The Four Rules For Using Music To Enhance Your Event
By default, “The Lion King” soundtrack was my go-to motivation music. Let me explain, and in doing so, I will reveal my age. Growing up, soccer was my sport. I played it every chance I got. Keeping in shape during the off-season was the key to staying good at soccer. My goal was to run […]
Four Ways To Make Sure Every Member Feels Included At Your Events
There were 100 people in the room, but I felt so alone. In NYC, I attended an EdTech meetup, a community dedicated to developing tech solutions in the education space. Education is a passion of mine, so I was eager to check out the group and establish some valuable connections. Unfortunately, my initial optimism quickly […]
Don’t Try and Start Your Own Events
I hope to convince you that Collin Wynter wasn’t crazy but rather a genius for his solo dancing during the Sasquatch music festival in 2009. If you haven’t seen the viral video of Collin dancing wild at the Sasquatch music festival, here’s a reminder. What started as one guy dancing by himself became a massive […]
Traditions: The Hidden Key to Boosting Engagement and Togetherness
The only way I can describe what happened is as if there was a magnetic force on the dance floor that caused everyone at the wedding to move from their chairs to the dance floor instantly. Prior to this moment, the dance floor was fairly empty, with only a few people repeatedly making an appearance. […]
Do You Actually Know The People In Your Community?
In the middle of nowhere Indiana, lies a Mecca of amazing food known as the Oy Vey Cafe. As the name suggests, it’s a Jewish-run café, with all the food cooked by the family and inspired by their Jewish heritage. While the food itself is remarkable, this isn’t a food blog. So, I won’t focus […]
Vision, Mission, and Values Part 4: Creating Your Team Values
At this point in the journey, your team should have a clear sense of what mountain you will climb (Vision) and which path you will take up that mountain (Mission). Most teams might stop here; however, there always comes a point in the journey when challenges happen and tough decisions must be made. Sometimes you […]
The Valentine’s Day Bandit of Portland: Unveiling the Power of Anonymous Acts in Community Building
Portland, OR, is covered with cloudy skies for almost 50% of the year, but that doesn’t stop the Valentine’s Day Bandit from lifting the spirits of the city by secretly planting hundreds of red hearts all over on Valentine’s Day. For four decades, the bandit remained anonymous. However, his identity was revealed as Kevin Fahrman […]
Vision, Mission, and Values Part 3: Creating a Mission Statement
In my last post, I shared a process for creating a vision for your organization. What type of world do you want to create? If everything goes right, the vision will be the final result of all your efforts. I referred to this as the mountain you want to climb. Now that you are clear […]
Vision, Mission, and Values Part 2: Creating a Vision
When you ask yourself, “What mountain do we want to climb?” What you are really asking is, “What big problem would we love to solve?” Or, “What kind of world would we love to live in?” If everything went right over the next 1, 3, 5, or 10 years, what would you have solved through […]
How To Run A Strategy Retreat For Your Organization
It didn’t take long for the celebratory election smiles to fade to confusion and fear as we realized we didn’t know what we would do for the next 12 months. Six people, including myself, were elected into leadership positions in our local National Speaker’s Association chapter. We accepted our new task of running the chapter […]