WebCami goes on the road with GoDaddy

In July, I was asked to participate in employee education for GoDaddy.  Although the worker bee in me told myself, I can’t possibly be out of the office for almost two weeks, I jumped at the chance to learn more about one of the biggest technology providers to small businesses in the world, with over 18 million customers and 9,000 employees.  As a work from home web designer, this was an opportunity of a lifetime.

I have to admit, I didn’t really know what I was signing up for until I arrived on the first leg of my journey in Arizona.  GoDaddy headquarters is in Scottsdale and they have offices all over the Phoenix region.  I visited two on this trip.  Call centers in Tempe and Gilbert.  For those that might not know, I attended a GoDaddy Pro Summit in October of 2017 at the Scottsdale headquarters and even toured the Tempe location at that time.  It was nice to at least be somewhat familiar with where I was going.  I also had met my host, Michelle, at WordCamp Seattle when I participated as the first GoDaddy Pro Ambassador. I also attended WordCamp US with GoDaddy in December.

I quickly learned that I was part of what’s called the GoDaddy Roadshow.  This is an internal trade show that educates call center guides on the products GoDaddy has to offer customers.  Since I’m a heavy user of their Pro program, I was tapped to talk to the employees that came to our booth about Pro and how I use it.  Most of the employees were surprised that a customer was even in the building!  I have my pitch forever memorized because, over the course of two days, I repeated it to hundreds of people.  I was also featured on an internal GoDaddy channel. That was a super fun experience for me.  I hate hearing my own voice, BTW!

In Gilbert, Chris gave me the grand tour and I walked away with a new appreciation for the call center workers.  The staff is segmented and tend to specialize in certain GoDaddy products.  And there are LOTS of GoDaddy products. I’m not always kind on the phone because I’m mostly calling under major stress because a client’s site isn’t working.  Meeting all these people in person made one thing certain.  I need to always be kind,  no matter how stressed I am in the situation.  Everyone is doing their best!

I headed out of 110° Arizona for two days at home and headed out the following Monday at 4 am for Cedar Rapids, Iowa.  I was in a bit of panic about my own work, but this time, I didn’t even try to work on the plane.  I read a book.  When I arrived in Dallas, I met up with the Roadshow team and instantly felt like part of the family.  We landed in Cedar Rapids, which from the air, reminded me of my hometown in Northern California.

The Roadshow set up for one day at the Hiawatha, Iowa location.  By now, I knew many people I was working with by name.  We enjoyed a nice dinner and night on the town in downtown Cedar Rapids.  As with all my previous experiences with GoDaddy employees, I’m always happy to hear how much they like working for GoDaddy.  It’s a happy place and I’m grateful I’ve been able to experience it up close and personal as a customer. I hopped on an early flight and just like that, I was back in Seattle just two days after leaving.

In just about a week, I’m off to do it all over again. This time, I’m heading back to Arizona for a leadership summit and once again, being part of the Roadshow.  I can’t wait to see everyone!

RESOURCES:  ZDnet –  GoDaddy names Expedia alum as CEO