Leading the Course
From the desk of: Christine Altieri, Founder
We are well into our activities and planning for 2022 but you might be interested to hear a recap about our annual retreat to kick off another banner year!
This past January AE Events held our 4th annual retreat – a day to immerse ourselves in strategies and tactics for 2022. We focused on each individual team member, as well as the team as a unit.
Our retreat was held at Boston’s only Five-Star and Five Diamond Boston Harbor Hotel-who not only warmly welcomed us, but also fed and cared for us extremely well. Long time gem from the hotel, Michael Boivin, Catering Sales Manager, was invited to join our discussion. He spoke about the ways an event planning firm can effectively collaborate with a hotel to provide a high level of experience for our clients. It was both interesting and informative.
For those that remember or watch reruns of Joan Rivers’ “Can we Talk” show, we took a page out of her repertoire to “tell it like it is” in the hopes this would help us to learn from one another.
To reinforce that theme and keep it interesting, we created our own version of “Conversation/Talk” cards. Each staff member had to write down on a card what they found most challenging about events and how they would like to grow and advance their skills and competencies and submit theme anonymously into the discussion. One by one, a staff member reached into the bowl to select a card, read it aloud, and let the conversation take off from there.
For the icebreaker each staff member separately sent in cards that expressed what they might have liked about a particular event and to generally outline the elements of events they find most enjoyable. The game began by each staff member picking a card and then guessing which staff member may have expressed those sentiments outlined on the card.
Of course, there are always ground rules to ensure open and honest conversation without judgment, and I’m happy to report that conversations were transparent, authentic and everyone allowed themselves to be vulnerable and ready to learn. Lively dialogue and loads storytelling and laughs too!
Conversations were also incredibly insightful. I learned even more about the staff regarding their individual desires as well as the depth and breadth of each staff members’ knowledge.
The next part of the retreat was our “State of the Union”, in short, a re-cap of 2021 and most importantly our stated goals for 2022. Below describes the upshot of our discussion.
2021 felt a bit like 2020 which again required a lot of juggling and pivoting.
To begin, we discussed some of the basics of readying ourselves for the strenuous physical challenges and other details of events.
Wear comfy (but sassy) shoes
Compression socks totally acceptable but only under pants-not a short dress!
Stay hydrated
Eat snacks
Short stretch routine that helps with any bending, lifting etc.
Schedule properly – think ahead about when staff needs to arrive and everyone is clear about roles and responsibilities
We are all eagerly anticipating the events of 2022 and beyond. It’s exciting to have our new staff members join the team’s extensive planning and take part in appreciating our concepts and visions come to fruition.
AE Events has undoubtedly reached new heights – The COVID pandemic has made us more committed to each other and personally closer. We have grown to rely on one another for assurances, assistance, and friendship. We helped each other to look to the future with hope and excitement for what we can do, even in the most challenging times.
As we looked ahead, as the planners we are, we wanted to map out what our 2022 would look like.
AE Events - 2022 GOALS:
Expand our services and knowledge
Be more exacting and targeted
Create a 5-year plan for the business- each staff member contributing their thoughts about events, process and where they see themselves as part of the 5-year plan.
My own professional goals:
Grow the team
Grow sales
Help individual staff with both professional and personal growth
My personal goals:
Trust the team
Hire more staff - we’re growing!
Ensure cost effectiveness
Stay true to my commitment to be a growth - focused leader
Break down silos and foster inclusion and collaboration
Success is achievable!
2020/2021 is proof-this team adapts, communicates, collaborates, shares and supports. The AE Events staff works hard, adapts to the myriad of changes and strives towards excellence.
Additionally, and very importantly, the staff has passion and pride!
You should know that I feel very motivated and have tremendous interest in the teams’ growth. I can help lift each one of them up towards their goals, and their happiness and growth will impact each team member as well as the bottom line of the company.
With long days ahead, our feet will hurt and our bellies will growl. We need to be physically and mentally prepared, work effectively, plan carefully and lift each other up. Take care of ourselves, find ways to recover, but remember, we will have each other’s back! We have a busy road ahead and I’m excited about the journey with all of you aboard.
The retreat closed with Liz Brunner, of Liz Brunner Communications. Liz designed a program and workshop that was targeted for the team to learn and identify areas for growth.
We learned the 4C’s! Confidence – Content – Clarity – Conversational.
We learned the 4C’s! = Confidence – Content – Clarity – Conversational.
We discovered ways to better engage with our clients, vendors and peers. We gained a better understanding of ways to be more confident with our body language and how we present ourselves.
It was a great afternoon. We learned a lot, laughed, and even cried tears of joy.
I ended my “State of The Union” articulating my confidence in my team and always reminding them that I would love to listen if, and when, you want to talk!
