The Effects of Positive Surprise

Human brains are wired to accept and embrace and be energized by positive surprise.

Meeting and event planners however are often equally hardwired to shun any opportunities for surprise of any kind. This may not apply to everyone reading this, but for many, we live in moderate fear of the many stakeholders who are part of the event and know that our jobs (internal or external) are only as secure as our last event is great, and we are always at the mercy of the whims of those responsible for choosing their next event partner - which may include an individual, a committee, or may roll to procurement. Procurement is particularly hardwired not to be excited by surprises.

So how can we balance creating positive surprises for guests and do this in a budget relevant manner? I think there are many ways of doing this, and much of it comes down to these things.

1. Thinking holistically about the guest experience from the beginning
2. Understanding the value relative to the objectives
3. Being able to articulate this to your key stakeholders for buy-in

What are some examples of positive surprise and the potential impacts? In my view as a starting point for discussion this may include:

1. Entrance or welcome entertainment that sets a tone and provides a delightful start; no matter how your guests arrived, if you can mentally transport them from the beginning you have already created an impact. Imagine arriving for a morning conference registration and a solo guitarist was playing - simple, inexpensive and sending a message today will not be ordinary
2. Thoughtful transitions as simple as allowing time for hallway conversations between sessions to as surprising as a performance that leads them into a dining space
3. Listening to what they have to say from a collaborative breakout session to a grafitti wall; a twitter stream that adds to rather than distracts from a session at hand - finding ways to listen and share messages is often a surprise to meeting participants still used to being talked at. A combination of great speakers and even greater facilitators has the opportunity to lead to even greater results.
4. Where did that come from? A dessert bar that lowers from the ceiling, performers that come from an unexpected place, a 150' harp that arcs over a ballroom and appears as decor until it is played, a video that begins a session and the live presenter who appears to finish it - keep them guessing, keep them engaged in the process
5.  Where do I sit?  Break out of classroom setups for meeting sessions and rounds for galas - mix it up and try something that has people talking. They came to the meeting to MEET, allow this to happen. Octagons and squares, lounge seating and balls, conversation clusters and pedestal tables - this year we have tried it all and each has had resounding success because we knew why we were choosing to mix it up - and the participants shared in the positive surprise and opened themselves up to the possibilities.
6. Feed me well. Break out of the white bread, white flour habits - replace breakfast items with mini protein shakes, yogurt shots and other energy providing foods, lose the chicken and pasta lunches opting for items like a delicious Nicoise salad and a cheesecake pop, and start to see the energy of your attendees shift as they enjoy delicious and nutritious options.
7. Seek out alternate venues. Mountaintops and riverbanks, gallery rooftops and forested parks, underwater viewing galleries and stunning train rides have all added up to amazing programs this summer - where are you taking your guests to get out of the norm?

There are many ways to initiate positive surprise - what have you tried? What was the impact?

Is your organization socially engaged?

In my last post I wrote about ways I have seen that will increase employee engagement- how to keep people interested in their organization, working with their leaders and ultimately producing better results with excellent customer service innately practiced on a consistent basis. 

Today I found this awesome article that articulates it even more clearly so I am sharing it here.  5 new paradigms for a socially engaged company by @SorenG Apparently we are on the right track, and we definitely appreciate when the client organizations we work with are organizations that share these beliefs, that taking care of our talent will always lead to better customer service and an engaged workforce just makes work a better place to be!

Do you have an experience to share about what your organization is doing to engage you?

"Bossisms" - engagement in practice

Culture eats strategy for breakfast. Over the course of working since I was 13, I have been the lowliest assistant, an awesome coordinator, an instructor, and a project and team leader from hair salons through a variety of organizations (PCO, DMC and Incentive House) in hospitality, and I have had many fantastic leaders to learn from and grow with. Some things I have learned, and try to practice.  (Don't worry, my team calls me on things I miss, and I do appreciate that!)

1. Say good morning to the people you work with.
2. Share passion and enthusiasm for the work we get to do - what we do is FUN, don't forget that.
3. Be authentic, it shows.
4. Assume you don't know everything - be curious.
5. Be humble. Share the credit / give credit when due.
6. Ask questions - of your team, your suppliers, your leaders.
7. Say thank you.
8. Saying please goes a long way too.
9. Show genuine appreciation.
10. Allow flexibility - everyone has a different work style - it needs to fit within your orgnizational culture but you will get the best of people if you allow them to work at what they are best at. Embrace the weird. Keep it interesting.
11. Be realistic.
12. Respect each individual for what they bring to the team.
13. Provide challenges - and watch people rise to meet them.
14. Be fair. Be transparent. Be aligned. Know your organizations' values and make it easy for people to be aligned.
15. Embrace every experience - for whatever it provides.
16. Share knowledge. Encourage ideas. Contribute.
17. Share the positive - when we receive great feedback, share it up, down, sideways.
18. Think holistically - you could call this "people, planet, profit" but it is about looking internally and externally and not in silos or with tunnel vision.
19. Understand and be part of your industry, locally and globally.
20. Provide opportunities.
21. Trust your team.

"Bossisms" - when engagement goes down

Employee engagement will always be a hot topic - if your talent is not engaged it is tough to run a successful business, of any size.  I have always worked for organizations between 4 and 50 people, which means they are mobile, dynamic and have highly involved ownership. After nearly 30 years in service (hair salons followed by meeting management and event production) I have learned a few things about customer service, recruitment, retention and engagement. For fun today though, I am going to review some of the career changing comments made both by my bosses and bosses of the people I know. You can judge the impact for yourself.

1. "I can't really see you taking on more of the creative". Obviously a change was needed for me to get to this current position of Director, Creative and Production!
2.  "Flying home and watching movies on the plane will be considered a day off. After all, you are relaxing." Now I don't know about anyone else in this industry, but the reason I am watching a movie on a plane is because my job, that I just spent 18 hours a day for the last week doing, was far away! This is not really the aforementioned relaxing time off.
3. "That's only one extra day a week." As I faced a third year of working 2,400+ hours...
4. "I can't deal with this right now". Heard in more than one instance by more than one person, but really, when will be a good time to tell you that we have a problem to solve?
5. "You will never cut hair again." from the surgeon after two major TOS surgeries. I cried - then I went to school - hello Event Management!

Do you have any career changing comments to share?