Similar to most events in 2020, the ESOP Association’s Annual Midwest Conference went virtual this year. Initially, the meeting was set to be held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, but with the current health concerns in mind, I, along with several members of DISTek’s ESOP Communications Committee were able to attend from the comfort of our own homes!
Previously, in Part 2, we went over Git Branches and the HEAD. Let’s continue by starting off with Remotes and how to get your stuff to other developers or into a project.
Business owners across the globe have certainly had their challenges this year – a pandemic, economic turmoil, civil unrest, and let us not forget the regular dose of weather related challenges Mother Nature seems fit to throw our way – hurricanes, derechos, hail, floods. With all that is going on, it is tough enough being an employee, much less an owner. Yet at DISTek, employees ARE owners!
DISTek is well into its 2nd year of being a 100% employee owned company through our Employee Stock Ownership Program (ESOP). The transition in 2019 included celebrating the retirement of our founder and recognizing both the gift of ownership he granted to all of us employees as well as honoring his legacy of ownership. DISTek’s history is rooted in its values – integrity, team, service.
I had the opportunity to attend the Mathworks Automotive Conference this year. The conference was held remotely and the presentations were streamed live using the Webex platform. I watched three of the presentations on the first day, which included the Farm of the Future, Ford Automated System Simulation Toolkit, and a presentation from Cooper Tire and Rubber Company.
I have been a member of the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) for a number of years and have attended several different SAE events over the last decade. In 2018, I started attending the SAE WCX, a show focused on passenger car technologies, formerly known as the World Congress. Insights into the technologies of today and tomorrow in passenger cars are definitely informative as DISTek seeks to be ready for new technology applications in the Off-Highway industry where we focus. Of course, not everything is directly applicable, but much of it is to varying degrees.
The saying “technology is our friend” gained a completely new meaning when the COVID-19 pandemic hit in March 2020. While many companies struggled to switch from operating out of traditional offices to working from home, DISTek’s “friendship” with technology allowed us to smoothly and quickly make the transition while consistently meeting and exceeding the needs of both our employees and customers.
There are tons of tutorials out there that show how to use Git, starting with easy things like cloning a repository and committing locally, then pushing your commit to the server. There are lots of sites and videos that will help you achieve a competent level of Git expertise – like this one. However, you may struggle with the interface and if you have problems, you may struggle to understand why and how to fix them. That is why I am going to explain Git this way: inside out, backwards and hard. This three part series is targeted for people who want to excel at using Git and deeply understand it. This is also intended for people who are willing to persevere a bit more than the average person. Lastly, this is for people who like to see the beauty in things and, trust me, Git is beautiful.
Today, as we battle the COVID-19 pandemic, for most of us, moving to a “new office” means relocating to our basement, appropriating the dining room table, or occupying an extra bedroom. But in late 2019, DISTek Integration’s excitement over our new digs referenced a traditional brick and mortar office building. Specifically, we eagerly relocated to Suite 420 at 3737 Woodland Ave. in West Des Moines.
I titled this blog post “Staying the Course” because that is exactly what we have been doing here at DISTek, now entering our 5th week of aggressive novel coronavirus response mode. I liken our current environment similar to navigating a fully loaded canoe through high winds – keep the bow pointed toward the destination, anticipate making corrective maneuvers as much as possible, and react quickly and decisively, yet calmly, to sudden shifts in direction and current.
She’s been on the job for two years now. Well, two years four months to be exact and over time she’s become…. shall we say, extremely spirited. You see, things didn’t start out that way, but over time her confidence on the job has grown, which has made her pretty comfortable exerting her opinion in the workplace.
Right now, I find myself sitting squarely in the calm before the storm. The final edits for the new pull up banners have been approved. The tradeshow materials have been shipped. Travel plans and final reservations have been made. Now, all that’s left is to pack our bags and catch a flight to Vegas. Over the next several days, five DISTekians will be making the trip to Sin City for ConExpo-CON/AGG 2020.
