One Week in San Francisco

October 22, 2019

There I was, packing my bags for my forthcoming business trip, singing an abundance of songs about San Franciscodreaming of taking in the fantastic Californian views. 

How wrong could I be. Let’s get this bit over and done with, the travel was hard work, but I mustnt complain – I was in San Francisco!  I was keen to take it all in but arriving at night left nothing but an air of of trepidation  mainlaround my alarm going off the next morning. 

As someone who has been working in IT for… well let’s say lots of years, it was wonderful to be in the heart of innovation and see some incredible businesses. Even the adverts in the airport were of tech companies; it was like being in a microcosm of IT and I loved it.  

As I had never visited the city before it seemed only logical to see some of the sights while I had this great opportunity. So I spent the early morning walking around finding the offices of everyone we needed to visit. I’d walked so far and wide learning the streets and buildings my boss renamed me sat nav for the remainder of the trip. 

I’d arranged a busy week visiting our key business partners alongside the Opswat Partner Summit.  

Our partners, Elastic, were so welcoming and I really felt that our business partners appreciated the time we took to visit and utilise the time we had. We often meet the UK and European teams to learn about their software and how it makes data useable for our customers in real time, so it was fantastic to learn more about the US markets and meet their teams. 

PDF specialists Nitro had the most amazing offices I have ever seen, with a beautiful view over the bay and bridge. We were totally blown away to be welcomed by the CEO/Founder and the Head of Global Channel. It’s great to use the opportunities with our partners to throw around ideas, talk about our successes and see what more we can do to support our customers.  

At the Opswat Partner Summit the CEO and Senior Vice President welcomed partners from all over the globe. As the UK approved partner for Opswat it’s great to spend a few days gaining a deeper insight into the product, the values and the company’s future. Hearing successes from partners in other countries enables us to expand our knowledge which we can then pass on to our customers. Othe Saturday we had the most wonderful boat trip into the bay to watch a display by the Blue Arrows while sharing the day with the wider Opswat team and their families. I really did feel part of the team and it goes a long way to continuing our strong business relationship. 

Overall it was very exciting to experience part of a technology driven state with so many business leaders and innovation that it just screams from the buildings and billboards. It was a pleasure to visit San Francisco and be welcomed by our business partners and I look forward to visiting again. 

Adele Hope-Urwin

Software Channel Manager – ahope-urwin@asmtech.com

News, Insights & Knowledge

What’s New?

Here’s a selection of the latest news, views and insights from industry leaders and experts from across the globe.

News & Events, Sustainability

ASM becomes net carbon neutral

At ASM we have committed to be a carbon neutral business by offsetting 100% of our footprint.

Through the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, one scheme we are supporting is the Maibarara Geothermal Power Project in the Philippines.

The initiative comprises two geothermal power plants supplying electricity in the Philippines, with a third plant planned to be added within the next three years which will increase power generation by a further 60%.

ASM has chosen to support this project because geothermal power is less common than the traditional forms of reusable energy which requires innovation and emerging technologies to harvest the potential of the natural power of volcanoes.

By supporting missions such as this we are driving sustainable activities both in our direct environment but also globally, protecting the future for all.

In addition to being a carbon neutral business, ASM continues on the journey of decarbonising our complex value chain in line with our targets validated by the Science Based Targets initiative.

We strive to do business, better.

News & Events, Sustainability

Green team launched to drive Sustainability

At ASM we are continually seeking to build a growing, profitable and responsible company that does the right thing for our stakeholders and future generations within the IT Channel and our communities.

We have launched the Green Team to invite volunteers from across the business to help drive our Environment and Sustainability strategy. By involving and empowering our colleagues, we are accountable and focussed on making real change for the future.

Our Green Team act as Champions across the business to make Sustainability a part of everyday life. The team meet monthly to share ideas, discuss relevant issues and provide progress updates on our commitments.

Keep an eye out for how our Green Team are making a difference.

We strive to do business, better.

Blog

International Men’s Day 2023

At ASM we’re recognising International Men’s Day by celebrating the positive value men bring to the world, their families and communities, highlighting our positive role models whilst also raising awareness of men’s well-being.

This year’s theme is Zero Male Suicide as men are three times more likely than women to die by suicide. We can all help address this crisis by encouraging men to reach out for support with their mental health.

We invited all colleagues to a fantastic webinar with ANDYSMANCLUB. ANDYSMANCLUB are a men’s suicide prevention charity, offering free-to-attend peer-to-peer support groups in person and online. Their purpose is to end the stigma surrounding men’s mental health and help men through the power of conversation.

By encouraging the power of conversation, be it a quick chat, a more formal check-in, or a shared story, together we can make a difference.

internationalmensday.com
andysmanclub.co.uk

Sustainability

Tree planting in Malawi

At ASM we are continuing to build a growing, profitable and responsible company that does the right thing for our stakeholders and future generations.

We recognise that decarbonising our complex value chain will be a journey and we are committed to offset 100% of our footprint making us net carbon neutral through a number of projects.

We have planted 10 trees per colleague through Ripple Africa, a charity supporting communities to achieve a sustainable future.

Their tree planting project is one of the largest and most successful tree planting projects in Malawi, providing a long-term solution to fighting deforestation in Africa caused by the destruction of indigenous forest. For every 10 trees they plant one tonne of carbon is absorbed from the atmosphere.

Sustainability, Volunteering

Volunteering with the Scouts

At ASM we’re committed to supporting our community and all our colleagues can take a day out of the business to volunteer for charities or community organisations.

Our Finance team have recently been busy supporting a local Scout group. The store room had become so full of equipment that it was no longer organised or safe to continue their Beaver Scout and Cub Scout sessions. Our team of volunteers took an inventory of the equipment, cleaned items where needed and organised the space.

Organising the space has allowed a clearer view for the leaders to plan fun sessions that provide skills for life.

Blog

Vuzix Sales Enablement Session

We were thrilled to host our partner, Vuzix for our November Sales Enablement session at our HQ. Thanks to Jonathan Nelson, Strategic Sales Manager at Vuzix for the engaging and enjoyable session.

Vuzix connects the modern deskless workforce with Assisted and Augmented Reality (aR and AR) wearable technology, providing high-performance smart glasses that enable see-what-I-see remote guidance, teleconferencing, IOT visualisation and digital work instructions.

Adele Hope-Urwin, Head of Vendor Alliances said:

“I am thrilled to have secured our partnership with Vuzix and to add their assisted reality products to our vendor portfolio. As our newest vendor partnership, I’m excited to host Vuzix at our Cheshire HQ for an engaging training session with our sales team”.

Jonathan Nelson, Strategic Sales Manager at Vuzix said:

“We’re really excited to add ASM as a value added partner and are looking forward to sharing our skills and knowledge to continue to innovate and offer an exceptional customer experience to our customers”.

Blog

Something spooky at ASM

There’s been some frightening goings on in the office today with all our teams getting involved. 

We held competitions throughout the day with some fantastic entries. Laura Helsby won for her fantastically fiendish cupcakes, Becci Darby created the best pumpkin of the day and Jasmine Elliott spooked the office the most with their fancy dress.

Sustainability

ASM HQ built with sustainability at the forefront

The ASM Group are committed to ensuring ongoing consideration to the environment in all aspects of our operations and this began in 2005, when we were one of the first companies in the industry to complete the IS014001 accreditation, long before the environmental impact of business operations was widely understood by organisations.

We installed an array of solar panels on the roof of the building which power around half of our daily electricity usage and have generated over 43 MW of energy. We also removed the use of electric kettles and instead opted for Quooker taps which are significantly more energy and water efficient.

We continued our ongoing pledge to sustainability by installing electric car charging points to promote the use of electric and hybrid vehicles, in addition to reducing the amount of printers around the building and adopting a paperless office. Numerous trees were planted around the site to create a greener space for our team to enjoy whilst also considering the environmental benefits. To further improve our energy efficiency, we opted for energy saving, motion detection indoor lighting which dim based on the brightness outside, coupled with energy saving LED lights in the carpark.

We’re proud of the collaborative and sustainable environment we’ve created for our team which supports the ESG goals across the ASM Group for the future.

Blog

International Women’s Day 2023

Technology has typically been a male dominated sector but at ASM we’re very proud to say 66% of our workforce is female.

Today we’ve been celebrating all of our fantastic team with some sweets treats while raising awareness about discrimination.

The aim of the IWD 2023 #EmbraceEquity campaign theme is to get the world talking about Why equal opportunities aren’t enough. People start from different places, so true inclusion and belonging require equitable action. Read more about this here.