Meetings and CSR

Meeting Planning and Corporate Service Responsibility


This is the time to think about giving back ….Among the benefits of being a member in a company, trade association or a community is the opportunity to receive such things as employment benefits, professional growth and development experiences or the sense of safety and security within your neighborhoods and relationship building within your community. If you are among the decreasing amount of people receiving such wealth, there are ample opportunities to give back, share or stimulate those in need. Giving back, playing it forward or simply put helping those in need is something we all could do just a little bit more of.

Think this article is about meeting planning? Indeed it is, but the case needs to be built. Corporations, Associations and yes, even groups of friends, church goers or people that enjoy certain sports, tend to travel to all kinds of global destinations. Just think if each group gave up or collected $10 from every attendee and left something behind in the chosen community what a better place the world would be. This type of feeling is being embraced more and more by corporations and associations. Some examples are more akin to team building so there can be duel benefits for example:

Build a Bike ~ groups go into a community and determine what children organization has a need for bicycles. Regardless of the time of year, (summer, Christmas) the group can be broken into groups of 5 or 10 and each group’s challenge is to build a bike for charity. This becomes an exercise with the group where your natural leader will rise to the top, technicians will develop and step forward, those creative folk might add the final touch with certain decorations and voila there is a final product, a leave behind for the community in a big way. Most groups are 200-500 people and just think, that is a lot of bikes.

Experience ~ Here is another, instead of a high dollar dinner for a group of 300, a company decided to hire a caterer, worked with a nice retail clothing store, closed the store to the public and provide each of the attendees a gift card for $100. As they shopped throughout the store’s multiple levels and in some specific departments, they dined on creative and themed food station. Days prior at registration, each attendee was given a name and a picture on the back of their name badge. They were originally instructed to bring a T shirt from their respective destinations for a child in the community of their meeting. These were collected at registration. They didn’t know that they were shopping for a specific child within the community (part of a homeless shelter). This new twist made them really think about their purchases and how to stretch their dollars. This concept of giving first without knowing what you may get in return has always moves the attendees. At the end of the allotted shopping time, desserts were being served as the children joined in the group and had to find their match. This provides for such personal pleasure while being sponsored by your employer.

Making it a better place ~ Groups can swarm in on a remote location, rural community and make it better by building a home, a church or a recreation center, they can take a few hours and plant trees or spruce up a community park. Work with the local animal shelter and have your group volunteer for even a few hours clearing the kennels, socializing with the felines, actually walking the dogs or bathing and combing or brushing the animals make the heart beat a little stronger. Many companies and associations are adding these types of activities to their programming to provide the attendees an opportunity to not only experience the destination in a unique way but also to leave a mark on that community. Meeting planners across the globe are challenged with adding such activities to their agendas and have created wonderful experiences for the attendees.

This is our world, our communities, whether corporate, trade association or community based. Invite your group attendees to spread the wealth so to speak and participate in these activities so it will indeed make the world a better place.

Sabbatical Opportunities

I have been so blessed with a stable group of professional people surrounding me for many years. These ladies and gentlemen (mostly ladies) have given so much of the time and energy that part of their overall compensation package is to receive a one month - time off sabbatical. What is that most say, thinking that word is synonymous with University level professors but here in my office it means full pay, get out of the office with no responsibility to do anything other than work. Rest, relax, recuperate, have fun, travel, whatever, just do it.

Each full time employee receives this benefit at their sixth year anniversary and unless crazy unknown circumstance prevent it, they are to take their sabbatical sometime during that following year. Cool, most people say and it is. Try it sometime and you will come back refreshed, invigorated and ready to tackle the next mountain but it doesn't just happen. Let me share a snapshot of what really happens in an office.

First there is the planning and celebration and then the departure and most importantly the return. The planning and shifting of work is a challenge but welcome by all as they too will have a turn at this disappearing benefit. So accepting a little extra work load is expected and welcomed by all. Hard to balance for sure and usually well done by all. The celebration is one that is easy and yet hard to do as much as everyone congratulates and wishes the person well, of course they will be missed and no one wants to interrupt the peace so checking in or calling is not encouraged. Bye Bye out the door with great cheers and in some cases tears and then the return. We like to schedule a brown bag lunch or a pot luck so that everyone can settle in and hear of all the adventures and experiences.

I'd like to congratulate our Katie Elsberry, a conference planner, an association manager and a technician on our team as Katie is one of those exceptional gals who does it all, always and without fail. We all are missing you and are waiting for you to walk through the door again but in the mean time....if you are ready, don't call, just enjoy whatever it is you are doing.