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Archive For: Relationships
Be Easy to Try, Easy to Buy, Easy to Say Goodbye
How to Be A Super Hero in One Easy Step
Stop Telling Us How Good You Are and Show Us. Here’s Why
Happy Valentines Day (Or Week!)
Why Thank You Counts
Recently I had done a few favours for one of the bureaus that represents me. I was happy to do them. It is all part of continuing to position myself as someone who can host and produce energetic and engaging online events.
But they knew what I had done was no small thing. So to say thank you they sent me something. When it arrived I had my suspicions on what it may have been so I shot a quick unboxing video. See how big my grin gets as I unbox it!! It is only 100 seconds, check out the video. I will wait.
It was pretty cool yeah?
Anyway, saying thank you is so important. Even if it is exactly what you are paying them to do for you. You don’t need to give expensive gives, some times simply saying thank you is enough. Taking the time to let that person know what they are doing really contributes to you and your bigger picture of success allows them to be part of it.
It enables them to feel good about the contribution they make and shows them how valued they are. Something that is often missed.
So whether it is your partner, your kids, your boss, your colleagues, your suppliers, your customers, your shop assistants, your wait staff or your cleaner, saying thank you will always make a big difference.
Who do you need to say thank you to today?
Why Donut Day can Reconnect Us
In Melbourne yesterday (and again today), it was Donut Day. That is 0 new cases of COVID and 0 deaths due to COVID. To celebrate, our neighbour bought us these sensational donuts (the dog didn’t get any!)
One of the biggest tragedies of this pandemic is the separation of communities that were once previously connected. From “Australia – we’re all in this together” we quickly transitioned to “Every state is on their own”. This worsened to Metropolitan vs Regional.
It didn’t stop there though. There seemed to be a separation along political lines as well, and not just from the leaders of each party. There was also separation between employees and self employed. Worse still, everyone in the arts community just seemed to be abandoned, yet national sporting teams got special permissions.
So now, with a reduction in restrictions we can start to reconnect. We can rebuild our great community.
We can realise we ARE in this together. We are on the same ocean but we are in different boats. We have different levels of impact. Different levels of suffering. Different perspective on next steps.
But with empathy and understanding of what others are going though, we can reconnect and continue to face this pandemic stronger than ever.
Yay for Donut Day!
What’s the Best Way to Say Thank You?
I am very fortunate. Over the years I have received some lovely gifts to say thank you.
As a speaker it is very common to receive a bottle of wine (or two!) But as a non-drinker it was always a little disappointing (my wife and friends loved it though.) I have also received different vouchers from books stores, music stores and even cafes. And every time I was grateful for the gift.
But last week I was blown away!
I was given a thank you gift of 2.5kg of gourmet bacon! It was astounding.
Now I am not saying you should give bacon to say thank you. In fact for many, their religious/personal beliefs and lifestyle habits would mean they would be more offended than appreciated. What I am saying is match the gift to the person.
The person who gave me the gift knows I do go on a lot about bacon and I am a big fan. She also knows that I don’t drink and that chocolate is not really my friend. So when she wanted to thank me, she knew that for the same price as a really nice bottle of champagne, she could get 2.5kg of gourmet bacon delivered to my door.
So the best way to say thank you is with something that the recipient loves. Maybe they knit so would appreciate some special wool. Maybe they paint and some awesome coloured oils/water paints would be appreciated. Maybe they are into woodwork and so would appreciate a specific chisel.
A little bit of investigating, like their Facebook page, a conversation with their partner or even asking them directly, will give you some strong direction on what would be appreciated.
A general thank you is awesome but a targeted, specific thank you will make them feel extra special.
How will you be saying thank you?
How Getting Help, Helps Getting Good
I have a large awards event coming up with almost 200 people online.
It is really exciting! There will be video, slides, spotlighting of winners, spin the wheel prize games and a whole lot more. I know that everything the PCO and I have lined up is going to be fabulous. But I wanted to be sure!
That’s where my fabulous friends and colleagues came in.
You see, there was one thing I was going to do that I knew the theory of but I wanted to test it. To test it, I needed over a screen of people on Zoom – so over 26 people. I put the call out a couple of days before the Friday afternoon test and we were away.
People generously joined in knowing nothing about what I was trying to do. We tried a few different things and people all shared their thoughts and ideas and now I am concretely positive that what I want to do can be done.
Everyone then stayed on and swapped Zoom skills and ideas. It was a fantastic way for everyone to give a little and gain a lot. So a big thanks to everyone who jumped online. By giving a little help we all helped each other to get good, an Online Presenter Pro!
Where can you give a little help?
Let me know if you need a little help with your online events and presentations.
I have a Severe Case of Kummerspeck
German is a fantastic language. It gives us wonderful words, that for the non-native German speakers, can sound harsh, guttural and slightly ridiculous.
But they express a situation so well.
Schadenfreude (which means getting pleasure from the pain of others) is the basis of so many tv series and YouTube channels. It is the guilty pleasure of many of us, myself included!
Zeitgeist means the mood of the culture or the spirit of the times and is now commonly used in English conversations.
But the word that best sums up what seems to be happening in my life and those around us is Kummerspeck. Literally this means Grief Bacon.
Many around me are talking about Corona Kilos added from excess eating during lock down or feeling out of control so eating over it. Surely this is grief bacon!
The pandemic has shattered our illusion of control and so we do what we can to feel more in control or to use the time we have as productively as possible. For me that means making cinnamon scrolls, brownies and other yummy treats and then giving most of what I made away.
The longer the pandemic goes on, the more of a challenge it will be for us. Personally, I suspect this pandemic will go until late 2021. There will continue to be rolling lock downs as we deal with trying to minimise the impact of the disease.
The Germans have a word for this too, Scheisse.
But in the mantra of 2020, “It is what it is”. So let’s continue on, grateful we are not dodging bullets, having bombs dropped on us, or suffering from something far worse than being forced to stay in our homes.
If you need to get out virtually, don’t forget to join my What’s Up Wednesday sessions that happen every Wednesday. Click here for more details. We just chat about what is going on and see what help everyone needs (and have a fair bit of fun along the way!)
Stay strong and love your Kummerspeck.
Hybrid Events – Panacea or Pandora’s Box?
Are Hybrid events the panacea that they are being made out to be?
How do you get the best from the Hybrid format and avoid the pitfalls?
This is the Get Events Online Live Stream where we talk all about Hybrid Events.
With the world going into lock down, are hybrid events the answer to all of our problems or do they just add more?
Watch and find out more. Skip to the 5 minute mark to miss the intro video and get to the good stuff!
We Have Changed the World Forever
We did it!
We did what they said couldn’t be done.
It has changed things forever!
So often before the lockdown, business and people would say to me, “Oh no face to face is so much better. We will never go online”
Then there was the lock down.
It is amazing how quickly things will change when they have to. While my personal belief is that we are not out of the woods yet when it comes to minimising the harm from COVID19, it seems to me that Online Sessions are here forever.
People have found how easy it is to connect, communicate, sell, entertain, care, and grow with an online experience. Yes, there are different elements of the online experience that are exhausting or take extra effort, but we will get used to it. We will adapt. We will adopt. It will become our new normal.
We did it with trains! In Victorian times, it was believed that Train Travel could cause instant insanity. Turns out, this isn’t the case!
While it won’t replace face to face meetings completely, it has changed us forever. I know for a fact it has changed my business forever – mostly in a good way.
So how do we embrace it? How do we change our interactions to take advantage of it’s benefits? How do we deal with the many different tools to use?
The secret is to not go alone.
I know I have learnt so much from those around me.
I have learnt some of the key issues can be easily dealt with regardless of the technology.
I have learnt that there are secrets to each platform to get the most out of it.
The world has changed forever – I believe for the better.
My renewed mission is to Get Events Online. From large conferences down to small team and family gathers. It means I won’t have to travel as much. It means I get to spend more time with my loved ones. It means I get to have a global presence while staying at home.
When it comes to events, the world has changed forever and I, for one, am glad!
PS Let me know if you need help changing to Online Events in your world!
Take the Time to Take the Time
What a strange world we now live in.
There are a lot of people in pain. Financial pain, pain from kids needing home school, pain from elderly parents who just won’t stay home, pain from spending as much time as you have been with all of your immediate family, pain of not having enough alone time, pain from not seeing or spending time with friends, pain of illness or even death of key people in your life… all sorts of pain.
The world has irrevocably changed for us.
We will never go back to how it was and I suspect we will horde toilet rolls for a long time to come!
So make sure you take the time to take the time.
Your kids won’t be schooled like they used to. Home schooling is different. Home schooling under lockdown is even more different. So teach them lessons they won’t get at school. Have fun with them. Play stupid games. Take the time to show them how important they are to you.
Take the time to look after yourself. Take time out in the bath. Sit on the balcony with a book. Put a do not disturb sign on your door and just spend some time with yourself.
Take the time to connect. My gorgeous wife and I are having quite a few Digital Drinks Parties. My friends 13 year old sent me a message the other day saying she missed seeing us. So tonight we are having a Digital Drinks Party. We have the technology so why wouldn’t we use it.
Take the time to potter around the place. Maybe you have a few odd jobs on the To Do list. It may be a good time to do that. Or not!
Whatever you do, you know as well as I “Life as Usual” has changed. It is more “Life as Unusual”. So take the time to consider your life. What do you want to change, what will you keep, what will you tweak.
I don’t think you need to be massively productive. I think it is important to process what is happening for you. To reach out to friends. To ask for help if you need it. To offer help if you can.
Whatever you choose to do, take the time to take the time. It’s important!
PS If you need some help taking time out, head over to Wednesday with Warwick and check out the free sessions where you can focus on you and connect with others.
Exile for the Good of the Realm
We live in interesting times.
For all my gregariousness and enthusiasm, I am conservative by nature. Not one for fads but open to scientific method, new ideas, and decisions made on facts.
In the last few weeks, most of my conference bookings have been cancelled, postponed or deferred to an online event (where I tend to excel!) And the more I read about COVID-19, the more seriously I take the recommendations from the health experts.
My focus is to stay alert but not alarmed. Not to panic but to be prepared.
Here is an excellent piece by one of Australia’s most eminent doctors, Doctor Norman Swan, broadcast the ABC. It is only 8 minutes and I recommend you watch it.
So my gorgeous wife and I have made the decision to send ourselves into exile, for the good of the realm. Some call it social distancing, but going into exile sounds more exotic.
It means we are cancelling a lot of our social engagements, minimising our contact with others and doing what we can to keep everyone safe.
One of the pieces I saw said to not approach our situation to prevent ourselves from catching this virus, but to assume we already have it and to act so that we don’t spread it to others.
There have been so many great stories of people and communities supporting each other and working together to get through a messy time in our lives. Let’s be part of that. Let’s focus on the WE and not the ME.
Just know, I am here for you. If you are also going into exile and get lonely, give me a call. Let’s chat. Let’s sing songs. Let’s have group calls with others. Let’s share ideas on cleaning our bums without toilet paper (oh so many ideas on that one!)
There is so much we can do. So let’s do it together.
See you in Exile!
Are You Licensed to Save What You Love?
Shakespeare famously said, “If Music be the food of love, play on!”
I have so many amazingly talented friends in the music industry and it is an industry in which it is harder and harder to earn a living from. Streaming has massively increased the availability of music, but slashed the earning potential of artists.
For those of us in the Event and Conference industry, the most important way to protect the “food of love” is to pay your annual music license. In Australia, this is through One Music.
Having paid my Gold License, not only do I feel like James Bond (licensed to thrill) but also at any event I host, any music can be streamed or played off digital device/cd and you will have a warm fuzzy feeling knowing your music is legal and licensed.
If you are an EventProf, do you know if your speakers are all licensed? Sometimes a venue license isn’t enough.
Happy to chat with you on basic music license topics, but One Music is the best source.
Show how much you love the music at your next event and make sure it is licensed.
PS For those of you NOT in the event industry, make sure you buy your friends CD, throw a few bucks at the busker, and support your friends in ALL their artistic endeavours. Arts of all kinds certainly makes this world a far better place to live in.
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