I have a lot of great memories from these first five years with GT. To me though, the best memories are of the people. I have had the pleasure of meeting fascinating people at GT‘s Awards events. People like Donald Trump, Cynthia Nixon, Terry Waite, Ivana Trump and Patrick Warburton. Because of writing my blog, I have had the opportunity to meet and interview other interesting folks like David Clyde (former major league phenom and one of my childhood favorites), Andrea Evans (actress), Joe Morgan and Peter Gammons (baseball Hall of Famers) and Al Snow (wrestler/actor). I was happy to meet each of these celebrities. It is always more interesting to be able to talk to them in a professional setting, rather than as a rabid fan who wants to discuss obscure minutiae from their career.

However, better than meeting all of those celebrities has been meeting and becoming friends with all of the GT family. It is great being around such a team. It all starts with Fran, a longtime friend. Fran is one of the hardest working people I have ever known. He is also one of the most fun-loving. The rest of the staff is just as special and unique. Like . . . Dick Evans and his fascinating knowledge of NY history and architecture (and for helping me cope with the SoHo loft experience) and Alex Young and her passion for running, walking and living in New York (and for sticking by me on the 95th floor in Chicago) and Lisa Matte for her unique humor (and her agreement that GT should be a reality TV show) and Kim Krol and her feverish support of Philadelphia teams (and for continually reminding me that Billy Joel was the commencement speaker at her graduation!) and Anna Pudzianowski, Kim Harwood, Jackie Adam, Morrisa Pawl, Courtney Centeno, Chris Ottaunick, Patty Vanikiotis, Louie Atsaves and so many others.

There is not enough space to mention and reminisce about everyone. The bottom line is that GT is a group of different individuals who really work together for the common goal. I have worked at GT since the beginning. I have worked in some capacity with almost everyone at GT. I can truly say it has been a pleasure from day one. So I say thank you to the GT readers and the GT blog viewers. Thank you also (and especially) to my GT family for inviting me in and always making it great!

-John Wroblewski, distribution specialist