Austin's new job

As many of you already know, Austin recently accepted a new position with Concur Technologies as a Senior Channel Sales Manager.  Concur is a software company based out of Redmond, Washington.  Austin will be working with travel management companies in the Midwest to sell Concur's corporate travel self-booking and expense management software.  He will still be traveling quite a bit, but when he's not traveling he will be working from a home office.  He has spent the last two weeks setting up a workspace in the guest room upstairs.  This included running 100 feet of cable through the attic and basement for a direct line Ethernet connection.  The kids enjoyed "helping" Daddy.  They especially loved the giant stuffed gorilla and Staples "Easy Button" he brought home.

Here is Austin at "work" on his first day today.  Pretty sweet set-up if you ask me.  There are still some pictures and marker/bulletin boards to hang on the walls, but he's up and running electronically.

Having him at home during the day has numerous potential benefits, but it is still going to be a bit of an adjustment for everyone in the household.  There is also going to be a learning curve as he figures out what a typical work day looks like and how much traveling he will actually be doing.  In the meantime, we're all just really flexible and not planning on anything.

Friday was Austin's last day at Short's Travel Management where he has been for the past 11 years.  He started at Short's while he was still in college doing tech support.  From there he moved to programming, then account management and then into sales and implementation of new accounts.  It has been fascinating to watch Austin develop and mature professionally over the years as his role at Short's was constantly changing.  They will greatly miss him.  Short's held a farewell luncheon catered by the Olive Garden on Friday at noon.  The kids & I joined Austin as his co-workers thanked him and said goodbye.  It was kind of bittersweet, but the future is so exciting.  We look forward to seeing where this new ride will take us!