Make Small Changes Everyday

Post by TMM guest blogger
Trevor Hanks, CMP, DMCP, Vice President of Sales

Boulder, Colorado 1994 - I remember it like yesterday… sitting with a beer in my right hand and the Rocky Mountains over my left shoulder, on a sunny Fall Friday. I had a conversation with a young man (maybe 20 years old) and he explained that if we, as the next generation, don’t change our environmental practices that we will have to live with catastrophic change around us and our environment within the next 20 years.

As I looked at this dread-locked, slender built, interesting smelling and less than perfectly manicured young man telling me tall tales about far fetched issues that “will” arise, I said to myself, “this guy is one crunchy dude with a crazy imagination.”

Fast forward 14 years and he might have been the smartest “crunchy dude” I have ever met in my life!

Nowadays with terms like global warming, green house effects and conservation efforts, we have entered a new phase of life. All over the world people are changing and being challenged to live their lives with a new way of thinking – “Think Green”. From our day to day living and into corporate America, it is all about doing things better today for the health of ourselves, the earth and most importantly our children.

TMM, in conjunction with our vendors, suppliers and clients have made tremendous strides and efforts over the past 2 years to spearhead new industry standards and responsibilities in response to the growing concerns for our environment. Through new business principles, policies and practices we are together trying to improve the quality of life for customers, employees and global community.

Some steps TMM currently has adopted are:

All new collateral material is printed on FSC (www.fsc.org) regulated paper and soy based inks
Company recycling programs for paper, cans and bottles
Use recycled copy paper in printers
Offer an array of TMM Event “Green” options to include organic food options, “green” décor, transportation, entertainment and more.

One goes green by educating oneself and making small changes every day. Sounds simple, but in actuality it is an enormous task to perform for the rest of our lives. I am ready to take the challenge.

What I Know for Sure

On October 25^th, I returned from a 16 day trip to India and Bali, organized by Project Concern International as a Vision Trip. The purpose was to showcase the culture, challenges and successes of PCI’s efforts in these Southeast Asian countries. I was told by many friends that my time in India would be emotional, exhausting and exhilarating – all at the same time. And looking back, that is the first thing I knew for sure!

After flying 26 hours, my sister and I arrived in New Delhi at 5:30 AM and were greeted by Peter, one of the managers of the local PCI office. With flowers in hand, we stepped out into the pollution-laden landscape of Delhi at sunrise and began our Indian odyssey. Just 3 hours later, after a shower and breakfast, we set off on a 3-hour ride to Agra to see the Taj Mahal – one of the original Seven Wonders of the World. The wonder of the day was not the Taj – though it was magnificent and inspiring – the wonder was the journey there. For three hours, my face pressed to the window, we navigated roads overflowing with trucks, wagons drawn by water buffalo, auto rickshaws, bikes, and carts – anything with wheels and always loaded beyond imaginable capacity. The luxury of our transportation was stunning in contrast to what surrounded us. What looked like it should carry four people – carried twenty. This was my second lesson of the day – the ingenuity of these people to work with what they had was unbelievable.

Over the course of the next several days, we visited remote villages where humanitarian projects included polio vaccination, micro-financing for women developed by Nobel Peace Prize 2006 recipient Muhammad Yunus, and shelters for abandoned and orphaned children. One of the most moving days of my life was the day I presented a check for a loan to one of the women in the village. This assistance had the power to change her life – and I was humbled by the privilege of representing this possibility. We met with Muslim religious leaders who were the first to be educated in the benefits of vaccination so that children in the villages could be protected from childhood disease.

Traveling on to Bali, we were the guests of John and Cynthia Hardy – famous throughout the world for their signature silver jewelry. Since selling their jewelry empire, they have re-directed their talent, passion and resources to the building of the Green School, a global academy with students and faculty from more than 20 countries – their purpose to develop renewable resources and education that will leave a gentler footprint on the world and future generations. Imagine studying in bamboo treehouses in the jungles of Bali . . . it was a stunning and inspiring day.

So – what do I know for sure after the privilege of this trip? I know – that no matter how depressed our economy is, no matter how worried we are about our personal fortunes, we have blessings beyond measure in this country. Ours is a world filled with billions of people who struggle to simply survive. The beauty of this trip was not the Taj; not the landscape, but the irrepressible beauty of the people we met and their unwavering faith in wanting to improve their lives. Though I live half a world away – I can and will make choices that will touch these lives and help save these children. I am just one woman – but I have been in their villages, their homes. I have touched their children, they have touched my heart and I will not forget that I can and must make a difference.

IT&ME

Post by TMM guest blogger
Lauren Stout, Director of Sales

Once again - That time of year has come and gone – the time when we “pack up our wares” and head to one of my favorite cities in the world for IT&ME's The Motivation Show held at Chicago’s McCormick Place. Every year I look forward to walking around the show, meeting new friends and old friends and being able to see what our industry has accomplished in a year. This was my third time attending and you think I would learn one important lesson as I was traipsing through the largest convention center in the United States, bring flats! Although I chose fashion over function and stepped out in my favorite leopard high heels, nothing could stop us as the heels hit the pavement hard and another successful IT&ME trip was under our belt.

Some highlights this year included changing the backdrop of our booth, which got great feedback. We shared our booth with our Northern California-based DMC partners Cappa & Graham and expanded our focus to represent California as a whole. The goal of our strategic marketing alliance with this company is to broaden the scope of our service to include the entire state of California. This allows for a greater depth of client service and knowledge for all of our customers.

Those who attended this year's show would have also noted that the overall attendance was down because of cost cutting measures on behalf of many clients and hotels. While there were not as many representatives from each client company, we were still able to speak with a number of key contacts from companies in our client base, which is the most rewarding for us. As our business becomes less personal and more digital, it is an invaluable rare opportunity to visit with our clients face – to – face. I spoke with a particular client of mine regarding her upcoming program, and in 10 minutes we had an entire day and evening itinerary planned for her group. This is after months of email correspondence and back and forth trying to decide what the ideal experience would be for these attendees.

As the economy shifts and business practices adjust to fit those changes, we have seen new relationships between DMCs and hotels forged, and together we keep moving forward to continue the momentum our industry. For TMM, we had some very good quality booth traffic and the 2008 ITME show was an overwhelming example of “quality vs. quantity."

So Grown Up...

Does it make sense when I say, “I’m not feeling old, as much as I am feeling so grown up”? Admittedly, this is my perspective and it serves me well. This 2008 is a year of celebration for TMM | The Meeting Manager. In 1978, Terry (my husband) and Tim Brown (our lifelong friend) started this business together. We had all finished our tenures at Sea World and were venturing out on our own. With a work ethic and professional standard reinforced by our mentor, George Millay (founder of Sea World), we had little to invest in the business and not much to lose, so our risk factor was fairly minimal – as was our income.

This year, we celebrate our 30th Anniversary for the company. During that time, we have provided more than $200,000,000.00 in destination management services; employed hundreds of people; celebrated a multitude of weddings and births and buried some of the people we loved the most. We have walked together in the 60 Mile Walk for Breast Cancer, built thousands of bikes, painted art work for hospitals and tried to be a good citizen every day. We have had more parties than you can count; more laughs than we can remember and more blessings than we ever imagined. This does not mean that we were without challenge and risk almost as often.

Throughout this maturing process, we raised two sons who are now charting their own lives and success stories. Trevor and Jason have now made their choices and are setting the stage for their “life story”.

I was born a “nurturer”. Early pictures of me with my younger brothers always showed me taking care of them, worrying about their safety, picking them up when they fell. I see our granddaughter Raegen showing many of the same characteristics. There were unlimited opportunities to nurture and guide the people who became a part of the TMM family. Maybe that is why this job always worked for me and why I loved what I did. As I sat down to write this today and looked through old pictures, I was amazed and emotional when reminded of all who have passed through our doors – all the fun we had – all the work we did together. I had to stop looking at the pictures. I have always been a cry-baby too. Waterproof mascara is my friend.

We are setting a new course here at TMM - and with that course - there will be new leaders to carry the company forward. Over the next few years, Terry’s and my roles will be modified to make way for the next generation. Van will also bring to conclusion his 20 years+ with the company to enjoy a more leisurely lifestyle. Our greatest pride and accomplishment is that Trevor will assume the primary responsibilities for the company, underscored by his recent acquisition of company stock and promotion to Vice President. It is his turn, his time. Jason will always support his brother and the company, but in a secondary capacity as he has chosen another path for his career success.

Trevor will need a strong team – his team - to carry this company forward. There will be new and expanded opportunities that he will pursue. It is the right time – a sequel of sorts - for the new TMM to launch its next chapter.

Some people long for the day they can retire, while others never consider the possibility. I simply look forward to having more time to learn new things; to seek out adventure and make sure I nurture the important priorities in our lives. We have four granddaughters we adore and we want to be there for them in every way we can. Terry and I look forward to our next chapter as well with the confidence that what we started so many years ago has matured and is worthy of preservation. We have learned to celebrate life – to do it in big ways - to do it with friends, associates and family and to create traditions. We are proud of what we have built together and the traditions we have founded. We are proud of the work environment we have created and the respect we asked of everyone – for everyone. To those who have moved on to other places, know that each of you played an integral part in our development and history.

If I had it to do over again, would I? …ABSOLUTELY! Am I ready to pass the baton and support the next generation of TMM? …ABSOLUTELY! TMM is all grown up!

We’re Really Working to be a Fine Wine

How many greeting cards and slogans say – “you’re not getting older, you’re getting better”? I know all of us would like to think that is true, but as Terry and I approach our 37^th Wedding Anniversary and our company's 30^th Anniversary, I pause to consider if this is true.

As we launch our 30^th Anniversary and re-branding of The Meeting Manager - now TMM - we spent a lot of time reminiscing. Looking back at pictures I wonder – why didn’t we realize how young we were – how thin we were – how brunette we were? How do we not notice the “days of our lives” as they unfold?

We have surrendered to the constant marketing efforts of AARP and joined the club. It is a strange feeling to be “Baby Boomers” – to be included in the target marketing for active adults – WE HATE IT! I celebrate our milestones while finding it hard to believe that we are actually looking back on our careers and launching the strategic transition of TMM to our son, Trevor and the next generation of our staff.

We are getting older – and yes, in many ways we are getting better because we realize we can’t take anything for granted. Not our health, not our clients and not our historical success. We realize that we have to reinvent ourselves and our company on a continual basis so that we don’t age, but mature like a fine wine.

During the last 30 years, we have had moments and milestones that measure our progress. For Trevor and Jason, the simple addition of an electric stapler when they were kids made their child labor work so much faster. Five years into the business, we bought our first computer – a Xerox typewriter with a ten page capacity. Fed Ex, followed by the fax, and then our first portable phone changed the complexion of our business forever. How far and how fast we have come in just the past 20 years! Now, as I watch our staff respond to communication demands 24/7 on a PDA no larger than a deck of cards, I wonder what the next ten years will hold.

We have always been proud of our family and they have brought us the greatest joys in our lives. We have always been proud of our business because it has provided a platform for us to create a business culture we believe in and a means to support people and families so that they can live the life they want. As we come together to celebrate this significant milestone in the company, we are so very grateful – for every person who has touched our business and supported our success. To our family, our friends, our staff, our clients and our wonderful business partners throughout Southern California, we THANK YOU and celebrate with you this 30^th Anniversary.