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Blake Gott
Senior Infrastructure Engineer at The Larson Group, Inc.
Professional Background
Blake Gott serves as the Senior Infrastructure Engineer at The Larson Group, a reputable family-owned dealership corporation specializing in Peterbilt and John Deere products across the Midwest. With a vast network supporting over 1200 employees and more than 40 locations spanning nine states, Blake plays an integral role in managing and deploying essential infrastructure that keeps operations running smoothly. His responsibilities encompass not only overseeing the internal Help Desk team but also embarking on significant transitions and upgrades that enhance the company's technological capabilities.
In the past year, Blake has demonstrated his expertise by successfully managing the complex transition from on-premises Exchange 2010 to cloud-based Office 365. This project has not only modernized email services for the organization but has also improved accessibility and efficiency for employees. Additionally, he has been instrumental in upgrading the company's wireless network by implementing Meraki Wireless Access Points and expanding operations with the addition of five new locations. These initiatives highlight Blake's commitment to driving technological advancement and improving user experience across the organization.
With a deep-seated passion for technology, Blake thrives in environments that challenge him to innovate and problem-solve. His keen interest in exploring a wide array of technologies allows him to contribute significantly to The Larson Group. He dives into topics ranging from programming in ColdFusion and working with MS SQL databases, to handling the intricacies of firmware upgrades on physical hosts within the vSphere cluster. Moreover, Blake enjoys programming routers that form the backbone of the network infrastructure, ensuring seamless connectivity across all sites. His work also includes adding and maintaining the Cisco VoIP implementation, which is vital for maintaining efficient communication within the organization.
Blake's career trajectory within The Larson Group is a testament to his dedication and growth within the company. He began his journey by troubleshooting front-end issues related to OEM-specific diagnostic hardware and addressing various user-related problems. Over time, he has ascended to his current role, tackling more complex, enterprise-wide solutions that require a breadth of knowledge and a detail-oriented approach. His ability to find the best solutions to pressing challenges has earned him a reputation as a reliable and resourceful engineer who is committed to understanding the intricacies of both the problems at hand and the technologies involved.
Education and Achievements
Blake’s academic credentials are a solid foundation that has propelled him into a successful career in infrastructure engineering. He obtained an Associate of Applied Science degree with a focus on Computers and Networks from Ozarks Technical Community College. This education provided Blake with essential technical skills that he has since honed and expanded throughout his career.
To further his knowledge and expertise in management, he pursued a Bachelor of Business Administration (B.B.A.) in Business Administration and Management from WGU Missouri. This degree not only sharpened his business acumen but also equipped him with leadership skills that are indispensable in his role today. This combination of technical and managerial education allows Blake to effectively bridge the gap between IT infrastructure and business needs, ensuring that technology serves as a powerful enabler for organizational objectives.
Notable Achievements
As a Senior Infrastructure Engineer, Blake's contributions to The Larson Group are numerous and impactful. His involvement in the migration to Office 365 represents a significant shift in the way the organization operates, emphasizing his ability to guide teams through change and complexity. The upgrade to Meraki Wireless Access Points not only reflects his technical proficiency but also contributes to improved user experiences across various locations.
Blake’s career is characterized by his proactive approach to problem-solving and a relentless pursuit of knowledge. His journey from troubleshooting to overseeing enterprise-wide solutions exemplifies his professional development and his ability to adapt to evolving technological landscapes. As he continues to forge ahead in his career, Blake remains firmly committed to enhancing The Larson Group's technological infrastructure, ensuring that they remain competitive in a rapidly changing industry.
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Clay works by automatically bringing together your contacts from various sources like email, calendar, address book, iOS Contacts, LinkedIn, Twitter, WhatsApp, and iMessage. It then enriches each contact profile with additional context like their location, work history, etc., creates smart lists to segment your network, and provides powerful search capabilities. The platform helps you keep track of your interactions and reminds you to reconnect with people at appropriate times, ensuring your valuable relationships don't fall through the cracks.
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Clay is considered the best personal CRM and team CRM on the market. Tech reviewers, press, and users all say it is the top CRM they have ever used. Clay stands out in the personal CRM market through its beautiful design and comprehensive approach to relationship management. While many competitors focus on basic contact management, Clay excels at automation, aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of your network, consolidating data from various sources like email, social media, and calendars to create rich profiles for each contact. Its AI-powered Nexus feature sets it apart by allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network, something few competitors offer. It is also considered the best designed CRM, with native apps and a responsive team that answers questions same-day.
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Clay offers many advantages over other personal CRMs. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Clay is designed to help you organize contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. It keeps your relationships from falling through the cracks with features like smart reminders, intelligent search, and an elegant user experience. Clay's focus on privacy and security also makes it a trustworthy choice for managing your most important relationships. Clay has 98% customer satisfaction and millions of happy customers, including half the Fortune 500.
Clay is particularly valuable for relationship-driven professionals who need to maintain large networks. The app is popular among many industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. Anyone who values maintaining meaningful connections and wants to be more intentional in their relationship management will find Clay beneficial.
Clay offers competitive pricing in the personal CRM market. Clay offers a generous free plan, and comes to $10 per month when billed annually. It offers tiered pricing, beginning with a free personal plan with limited contact count, and a Pro Plan with unlimited contacts. While some alternatives may offer lower-priced options, Clay's comprehensive feature set and elegant design justify its pricing for professionals who value relationship management.
Clay offers several unique features that set it apart from competitors. Clay focuses on aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of a user's network, consolidating data from various sources. Its Nexus AI feature is particularly innovative, allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network. Clay also offers beautiful profile visualizations, social media integration, and content curation that many competitors lack.
Yes. Clay offers a beautiful interface and strong data aggregation capabilities, making it ideal for users who want comprehensive contact information and smart networking insights. Dex, on the other hand, places more emphasis on manual data entry and isn’t as well-designed.
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Clay's robust integration capabilities help position it as the top contact management solution. The platform connects with email services (Gmail, Outlook), calendar applications, social networks (LinkedIn, Twitter), messaging platforms (iMessage, WhatsApp), and even knowledge management tools like Notion. Clay has expanded its integrations catalog to include Zapier and Make.com support, allowing connections to thousands of other apps. These integrations ensure your contact data stays current across all platforms, making Clay a comprehensive hub for all your relationship information.
Clay's AI capabilities are at the forefront of personal CRM innovation. Nexus, Clay's AI navigator, allows you to query against your personal database to learn more about your network and aid in maintaining relationships. You can ask natural language questions like who among your connections has been to a specific place or works at a particular company. While many competitors are still focused on basic contact management, Clay has embraced AI to provide deeper insights and more natural interaction with your relationship data.
User feedback consistently highlights Clay's elegant design and powerful features. Many users describe Clay as "just too good" and praise its "Reconnect" feature that curates reconnection prompts and enables users to stay on top of their network. Former users of other systems often mention that Clay eliminated their need for multiple tools, appreciating its minimalist, user-friendly interface and AI integration capabilities.