I'm not a business man, I'm a business, man...

Overstock.com Corporate HQ in Cottonwood Heights, UT

Well it's officially official... I'm a business man! As of today, I've finished my first week at Overstock.com and what a week it has been!

While Monday and Tuesday consisted mostly of just paperwork and general orientation, I got more into my specific role during the latter part of the week, and I'm excited to dive right in again next week as well!

As I have mentioned before, my title at Overstock.com is Customer Value Analyst. As a member of the Customer Relationship Management team, I will be working closely with marketing to evaluate promotion proposals, provide customer valuation and liaison on behalf of the analytics team, as well as a gamut of other responsibilities.

The CVA team is a brand-new part of the CRM and Analytics dept at Overstock.com, and I'm the first (and only) one that they've hired, so naturally my training has been a little helter-skelter, but I'm really excited to be a part of something new and have direct input into the function of my position.

My work is quite challenging, with a really steep learning curve... but that's just what I wanted coming out of school. I'm excited about learning as much as I can about CRM and gaining some valuable programming and analytical skills too. The office environment is great and I'm surrounded by a lot of really smart people, who serve as a great resource for me as I gain experience and try to expand my knowledge base. I certainly have a looooooooooooong way to go, but one week into it, Overstock.com seems like the perfect place to start my career... what more could I ask for?

(Oh yeah, did I mention that I graduated two weeks ago? Yeah, that was fun.)

The Big "O"...

Happy April Fools' Day! I've been trying to think of fun AFD jokes to play all day, but to no avail. Oh well, I've never had much success with 4/1 anyways.

This AFD is an exceptionally special one, again, not because of any fun pranks that I conceived, but rather because this marks the beginning of the end for my schooling! That's right ladies and gents, this man is about to graduate.... from college! (No, that is not an April Fools' Day joke)

I am going to do my best to make the most of this, my final month of academia.

But what about after? Graduate school? Unemployment? Well actually I've been on the job hunt for the last three, four, seven months and as of today, I've got a job!


As of today, I officially accepted an offer sheet from Overstock.com as a Customer Value Analyst. I'll be working at the Overstock.com headquarters in Cottonwood Heights (just south of SLC) starting May 3rd! (And no, this is not an April Fools' Day joke either)

Megs and I are super excited and we can't wait to start this next chapter of our lives, with another chapter soon to come! :)

All Good Things...

... must come to an end. And with the passing of Super Bowl XLIV in Miami two Sundays ago, that's exactly what has happened to the NFL Season.

Super Bowl Sunday is always a bittersweet day for me. I enjoy getting together with friends and family to watch the game, I enjoy the two weeks of hype building-up to the game, and of course the game itself is a blast to watch as the NFL does a great job of making their championship event into a true American spectacle.

At the same time, the Super Bowl also signals the end of the NFL season, ushering in 8 months of darkness also known as the "offseason".

Ugh, what am I going to do now?... I ask myself after the final whistle.

That same feeling of sadness is actually magnified when the Packers play their final game of the year as well. This season, the Pack made an early exit from the playoffs and afterwards, I found that more than anything, I was upset because that meant I had to wait until next August to watch my favorite team take the field.

How dark the offseason is...

But you see, there are a million reasons why NFL football is the greatest sport in the world. One of those reasons...?

Because the NFL offseason is more exciting than than most other sports' regular seasons.

That's right I said it. I'd rather follow the off-the-field happenings of the NFL than watch the NBA, NHL, college BB or even MLB (although I really do enjoy college hoops and baseball). How can that be? Because even after the games end, there's something exciting happening for at least 4 of those months between the Super Bowl and August. That's something that no other sport can say.

Here's a quick run down of the NFL Offseason:

Feb 11-Feb 25: Teams can designate franchise or transition players.
Feb 24-Mar 2: NFL Scouting Combine held in Indianapolis
March 5th: Start of Free Agency
March 21st-24th: NFL Annual Owners Meetings
April 22nd-24th: 2010 NFL Draft
Late July: Training Camps begin

*If you're confused about what these event are, click on the links to learn more about them from Wikipedia

So while nothing can compare with the actual games being played on the field, at least I will survive through the end of April. The real struggle will come in May, June and the first part of July when players are training on their own and there's not a lot of NFL news.

So if you're planning to send a small consolatory gift -- perhaps a movie, game or fruit basket -- I would that you hold-off until May or June, when I'll really need it.

Here's to hoping for an exciting baseball season! Bring on August already!