Merge

The holiday season inevitably involves lists of many kinds. Lists of gifts, guests, grocery items, resolutions, as well as the “Merge Annual Top Ten List". Because there are so many things to be thankful for, it was tough, but we narrowed it down to the top ten. Some of them are personal, some of them are edible, but in one way or another they all attribute to the development of Merge in 2009. We've made our list, and checked it twice:
 
10. Free Learning on any given day you can find at least one person at Merge taking advantage of free learning.  Whether it’s reading an industry blog, watching a webinar or reading through a tutorial, we are constantly learning and trying to better ourselves in order to better serve our clients.

9.  Doughnuts&Bagels Although Merge is still absolutely thankful for Peanut Brittle and Cinnamon Disks during the holidays, doughnuts&bagels have served as a constant source of motivation throughout all of 2009.  Merge employees are known to bring in these two sources of carbs to give the team a pick-up during a busy day or just because it’s a Tuesday.

8.  Team Building Activities In 2009, Merge employees participated in several team building activities including a trip to LivN Nsidout, running the Spinx Half-Marathon , playing shuffle board at Barleys, as well as our monthly Lunch and Learn Sessions.  We spend up to 8 hours a day together in our office so we like to take advantage of opportunities to get out for an hour or two to participate in activities that further strengthen our bond.

7.  Innovation As individuals and as a company, we are constantly looking for opportunities to improve ourselves, our processes and our resources.  A recent innovation within Merge is the use of Sketchboarding  to map out web site concepts.  We also look for innovation in industries other than our own, such as BMW.  The entire merge team recently took a fieldtrip to tour the BMW plant to look for ways that they use innovation that can also be applicable to web development. 

6.  Bottom lines  When we say bottom lines, we are not talking about money.  Rather we are talking about the moral of a story, or the main point that we can take away from a book or an event.  These bottom lines are invaluable to us because they add so much to our “Merge Mentality”.  We have made it a habit to use bottom lines in our blogs because we want our readers to take away at least one point or lesson that adds value to them professionally or even personally.  Next time you read a business article, try to see the bottom line for your company and we are willing to bet that you will see why we are so thankful for them.

5.  Greenville  We love this dang town.  We love being a part of the Greenville community as well as the business community.  We love walking down Main Street and being able to wave at friends and business owners that we have formed friendships with.  We love the pride of the city leaders and citizens and how equally in love with this town they are.  It shows by how beautiful everyone keeps our city.

4. Partners We have always been thankful for our vendors and we have built relationships with several vendors in 2009 that have really taken our business to the next level.  Up until earlier this year, Merge has handled all of its hiring internally.  By outsourcing our recruiting to Find Great People, Merge has added 2 top notch employees to the team.  We have also partnered with Greenville’s leading insurance company, Rosenfeld Einstein as well as The Wyche Law Firm.

3.  Employee Friendships Merge had a tremendous growth spurt during the end of 2008 that has carried on throughout 2009.  Along with these new employees, came amazing new friendships that have also grown throughout the year.  Somewhere along the way we formed the “Guad Squad” meaning that we all go eat at Guadalajara together at least one time a week, sometimes two.  We also had our first Annual Lake Day this summer and all took a trip to Toccoa, GA to hang out on the lake all day.  No team building exercises, no assignments.  Just good food, fun times and great friendships.  We consider ourselves a group, a team both in and outside of Merge and that is something that we are all extremely thankful for in 2009.

2. Merge Clients We like happy clients, enough said (see our client list in on our Portfolio page). For that reason, we are thankful every year that our clients have chosen us to grow their company online and entrusted us to guide them to achieve their business goals.

1. Family We are sincerely thankful for our families who are both supportive and understanding of the demands of providing excellent web services. When we have to stay at work until 10pm to ensure we meet a deadline for a client, our families welcome us home with open arms. Our family members have also become a part of our employee friendships.  We have nicknames for each other’s spouses, we know what’s going on in their lives and we see them as part of the Merge Family.

Bottom Line: Even though 2009 has been a tough year for everyone, we can all take time these holidays to look for things to be thankful for.