Steve Randall, what can you say about this human being, to give him justice.

Steve, was a remarkable, humble man that I had the honor of working with and learn from. When I met Steve back in 2004 he was the IT Director for the city of Venice, Florida. He immediately impressed me with his personality and easy going nature. He also became one of our biggest fans as a customer. One of my favorite stories about him is when we first installed OptiView for the city of Venice. We had scheduled our installation for one week with the training and configuration the following week.

Well Steve was okay with this but he had different plans of his own. 

When we finished installing OptiView he convinced our installer to give him a 15 minute configuration review. The following week our project manager returned to Venice to conduct configuration and training only to discover that the configurations had been made, the users were trained and the city was actively using the OptiView system!  

As you can guess, Steve Randall was responsible for side stepping the process. He did all the configurations and training! When I spoke to Steve about this he simply said in his calm and matter of fact way: “Juan, this software is easy and there was nothing to it.”  Well, this thoroughly describes Steve and how he approached life. He was one that never backed down from doing anything and loved to learn about everything. If he could learn it, he would do it. I knew at this point he would fit perfectly with the API family and when the time was right, he decided to join us. With his addition, we were never the same as a company.

Steve joined API in 2005 and immediately became a key asset. He took charge of our project management initiatives and we never looked back. I learned so much from him and he was so eager to show everyone everything he knew about OptiView. He would glow when he demoed our software, he was so proud of the company he represented and his child-like enthusiasm was contagious. 

He shared with us his passion for the Chicago Cubs and if we had any work in the Midwest he was always ready to go. He loved that team and yes, the Midwest was Steve's territory. Another thing I will remember about him is a phrase he would repeat to Sales. He would always offer his assistance to the sales team letting them know that he was there to help, but he would always finish with: “If you don’t sell it, I will.”  And he meant it. If they did not close the sale, there would be Steve with a PO from the customer and a smile on his face.

Another thing you may not know about Steve is that he was a scratch golfer. The man could play golf, yet he would never speak about it. That is an example just how very humble he was as a man. Yet he was a very passionate person. If he believed in something there was no way you could keep him quiet about it. This was so great to see and he was that way with API.

Steve was an amazing asset to API and he will never be replaced. We can only hope one day to be able to match his dedication and level of commitment. He was the perfect example of our company’s belief in the “Raving Fan”. He embodied all areas of this concept and related book and showed everyone he came in contact with what it meant to be customer-centric. I have stories about him where he would go above and beyond for customers, even on items that had nothing to do with API and its products.  He always said to me “we have a special company here, we really do care about our customers” and he really liked that.

When we spoke a few weeks ago, he brought up the reason why he joined API and said in a passionate voice: “I saw the vision of what this company can become and I wanted to be a part of it.”  Well I can say that he was a vital reason why API has prospered and we will continue to embody his legacy of customer service and commitment. API was a big part of his life.  Our company has and will continue to benefit from his brief stay with us.

I thank you Steve for all that you were. You were a great co-worker, mentor and a friend. We will miss you dearly.

- Juan Rodriguez, President & CEO of Advanced Processing & Imaging, Inc. (API)