Part II of: "The Highlight Of My Year"

Thanks to everyone who read Part I of The Highlight Of My Year, in case you missed it, you can read it right here!  For those waiting for Part II, wait no more!

Thursday morning October 4th found approx 15 sleepy bloggers boarding a bus to head off to the Nestle Purina PetCare Company (NPPC) headquarters.

Purina Headquarters
Photo courtesy of Nestle Purina PetCare

When we entered the headquarters we were greeted by the Board Of Directors:

"The Board Of Directors"
Hey! What's Dakota doing there?
Photo courtesy of Nestle Purina PetCare

There were also a number of TV screens that had images of all of our blog headers/logos going across the screen! It was beyond cool!

Photo courtesy of Nestle Purina PetCare

Then we made our way to the conference room area where we enjoyed a delicious breakfast.

Resident Cat "Rocki"
Lounging on the Purina "Coffee Table"
Photo courtesy of Nestle Purina PetCare

We then entered the conference room where we listened to presentations from various people at Purina who were brought in by Gordon Wade who is the Director of Marketing for Purina. The various speakers  spoke to us about:

Manufacturing overview did you know that safety and quality are a few of their top concerns? Purina will not  buy from a supplier without inspecting first. Every load of ingredients that comes to the factory is inspected. 98% of what Purina sells is made at the Purina factory.
Nutrition
History of Nestle Purina
Pet Welfare a speaker that warmed my heart was Brenda Bax who is a Director in Purina's Marketing Team and is responsible for Purina's work to build a better community with and for pets. Her responsibilities include Purina's Pets For People initiative, where Purina works to provide support to the pet welfare industry.

Being from Michigan I was proud to learn that The Michigan Humane Society is partnered with Purina. One example of the fine work that Purina is doing and how they have helped Michigan Humane was written about on Dakota's blog: PURINA DOG CHOW GIVES THE GIFT OF HOPE FOR MICHIGAN ANIMALS IN NEED where Purina donated HUNDREDS of pounds of food to help the Michigan Humane Free Pet Food Bank (which helps provide food for needy families who can't afford it for their pets.)

Photo courtesy of Nestle Purina PetCare

I was in sheer bliss!
Photo courtesy of Nestle Purina PetCare

I was blown away by so many things about Purina that it would take me TONS of blog posts to cover everything. One of many things that I adore about Purina are the values that the company adheres to, they call them:

The Five Tails

The "Five Tails" are used to reference Nestle Purina's values as an organization. From Purina:

"the term "tails" has a rich history in the Purina culture. The company's founder, William H. Danforth believed each person has not one, but four lives to live. A man's ingredients for life, he said, are a body, a mind, a personality and character, and all four must grow in balance with each other. These values--Integrity, Passion, Expertise and Performance--were known as the "Four Tails" the fifth "tail", "Innovation" was added in 2009 to demonstrate Nestle Purinas commitment to value, expect and promote curiosity and innovative thinking in their associates." Here are "The Five Tails"

We Stand Tall With Integrity
We Smile Tall With Passion
We Think Tall With Expertise
We Live Tall With Performance
We Create Tall With Innovation

The presentations were wonderful and we learned so much, but the "presenter" who stole the show was "Rocki", as well as their other resident kitty "Ava!"

Me kissing "Rocki"
who looks less than thrilled
Photo courtesy of Nestle Purina PetCare

"Ava" asleep in the conference room
Photo courtesy of Nestle Purina PetCare

Then...we were off on a tour of the campus!

Dog Topiary on the Purina Campus
Photo courtesy of Nestle Purina PetCare

Feeding Fish at the Koi Pond on campus!
Photo courtesy of Nestle Purina PetCare

Koi Pond on the Purina campus
Photo courtesy of Nestle Purina PetCare

Now do you see why it took me so long to post about this amazing trip? And...I am STILL not done! It appears that I will be adding "Part III" Stay tuned......

Disclosure: Nestle Purina PetCare completely paid for my trip, accommodations, travel, etc. All opinions are my own.