Title: IT Support Technician 

Tell us “your story.” How did you end up at Avalon?

My mom used to be a job placement coach for the deaf. She helped someone apply at Avalon and mentioned to me that they had more openings, so I applied for a document specialist role and got the job.

What’s your favorite thing about your position at Avalon?

Variety of work. Being in a support role at a company with so many different service offerings offers many unique and different challenges and situations to solve from a technical standpoint.

What is your proudest moment at Avalon?

Back in the earlier years, before the Syracuse office moved to our current location at North State Street, the imaging department was under its own umbrella, instead of being part of Operations. I was part of that department before moving to my current role in IT support. We got a job in one time and, due to availability, the deadline was going to be very tight. I believe I worked three to four 16-hour shifts in a row to help finish the job on time. I had virtually no personal life at all that week, but the job got done and the Avalon Award I received at the next Great Huddle is still sitting on my desk.

What does a typical workday look like for you?

My workdays are a mix of working on IT-related projects and addressing helpdesk tickets, though the variation depends on what’s going on at any given time.

What’s your favorite workplace memory?

A few years back, IT was assisting the Tampa shop with moving to a new location, so Tim and I flew down there. We arrived right as a hurricane was scheduled to hit the eastern coast of Florida, but we were told there would only be a little rain in Tampa and that was it. It did, however, give me the view of the fastest moving cloud cover I’ve ever seen.

What’s your favorite motivational quote?

“It is possible to commit no mistakes and still lose. That is not a weakness; that is life.” – Jean-Luc Picard

If you could go anywhere on vacation, where would it be and why?

Right after returning from the above-mentioned Tampa trip, my wife and I went on vacation to a riverside log cabin in the Adirondacks. I’d go back there for the fall colors and natural surroundings in a heartbeat.

What do you do for fun?

When not playing video games, I collect twisty puzzles – that’s the generic name for Rubik’s Cube style puzzles. I do not have the dexterity to solve them quickly, so I go for variety instead. My collection currently includes more than 40 shapes and sizes of puzzles – cubes, dodecahedrons, and spheres, with many different ways to solve them.