The Central Missouri Honor Flight embarked Tuesday, May 7, on its 22nd flight to take local veterans to Washington, D.C. to see the memorials dedicated to their honor.
 
Socket was proud to make a holiday donation in 2012 to send 10 veterans on this Honor Flight. (We thought it was a better way to thank our customers than sending them a tin of popcorn.)
 
Doug Ragland, Socket's director of marketing and consumer sales, joined the crowd to welcome the veterans home early Wednesday morning.
 
"It was a truly inspirational experience," Ragland said. "If you haven't seen 500 motorcycles rumbling through the night on a mission like this, you're missing out."
 
Despite the late hour, several family members, friends and other citizens were in attendance to welcome the veterans back to the Courtyard by Marriott in Columbia. Each was introduced and honored with waving flags and cheers from the crowd while bagpipes played patriotic tunes.
 
"I just viewed this as a way to pay forward the welcome home that I received as a soldier returning home after the first Gulf War," Ragland said. "It's an experience I'll never forget and hope all veterans have."
 
To learn more about the Central Missouri Honor Flight, visit www.centralmissourihonorflight.com.
  

Mat Harrison was selected as Socket's You-Make-the-Difference-Award winner for March. His fellow co-workers decided his ability to move things to a state of awesomeness was worthy of recognition.

"Mat is a real asset to the Socket team," said a co-worker who nominated him for the award. "There are so many examples of him taking something and making it more awesome, saving us time and helping us serve our customers better."

Mat joined Socket’s tech support team in October 2004 before moving to the programming department in 2005. If you’ve ever paid your Socket bill online, checked your email using Socket Webmail or used navigation menus on Socket’s website, you've used something that Mat played a role in building or improving. He helps make things run smoothly and keeps us looking good.  

Mat went to high school in Steele, MO (a stone’s throw from both Arkansas AND Tennessee). He earned a degree in systems engineering from the University of Arkansas-Little Rock before moving to Columbia in 2004. In his spare time, he enjoys hanging out with his dog, Rex, playing golf, home brewing and playing video games.

"I love my job because of the variety of projects I work on," said Mat. "It's never boring and I'm consistently refining and expanding upon my expertise."

Congratulations, Mat!

Sometimes you’ve got to know when to hold ‘em, and know when to fold ‘em. Perhaps maybe our poker players should’ve folded more often but that didn’t keep them from having a blast at this year’s Dream Factory Poker Tournament.
    
On Friday, April 12, Socket sponsored the event for the second year in a row, which benefits the Central Missouri Dream Factory. The tournament was held at the Knights Of Columbus in Columbia and raised more than $111,000 to grant dreams to chronically and critically ill children in mid-Missouri. Event organizers estimate the funds raised will help fulfill 20 dreams!

We sent six poker players to represent Socket, but we wanted to make sure we sent our best. On April 3 we hosted a mini-tournament of our own at the office after work. None of our poker stars made the final table at the real tournament, but they still had a good time for a good cause – and ate some good food!  

Our players said their favorite part of the event was hearing dream stories from some of the children in attendance and seeing how a dream grant impacted a child and their family. One girl shared her story about receiving 16 spinal taps and being in and out of surgeries repeatedly between the ages of 7-10.

For her dream trip, she visited the American Girl Store in Chicago, where she designed a custom doll and picked out matching outfits for her and her doll with a personal shopper. 

If you are a poker fan, we highly recommend checking out this event next year! 

Sometimes, you just know a person is awesome. Even if you can’t put your finger on exactly why. 
 
That’s true when it comes to Adam Shipp, who was chosen as Socket’s You-Make-the-Difference-Award winner for the month of February. A co-worker who nominated Adam for the award said the following:
 
You know the people who, even though you don’t know exactly what they do, you know they are very smart and extremely good at their job? This is Adam Shipp. I can’t think of one thing that Adam can’t do. He’s a key Socketeer, and Socket wouldn’t run as well without him here.
 
Adam has been a Socketeer for almost five years since joining our technical support team in 2008. He now assists with network design for Socket, as well as helping to assemble quotes and orders for Socket's business clients.
 
Adam is originally from the Jefferson City area and has lived in Columbia for the past 10 years. He and his wife recently purchased a home and will be moving soon. In his spare time, he enjoys playing video games and traveling when he gets the chance.

"I love that I can learn something new every day here, and that I work with people who are passionate about their job,” said Adam.