This week we continue our “What’s on Their Desk” series with Chris Farley, Director of Marketing at Zebra Pen Corp. Thanks to Chris for taking the time to participate and share his favorite items with us, now let’s get to know a little about him:
Chris Farley is the director of marketing of Edison, NJ-based Zebra Pen Corp., leaders in the writing instrument industry for more than 110 years. In this role, Mr. Farley is responsible for the oversight and management of all marketing activities for Zebra Pen US, including product development, branding, packaging and promotions.
A member of the Zebra Pen family for 12 years, Mr. Farley is passionate about offering consumers quality and innovative writing products that allow its users to make a statement in writing. Prior to his current role, he served as Zebra Pen’s promotions coordinator and operations manager.
He is a member of the advisory board for the School Office Products Network (SOPN) and on the Board of Directors for the Kid’s in Need Foundation (KINF).
He has a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, with a concentration in marketing, from Albright College, Reading, PA. He resides in West Long Branch, NJ, with his wife and two sons and enjoys spending time with his family exploring the many great activities New Jersey has to offer.
Now let’s see what office supplies this industry expert relies on to get his day to day work done:
1. My first must-have office supply is my Texas Instruments Profit Manager calculator. I am always crunching numbers so when in doubt, I always trust my TI!!!
2. USB Flash Drive – I always have this with me. With all the documents, emails, attachments I receive it is always difficult to rank them in importance. For me, the significant files always find their way onto my flash drive and it never leaves my side.
3. And of course my favorite “must-have” is the Zebra Sarasa Gel Retractable Pen. With the numerous color options and various point sizes, there is always a choice that fits my needs. Whether I’m note-taking, highlighting or prioritizing, the Sarasa Gel keeps me easily organized.
These are some great choices by Chris, especially the Zebra Sarasa’s, which I’ve used plenty of myself and I agree that they are a fantastic pen to write with. Don’t forget that you can keep up with Zebra Pen on Twitter @ZebraPen and on the Zebra Pen Facebook Page. Thanks again to Chris for sharing his favorite office supplies with us, and thanks to Zebra for all of the great products that they offer!
I LOVE my smooth-writing, ever-reliable Sarasa pens & found out about them here on Office Supply. I’m a novelist (author of the NYTimes bestseller, HUSBANDS AND LOVERS now available on Kindle) and, although my computer is crucial to me, I do a great deal of composing via pen and paper before I enter my work on my favorite writer’s program, Scrivener. For that crucial, early creative stage, I use one of my Sarasa pens. In Vert Noir, Red and Denim Blue (not sure of that last name). I use them every single day. They live on my desk, my night table, next to me on the dining room table, next to my notepad in the kitchen and they go with me in my purse. Any professional writer will tell you that the minute an idea occurs, you MUST write it down that minute or you risk allowing it to vaporize. My Sarasa pens are perfect for any time, anywhere idea-capture!
I enjoyed the post about Chris and meeting one of the people behind my favorite pen. So, thank you Zebra for being such a great tool, and thank you Office Supply Geek for pointing the way!
I fell for Zebra pens ages ago, when they made a combo ballpoint/highlighter that totally fit my workflow at the time, and have continued to love their products, especially because they tend to have the finest points vs. the other big brands.
And I love this series.
The Zebra Sarasa Gel Retractable Pen & the CLIPs are some of my favourite pens with a great range of ink colours that write well.
I see Chris hasn’t used the blue or orange yet as they’ve still got the red wax/plastic protective blobs over the balls.
The Zebra gel pens are my favorite of all I’ve tried thus far. Thanks to Chris for participating in this interesting series.
About two weeks ago, my trusty old Zebra F-402 blew a gasket while I was in a meeting. My heart immediately sank, and my boss gave me a pen from his desk, which was charitable.
But it was an awful pen. I am a professional writer and an obsessive note-taker. I know my pens.
Zebras are guaranteed for life, and I sent mine back for a replacement or repair. And I cursed 9 out 10 pens I used every day since then — scanty ink delivery, too much delivery leaving ink on my hand and smudges on my paper, too big for my pocket, didn’t fit my hand.
On Friday, I was cursing my pen and I was really hoping — against hope, I thought — that my repaired or replaced Zebra would arrive today. And when I got home, the pile of mail include an envelope from Zebra. Inside were two! — not one F-402 Zebras — and a nice letter from a nameless Customer Service Representative.
I live with major depression — and recently the symptoms have been awful. Those pens lifted my spirits.
And I can stop cursing pens, as I pull the F-402 out of my pocket. I forgot how it moved smoothly if moved across the page, how well it fit my hand, how well it fit in my shirt pocket next to my pocket notebook. And when I run the ink well dry, I can buy replacement cartridges.
Mr. Farley, you have a great customer service department, in addition to a great pen.