What We Are Thankful For

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It’s that moment of the year where we begin to think about family, friends who we don’t see quite often enough, a reprieve from work, and the events that made this year in our lives special. We can feel this time of year, even if what should be a brisk autumn is more like a mild winter right now in Indiana. Things are slowing down, the nights arrive too soon, and we begin to consider all the people that are responsible for our good fortune. We are taking stock of these people, the places, the memories made, and the fun had. This has been an amazing year, and we couldn’t possibly include everyone and everything we are thankful for, but there are a few that stood out. This is what we at Passageways are forever thankful for:

1. We are thankful for our customers:

Without their commitment, their trust, their energy and inspiration, we couldn’t possibly arrive everyday with the devotion that we do. Our customer’s intelligence and dedication show through in countless ways: the smile on their face when discovering a new tool, the excitement they display when arriving at PowWOW, the questions they ask, and the excellence they demand of us. We know their name, and they know our team. Our customers bring big ideas to the table, they are inspired to learn and listen, and they challenge us to be better. And so we try to live up to the example they set. To every Passageways customer, thank you. Thank you so much.

2. We are thankful for our community:

From our sister cities of West Lafayette and Lafayette, North to our office in Chicago, and South to Austin, the communities that surround Passageways are an amazing, vibrant, cross-section of this country. The presence of Purdue University is an anchor of our community. An institution that provided to many of us an education, and is responsible for the people we have become and the character of our community. We are left with a debt to the community and people around us. A debt we try to pay down through our 1-1-1 initiative, an opportunity for Passageways to give back 1% of our time, 1% of our product, and 1% of our revenue back to the community. Yet we are limited by our own social networks in our effort to give back 1% of our product; so if you know of a non-profit organization that could benefit from a donation of OnBoard or Passageways Employee Portal, please drop a line to [email protected]. To our community, thank you.

3. We are thankful for the events that bring the Passageways Family together:

Nothing makes us happier than when our community comes together to share, listen, and engage. PowWOW brings our community together in an annual tradition of learning and engagement, it’s such an important part of who we are that we’ve already started planning how to put together the best conference yet. Passageways University broadens the possibilities of our customers; when we see those proverbial light bulbs flare up during a course, we know we are doing something right. Bringing people together we admire to network, to learn, to understand best practices, to see our friends and colleagues passionately work together, that’s irreplaceable. It’s something we are thankful for. To those who attend and those who work so diligently to ensure these events are amazing, thank you.

4. We are thankful to our colleagues dedication:

The pathfinders who come in everyday, who bring smiles to our faces, and whose hard work makes this possible, we are in each other’s debt. The men and women who work at Passageways are bright, committed, witty, and proud of their work. They are not afraid of new ideas, of being challenged, of looking at a problem from a new perspective, or falling down. Their hard work and dedication to our customers and to each other is second to none. To all the Pathfinders, from Lafayette to Chicago, San Anselmo to Austin, and everywhere else, thank you.

5. We are thankful for our new home

About a year ago, Passageways outgrew our old home, moving from the Purdue Research Park to a spacious office in downtown Lafayette. We are particularly fond of the amenities that our new urban environment affords us. Between meeting at great restaurants, having an after work cocktail, to being in walking distance of cultural and business center of our community, we are thrilled to be working in the historic Earl & Hatcher building. What’s more, we are prouder than ever to host leaders, entrepreneurs, and customers alike. This is our new home, and we are thankful for being here.
Like we said, we couldn’t possibly account for everything; we have done so much this year, most of which you can find by looking through the backlog of this blog. But we wanted to take this opportunity to thank the people that impacted us and the events that shaped the course of the past year. So get full, enjoy family, watch a game, take a nap. Happy Thanksgiving.
Oh, and thanks for reading.