On February 8th, our very own social media guru, Charles Anderson, gave a presentation at a social media seminar hosted by Local First Lexington, a local nonprofit organization consisting of locally owned businesses. Charles is the Online Marketing Strategist here at Big Ass Fans and oversees our Facebook page, Twitter account, this blog, and the company’s strong presence on YouTube.

The seminar invited a diverse group of social media professionals to discuss the role that the medium has played in their company objectives. Charles spoke about the impact social media has had on Big Ass Fans and its customers and how it has allowed the company to contribute to the culture and economy of Lexington. At the event he also assisted other local companies on their own social media strategies.

Cowboy Fanny

Currently, we have over 1,000 followers on both Facebook and Twitter. We use these sites to encourage public participation and share company news. An example of this is Big Ass Fans’ current “Show us Your Fanny” campaign. Friends can request a free Big Ass Fan foam donkey to dress up, and upload their costumed Fanny photos onto Facebook or email them to fanny(at)bigassfans.com. “Show us Your Fanny” currently has over 100 participants. For more information on how to get your own Fanny to dress up, visit the Show Us Your Fanny Page @ bigassfans.com.

I have been serving Big Ass Fans as our Receptionist Extraordinaire for just over 2½ years now. During that time, I’ve managed to gain somewhat of a reputation among the office, as well as from callers, as being an exceptional gatekeeper. Well, that may be putting it nicely. To quote a couple of my beloved co-workers, I may be better known as the “Salesperson’s Nightmare” or my personal favorite, “The Nazi Receptionist”. (Thanks Karen!)

I’m sure that the majority of receptionists out there can probably feel where I am coming from, especially if they consider themselves any kind of a gatekeeper at all. I was consistently surprised at the lengths that salespeople would go to in order to break through my carefully built “gate”.

Our poor, busy receptionist

One morning, a couple of years ago, I had a solicitor call me repeatedly – I’m talking like 5 times between 8:00 – 9:00 in the morning – for our Marketing Director, for the sake of the story, I will just call him MD. Knowing that MD was in a meeting, I had sent the caller to voice mail. Finally, he told me that he was with a bank and that he was calling about MD’s account, because he feared that it had been hacked into and money was being stolen from it.

Naturally, I found this a little fishy and when he told me that he didn’t have MD’s home or cell number, I saw red flags all over the call. I called MD out of his meeting and explained to him what the caller was telling me and MD agreed that it sounded weird but took the phone call.

Within just a few moments, MD called to tell me that as soon as he answered the phone, the caller started talking about Big Ass Fans advertising during the Super Bowl!

He interrupted the caller to ask what all of this hoopla with his “bank account” was about, and the caller denied ever having said anything of the sort! Naturally, MD wasn’t buying it and promptly ended the call. I hope that caller realized he didn’t just lose a potential client with that stunt, he cost his company credibility.

I wish I could say that this was the only dishonest solicitor I’ve had over these years, but unfortunately I can’t. This prompts me to ask, what crazy phone calls have ended up at your desk?

Big Ass Fans does a lot of things great. An employee favorite would have to be the company cook-outs. Holidays provide a perfect excuse to call in the big guns of grilling. We call him the Bam Guy. Around 11:30, when stomachs are growling, “Bam” pulls in his large portable grill and goes to work. You can’t be timid when you approach. Know what you want and try not to flinch when he screams, “BAM!” as he places your chosen grilled goody on your outstretched plate. Our most recent 4th of July cookout was no exception. The grilled selection included burger, hot dogs, salmon and pork tenderloin. Not too shabby. When all were full with grilled goodness, watermelon was served just to top it off. Watch the video below and see for yourself.

To make sure employees thoroughly enjoy themselves our CBA (Chief Big Ass) often offers generous prizes for giveaway. This year was no exception, which offered the following prizes:

• Polo in the Park tickets
• Buddy’s Bar and Grill Gift Certificate
• A La Lucie Gift Certificate
• Bistro Table at the Junior League Horse Show
• Horse Show Gala Tickets