Musings, Scribbles & Screed
Close of kids saying grace while having Thanksgiving dinner with their family at dining table. It’s the grandpappy of all gathering days: THANKSGIVING! Here’s a fun exercise you can deploy during this most sacred of holidays that might inspire even more emotional and meaning into your corporate events. You know, those moments that make your … Continue reading Learning from Thanks
...then bring all those emotions, excitement and empathy to your event programs. Our plans for the summer include travel and exploration, a few visits to the shows and fairs that roll through town, and meet-ups with family, friends, neighbors and long-ago schoolmates. Along the way, I know we'll savor moments that I want to deliver … Continue reading Enjoy Your Summer Gatherings!…
Five things I learned at my first back-to-live event Just home from Las Vegas and the production of a CEO keynote at his company's high-tech conference. I know a lot of us are getting back to live or still looking forward to the opportunity. For me, I was surprised at the depth of the impressions … Continue reading We Are Back, Baby!
In the first weeks after I moved to New York City, I visited the Whitney on the Upper East Side. There was an Edward Hopper exhibit, and who doesn't love Edward Hopper. On a wall leading into the gallery was an inscription of an E.B. White quote that I was not familiar with and which … Continue reading The Gift of Solitude
GATHER: The Business of Coming Together My new book is out, celebrating the fascinating work that goes into creating events for business audiences. In equal parts how-to, manifesto and memoir, the book provides inspiration and strategies for successful design of corporate events, informed by the human needs behind any gathering, whether with family and colleagues, … Continue reading It’s Time to Gather!
The music was still ringing in Marty’s ears as he headed from the ballroom towards the elevator and his room. He was riding a post-show high, having closed out a big night with the anthemic “The Future is Now!” jingle performed by members of Styx and Mötley Crüe, fronted by that guy from Sugar Ray. … Continue reading Back to the Future! Events Edition
As before the pandemic, I still don’t want to see or hear your kids. But please bring your dogs, I want to see all the dogs.
I’m rarely at a loss for words. That’s changed during this, um, “time” we’re in. Know what I mean? Since last spring, whenever the topic of, er, “this situation” arises in conversation with clients and colleagues, I find myself grasping for the right – polite -- term to use. In my mind’s eye I can … Continue reading What Do We Call It?
Dear Las Vegas, I'm sorry. I'm sorry for all the things I said about you. I’m sorry for saying how much I dreaded visiting you for work. I’m sorry for what I said about how fake you were, how crowded and expensive you’d become, how uncomfortably hot you were. Yours is a dry heat, and … Continue reading Dear Las Vegas, I am sorry.
Binderama 