Hello! Welcome to my blog!

The powers that be offered me a little spot on our website to post my musings and thoughts on the things I see all around. I happily signed on... if any of you have ever met me, you know that getting me to talk is easy.

I hope that I can amuse you and educate you and learn from you as well. Let me tell you a bit about myself:

I have been a part of the ACI family since 1999 and I am currently a member of the Support leadership team. I love going out on the road and meeting appraisers. I love being part of the 'rent-a-nerd' program and visiting your offices to train and troubleshoot. I love speaking to you on the phone and solving problems with you and hearing your stories.

My workspace is cluttered with gadgets and sticky notes and cactuses* in pots. I have an aquarium on one side of my desk that houses the official Un-Official Tech Support Mascot, Entree the Crayfish. Entree looks like a small lobster and he provides me with countless hours of zany crustacean fun. (Maybe I need to get out more...)

My coworkers are my friends and my family. We are an eclectic group of solution-minded individuals who strive for good customer service. Every human being is a 'work in progress' and I try my hardest to help educate and enlighten the Support techs while staying open to new ideas myself. My days are filled with communication.

And that's what this blog is about. Communication. There are lots of press releases and news stories and industry articles out there. Many ways that an appraiser or tech can keep their fingers on the pulse of the industry. However, much of the information out there is the View From The Top. High ranking gov't officials. CEOs. Spokespersons for agencies. This blog is from the other end... one of the guys down on the street level. You and I communicate every day. Sometimes you get me on the phone. Sometimes you see me in the training. Sometimes I am emailing your tech with advice about your new server.

We are a community working together to solve problems and Get The Job Done Every Day and I am happy that technology today allows me to meet even more of you! I hope these blog entries will benefit you in some way... as they will undoubtedly benefit me for writing them.

Anyhow, I'm going back to work now. But it was a pleasure to type this and I look forward to many happy posts.

Bloggingly,
Andrew

* Yes, the plural is 'cacti' but 'cactuses' gets peoples' attention better.