Thank you to everyone who helped narrow down the list of names for our new cat.  The top three choices have been selected, so take our survey to vote for your pick.  You have until June 4.  We’ll announce the new name the following week.

Wood Shop Lead, Ben Daniels:

How long have you been with TSI?

About 10 years

What did you do before you started working at TSI?

Commercial & Residential Construction

What do you do at TSI?

Wood shop lead

What do you like best about TSI?

I like the challenges.  I like building projects that have unusual shapes and designs.

What’s your favorite TSI project?

My favorite project was a replica of a Civil War era mortor cannon used as a fund raiser.  When money was put in the slot, lights would flash and the cannon would roar.

Why?

I liked it because it combined lights and sound with a very cool object.

What’s something your coworkers don’t know about you?

My life is an open book - I talk about everything.

What’s your favorite part of your day?

When the farm chores are done, all the animals are fed and safely locked up, and the sun is setting, I like sitting in my lawn chair in the orchard and watching the cow eat grass.

Meet our new cat, ______.

Why the blank space where his name should be?  It’s blank because he doensn’t have a name yet and we want your help!  Complete our first round survey and help us narrow down the choices or submit one of your own.  Once we have the list whittled down, we’ll have you vote again on the finalists.  You have until May 27 to cast your vote in the first round so hurry!

Thanks for your help!

Grant Hughes, Production Manager:

How long have you been with TSI?

2 years 3 months

What did you do before you started working at TSI?

Owned a retail businesses for 18 years.  Prior to that I was a manufacturing engineer.

What do you do at TSI?

Production manager - forecast production needs, schedule and supervise fabrication staff.

What do you like best about TSI?

The unique and amazing things we design and build.

What’s your favorite TSI project?

Audubon gift shop

Why?

The design was loose and whimsical which is different from the scientifically/historically accurate work we usually do.

What’s something your coworkers don’t know about you?

I was in the woods and camped out all the time as a kid, loved animals and nature, and wanted to be a veterinarian in grade school.

What’s your favorite part of your day?

The weekly lead meetings.  The openness and give and take is very healthy and makes me enthusiastic that we’re making progress towards where we ultimately want to be as a department.

We just got back from visiting our North Dakota clients.  We are currently working on two projects in ND.  One is at Fort Totten, near Devils Lake, and the other is at the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center in Washburn.  We have worked in North Dakota several times.  However, I haven’t had a chance to go there for many years.  The last time I was there I visited Ft. Abe Lincoln, the Lewis and Clark Center and Cross Ranch State Park.  I appreciate the opportunity to work in this state for many reasons.

1. Lewis and Clark slept here.

How cool is that?  They actually stayed here longer than anywhere.  They built Fort Mandan and stayed for the winter.  Elise and I toured the replica fort.  It is an impressive replica.  We had the pleasure of having an interpretator show us around.  They lived in close quarters that winter.

2. Fort Totten is amazing, plus you can sleep in a historic Inn.

Sixteen of the original 1870 fort buildings still exist at this site.  Being here transports you to another time and place.  I woke up and walked around the fort at 6:00 a.m.  I really felt like I went back in time.  It is a wonderful place to experience history.

3. The landscape is beautiful.

Driving through scenic North Dakota is a wonderful experience.  The rolling hills and farmland are beautiful.  We were surprised at how few houses there are.  Given the lack of buildings, it is easy to imagine the landscape over a hundred years ago with 1,000s of bison roaming the hills.  North Dakota was our serrengetti at one time, with many variety of animals covering the grasslands.

4. It is the friendliest state in the Nation.

The people of North Dakota are great.  Everyone is friendly and helpful.   According to a Cambridge University study it is the friendliest state in the U.S.

5. North Dakota had Dinosaurs!

6. There is great art in North Dakota.

We loved the outdoor sculptures we saw.  In front of the Heritage Center in Bismark there is a life-size Bison made out of rebar.  Wow!  At the Fort Mandan there is a metal sculpture of Seaman, Lewis and Clark’s dog.  There are beautiful sculptures everywhere.  Plus, I got to see the water colors of Karl Bodmer.  Bodmer’s watercolors and Maximilian’s written descriptions are considered the most complete and reliable eyewitness account of the Upper Midwest Indian cultures.

7. North Dakota has giant Cottonwood trees.

These are just a few reasons to visit North Dakota.  There are many others, like their state drink is milk.  Have you ever been to North Dakota?  What is your favorite thing about the state?

It’s that time of year again.  We are busy getting ready for AAM’s MuseumExpo.  This year’s show is in Los Angeles May 24-26.  Four of us will be attending and we’re really looking forward to the trip.  To find out where we’ll be, read our tentative schedule.  We’d love to see you, so we hope you’ll stop by our booth (#1308).  If you’re in L.A., but not attending the show, let us know.  Meeting for lunch or dinner might be an option.  We hope to reconnect with old friends and meet many new ones.  See you in about a week!

Jack the cat has been with Taylor Studios from the beginning.  He reached a ripe-old feline age of 18 years before bidding us goodbye.  We fondly remember many years of memories with Jack – a crackly-meow that always seemed to resemble that of an old man; his true affection for a good scratch or pat on the rump; his vocal response to a human whistling; a warm and fuzzy desk accessory; a true hunter as a young man (and a quite proud one as he’d personally deliver each catch); and the occasional mimic of the words “I love you” preceding the times when he felt sick.  You brightened our days and kept us on our feet.  As you grew, so did we.  You were here since the beginning, and we won’t forget your four-legged presence.  Here’s to youth and to mice – wherever you are.  Thank you for all your dedicated years with us.

Matt Wiley, Graphic Designer:

How long have you been with TSI?

Two years this coming November.

What did you do before you started working at TSI?

Webcomics and Freelance Graphic Design / Illustration

What do you do at TSI?

Mainly Graphic Design, bid illustrations, storyboards, some Exhibit Design, website updates, and I try to help out if anyone has software questions.

What do you like best about TSI?

They embrace individuality and eccentricity as long as it’s used creatively.

What’s your favorite TSI project?

For completed projects it would be Pictograph Cave State Park in Montana and the Grayslake IL museum.

Why?

Picto has really interesting content and an awesome cave wall mural I assembled from several on-site photographs.  Grayslake has a really fun design and a lot of cool old photos and artifacts.

What’s something your coworkers don’t know about you?

I like to sing, but I only get to when I drive long distances.

What’s your favorite part of your day?

About 10:15.  I have my granola yogurt break and a good grasp of what I’ll be working on the rest of the day.

Yesterday I met with my Business Development Department for our quarterly review of objectives and goals.  We are a company that is guided by objectives and goals.  Each department, each department head and other direct reports have metrics to guide their work.  Our business development goals and objectives allow the department to practically guide itself.  I am the department head of business development.  Given all my other duties as CEO and all my travel I am often unavailable.  I believe setting direction via goals and objectives has allowed this department to function very well without much management.  The team knows where we are going, how to get there and how to measure success.

Here are some objectives we use in business development:

1.       ______ number of press releases and newsletters in 2010.

2.       ______ number of phone calls per week.

3.       ______ number of leads in CRM at one time.

4.       ______number of Facebook fans by the end of the year.

5.       ______number of lead packets sent per week.

6.       ______number of bids and proposals per year.

7.       ______percent of bids and proposals won.

8.       ______number of leads we bring home from each tradeshow.

9.       ______number of client quotes (testimonials) we receive in 2010.

Hopefully, these will give you some ideas if you are struggling to come up with something measurable.  An objective is measureable and a goal is more intangible.  Some of our goals include extending our brand awareness, increasing our name recognition (be top of mind with potential clients) and to build relationships.  We utilize software including CRM to help report on all of our goals and objectives.  We can also generate charts and graphs to more easily see trends in some areas.  Progress is reviewed at various intervals depending on the objective.  Some reports we look at every week in our bid review meeting, others are brought to a biweekly tactical meeting and others are reviewed on a quarterly basis.

“A manager’s job should be based on a task to be performed in order to attain the company’s objectives… the manager should be directed and controlled by the objectives of performance rather than by his boss.” ~Peter Drucker

Do you manage by objectives?  What business development objectives do you utilize?

Certified Interpretive Planner, Katie VanMetre:

How long have you been with TSI?

3 years in August

What did you do before you started working at TSI?

I started at TSI right after college. So before TSI I studied history at the University of Illinois. I had a student job that mostly consisted of filing and moving around heavy filing cabinets.

What do you do at TSI?

As an interpretive planner, I develop the content, work with the designers to help plan the exhibit concepts, and write the exhibit text for a project. I also write interpretive plans, which are planning documents that we sometimes develop for clients before the exhibit design phase begins.

What do you like best about TSI?

I really like the atmosphere and my coworkers. But what I like best is probably getting to travel to so many awesome parks and historic sites.

What’s your favorite TSI project?

My favorite projects are always the ones that are just starting. So right at this moment I am really excited about a project that we kicked off a few weeks ago at Sinnemahoning State Park in Pennsylvania.

Why?

It was beautiful in the middle of winter so I can’t imagine how beautiful it will be when we go back in the spring. Plus, the park has elk, bald eagles, and a really neat dam!

What’s something your coworkers don’t know about you?

I was homeschooled for most of grade school along with my three siblings. We called ourselves the Pamakake Academy (combination of the first two letters of our names). I only went to actual kindergarten for about a month and really hated it.

What’s your favorite part of your day?

I actually really like the half hour commute to and from work. I find it very relaxing and like to listen to the radio. I also love snack time.