How I Became a Bobblehead
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October 2008: Christine in Marketing took photos of me from eight angles; first from a distance and then closeup. I held my trusty VT220 IBM keyboard that was given to me the day I started at Orchard Software in 1998. You'll never pry it out of my hands. Ever. |
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November 2008: The bobblehead company sent photos of the carving. |
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November 2008: The bobblehead company sent photos of the prototype featuring painting. Check out that gigantic hair. Fortunately, it makes my butt look smaller by comparison. |
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November 2008: The first prototype arrives at Orchard's offices and I was allowed to keep it. It enjoyed visits with in-laws, dinner with clients, and numerous trips to work in my purse. |
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January 2009: The bobbleheads arrive en masse from China, each in a custom plastic container inside a printed Orchard box. The words on the side say: Collectible "Debbie" Bobblehead 2009. Yeah, baby. I'm collectible. |
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April 2009: The bobbleheads are mailed to Orchard clients. I love my Mini Me! |
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Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you the Orchard Software Collectible Bobblehead Series! Left to right: "Gordon" 2007; "Curt" 2008; "Debbie" 2009. |
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May 2009: I rarely make site visits, but I was at two client sites in May. Here are the bobbleheads at a hospital in southern Indiana ... |
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... and here they are at a site in Indianapolis. In both cases, I'm in the middle, which is as it should be. |
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June 2009: Due to a horrific math error, there weren't enough bobbleheads left over to give out to the in-house employees once they were shipped to customers and remote employees, so we had to wait for a new order to arrive. The bobblehead fairies delivered them to dark offices during a power outage one day. |
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Even though the new shipment of bobbleheads did not come in the official Debbie 2009 Collectors Edition bobblehead box, John was smart enough to get his autographed, ensuring higher resale value later. |
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June 2009: And so it begins... Darrin wins the prize for being the first to disfigure my poor bobblehead. It will be hard to top this. |
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July 2009: Brendan and Jim from 4D came to visit and were gifted with Debbie bobbleheads in the rare and collectible picture box. |
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October 2009: Debbie Bobblehead makes an appearance onstage during the keynote speeches on the first day of the 4D Summit. Look for her at the far left. |
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February 2010: It finally happened -- I was up for sale on eBay. A friend in Minnesota placed the winning bid. |
Copyright © Deborah Schilling/Thomas Bundy