Aspiring to... Inspired by... Rewarded... Recognized

Permission to pause.
Permission to reward (appropriately)
Recognition accepted.

No matter the pressure on organizations today around the optics of hosting meetings, and particularly incentives; combined with on-line learning / webinars / hybrid events available, there is really no way to replace the value of a F2F experience.

In an incentive program, the most value for the attendees is the time they get to spend usually with the significant other that has given them the time and support to be successful, but also the time they get with senior management and the C-level of the organization they have chosen to be engaged with.

Determining the ROI is important - setting the objectives of the program, staying true to the goals and parameters set at the beginning of the reward cycle, and knowing what measurements your C-level is looking for are all critical to success. There are many ways to do this - just one is below.

Motivational Experiences Deliver Business Results - well they should or else what is the point?
SITE White Paper on Validation of Motivational Experiences

The big impact though is exactly the same as what happens when your sales (or service) force is in the field delivering to the clients you need to be successful.  The elusive and tougher to measure ROR - Return on Relathionships.  Relationships with each other, relationship with the organization and the perceptions brought to life during the program, the amount of leisure time vs. education vs. networking vs. recognition - the most important aspect is finding the balance that is right for those who are being rewarded. Then watch the magic happen!

A true reward with a private concert

A gala night of our stars - with each award brought out by a Cirque performer!

Engaging Learners

Learners need to be engaged to learn.


That sounds so simple. No matter how much technology we get, no matter how many ways we have to connect electronically, it all pales compared with face to face communication. Think about the frustrations when we are forced to go through voice message after voice message when calling a company we want service from, and feel unable to get it. Then think about when something is going right, it usually involves a person or a group of people who have created an environment, an organization, a sports team, a social group, or a school, for example, where a community can flourish. A natural extension of community is when we come together at an event to celebrate, network and be recognized.

Once the goals are established, there are two main considerations, the content you will deliver and the methods of delivery, and the environment you will deliver it in. This may involve a traditional classroom style, being lectured at by a presenter, for example. But more and more research shows that these are not the methods that will increase our engagement, or aid in the retention of information, and most importantly, it is not the most effective way to affect change, and if we are not seeking a change, or at least a shift, then why are you meeting?  (well maybe for celebration and recognition but that is another blog)

The next time it comes to meet, determine the w's -

1. Who is involved in the meeting?

2. what are they there for - learning? Motivation? Reward?

3. where will you meet - what country / city / venue will be the most suitable?

4. when is the best time to meet - is there an immediate need, is it a trip they need time to earn or an annual meeting you are planning for?

5. Why is there a meeting - find clarity among your stakeholders! First, the goals of meeting. Are you seeking to educate? Motivate? Change perceptions? Affect change? Create a greater sense of community?

6. How are you going to accomplish your goals?

What about hybrid meetings?

While there is a place for "hybrid" meetings, where we combine electronic support such as a webinar or broadcast, with a place to come together and share an experience. Ideally in a hybrid situation we are able to engage before the meeting or event, during through either social networking or live chats, and then follow up with further interaction that supports the learning offered.

Any comments? Please share your thoughts!

The Power of the Leader

Really, this says it all, but of course I have more to say!

Michael Hyatt Ways to Energize Your Team

Whether you are an appointed or unintentional leader, it is a responsibility to help people around us to be engaged.  The more engaged the team, for us, the better the events for our clients as we are always pushing the bar.

The best part of what we do is seeing our well served clients glowing, and the best way to do this is to have team members that all believe in the value of what we do.

Every day I will continue to do my best to lead by example in showing the passion we have for what we do. Some days I know I will be wildly successful, some days will be more of a struggle as the realities of keeping clients happy is not always the simplest thing in the world. So on to another day!

a small part of our volunteer lunch crew on the 2007 weekend to end breast cancer

Seeking Talent

Seeking and finding great talent is an ongoing process, and finding people who feel that our community workplace is one they want to join, then that is just a beginning.

Talent can be described in many ways. By Tom Peters in Re-imagine, he states it as such:

Talent. The intangible attributes that mark talent. Includes displaying passion; inspiring others; loving pressure; craving action; knowing how to finish the job; exhibiting curiosity; embodying “weird”; exuding fun; thinking at a high level; thriving on WOW! More importantly the way you need to consider the people you are hiring now – the people beyond “employee”

As an employee, we get a paycheque for the talent, knowledge and skills we bring to our organization. This at the most base level is all that an organization owes us. Really.

However, as humans, are needs are higher than this. We need to be recognized, appreciated, motivated at both extrinsic (such as our paycheque) and intrinsic levels. As organizations continue to grow in ways that include multi generations, backgrounds and talents, it will remain a challenge to find the individual motivators for the people who choose to join us.  What we can do is continue to seek what motivates our individual team members and to find people that we want to be surrounded by every day.  What we do for our clients is to continue to work closely with them to ensure that we are creating programs that ensure that the guests leave feeling rewarded, valued, appreciated and through the experiences we collectively create they leave inspired, motivated and feeling loyalty to their organization.

What can we do as employees? Well in a perfect world, we get to do our jobs with passion, integrity to both ourselves and our organizations, and we share the responsibility for success every day. I say, bring it on!

I Have a Dream

This week I had the pleasure of seeing and hearing Simon Sinek speak. We were introduced to Simon Sinek during one of our classes this year as the hospitality professionals taking our Bachelor of Hospitality Management when we had to seek things we were interested in and many of us ended up on www.TED.com checking things out. (If you aren't already a regular visitor - go!) This was a message shared between the class that resonated. This was a large motivator for me to go to Incentive Works this year, to hear this message live.


There were so many interesting things he brought up that just made me think. I LIKE thinking as we have that quiet time, in this case on a plane, to see how that translates to us.

Now one of the things he talked about was Martin Luther King's infinitely famous "I have a dream" speech and thinking about some of the parameters of this. In a time of little mass communication as we know it today, nearly a quarter of a million people came to Washington to hear about this man's dream, what he believed in. This is quite a long speech, and it is nearly entirely about what he believed was possible. We can assume that most of the people who came shared this belief, and they came to have this validated in a highly public, highly sharing, highly connecting way.

But the interesting thing pointed out, was that he said "I have a dream" he never said "I have a plan". Hmmm just something to think about.

On another note, I have been following, as many of you have, a linkedin group where someone started a thread asking could anyone recommend a keynote speaker that people would talk about / remember. Now, it turns out that hundreds of people each have their favorite speaker(s) and that each of these has literally hundreds or thousands of groups they could connect with. Each of these seems to have an excellent message to share, through stories and experiences that they will use to find connections with your audience and leave a message that resonates and supports the positive changes you are seeking with your meeting.

The Rockies and Banff

Oh how I love being in the Rockies and seeing the looks of awe on the faces of guests who are enjoying this spectacular locale, and hearing their stories of the activities they enjoyed.  It made me think of all the things I have not done while in the Rockies, again and again, for eighteen years of bringing groups here.

Things I have done
* eaten a lot of fantastic food
* floated down the Bow River
* stayed in gorgeous hotels "the Castle in the Rockies" among others
* produced fantastic events (shameless but true) with some excellent environments and entertainers
* enjoyed the spa - ok, once
* seen bears, elk, moose and a whole variety of cool wildlife, including the Mounties
* breathed in the freshest air around

Things I have not done
* drink fabulous wine (hey, we're working!)
* skiied
* been in a helicopter
* slept enough
* golfed
* swam in the beautiful pool
* gone horseback riding and had tea at the Teahouse
* been fly fishing
* gone river rafting
* played croquet on the lawn over the golf course
* line danced
* spelunked - really!
* atv'd
* biked
* hiked
* had ice wine by the firepit surrounded by ice sculptures

hmmmm, maybe one day! In the meantime, our lucky guests will continue to enjoy this fantastic location.

Bring your kids to work day?

Excerpts from conversations with the client...

Hey, we have a great idea! For the World's Greatest Backyard, we want to make sure it is easy for people to get their beverage of choice, of course. In addition to the greatest grapevine, we are definitely going to include the hydration station, with lots of flavoured water (a huge hit btw) and then we are going to have the specialty bars, and the beer stations with our great local microbrew from Granville Island Brewing, but what about that lemonade stand? Wouldn't it be great to have some kids?

At this point the event planner / mother in me feels a small start of... was that panic? Maybe as I seem to have stopped breathing. I definitely don't want to have to worry about kids at the largest most pressure filled event for our peers of all time... thinking, thinking... what is the right response... stalled completely by the next question, "What about your kids? They are adorable!".  Now, every mother wants to hear exactly those words, your kids are adorable. uh - oh, there is only one thing to say... "let me ask them!" I say brightly!

So I asked them if they might know any kids who would be interested in working at this large, important event, and their hands shot up. OK, I guess we will try this.  My daughter was especially keen and asked if she could come and spend the whole day with me setting up. Sure, why not, we can use more volunteers, so she did.  The first question, as we loaded into the car at 6am was "So Mom, is there like a main person who is in charge of this event tonight?"  Apparently my children, who have traveled to exotic destinations like Quebec City and Beijing with me on programs, have no idea what I do!

Well in the end, it was a fantastic day, and the joy of having a junior volunteer, is when you ask them to do anything, they RUN. Think about this high productivity booster, and how can we harness that? I generally discourage running on-site, but in this case, we had a lot of ground to cover. 

At the end of it all, they were adorable, and helpful and it was indeed a pleasure to bring my kids to work... and if you had any lemonade at the MPI WEC10 Welcome Reception, you got to meet them too!

Next time they want to be on the trampoline though!