Exhilarate Events

Creative Corporate Social Responsibility

Stacey Barabe — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 22:02:26 +0000

Of all the trends in the industry throughout the ages, the most timeless and vastly imperative trend of all lies in Corporate Social Responsibility. In the glamorous world of the event industry it’s easy to get blinded by the LED Lighting and forget that others outside our trendy bubble are suffering all around us. At Exhilarate, we strongly support CSR initiatives, and are so thankful to have been able to produce an event for our client that truly made an impact in our community.

“My family and I had a fantastic time at the carnival yesterday, and we just wanted to say thank you very much. The most incredible part of the event was not the fabulous games, prizes, popcorn, or crafts- they were great- but the enthusiasm displayed by all of your employees, the way they welcomed my son with a warm and patient smile, and made him feel like the most special kid in the world, really made my eyes swell with tears, and for that I will always remember that day and be so grateful for the wonderful Open Solutions company. THANK YOU!” – Theresa

Demonstrating how there is “Power in Community,” we produced a free mini carnival at the Loews Portofino Hotel for children from various disabilities – such as Autism and past families. The carnival included the classic booths such as: Ring Toss, Krazy Kans, Frog Hop, and Ski Ball, as well as several other fun activities such as face painting, a moon bounce, mini-golf, balloon making, and craft tables that provided endless entertainment for the children and the volunteers alike. But dissimilar to a traditional carnival, each and every child walked away from the booths with a prizes. in hand In addition to prizes, raffle prizes of tickets to movies, dinner, Universal Studios and the favorite amoung the kids – a giant stuffed animal, that made a huge impact on Adam.

“If this is the company that provided the wonderful carnival at the Portofino Hotel in Orlando for the local Autism Society this afternoon. I just wanted to say Thanks! Our family had a wonderful time and my son, Adam was so happy to actually win at a carnival. In the past, he has never one anything. So, today changed that, especially when he walked out with “Bob” the bear. Your team was warm,welcoming and cheered all the kids on. There were smiles everywhere. Thank you for making my son happy and giving us a Norman Rockwell afternoon. This is what makes this country great, the random acts of kindness, empathy and caring that does exist even in the corporate world. Too bad the Occupy crowd could not have witnessed this event. There is goodness all around you just have to chose to see it. Sincerely, Heidi”

What made this event truly unique and essential is the obvious impact it had on the community. While the children initially walked into the venue feeling overwhelmed, they all left with huge smiles on their faces and a feeling of accomplishment in their hearts . And if laughter and smiles is the best medicine, than it is safe to say we cured all the guests Overall, this event not only benefited the children who attended, but the parents and the company volunteers as well. Simply being surrounded by the kindhearted energy is enough to make you truly think about the world we live in, and motivate you to support the Power in Community. Check out this video for a full recap of the event!

12 Terrific Trends from #TSE2012

MichelleBergstein — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 05:07:21 +0000

After a week and a half of catch up, rest and reflection from an exhaustive but ultra rewarding week at The Special Event Conference and Tradeshow, the experience fueled us with great ideas, inspiration and motivation. As evolving event professionals, the Special Event industry is all about the next- the next in creativity, education, new products along with new applications. As we caught up with colleague and shared our experiences, these encounters allowed us to bounce ideas off each other, lend support as well as create new relationships with other professionals that share our same passion for this business.

This year, unlike year’s prior, Special Event Magazine hosted their annual conference in our neighboring backyard of Tampa, Florida and the Exhilarate team was “all in” literally! We participated in 4 education classes, produced a spotlight event and even took lead in providing marketing support for the closing night – Gala Awards and Celebration event.

From the week long conference, we discovered many unique ideas, whether appearing on the tradeshow floor, during the after hour parties, through the educational content, execution, and down to the closing night award celebration- our feelers and eyes were wide open.

We invite you to take an inside look as to what we uncovered via 12 Terrific Trends from #TSE2012 “TTFT“. Big thanks to Christie’s Photographic Studios for providing some of these fabulous images!

(12) Branding and hash tagging education sessions

I cannot emphasis enough the importance of creating hashtags, not just for your overall conference, but even for your individual education sessions. This allows speakers as well as conference managers to gauge the success / feedback of their session and engage attendees post-meeting. We did just that in our Marketing All-Stars session. We provided attendees with a Marketing All-Stars lineup that included baseball trading cards graphics on a 11×17 poster handout, it included not only background info on the session’s speakers, but our twitter handle and the session’s hashtag of #MktgAllStars. From the start of the session we encourage attendees to engage afterwards and that did just that!

(11) Integrating conference theme and messaging in opening entertainment

If you are going to kick off your conference, kick it off with some subliminal messaging, and what better way than incorporating it into your opening entertainment act. The producers of the opening general session did a fabulous job of really combining the overall message of the industry and underlying themes of the conference via creative scripting, glee-style singing and high-energy dance numbers!

(10) Session interaction & attendee engagement

What do attendees love most? Involvement. Most sessions are 60 – 90 minutes tops, for that length of time, who really wants to be lectured to? Don’t you love as an attendee when a speaker asks the question- how many of you are – event planners, managers, business owners- etc.? And you enthusiastically raise your hand, feels good huh? Yes we all want to interact, be engaged, we all have limited attention spans, so how do we keep audience members engaged? By interaction!

Taking it back to our session Marketing All-Stars, we created round tables, which created an intimate environment and put the focus back on the guests- they were in charge and they asked the questions, it was one-on-one consulting, and we even rotated the guests every 20 minutes to meet and interact with the other speakers. The response was phenomenal!

We also took the same audience interaction practice and applied it to another session our team produced called WOW Moms. We inserted breaks after every 3 panelists, this created a pause and brought it back to the audience, we even called the break- a “WOW Mom moment”. We intentionally wanted a segment where the audience would get the chance to express how they can relate to any of the panelists’ stories that were shared. This allowed for a direct connection and comfort level. This is a great tactic if you have a session with lots of panelists and a great way to break up the monotony! Big thanks to Kismis Ink Photography for capturing the above foursome photo grouping from WOW Moms!

(9) Intimate stage sets with design elements

Step it up with staging. Getting creative on a budget is possible. With a couch, a chair some decorative draping to replace your humdrum pipe and navy drape, and some battery operated up lighting a dull stage set can be created into a camera ready stage dressed like it was supposed to be on TV.

Oprah double take at the Spotlight event on Fundraising produced by the Exhilarate team!

(8) Exploding balloon drops

We all love balloons and we especially LOVE balloon drops! The next generation of WOW in balloon drops are exploding balloon drops- within each balloon, are a myriad of colorful ribbons and confetti that immediately burst on cue! What a new and creative way to make your event pop!

(7) CaterLight- Wireless decorative catering lighting

Catering professionals prepared to be AMAZED! The latest catering craze is decorative wire-free lighting for buffets. Buffets are the way to go at events, and now you never have to compromise your design based on where the electrical outlets are!

(6) Creative exhibit hall entrances

At large convention centers what better way then to create an impactful entrance to your shows exhibit hall! Show your attendees where to go with these attention grabbing arch structures!

(5) Backdrop walls creating dual attendee lounges

Any theme, any design, a dual sided attendee lounge crafted with a floor to ceiling backdrop is a unique approach for an attendee rest area! The design possibilities are also endless! Either fit a backdrop design to meet your conference objectives or get crazy and creative with a exotic location. What a great way to set the mood for attendees to sit back and relax with a view!

(4) Entertainment that blends into event decor

Go Grand or go home! At the conference’s wedding event, the talented Sean De Freitas created a wonderland that every event designer in the world would admire – an absolutely blissful and magical environment! One trend that caught our eye from this floral /event design mastermind was a single opera singing model, who stood on top of a stairwell, and was literally framed to perfection! The model featured within an oversize picture frame was outfitted with a ballroom gown that sprawled the entire ballroom. Guests completely had to do a double take as the blending of this entertainer into the décor landscape was completely flawless!

Yours truly with Sean De Freitas

(3) LED lit furniture for after parties

Soft lighting for lounge areas that also double as a great decorative look is uniquely cool and especially for a rocking after party!

(2) LED wands

Now you would think these fun glow sticks would just be great at kids parties and raves- but definitely not the case! These LED glow wands were a perfect addition and most certainly got the party started!

(1) Tented events

If you want to keep your conference’s premiere event on property, but space is an issue, why not take it to the backyard and tent it! With the right event expert, they can guide you through the red tape, permitting, and all the production involved! Yes it is a huge undertaking, but the endless design options with tents are more than the average person realizes! For the closing night Gala- the producers went with not just any ordinary tent, but a 2-story floor tent at that! Now tell me, does this interior look like a tent?

If you missed TSE2012, we hope our perspective allowed you to feel like you were there in spirit! We look forward to getting your notes on these trends!
And for those of you who were there- what were your favorite trends?

Till next year, where we take it to the windy city, Chicago!

Meet Simone! Squirrel Moments at #TSE2012

MichelleBergstein — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 18:21:11 +0000

Meet Simone!

Exhilarate’s newest team member! Why did we hire a squirrel as a brand ambassador? We are in fact a equal opportunity employer, yet Simone arrived at our door bearing us gifts- yes, they were nuts! She was exactly the right candidate for the job of representing us, the creative type of who we are and what our industry represents.

Learn more about Simone below in our YouTube video and her debut at The Special Event show in Tampa.

We’d love to hear about your squirrel moments! Look for us at #TSE2012 and meet Exhilarate’s brand Ambassador, Simone The Squirrel. She’ll be popping up everywhere and looking for interview you to hear your favorite Squirrel moment..

Be sure you tag your experience with her with #TSE2012Squirrel via Twitter and Facbook! We look forward to having a squirrel moment with you!.

Awards, Speaking, Spotlight Events & Squirrel. Oh My!

Stacey Barabe — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 09:18:35 +0000

Can you feel the excitement in the air? 2011 was great, 2012 is shaping up to be even better. As thousands of event professionals are about to embark on a journey of creative showcases and educational sessions in our backyard of Tampa, Florida for The Special Event Show, Team Exhilarate is preparing to show up in full force. We have a full schedule this year, producing the spotlight event, four educational sessions, nominated for a Gala Award and plans for a fun promotional stunt. We are thrilled about these upcoming opportunities and ideas. We consider every event and project as an award winning endeavor. We take that approach in everything we do and excited about what we have in store for this next year!

Our Marketing Maven Michelle Bergstein is dominating the education realm with three amazing and diverse educational sessions. I am so impressed with how much energy and great content she comes up with every year to share with industry peers. This year adding to her repertoire of trends in marketing and social media she is spearheading a more personal side. In a session called “WoW MoMs” highlighting a cast of brilliant women event pro moms sharing tips, war stories and how to survive as a good mother in a business that is notorious for late hours and days on end away from home.

Kicking off the week, we are producing the Spotlight event on non-profit and fundraising. It is a creative spin on an Oprah’s talk show “Living Your Best Charitable Life” which is sure to deliver laughter, tears and free stuff. In addition my favorite wine pimp Tonya Valdez and I are presenting an educational session on tackling Food and Wine Festivals on Wednesday.

The trifecta on our TSE 2012 adventure is being nominated for a “Best Event Marketing” Gala Award.

The competition is tough in this category and it really is an honor just to be nominated with these other great marketing events. However, a matching bookend to our award win a few years back would be awesome.

Finally we are about to unleash a dynamic force of energy to the show, our newly appointed Director of Sales, Amy Colbert, is back in the game after a small break and is ready to take the industry by storm. Amy and special guest “Sir Squirrel Moment” will be out and about to make new friends and share a few laughs.

We hope to see you at The Special Event 2012.

If you can’t make it, come back to this blog after the show as we will be reporting on show highlights.

’12 Inspiring Trends for 2012

MichelleBergstein — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 02:10:37 +0000

This last year we traveled to the West Coast then back home to the East Coast, attended all the hottest event trend focused tradeshows and put together a list of our favorite trends for 2012. Ironically the number of trends we arrived at ended up to include 12! So feast your eyes on these amazing trends that are sure to inspire some great ideas and components to include in your programs this year. If you have any questions as to how and where to get some of these fabulous finds, drop us a line!

(1) Go Bananas for Backdrops!

These new wave walls add dimension and a unique dynamic to any room. The way lighting bounces off these walls really creates an interesting appeal for any type of stage set, lounge area or even partition wall.

These circular curtain drapery pieces come in white as well as iridescent and are groovy yet ultra stylish. A great addition to any stage session and take background up lighting to a whole new type of ahh- mazing! Big Thanks to my high school buddy and oh so talented photographer, Pete Gebhart of InFocusNYC.com for capturing this shot at BizBash NYC Expo.

Art, design, branding, you name the print and you can make it happen within these “light box” background walls.

(2) Table Top Decor & Design

Being a marketing maven, I absolutely adore tastefully branded décor pieces. These beaded clear decorative charger plates are the perfect frame for our local Orlando WOW awards’ show logo. The black silhouette of the logo coordinates perfectly with the elegant linens and Chiavari chairs.

I call this “On a bed of roses” While in Vegas at an ISES Las Vegas chapter showcase at the Mandarin Oriental, this shiny robust, oddly oval shaped charger on top of white rose petals really created an interesting, yet romantic table setting that is also cost effective!

At first glance this totally looks like lamps coupled with a white and pink floral arrangements. Look again, as what appears to be a set of table lamps are yet two tall vases with floating florals inside with lamp shades on top. What a creative and resourceful approach for a beautiful centerpiece arrangement.

Taking creative centerpieces to another level and shelving it! This table setting was part of a tabletop competition and I had never seen anything like this before. Combining a spice rack theme but adding florals inside frame the top shelves, while in the center, bamboo with lilies extend from the base of the shelf into the top shelf level. While at the bottom, supporting the shelves are tall circular vases filled with citrus and greenery. Finishing the accents in the center floating candles inside medium clear vases bring together the look for complete harmony.

(3) Fabulous Floral

A huge trend I keep seeing among many floral designing experts is suspending florals. This extraordinary centerpiece took a large tree branch and surrounded the uniquely organic focal point with tangerine orchid blooms which are all individually suspended flower by flower, making this an absolutely emulated whimsical butterfly garden.

Floral Chandeliers are so in! They most certainly add an enchanting look to any room. This particular chandelier that I snapped showcases white dendrobium orchids with silver spheres accenting in between each chandelier strand. That’s what I call a sensational ceiling centerpiece!

(4) DJ Entertainment to the Extreme!

Technology is constantly evolving and really taking hold to the DJ industry. Long gone are the days of two turntables and a microphone, turntables have now evolved into LED over sized touchscreen DJ mixing consoles. Not only can you control the mixing console via this touch screen panel, but your DJ can also create custom messages while songs are playing throughout the evening.

Who would think you can take your events into motion? You sure can now! These mobile DJ vehicles- The H3 Hummer Xtreme, pictured here- debuted for meeting professionals worldwide at MPI-WEC 2011 in Orlando at Planner Playground at Dave & Busters. The Exhilarate Marketing team was proud to have handled all event marketing and promotions for this launch event. We are a little bit biased on this piece of DJ technology, but no longer do you have to be restricted to power outlets as these vehicles are completely self-contained!

In addition the company just released this month their newest vehicle, the Mini Cooper Clubman, which offers a more compact option for venues that have smaller space constrictions. All their vehicles feature custom features like you wouldn’t believe! Lamborghini doors, LED lighting, LCD screens, the branding capabilities are endless!

(5) Stage Design &Temporary Structure Design

Bring your event theme really to life with temporary structure displays! A 50’s diner themed façade with authentic features are perfectly tailored on the outside as well as on the inside. The inside also features a full bar with real deal props and 3 table booths face the windows. Checkered flooring completes the diner’s interior. This set provides the perfect environment for a small food and beverage lounge area!

Stage sets are really important when you want to create a complete WOW factor. Simple vertical fabric panels that surround this stage’s backdrop helped bring out all the color that this over the top laser light show provided for an award after party we attended last year. Coupled with an amazing lighting design this stage set really stood out to me and in a good way! While above, white spandex sails added ceiling treatments that coincided with the entire stage design. The lighting and colors continued to reflect from the floor to the ceiling. This type of ceiling treatment surely took an ordinary boring and black ceiling, replacing it with a kaleidoscope of colors.

(6) Make An Extraordinary Entrance!

How do you make your registration areas really stand out? Inflatable archways are a great solution to add drama, an overwhelming focal point and great directional to guide guests upon first arrivals.

(7) LED Technology

LED technology has been extremely prominent in event design this year and I predict it will continue to advance and allow for so many more design opportunities. Some LED elements that have caught my eye included:

LED Chandeliers- multi-color, energy efficient- what more can you ask for!

HD LED Walls- so realistic, so three-dimensional, images seem to be so close you experience them at your finger tips!

LED Panel walls, colors, shapes, graphics so vividly bright, really bring a stage program to life! Animating the stage background!

LED Panel walls also available in wave arrangements! Adding depth and possibility!

(8) Living Decor Creates Amazing Atmosphere Accents!

Living red carpets! No your eyes do not deceive you! A beautiful model’s dress doubles as a 12 foot plus long red carpet entrance! Now that’s what we call a grand entrance!

If your event theme is not as elegant, but more Asian-inspired, opt for the geisha girl living red carpet!

Another magical option is employing strolling décor models! if you have a specific theme, why not couple it with a larger than life butterfly!

(9) Catering Displays

Why not put your appetizers on the wall! Your food can now even act as your décor! With decorative walls and Velcro fabric squares you can put your finger food buffets on the wall!

(10) Twinkle, Twinkle, Starred Dance Floor

Decorative lighting is not just limited to traditional perimeter lighting! Now your dance floors can twinkle! LED technology is present once again making twinkling dance floors now possible!

(11) Touch Screen Technology. A Photo Booth Phenomenon

Don’t you feel like the whole photo booth craze has totally outlived its fifteen minutes of fame? Well it lives on through touch screen technology! This awesome photo booth alternative not only immediately uploads your image to twitter and facebook, but instantly prints out to a digital photo printer. In addition this interactive photo booth allows users to personalize their photos with customized messages, or even funny face accents- whether it be mustaches, angry eyebrows or gaudy goatees, this is a definite crowd pleaser! It had me totally engaged!

(12) Leader Boards

Leader Boards that are chalkboards and collage walls. Each day of your conference is unique, so planning out your print collateral months in advance is not always ideal, but this leader board eliminates your need for extra signage and puts you in charge of day by day customization!

Delivering Emotion through Technology

Amy Colbert — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 00:13:22 +0000

How do you deliver a video with emotion that drives results?

Treat it like your favorite recipe. Made-from-scratch, authentic ingredients are so much sweeter than stale store bought.

We follow this tried and true formula most recently for a project we did for our client Eric Roukey for his ongoing fight for awareness for Juvenille Type 1 Diabetes. His daughter, Taylor was diagnosed when she was only 9 years old. Eric shares his story with the world in this video piece we produced for him.

Can you feel the emotion? You can achieve a production just like this! Just follow our 5 steps to success to video marketing greatness!

1) Know your audience: Just like you would inquire about a food allergy, make sure you are serving something they are hungry for and ready to eat.

2) Choose your recipe, Be Authentic & Tell your story: Speak from the heart, ask the client to tell their own story, in their own voice. Live video enables you to communicate physically and verbally.

3) Assemble the ingredients: Pre-determine questions, and interview your client live, so the emotion will translate to the camera. Measure, and follow the recipe in order: Tell your story with a clear beginning, middle and end. Prompt transitions with questions such as “you might be wondering…?” and add humor to flavor.

4) Taste and see: Tape in segment, by question, so that you can review each portion of the story as it’s being captured. Celebrate, correct and continue until desired result.

5) Sharing is always caring: If you like it, share with a friend! Referrals are always the greatest compliment.

How do you communicate emotion in your sales efforts to connect with your audience?

New Website. New Rules of Engagement.

MichelleBergstein — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 10:14:17 +0000

While we engage with new and existing customers once or twice every year at networking meetings, education sessions, industry conferences/tradeshows and yearly meetings – we know face time and relationships are so very important. Ideally we want to keep those connections and conversations going all year long with you until the next time we see each other.

Our intentions are not to blast you every week with what we are doing. Although we do want to deliver you relevant content that you can use in your day to day business operations that will help you create better events. Beautiful events, engaging events, savvy events, forward- thinking events, that will be buzz worthy, and memorable.

Keeping you interested and engaged with what we have to say, we know is going to be quite a feat, but are up to the task. Today’s online landscape with all the information that is out there make information overload on all of us a challenge. It is now easier to connect with your favorite brands and companies online, but it is also easier to get TMI and burnout.

People can tweet, post facebook statuses online, but are you really reading them, yes there is LOTS from every direction, But what information do you care to read or weed through?

This is our promise to you with our fresh new website, deliver you content that you care about:

-Relevant Content

-Tips/tricks that you care about

-Trends that you may have just heard about but never seen.
Supplier trends- décor, A/V, lighting and event technology.

-Why trust us?
View proven results through event recaps and case studies.

-Transparency
Sharing is caring. Reviewing success stories and event challenges – so you can avoid learning it the hard way or reap the rewards faster.

As our gift to you, we thank you for visiting our site, and hope you come back again and again-, we welcome you to discover the latest in online engagement strategies- a FREE e-book courtesy from our friends at Awareness, Inc. – social marketing software.

11 Strategies to Increase Engagement highlights best practice examples that businesses of all sizes can emulate. Follow these strategies and reap the benefits of increased engagement, including:
– Getting people talking about your brand
– Learning more about your customers
– Learning more about your competitors
– Develop and solicit feedback on new marketing strategies to communicate with potential customers

Let us know what you think of the FREE e-book and Exhilarate’s new website! We welcome your feedback and “look forward to continuing the conversation”!

5 Realistic Rules behind Event Design

Stacey Barabe — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 21:55:38 +0000

The boss calls and says “let’s have an event!” So you gather the team and the first wave of brainstorming is done, the reasoning for and why for the event is established. Now it’s time for the design phase of the event, with all the possibilities out there, where to start and decide what works and doesn’t can be difficult. Here are a few of the first steps we use to get our clients started:

1. Feasibility

Determining Feasibility- Picture from Project Management Tips online

A good design plan will first investigate the feasibility of the ideas. An ice sculpture garden outside in July in Florida, not really a great plan and the idea would use up a lot of resources that aren’t specific to the main goal. The two approaches to maximize your ROI on a creative idea is either find the perfect place for it or find the perfect space and then design to it. Wikipedia states the concept of feasibility great: Feasibility studies aim to objectively and rationally uncover the strengths and weaknesses of the existing business or proposed venture, opportunities and threats as presented by the environment, the resources required to carry through, and ultimately the prospects for success.[1][2] In its simplest term, the two criteria to judge feasibility are cost required and value to be attained.

2. Have a clear understanding of what your organization and your guests are needing (and wanting) to be accomplished at the event before you design

What do your attendees want? Picture from Peter Lutovsky's Strength from Focus blog

If the main goal is networking, hiring a loud dance band should be out of the question, conversations become strained and then everyone is standing in the foyer. If its awards, don’t use centerpieces more than 14 inches high through the middle of room it will obstruct site lines. You must think holistically from the guest perceptive and the end goal. Taking time to identify what the guests should “walk away with” will help you strategically pick from all the event bells and whistles that are available.

3. Know the audience

Know your audience! How do they measure up? Picture from Robin Good's Master of New Media

The main point here is to design to the attendees likes not your own personal taste – ever. If you are hip young planner and the audience is 50 to 60 year old auditors, my guess is a Lady Gaga concert and tattoo stations might not be their first choice in entertainment preferences, but raffling off a Harley might.

4. Listen with eyes wide open

Listen with your eyes and ears- Photo from Neen James International Productivity Expert

Never underestimate the power of a site inspections with the core team of suppliers. The things trained professionals “see” might be something you didn’t even consider. A recent example of this was we were hired to create a compelling “photo gallery” exhibit with over 125 large pieces, however the space had already booked based on its “cool look”, turns out the space only had two 20 amp circuits, yikes, a typically lighting plan for this type of event would require well over that, but we were able to identify the problem and have a very workable solution in plenty of time before the event.

5. Ask a lot of the right questions!

Picture from - The Power of the Right Questions

From a venue perspective; they desperately want to rent their space to you, giving a deal of a lifetime, however they aren’t going to tell you the typical challenges like “oh we get complaints that this room is too hot all the time”, or “the parking at this location is expensive or non-existent”, or a favorite “oh by the way group in the space next to yours is the college extreme drinking games, they will be loud and partying 24/7”.

A realistic approach to event design in no way needs to be boring, but with so many great options and creative ideas out there it’s a good practice to be grounded in the basics and then the sky’s the limit!

What Rules or advice do you have in your event design arsenal that have worked or even have failed miserably? We want to hear them! DISH!

Network Like a CIA Agent- 4 Fab Tricks

MichelleBergstein — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 16:15:13 +0000

I love television, especially action series. So when the creators of the Bourne Identity movie trilogy, put Covert Affairs on the USA network, I had to tune in and yes I have been hooked on the show ever since.

I bring up the fact that the art of networking shares many similarities to the duties and responsibilities of those of a CIA agent.

I have been told that I am particularly masterful at the art of networking, one of my clients was astonished at the number of business cards I had collected at CVB luncheon last month within a 3 hour educational focused event.

This many business cards in an Hour! How do you do it?

Well here’s my CIA agent secret, and yes at networking functions, we do not assume the identity of someone else, but we do assume the identity of being the brand ambassador for our company and clients at that function, so yes it is a bit of a cover- so let’s start our own covert affair, networking style.

1. CIA Agent is responsible to determine technology of other countries.

Know your targets. If there is a who’s attending list, research it prior to the event. Identify who you would like to meet, research their company, put a face to a name, see what they are up to, follow them on twitter. This allows you to learn “ the technology or intelligence” of the company before you engage in a conversation with them at a networking function. I even started a conversation with one prospect with – “Nice to meet you in person, I just started following you on Twitter”. She even replied, “Yes, I remember your name!”

2. CIA Agent is commonly responsible for monitoring and analyzing

So monitoring and analyzing is a bit of pre-networking and during networking data mining, which ties in with Tip 1 of CIA job responsibility. After you identify who you would like to meet, the next obstacle is how do you approach them? While at the event, observe your surroundings first, before you make you move and approach someone, wait for the right time to make your move. The right time, is waiting till they are finished eating, or when they are just about to end their conversation with someone. You can even make your approach while they are at the buffet table, engage in small talk, this helps create a level of comfort, and even openly admit- Are you sitting anywhere? And state, I’d love to join you.

3. CIA Agent is responsible for passing on data to those who need to know about the information, has to gather information, evaluate it and then send it through right channels to use it in a timely manner.

This is a trick I practice more often than not, I pass data along at networking events. Encouraging people I know who would benefit from attending the networking event to go. This approach allows me to know people there but also use them as conduit and endorser, “a wingman” and help endorse each other. Identifying who needs who, it’s a great way to break the ice and build credibility as people feel you are a connector and will looking out for them. Help them improve their business in regards to connections and they help ours.

4. CIA Agent is responsible to develop some unique technology for supporting intelligence operations.

Determine what your prospect needs and offer a unique piece of technology to solve their woes is an invaluable proposition to offer someone especially while first meeting. All the research in world on the internet cannot always tell you the right solution to craft into your introduction of meeting a potential client. Although a combination of pre-research and some knowledgeable “winging it “ when meeting someone, can definitely do the trick. Couple that with asking a lot of questions like – What do you find most challenging about your position? These type of questions lead you in the right direction to craft around what their current business challenges may be and the solutions you can offer. This is a sure fire way to keep the conversation going at a later date and land that second meeting.

Eerily familiar? Try some of these tactics at your next event! Bring back some sales intelligence to your office!

Book Reviews- ReWork

Stacey Barabe — Sat, 05 Feb 2011 20:20:15 +0000

As we thought about developing our blog “Exhilarate Now” we wanted to make sure we have relevant, compelling content that resonates, motivates and just a little bit of funky, fun or stupid stuff…because all business all the time makes Jane boring.

Our first book highlight is on “ReWork” by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson the Founders of 37signals.

What attracted me to the book was with a riveting endorsement from our favorite marketing guru Seth Godin- “Ignore this book at your own peril”.

With a recommendation like this – how could I not want to read it and these are guys from the awesome productivity software Basecamp.

At first glance I thought this would be a simple read on some new ways of working. “The new reality”. They start off with it and then add some profound in your face jabs at traditional business methods. The areas of the book that spoke most to me and our events business was:

“Out-teach your competition”

Big companies can afford a Super Bowl ads, you can’t (true) so don’t try and buy their (potential clients) attention with a magazine or a banner ad, earn it by sharing knowledge and teaching – so we are going to be doing this on this blog and through our Youtube channel and at conferences. What do you want to learn?

“Nobody likes plastic flowers”

Too polished usually comes off as boring and stiff. I loved this chapter it’s about being authentic, transparent and real. A great way they summarize it is; “pare down to the essence, but don’t remove the poetry” When something becomes to polished, it loses its soul, so talk like you really talk and reveal things others are unwilling to discuss. They finish the chapter by stating “you might not seem as professional, but you will seem a lot more genuine”…I’d love hear your thoughts on this one…

“Speed Changes everything”

Wow, you can say that again, and the automated voicemail goes “your call is very important to us. We appreciate your patience. The average hold time right now is 16 minutes” – agghhhh, so frustrating just to find a way to talk to a live person, I’ve been there haven’t you. Technology is great but there are some places it really just needs not be used. We’ve been exploring ways at Exhilarate that can even speed up the proposal process – on our website we have the “RFP Express”, we figured you’ve already written out the RFP why do you have to contact us and then wait for us to get back to you and then you e-mail the RFP. We take the unneeded steps out, you can just easily upload your RFP and we will get right back to you with answers.

What’s the new reality in your world? What have you reworked in your business to see results? We look forward to hearing about it!