This month's spotlight features Greg Daniel. We spoke to Greg, fresh off of his win from our virtual happy hour in which he won Jeopardy by a landslide! The fun-loving Floridian is V-Soft's director of VMS/MSP services. Greg shares his secret to being successful in his role and how he got to be so good at trivia games.
I have been a member of the V-Soft family for over 8 years. For the first two years, I served as a consultant before joining as an full-time employee in 2014. Currently, I am the Director of VMS/MSP.
I am proud to lead a team supporting a diverse portfolio of end clients and MSP partners with their staff augmentation needs, utilizing a variety of VMS tools and technologies. For those not familiar with those acronyms, an MSP (Managed Service Provider) is a third party that manages the contingent workforce process for a company and a VMS (Vendor Management System) is the technology or tool utilized for that process.
I'm a jack-of-all-trades within a fairly narrow space, in that my role allows me to be involved in account management, customer service, data analysis, recruiting, sales, service delivery and more.
The best thing about V-Soft is that because it is really a solutions company and not a staffing company, it allows me to tell stories that most staffing companies can’t tell and that opens many doors that might otherwise remain closed.
I mentioned that VMS/MSP is a fairly narrow space, as such clients and prospects get used to hearing the same old thing from our competitors. V-Soft’s involvement in emerging technologies, AI, IoT, Chatbots, etc. provides me with a wealth of information that, while not directly related to what I do, delivers added value and knowledge to our clients and prospects and truly differentiates V-Soft.
Greg making a paper airplane during the 2020 V-Soft Sales Summit
Probably the thing I'm most proud of accomplishing at V-Soft is the existence of the VMS/MSP team. When I first joined the company, VMS/MSP was not a service line that was actively pursued; now it is vital part of the organization.
Much of my staffing career has been built on what supporters might call a “creative” approach and critics might refer to as “naïve” (or “ignorant” depending upon their mood) and, in hindsight, I would probably agree more with the critics. But, at the time, not knowing what you couldn't or shouldn't do has usually served me well.
One of those “creative/ignorant” moments led directly to the creation of the VMS/MSP team here at V-Soft.
I don’t have the time or space for the full story, but when asked if a US-based IT staffing firm can provide content writers… with legal degrees… in Canada? I said “sure, we can do that,” and the rest is history.
It is ninety minutes from my driveway to Walt Disney World and over the last fifteen years, my kids have practically grown up there. When not enjoying the Florida lifestyle at a theme park or at the beach or on a cruise (or, for that matter, when I am there as well), I can usually be found with my nose in a book.
Greg Daniel with his family living the Florida lifestyle
Something that I don’t think anyone at V-Soft knows about me is, I have won money on the World Poker Tour. While I did not make the televised final table, I “cashed” in the low five figures (39th out of 437 players) at the Foxwoods Poker Classic in 2006.
Another fact that the V-Soft team just recently found out about is that I'm very good at trivia. While I have never “qualified” for Jeopardy (despite trying semi-regularly), I have qualified multiple times for Who Wants to be A Millionaire back in the Regis Philbin days, but never got the call. Years ago Disney Studios used to have a Who Wants to Be A Millionaire attraction and I actually won a Disney cruise there. So I am always eager for opportunities to take advantage of my storehouse of otherwise useless knowledge.