Rajant hosted its annual All Hands event June 6-8. The event invited nearly 200 Rajant and Rajant Health employees from across the globe to get together to learn, socialize, and give back to the community.
Rajant’s staff split their time between Rajant Headquarters in Malvern, Pennsylvania, and Penn State, Great Valley. Each day was packed with opportunities for staff to connect (or re-connect) with one another, learn, team build, and have fun.
Here is a recap of a few highlights from this year’s All Hands event.
A Time to Reflect
20 Years of Military Partnership
This year is an important milestone for Rajant. 2023 marks our 20th anniversary of providing the military with a “Combat Proven Solution” through our technology.
Rajant was founded because of an existing communication technology gap that was evident during the 9/11 attacks. The company’s co-founders, Robert Schena and Paul Hellhake, realized there had to be a better, more reliable way for first responders to communicate—and with this need came the invention of the Rajant Kinetic Mesh® Network.
Since then, we’ve expanded our product lines to serve the military better and into many additional industries, such as mining, oil and gas, manufacturing, ports, heavy construction, and rail.
During the All Hands event, we reflected on this partnership and how the needs of our military have informed our product offerings over time.
“This was a great event for camaraderie and exploring novel uses of commercial technology in a military network.”-Mike Van Rassen, President, Military and Government Markets
New Products
Our team also reflected on several new tools, including the Cardinal module and the Sparrow BreadCrumb®. The Cardinal is tailored for warehouse automation and robotics and is our smallest industrial wireless node. Built for warehouse automation and robotics, the Cardinal solves Wi-Fi and LTE limitations for fully mobile M2M communications.
The Sparrow is a portable wireless mesh network node that powers industrial IoT applications and light-duty vehicles. It contains two transceivers with up to four external antenna ports. It provides Ethernet and Wi-Fi access point interfaces to enable data, voice, and video applications with multiple mounting options.
Celebrating Rajant as the Best Place to Work
During the All Hands event, we celebrated Rajant’s recognition for being named the Best Place to Work in Kentucky and a Top Workplace in Philadelphia for the third consecutive year. These prestigious honors are awarded to employers based on anonymous employee answers to survey questions centering on company policies, procedures, and culture.
Ultimately, these awards reflect Rajant’s dedication to caring about its employees as one team, as Rajant’s CEO and Co-founder, Robert Schena, stated.
“Rajant is, first and foremost, a team. Our success and global growth are proof of the excellent work put forth in every area of our organization.” -Robert Schena, CEO, and Co-founder
Doing Good Things
At Rajant, we try to give back to the communities that give us so much—and the All Hands event is no exception.
Our team received 30 children’s bicycles and helmets from the Bikes for Kids Foundation, a nonprofit based in California. Accompanying each bike was a children’s book: Think Big. Work Hard. Be Kind. No Excuses. The Rajant team was split into groups to assemble the bicycles and write an inspirational message in each book.
Afterward, the bikes, helmets, books, and messages were delivered to Officer Paige Warfel of the East Whiteland Police Department in Frazer, Pennsylvania. These items will be given to children in need.
Having Fun and Connecting
The All Hands event included a wealth of opportunities for the Rajant team to be together, have fun, and connect. Rajant is a globally distributed team, so having everyone get together in the same place was a highlight of the All Hands event, as many team members noted.
“Although organizing our company-wide week-long event is an arduous task, the reward of seeing new and existing co-workers come together to learn, grow and enjoy the company is quite rewarding.” -Teresa DelCampo, Executive Assistant
“This year’s All Hands meeting was absolutely incredible! The information that was shared was valuable, and the time spent with co-workers from near and far was priceless.” -Bernard Taliaferro, Vice President of Global Channels
“With Rajant’s growth, it’s wonderful every year to get to meet not only the new faces contributing to the success of Rajant but to reconnect with the seasoned members of the Rajant team. It’s like a family reunion every year!” -Steven Griggs, Vice President of Sales Engineering
“The All-Hands was a great opportunity to connect again, laugh, and learn with the entire Rajant family.” -Sagar Chandra, Vice President of Business Development, Latin America
“The All Hands was a great way to have everyone on-site—to reconnect with those I know, and put a face to the name of new employees on the team.” -Julie Buckner, SHRM-CP Director, Human Resources & Recruiting
“My biggest takeaway from the All-Hands was the chance to compare notes and spend time with the other Sales Directors. The other highlight was getting the chance to meet the new members of the team.” -Darrell Gillis, Sales Director Canada
“As it is every year, the All Hands is a great place and time to meet fellows who we only meet online. Establishing personal relationships makes our daily work easier for all of us. All Hands is, of course, a great place to discuss technical and marketing issues, analyze complex projects, and exchange experiences in reaching new markets. But our annual meeting is more than professional matters. As usual, it was my great pleasure to talk about our families and the good changes associated with them (thank you, Al Rivero). All hands is also a time where we can talk calmly and safely about the world around us, the daily dangers, and their impact on our lives. Once again, questions about the difficult situation in my region and the ongoing war in my neighborhood were leading topics. It’s hard to talk about pleasure, but I’m glad I was able to tell a few people about a situation that often seems to be just headlines on TV news.” -Marcin Kusztal, Sales Director Eastern Europe, Central Asia, TR & MN
This year’s All Hands activities included ax throwing/archery, a barbecue, karaoke, live music, and a party with staff awards.
Flag Commission and Dedication
Rajant received a special honor during this year’s event. Rajant Headquarters was given a new American flag art piece to display and recognize the sacrifices of American service veterans and as a symbol of hope and American fellowship.
Artist Hallie Hart created the piece, “Ben Franklin,” one of thirteen abstract renditions of the iconic American flag as part of her decentralized, online exclusive exhibition, “Unity.”
We were honored to have Hallie join us at this event to unveil her piece in its new home.
“We will rise and transcend together as Americans. I’m so happy that my work has a home at Rajant, where it can serve as a valuable reminder of our strength as a collective. ‘Unity’ is a message of hope, a restorer of faith in humanity. It is the foundation of this country.” -Hallie Hart, Artist
Looking Ahead
This year’s All Hands event was a phenomenal opportunity for our team to reflect and remain focused on the roots of our mission as a company. With a renewed passion for better communications and safer workplaces—as well as productivity (after all, June 20th is World Productivity Day!)— we’re enthusiastic and hopeful as we look toward the second half of 2023.