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Newsletter 1
Charisma Productions Gazette Volume 2, Issue 12 December 2010
I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E
1 Meetings That Deliver
1 Seasons Greetings
2 Meetings That Deliver Cont
3 Make Yourself Accessible
4 Preferred Vendor-Beatwax
5 From Our Executive Chef
6 From Our IT Department
Meetings That Deliver
Return on Your Investment
ROI
Charisma Productions Network
Every great off-site meeting should have well crafted objectives that the top leadership team is committed to achieving. The off-site objectives should drive every other decision about the off-site meeting. They will influence the location, how many days, who will attend, and how much preparation time and resources you will need. So get started early, ideally 3-4 months before the meeting. Keep in mind your venue site; some companies book their venues 1+ years in advance. Leaders sometimes underestimate what an important, and potentially defining, leadership moment such off-site meetings can be – for better or for worse! Invited participants assume that everything that happens, everything on the agenda, is there because the most senior leaders wanted it there. They expect to hear from the senior leaders, and they often are interested in the senior leaders’ reactions to what happens and what is discussed at the meeting. Be sure your senior leaders appreciate both the opportunities and risks that such meetings present. And be sure to design the meeting in such a way as to help them make the most of their leadership moments. Meetings that have impact engage people - their minds and their hearts. Think of the few off-sites you’ve been to that really made a difference, off-sites that truly accelerated lasting, positive changes in your company or organization. What happened? Chances are that these meetings
From Our Family
To Yours Please
Have A Happy and
Safe Holiday!
continued on page 2
Newsletter 2
demonstrated a few important meeting design principles. Get Creative, there are dozens of effective and engaging ways to accomplish off-site objectives - clustering people in smaller discussion groups, electronic “secret ballot” surveying, hands-on projects that help drive home key points and build relationships, panel discussion formats, customer speakers, and so on. Of course, the choice of methods is guided by your specific off-site meeting objectives and the design principles above. No matter how “cool” the method is, it has to be a “best choice” to serve off-site objectives and design principles. Splashy methods can make a meeting memorable; they are only worthwhile if they are created to
delivering on the meeting objectives. Charisma
Productions Network can help you develop what it
takes in order to get your meeting objectives met and exceeding all of your expectations.
Off-site Meeting Design Principles
Connection before Content: People are encouraged
to “connect” with each other, informally and personally. This happens early and often. If the meeting participants are to do any “real work” with each other at the off-site (e.g. make new organizational arrangements, commit resources, etc.), this foundation of personal connection is essential.
Conversations, not lectures: There is lots of
conversation, and little lecture. The core principle here is that people typically learn more, and change more, when they have to formulate and express their ideas, not just listen to the ideas of others.
The right people: The “right” people are in the room.
Building and paring the invite list for most off-sites is a challenge, and invariably additional people get added for political reasons. But be sure that enough of the right people are there – the ones with the knowledge, the power, and the influence to accomplish the meeting objectives - and the ability to bring the rest of the organization along with the new direction when they return to work. Be careful not to dilute the meeting with too many who are not well positioned to help.
An off-site is more than a list of agenda items:
There is a coherent arc to the meeting, an overall story line. Each step of the meeting builds toward the next step, serving the overall objectives and deliverables. You get the sense that it is well choreographed, that there is a good reason for everything that is on the agenda.
The “how” says volumes about the “what”: How
the meeting is conducted is in sync with the messages delivered at the meeting. For instance, if the message is that senior management wants ideas and input from the next levels of management, then lots of time at the meeting must
be devoted to eliciting ideas, and demonstrating that (at least some of) the ideas will be acted upon. It isn’t, “55 minutes of slides with 5 minutes of Q&A.” Careful design helps the meeting itself “walk the talk.”
The off-site began before it started, and finished
well after it ended: There is pre-work and
communication that prepares you to be most effective in your time together and there is follow-up after the off-site that helps assure that things committed to at the off-site are
accomplished and integrated into your on-going work.
Meeting design comfortably fits: The meeting is fast-
paced, yet it doesn’t feel over-stuffed. There is time to accomplish what the meeting has set out to accomplish, protecting the integrity of the meeting design.
For more information please contact
[email protected] or visit our website
www.charismaproductionsnetwork.com.
Informative, Inspiring and Empowering
Let Charisma Productions Network become your one-stop solution for all your corporate meeting, events and
conference needs.
For more information please contact
[email protected] or visit our website
www.charismaproductionsnetwork.com
Thank You for All of Your Comments & Suggestions
continued from page 1
Newsletter 3
Make yourself accessible - importance
of returning calls and responding to
messages
What's more annoying than having to leave a message for some you urgently need to contact
Having that message go unanswered, or how about taking at executive up on her invite to call, only to find out she's about as accessible as Fort Knox? Barriers like these are not only frustrating, but commonplace in professional exchanges. But they can also kill important relationships if they become chronic. Don't underestimate the necessity of being reachable.
We're all busy. Meetings, deadlines and correspondence leave many of barely enough time to breathe, alone to interact with contacts clients. But making time to avail yourself to others is something only you can
"Your time is your own”, so take charge and determine your own priorities. Making yourself accessible should be one of those priorities.
If your goal is to attract business or build working relationships, not returning messages or hibernating behind closed doors won't win you many takers. But, for those times when you're unavailable, you can employ some reliable substitutes to pinch-hit for you.
A capable assistant is one. By all means, utilize him to run interference for you when you're busy. Trained correctly, he can answer callers' queries, schedule your appointments, elicit detailed messages or prioritize urgent calls requiring your immediate attention, says management consultant Alec Mackenzie. This can significantly shorten that daunting pile of message slips.
No assistant? Your answering machine, voice mail, E-mail or beeper can serve as surrogates, but not if you don't retrieve and respond to your messages regularly. If callers know you routinely check in, they'll be more apt to settle for communicating with you this way.
By setting aside a specific time of day to return calls and address correspondence, you can keep them from snowballing. "Many people like to do this right after lunch and again toward the end of the day," since that's when they're at their desks, says Mackenzie.
If you're on the sending - rather than receiving - end of the connecting game, there's a lot you can do to make sure you reach your intended party. Leave detailed messages that explain the purpose of your call, even if the person might already know. Keep your business cards updated to reflect current information. Make good on those invites to "do lunch," dinner or tea. We're all busy enough. Making it hard for someone to get in touch with shouldn't be added to the pile.
A thought to remember every phone call you
don’t return or every email you don’t reply to
could be a lost opportunity you can never
regain.
Newsletter 4
Preferred Vendor
Beatwax is a UK based international movie and special event marketing agency. The agencies expertise and success is in taking their own innovative approach to the marketing of entertainment venues, movies, and events. Beatwax has successfully worked with the world’s largest film companies. In 2009 on behalf of Disney Pixar, Beatwax flew a hot air balloon through the raised drawer
bridges of Tower Bridge to promote the film Up. The fully airworthy balloon was built to duplicate the flying house from the film. It
was also successfully landed outside the German parliament building in Berlin and flown over the Alps in Italy. This campaign has won multiple marketing awards and has been added to the many awards that Beatwax has won. Their latest campaign for Fox has seen the agency crew a fifteenth century replica sailing galleon with children and their parents sourced through wide drives across international media partner channels. The ship has been remodelled to look like the Dawn Treader from the latest Chronicles of Narnia film, Voyage of the Dawn Treader. The kids and their parents have been taught to sail the vessel on an extended voyage around various international coast lines. A fly on the wall documentary about the novice crew’s experiences has been broadcasted in all the participating territories. The agency is due to open offices in New York early next year with ambitions for an LA office towards the end of 2011. Charisma Productions Network is set to be their strategic partner for delivery of all event and production expertise.
Voyage of the Dawn Treader UP
FOX Disney Pixar
65 Clerkenwell Rd.
London, ECIR 5BL
Contact: [email protected]
T: 020 7 492 0625
F: 0207 404 5000
www.beatwax.com
Newsletter 7
From Our Executive Chef
Thanksgiving Leftovers
Tasty ideas from our Executive Chef that will let you continue to enjoy all of those holiday
treats.
Turkey Panini
Directions: For each sandwich, lay 2 slices bread on a work surface. Lay about 3/4 ounce cheese on one slice of the bread; top
with 2 ounces turkey meat, 2 tablespoons relish, about 5-6 arugula leaves and an additional 3/4 ounce cheese. Top with the other bread slice (there should be cheese next to each bread slice). Repeat with remaining ingredients.
Brush the top of the sandwich with olive oil; heat a non-stick skillet over medium heat. Put the sandwich, oiled-side down, into the pan, place a small heavy pan, or aluminum foil-wrapped brick on top of the sandwich to press it down. Cook until bread is golden and crisp and cheese is beginning to melt, about 5 minutes. Remove the heavy pan or brick, brush the top of the sandwich with oil and carefully flip it. Put the heavy pan or brick back on top of the sandwich and continue cooking until bottom bread slice is browned and crisp, cheese is melted, and sandwich is heated through, about 5 minutes more. Remove from the pan and cover to keep warm while cooking the remaining sandwiches.
Vegetable Samosas
Directions: Mix 1 cup leftover mashed potatoes, 1/2 cup chopped leftover cooked vegetables (such as carrots or green
beans), 1/2 cup thawed frozen peas, 1/4 teaspoon curry powder and 1 tablespoon each chopped cilantro, mint and ginger; season with salt and cayenne pepper. Roll a sheet of puff pastry into a 14-inch square, then cut into 25 smaller squares and place 1 tablespoon filling in the center of each. Brush the edges with a beaten egg, fold into triangles and press to seal. Bake at 350 degree until golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes. Mix yogurt with leftover cranberry sauce for dipping.
Newsletter 7
From Our IT Department
Never Lose A File Again
Have you ever opened up a Microsoft Word document attachment inside an email, read it, made some important changes,
clicked save and... Forgot where it was saved?
Rest assured, dear readers, you are not the only one. Microsoft Windows sometimes resorts to using the Magic 8 Ball in order to decide where to randomly store files for you. "Signs point to random temporary directory you will never find!" This month we'll discuss the little known, rarely used, but incredibly useful tool called Recent Documents. To access
recent documents, click on the Start Menu then click on Documents.
Do the files here look familiar? They should. This is a partial list of all the documents that Windows has noticed you've
used recently. However, if you want the full scoop, check this out...
Click on My Computer, open Local Disk(C:), open Documents and Settings. In this list, find the directory titled the same as
your username (for me, that's acrosby) then open My Recent Documents. C:\Documents and Settings\username\Recent
Now look at all these files! Talk about the cure for short-term memory loss! Here you will find links too many of the files
you have been using on this computer. PLEASE KEEP IN MIND, all the files located in here are only shortcuts to the original files stored somewhere else on your
computer or on the network. Once you find what you want through Recent Documents, open it up and save that puppy somewhere you won't forget!
Newsletter 7
Thank You for Your Support
We wish to thank our readers and our clients for their support and feedback helping to continually grow the Charisma Productions Network. We look forward to another successful year in 2011 as we continue to grow and provide you with successful stress-free events. We appreciate hearing from all of you and strive to improve our articles and hope to have something for everyone at one point or another. Please send us suggestions for topics you would like to read about or if you have an article that you would like to share we’ll be happy to post it.:
Please send all comments to: [email protected]
Charisma Productions Network A Geoff Andrews Company
805-241-0566 www.charismaproductionsnetwork.com
© Charisma Productions Network 2010, All Rights Reserved
