On the morning of June 13, Northwestern Indiana Telephone Co. (NITCO) hosted its annual Customer Appreciation Day event at its Hebron location. NITCO, which has been in operation since 1939, offers its customers a wide variety of telephone, internet, and television services. The customer appreciation day attendees consisted of Hebron residents as well as community members from throughout the Region. Free hotdogs, popcorn, cotton candy, and soda, were available for attendees to enjoy. Pinky Ice Cream Truck supplied everyone with an array of delicious frozen treats.
Tom Carroll, senior vice president at NITCO, considers the Customer Appreciation Day to be a very unique event.
“This is a great opportunity for us to say thank you to all of our customers,” Carroll said. “It’s also a great opportunity to share the services that we offer with potential clients and hopefully turn them into customers. I love working for NITCO because our customers truly appreciate what we do for them and we appreciate them for being our customers. This is one day when we can invite them to come out, enjoy a hot dog, enjoy the beautiful weather, and hang out with their friends and family.”
NITCO has been hosting Customer Appreciation Day for the last eight years. This year’s installment featured such activities as a dunk tank, a prize wheel, face painting and a balloon maker who presented young attendees with a variety of fun balloon shapes. Attendees could also play bozo buckets, cornhole, or have their picture taken at a photo booth. Don Schoenbeck, project manager at NITCO and head hot dog griller at the event, appreciates the social aspect of Customer Appreciation Day.
“Our Customer Appreciation Day is a great way to bring the community together and people really enjoy it,” Schoenbeck said. “I’ve seen quite a few people here today who I hadn't seen in a very long time. I even got to chat with a retired NITCO employee who I’ve known for 40 years. It’s been really nice reconnecting with people and talking to them about how things are going. I also hope that business owners and other members of the community can learn more about our services and find out what might work for them.”
The event also featured a raffle in which contestants could win backpacks full of fun and useful items. Mike “The Mullet Man” Summers from Indiana 105.5 FM performed the raffle drawing and announced the names of the raffle winners amid the applause of the crowd. Carroll views the Customer Appreciation Day celebration as a reflection of NITCO’s relationship with its customers.
“NITCO provides excellent customer service,” Carroll said. “We have an awesome Help Desk and we’ve got the best customer service representatives in the business. When you have all of those things, what else can you do but throw a party? If you want to throw a party, who would you rather have come down and party with you than your own customers?”
The Customer Appreciation Day celebration continued well into the afternoon as attendees young and old enjoyed the food, participated in the various activities, and talked amicably. Events such as this strengthen the bonds between community members in a uniquely special way.
You can learn more about the Internet and telephone services that NITCO offers its customers by visiting nitco.com.