This year was turning out nicely for the business, concidering the big move and the new employees. Everything was going great. We were doing exactly what we had set for goals, growing the customers we had and picking up a few new ones at a time. We were still at four routes and the route salespeople were beginning to be stretched to longer hours. It was time to look at adding another route. I laid it out for the region and it was approved. We now had five routes. We were finally growing, the move paid off.
This was our year, we were starting to shine as a branch on the move. We were being noticed through out the country. It was a great feeling. I had told the bosses that our branch, Galesburg, was growing strong, from the little acorn comes the might oak. That was our goal, to become the mighty oak.
This year also proved to be very good for us as we was hitting all of our objectives. Our branch was recomended for branch of the year. I was flying high! That year the national sales meeting was to be held in Orlando, Florida. This was where the award was to be given for Branch of the Year. I received a call from the region manager the week before the meeting. He told me that our accomplishments were great, however, the award had never been given to the size branch that I was running. He said that he tried but I was not going to receive the award. I was asked to speak at the meeting and tell of our accomplishments.
Though it was a let down, I felt very good, that I was selected to give a speech. I did all of the right things. I wrote down notes remembering back to when I first came to take over the branch, and after writing several pages I condenced to three by five cards. I was ready. In the weeks to come I practiced the speech. Fine tuning the cards and almost memorizing my speech.
We arrived in Orlando and the weather was great. we stayed at a nice hotel and there was food and drinks. We had a short meeting around pool ate a drank into the night, I was riding high as a lot of people were coming up to me and talking about my branch in Galesburg.
The next morning there were some training meetings and some motivational exercises that we all took part in. It was a fun day and that evening was to be the awards banquet. There was several people to talk before my time finally came. There were roughly a thousand people at the banquet, and I think I new half of them, at least I knew the ones in the front two or three rows. I had my little three by five cards ready as I readied myself behind the podium and I greeted everyone those damn three by five cards fell to the floor. Now I was all shook up, the microphone reverberated through out the room and when I spoke I could hear my voice seem to shake. Suddenly I stepped away from the podium and made a joke of my misfortune. I said that I didn’t need the microphone as anyone that knew me knows that my voice carries for blocks. The speech came to me and I was not shook up anymore and in the end they all stood up and clapped for me, and at that moment it was the greatest feeling I had ever had.
