop culture references, but that is a talent neither hidden nor cool.

If you could be on a TV show, what would it be? I’d like to emcee a reality TV show where celebrity guest hosts travel to different TV studios and fire the executives that green-light reality TV shows.

Favorite TV Series:  current: Community, 30 Rock.  All time:  Arrested Development, Mystery Science Theater 3000

Favorite Band/Music Artist: noise rock, metal, anything with a lot of drums and down-tuned guitars.

If you have to choose a movie title for your life story, what would it be? Stranger Than Paradise

Favorite Hobby: reading

Do you prefer sneakers over flip flops? No

If you could be any animal, what would you be? Shark, eagle, ocelot - anything at the top of its food chain

Favorite board game: Life, when I was a kid.  Same as my favorite cereal.

Do you have or wish you had a catch phrase?  What would it be: Rule #1: it’s probably a DNS issue.

Favorite day of the week and why:  Saturday because I get some extra hang-out time with my family.

Do you play any musical instruments? I’m a steering wheel percussionist.

What is the color of your car? Black

Can you sing? Yes, if provoked

What do you wish you were doing right now?   Hiking in the NC mountains

One place you could travel right now (doesn’t need to be realistic): Pyongyang - the least realistic place on earth.

At the beach, would you rather play in the sand, or play in the water? I would rather sit on the sand and stare at the water.

Words of Wisdom: I pulled this one out of a fortune cookie: “The greatest danger could be your stupidity.”

Eric noted on his survey, “Arthur C. Clarke said that ‘any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.’  That’s what I love about tech support: every once in a while, what we do looks like magic.”

WorkSmart strives to be the premier provider in Information Technology services. With colleagues like Stefan, this initiative is possible.

“The ability to adapt quickly is important at WorkSmart. It is easy to get lost in the Support Center during the first few weeks, but Stefan just jumped right in. It was as if he’d been here for months.” - Tyler Coburn, WorkSmart Support Center Representative

Stefan is one of the newest members to the WorkSmart team; he added his customer service skills to the Support Center in March of 2010. His family-oriented mindset makes him dependable and comfortable on the phones. Not to mention, his humor brings laughter to the office.

In order for you to get to know him better, we asked him a few questions. Here are his answers:

Hometown: Montreal, Canada

Favorite Kool-Aid Flavor: Iced Blue Raspberry

Favorite Beverage: Orangina

If you could change your name, what would it be to? Damien

Any cool or “hidden” talents? Unofficial master of the 6-degrees movie game and the “Scene it” game. Can also bend just my fingertips and blow air out of my eyes.

If you could be on a TV show, what would it be? Wammy

Favorite TV Series: Burn Notice

Favorite Band/Music Artist: Bela Fleck

If you have to choose a movie title for your life story, what would it be? Canadian Bacon

Favorite Hobby: Paintball

Do you prefer sneakers over flip flops? Yes

If you could be any animal, what would you be? Orangutan

Favorite board game: Backgammon

Do you have or wish you had a catch phrase? What would it be: “Missed it by thhhhhat much.”

Favorite day of the week and why: Any day BUT Tuesday. Tuesdays are the devil.

Do you play any musical instruments? Trumpet, mouth harp

What is the color of your car? Yellow

Can you sing? Sure

What do you wish you were doing right now? Swinging in a hammock somewhere in Wilmington with my girl

One place you could travel right now (doesn’t need to be realistic): Fiji

At the beach, would you rather play in the sand, or play in the water? Play in the water

Words of Wisdom (or quote you like): Experience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes.

Anything else you would like to comment on? Bees….they’re everywhere. Our weapons are useless against them.

Three of WorkSmart’s team members joined Habitat for Humanity of Wake County on Friday, April 16 for a charity Deconstruction event. Joined by other Triangle-based business people and the Habitat for Humanity Deconstruction team, WorkSmart helped gather useable building materials from a residential home being torn down. These salvaged materials are donated to the Habitat Restore who will then sell the building materials at a lower cost to the general public, using the profits to help build Habitat Homes within the community.

“It was a great experience,” noted WorkSmart’s Client Engagement Assistant, Marissa Libman. “Rather than simply donating money to a great cause, I donated my time and ‘broke a sweat’ to help families in need.”

For more information on donating through a Habitat for Humanity Deconstruction event, visit http://www.habitatwake.org/donatenow/decon.html.

WorkSmart policies allow team members to take one day off per calendar year to volunteer. We believe it is important for our organization to give back to the communities.

WorkSmart strives to be the premier provider in Information Technology services. With colleagues like Andrew, this initiative is possible.

“Andrew keeps the Charlotte office running. He is willing to contribute his technical abilities as well as his time to help things run smoothly. Andrew is very professional has does a great job of assisting clients over the phone.” - Greg Miller, WorkSmart General Manager of the Charlotte Office

As WorkSmart’s Web Developer since 2006, Andrew works with many of our client’s ensuring that their web presence is strong. Although he mainly contributes to client web development projects, he also is integral in marketing efforts by providing html expertise. Despite the pressure from living in North Carolina, Andrew is an avid Chicago Bears and Cubs fan. He has an autographed - “post-retirement” - Mark Grace jersey that was made possible by contacting Grace’s agent. Andrew is also one of two WorkSmart team members that originally started working in a different office than where he is now (he moved from our Durham office to the Charlotte office).

“I can always count on Andrew to provide quality work, especially last minute! His skills are essential in making final products of my ideas and designs.” Client Engagement Assistant and Marketing Coordinator, Marissa Libman.

In order for you to get to know him better, we’ve asked him to complete the following survey. It took some effort on our part, but please enjoy!

Hometown: Chicago
Favorite Popsicle Flavor: Orange
Favorite Soda Flavor: Dr. Pepper
If you could change your name, what would it be to? I happen to like my name!
Favorite Subject From High School: Math/Science
If you could be on a TV show, what would it be? House
Favorite TV Series: Family Guy/24/House/Pardon the Interruption
Favorite Band/Music Artist: Massive Attack
If you have to choose a movie title for your life story, what would it be? RockNRolla
Favorite Hobby: Watching sports, video games.
Any pets? If yes, please list names! Dog, my doberman Gypsy.
Favorite board game: If by board game you mean card game, Apples to Apples.
Do you have or wish you had a catch phrase? What would it be: N/A
Favorite day of the week and why: Friday, because I have the weekend to look forward to!
Do you play any musical instruments? Not anymore, used to play the drums.
Can you sing? Not a chance!
Do you play any sports? Used to play football, basketball, baseball, and now all I do is run.
Do you have any hidden talents? I think they are hidden from me as well.
What do you wish you were doing right now? Watching the Cubs win the World Series.
One place you could travel right now (doesn’t need to be realistic): Fiji
At the beach, would you rather play in the sand, or play in the water? Definitely play in the sand.
Words of Wisdom (or quote you like): “Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.” ~Albert Einstein

“Congrats you made it to the end of my spotlight!” Andrew Pawlowsk

WorkSmart strives to be the premier provider in Information Technology services. With colleagues like Rick, this initiative is possible.

“Rick Henson has great customer service skills and all of our clients love to work with Rick. He also provides back office support to many of our consultants and knowledge and skill helps WorkSmart keep thousands of computers, servers and backup devices running correctly.” - Greg Miller, WorkSmart’s General Manager of the Charlotte Operations.

Rick is an extremely important member of the WorkSmart team. Although he sits in the Charlotte office, Rick often collaborates with our Durham Support Center team. His colleagues describe his as dependable and dedicated, especially since he is always in the office early and works late - and then brings work home with him. Rick was a member of Carolina Technology Solutions’ team for just short of three years when the company was acquired by WorkSmart in April of 2009.

“Rick understands that delivering industry leading customer service and support is paramount in the company’s success. It is clear that he is a leader in executing on this initiative of WorkSmart’s.” - Scott Ashley, WorkSmart Business Advisor

In order for you to get to know him better, we asked him a few questions. Here are his answers:

Hometown: Endicott, NY - the Birthplace of IBM

Favorite Popsicle Flavor: Raspberry

Favorite Beverage: Starbuck’s Café’ Mocha

If you could change your name, what would it be to? Bill Gates Jr.

Favorite Subject From High School: Band

If you could be on a TV show, what would it be? The Fringe

Favorite TV Series : Star Trek

Favorite Band/Music Artist: No particular favorite

If you have to choose a movie title for your life story, what would it be: Lost in Space

Favorite Hobby: Building PC’s

If you could be any animal, what would you be? Peregrine falcon. They can reach speeds in excess of 200 MPH

Favorite board game: None, there’s a reason why they are called bored games.

Do you have or wish you had a catch phrase? What would it be: “Is that all it costs?”

Favorite day of the week and why: Friday. The anticipation of Saturday coming.

Do you play any musical instruments? Years ago I could play most Band instruments. Majored on Sax in first year of College.

Can you sing? Depends on who you ask. Simon would probably say NO.

What do you wish you were doing right now? Finishing this questionnaire.

One place you could travel right now (doesn’t need to be realistic): Hawaii.

At the beach, would you rather play in the sand, or play in the water? The water with large waves.

Words of Wisdom (or quote you like): Honesty is the first chapter of the book of wisdom. Thomas Jefferson

Anything else you would like to comment on? Most technical issues are easier and faster to resolve than it was to complete this questionnaire.

WorkSmart strives to be the premier provider in Information Technology services. With colleagues like Usha, this initiative is possible.

“Usha’s technical background adds an essential expertise to our client engagement team; her work ethic and dedication to clients enhances our entire company!” Clay Harris, WorkSmart CEO

Usha began her career at WorkSmart in February of 2003 as a Senior Consultant. In June 2006 she joined the team at Cisco Systems, but she never left the WorkSmart Family. Usha became a member of the WorkSmart Client Engagement Team as Technical Engagement Manager in August of 2009. Her coworkers describe her as extremely professional and very light-hearted, breathing fresh air into a very technical position. You can always find Usha when she’s in the office, simply follow the trail of Green Tea bags!

In order for you to get to know her better, we asked her a few questions. Here are her answers:

Hometown: Mumbai, India

Favorite Popsicle Flavor: Cherry

Favorite Beverage: Indian Ginger Tea

If you could change your name, what would it be to? Would leave it the same- too used to being called that.

Favorite Subject From High School: Believe it or not- MATH

If you could be on a TV show, what would it be? Here’s Lucy

Favorite TV Series: Friends

Favorite Band/Music Artist: ABBA

If you have to choose a movie title for your life story, what would it be? Happy Go Lucky

Favorite Hobby: Hanging out with Friends and Family

If you could be any animal, what would you be? Polar Bear- go into hibernation whenever possible!!

Do you have or wish you had a catch phrase? What would it be: “Opinions are like asses, everybody’s got one!”

Favorite day of the week and why: Saturday!! Knowing I have one more day-Sunday to goof around!!

Do you play any musical instruments? No

Can you sing? I try, but no audience stays around to listen

What do you wish you were doing right now? On the Beach in Hawaii- sipping Pina Colada

One place you could travel right now (doesn’t need to be realistic): Egypt

At the beach, would you rather play in the sand, or play in the water? Water Of Course..

Words of Wisdom: ‘As a rule, man is a fool. When it is hot, he wants it cool. When it is cool, he wants it hot. Always wanting what it’s not.’