Last weekend, two of our own grabbed their road bikes, threw on their spandex and took a spin. A lengthy, grueling, calf-quad-hamstring burning kind of spin. This was not your typical afternoon joy ride; this was the 30th Annual Solvang Century ride, a demanding 100.81 mile ride with 3,982 feet of ascent and incredibly steep inclines.

Who would put themselves through that kind of torture?

That would be Hans Mize, Data41 President, and Adam Stein, Data41 Director of Sales. These two have been cycling together for more than a decade, and the Solvang Century ride is an annual challenge for the pair.

Nothing can prepare you for the vigorous Solvang Century ride except for training, which is exactly what Hans and Adam did months prior to the race. This year in particular marks a very prominent accomplishment for the duo. It was their tenth (yes tenth, one-zero) Century ride completion. On top of hitting the double digit Century ride mark, the pair finished at six hours, the second fastest time they have ever had.

The ride begins at Hotel Corque,  winds through beautiful Santa Ynez wine country and eventually ends back at Hotel Corque. After the one hundred miles are completed, riders give their legs a rest and enjoy a BBQ at the finish line.

While the ride is a beautiful one, it is extremely difficult, ranked as a five star (out of six) ride difficulty. Starting elevation of the race is 489 feet with a maximum elevation of 1,575 feet. Between these elevations are steep hills (mountains) and descents. The average grade is around 3 percent, but at times can be even higher. Check out a detailed map of the ride here.

As if the topography of the ride is not hard enough, keep in mind the race attracts more than five thousand riders. Now you are trying to avoid running into other cyclists while climbing what at the time feels like Mount Everest. Then there is the weather. At 6:30am when the ride began, Solvang was a brisk 37 degrees with the cyclists in spandex, sans snow jacket. Brrr! By the time the ride was over six hours later, the temperature had climbed 40 degrees to a balmy 77 degrees.

We applaud you Hans and Adam for completing your 10th Century Ride! A very admirable accomplishment and demanding tradition. Here’s to your 11th Century Ride in 2013!

To learn more about the Solvang Century ride (or the Half Century ride) please click here.

While we are taking steps forward into this New Year, we must not forget what bridges we crossed and people we came across to get us to this point. Therefore, we would like to take a moment to thank the local businesses who helped make our 2011 a success and set the foundation for an even better 2012.

AAA Pro Displays supplied us with a fabulous pop-up booth and graphics for IBM’s Information on Demand Conference.

Location: Foothill Ranch, CA
Telephone: 800.210.5568
Contact: Kurt Ehlert
 

Angels Stadium’s very comfortable suites were
the perfect place to show our customers how much
we appreciate them and their business.

Location: Anaheim, CA
Telephone: 714.940.2048
Contact: Angel Rodriguez

Colors Inc. Screen Printing printed
t-shirts for Data41’s participation in Susan G.
Komen’s Race for the Cure and IBM’s
Information on Demand Conference.

Location: Santa Ana, CA
Telephone: 714.541.0332
Contact: Bill Farnan

Cucina Alessa’s delicious Italian food and
welcoming environment made our 2011
holiday party the best yet.

Location: Huntington Beach, CA
Telephone: 714.969.2148
Contact: Alessandro Pirozzi

Hornblower Cruise’s Dream Maker yacht took
Data41 team members on a gorgeous sunset cruise on the Newport Harbor for our annual summer company meeting.

Location: Newport Beach, CA
Telephone: 888.467.6256
Contact: Amber Cross

While dinner is the most delicious and lengthiest portion of our holiday party, the real attraction is the post-dinner Data41 tradition: White Elephant.

With a company comprised mostly of men, White Elephant is not just a game. It is a contest. A contest to see who can find and come up with the best, most absurd and ridiculous gift in the western United States.  With an increased spend limit ($20 max), creativity surged and gifts were hilarious.

This year, we did pretty well. Pretty well indeed.

There are a few versions of White Elephant, but the Data41 tradition goes a little like this…

Everyone brings a wrapped gift that costs no more than $20. Every person draws a number out of a bowl between one and however many people are playing. Number one is the first person to pick a gift. While one might seem like the best number, that may not necessarily be true.  After one has opened the gift, number two goes. Number two has the opportunity to “steal” number one’s gift or choose a new gift from the pile. A gift can be stolen three times and then it is permanently with the last person who stole it the third time. The game ends when the last person has either opened the last gift in the pile or stolen a gift.

In our game there seemed to be three evils:

2. The wrapping of the gifts- One of our teammates, Mark, continuously picked gifts that were incredibly hard to open. Secret strings, excessive tape and knotted gift bags were Mark’s enemy that night and everyone else’s pleasure. Next year there will undoubtedly be some duct tape used to see people struggling to get their gift unwrapped.  As well as the three people that stole his opened gifts the wrapping of  the gifts and stealing gifts from those who really wanted what they had unwrapped.

3. Stealing gifts from those who really wanted what they had unwrapped- there were some fights over a few items during White Elephant that resulted in gifts being stolen the maximum number of times. The most stolen items were Merry-okee, the American Cocktail book, and the  Great Mustaches mug with an accompanying mustache key chain.

So if you need an idea for a White Elephant gift for your holiday party this year, here is the full list of what surfaced at ours. Enjoy!

Hallmark Merry-Okee with songbook
Shake Weight
Arm Wrestlemania
Great Mustaches mug
Sophie Styling Head Liv Doll
iTunes gift card
Hog Wild Dog Popper
Leather Paperweights
See’s Candie- 1lb. box
Flask Eye Chart
The Clapper
Easy Rider V- Twin Motorcycle Wine Bottle Holder
No I will not fix your computer- t-shirt
The American Cocktail book
Rick Perry toilet paper
Leopard Snuggie

It’s official, the holiday season is upon us…

To kick off the season’s festivities we had our 5th Annual Data41 Holiday Party in Huntington Beach last week.  Our Holiday Party is the perfect opportunity to wrangle the entire Data41 team, partners and their significant others to celebrate the successes of the year.

The merrymaking took place in the “Mafia Room” at Cucina Alessa, a restaurant known for its welcoming staff, cozy ambience and knockout Italian cuisine.

Starting off the evening, we enjoyed fresh baked Focaccia, Calamari Fritti, Bruschetta, Caprese, Scampi Capri and a flurry of cocktails and wine.

Making our way through the meal, we had the choice of five delicious entrées: Conchiglie Gamberi e Asparagi, Bolognese, Penne Norma, Pollo al Limone or Salmon ai Ferri. With so many appealing items, sharing wasn’t just suggested, it was embraced.

Robert Smith from Verizon Wireless!

With more than 500 entries for the Trikke, we had quite a crowd surrounding our booth at the time of the drawing. Choosing one person from the crowd, we had them draw an entry out of the box. Alex read the name and company aloud. “And the winner is…. not here!” We grabbed another person from the crowd to pull a different name. Alex again read the name and company aloud. “And the winner is…. also not here!”

After drawing two names and no winner present, we definitely knew the third time would be the charm. Sure enough, it was.  With one last person from the crowd drawing an entry out of the box, Alex yelled the name into the crowd.

To our right, there he was with his hand waving high and grin from ear to ear.

The winner of Data41′s SouthBay Trikke raffle was Robert Smith, the Director of Information Technology at Verizon Wireless.

Robert, who hails from Cumming, GA, brought his Southern luck to the conference, taking home the 36v Tri-bred Pon-e.

Congratulations Robert!!

Over the past 5 ½ years, Data41 has increased its once two employees to more than twenty. With this growth, comes great opportunities, of which we like to think we are taking advantage of. For the first time in company history, Data41 exhibited at IBM’s Information on Demand conference in Las Vegas in October. The conference, held at Mandalay Bay, attracted more than 12,000 attendees interested in learning more about IBM’s products and services including Business Analytics, Information Management, Enterprise Content Management and Business Leadership.

While at the conference, a number of our team attended breakout sessions and listened to featured speakers to learn more about IBM’s newest products, services and technical expertise. In between sessions, attendees and business partners roamed through the EXPO checking out booths, especially the Data41 booth.

What made our booth stand out from the rest?

Well, that was probably one of two things:

Because all attendees were thirsty and wanted to ride/win a bright yellow electric trikke, we made friends with everyone.

For more pictures, IOD details and to see who won the trikke, check back soon!

Last Sunday, Data41 came together with friends and family to join the fight against breast cancer by participating in the 20^th Annual Susan G. Komen 5k Race for the Cure.  The 5K race took place at Fashion Island in Newport Beach and drew a crowd of nearly 30,000 people, including more than 1,700 breast cancer survivors and 1,600 volunteers.

For most people, 7:30am on Sunday is a little early to be up and moving, much less racing, but that didn’t stop our team or any of the other thousands of supporters from being a part of the first 5K race of the morning. To get the crowd revved up and ready to race, the Daion Taiko drumming band took to their drums and built an undeniable rhythm at the starting line.  With pep in our step and the starting shot fired, we were off. (Some of us at much slower pace than the rest).

Through the duration of the 5K we were entertained. A Hawaiian outfitted Beach Boys cover band and a lively Jamaican steel drum band were among the multiple live bands playing along the way. Local high school cheerleading teams encouraged racers to keep up their pace while Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts and other volunteers kept racers hydrated at numerous water stations.

Approaching the finish line, all everyone could see was a sea of pink. Hundreds of people lined the streets cheering for every single person who passed the finish line. While none of our team finished remotely close to the top of the runners, we could not have had a better time supporting the fight against breast cancer. The camaraderie, passion and dedication of the teams, volunteers, survivors and participants is undeniable.

We are thrilled to announce that for the first time ever, Data41 will be exhibiting at the Information on Demand Conference in Las Vegas from October 23-27, 2011.

While we love going to the 200+ Business Intelligence sessions, listening to experts and mingling with all the exhibitors, we have reached a point where we not only want to attend the conference, but also be a part of it.  We invite you to visit us at Business Analytics booth 1005 where we promise to have some great information, fabulous goodies and a once in a life time giveaway from one of our amazing clients.

We want you to come learn how to take your information to the next level (and of course come see us), so we have put together a nice deal for you.

Take $300 off your registration when you register before August 31, 2011 and get a free iPod Shuffle (color of your choice) when you register using our code “G11DATA41.” To register for the 2011 Information on Demand Conference, click here and don’t forget to enter our code!

What are you waiting for? Maybe some more information on the conference itself? Here you go!

So what is IOD? The Information on Demand conference is IBM’s largest EXPO held annually in Las Vegas. The conference covers everything from: Information Management, Business Analytics, Enterprise Content Management and Business Leadership.

Some highlights:

• 10,000+ attendees
• 700 Technical Education sessions
• Industry-focused Business & IT Leadership sessions
• Session content featuring Software, Hardware and Services Solutions
• 110 Hands On Labs
• 300 Customer speakers
• IBM and Industry-renowned speakers
• Networking opportunities

What Data41 is interested in:

• 180+ IBM Cognos sessions
• 95+ Business Intelligence Sessions
• 30+ TM1 sessions

To see the agenda for this year’s conference, click here.

If you have any questions regarding the Information on Demand Conference or Data41′s participation, please contact Alex Gagne here.

It is a rare day that our entire company can get together, enjoy each other’s company and not talk (too much) about work. Last week we were able to do just that when we boarded the Dream Maker, a 90 foot yacht in the Newport Harbor for our semiannual company dinner. Greeting us as we came on board were Captain Chase, First Officer Fernando and last but not least was Heather, our lead server, who was graciously handing out flutes of champagne. (We liked Heather).

After our team boarded the gorgeous yacht we made our way to the bow where we received safety instructions from Captain Chase. Just in case someone leaned a little too far over the railing or, even more unlikely, our boat struck an iceberg in the middle of the Newport Harbor.  After learning where life jackets were kept, it was time to lift anchor and leave the docks behind. Off we went into the harbor on one of the most beautiful nights Southern California has seen this summer.

Thirty minutes into the cruise, Hans Mize, our incredibly dedicated President and Founder gave a toast. Thanking us for our hard work, Hans had us look back on the unbelievable growth of our company. A little more than five short years ago, we were only two employees. Today, we have grown exponentially.

After the toast, it was time for dinner. A delicious dinner.  Our choices:

Grilled Line Caught Hawaiian Swordfish in a Tomato-Ginger Vinaigrette and Shiso Oil with Wasabi Mashed Red Bliss Potatoes or Baseball Top Sirloin in a Roasted Shallot Bordelaise Sauce with Crispy Fried Onions and Asiago Mashed Potatoes. For dessert, a vanilla custard with fresh berries. Everything was as incredible as it sounds.

During dinner our view was spectacular; the Balboa ferry, sailboats, huge waves at the Wedge, stunning harbor homes and of course the phenomenal sunset. By the time the sun had set, dessert was finished, and we had made it back to the dock we were all in a very content and satisfied daze. A fabulous evening that bonded colleagues with food and nature’s raw beauty, we could not have asked for anything more. Except, to do it all over again. 

P.S. One of the funniest moments of the night was realizing Joe couldn’t quite stand up all the way inside of the boat. At 6’8″, Joe is a little taller than most boaters.

Last week we had the pleasure of hosting a user meeting for some of our fabulous customers at K1 Speed in Irvine, CA. We kicked off the meeting with breakfast from Corner Bakery and a presentation by Data41’s Amir Bormand overviewing Business Intelligence and Performance Management. After the presentation, IBM’s Mike Mackevicius did a TM1 Contributor 9.5.2 and Cognos BI 10 demo, showing off the latest and greatest from TM1. Completing the meeting, one of our media and entertainment customers presented their own customer story, highlighting the successes of working with Data41.

After the meeting it was time for us to stretch our legs, get our competitive juices flowing and adrenaline rushing. Breaking off into two groups, we put our head socks and helmets on, jumped in our go-karts and were ready to race. By the time the flag waved, we were racing around the track as quickly as our electric karts could go, roughly 35 mph.

The winners from the first and second heat were both customers who take racing very seriously. What company you ask? We’ll never tell. But let’s just say, racing is their business.

While we know a lot of you would like to race with us, please let us know if the user meeting content (IBM Cognos, TM1, Business Intelligence and Performance Management) is something your company is interested in learning about. We would love to have you at our next event to learn how Data41 can help your company make better and more informed business decisions. To hold you over until our next event, check out some of our user meeting photos at K1 Speed.