13 weeks and counting! The June Meeting was all about getting down to some serious business and starting to make decisions on just how exactly we were going to create a kick a$$ summit. We met with both Insigniam and with IDEO, our agency partners, and had terrific meetings. Unfortunately the meetings necessitated that the team split into two groups -- one in Huntington Beach and one in San Francisco. For me it was great because I got to spend time with both groups...
Day 2 of the meeting in HB jump started with some great ideas and lots of hard work.... Sara was cracking the whip and anytime Sara's in charge we knew it would be all business... she might be a buck short of 5" (on a good day) but there's a lot of spunk contained in that short little frame of hers.
As always, the VBMA Wonder Twins were like two peas in a pod sitting together and hashing out how who would look better in leotards for their surpise cirque du soleil act (oops, sorry fellas, was that suppose to be a secret? or was that what you guys do for fun?).
We all got introduced to Scott Beckett from Insigniam, a real nice guy and a great sport, especially because the Content Team put him through 3 hours of brainstorming that quite possibly caused him to loose whatever little hair he had left.
Well Scott, you should have known the job was dangerous when you took it.
After 9 hours of grinding through summit stuff, it was time to get on with the real matter at hand, watching Game 6 of the NBA Finals. But little did we know we would have been better off, and better entertained, just continuing to talk about the Summit instead. The Lakers loss didn't dampen any spirits, not that any of the non-cali folks really cared... but they did try to provide moral support.
Day 2 of the meeting in HB jump started with some great ideas and lots of hard work.... Sara was cracking the whip and anytime Sara's in charge we knew it would be all business... she might be a buck short of 5" (on a good day) but there's a lot of spunk contained in that short little frame of hers.
As always, the VBMA Wonder Twins were like two peas in a pod sitting together and hashing out how who would look better in leotards for their surpise cirque du soleil act (oops, sorry fellas, was that suppose to be a secret? or was that what you guys do for fun?).
We all got introduced to Scott Beckett from Insigniam, a real nice guy and a great sport, especially because the Content Team put him through 3 hours of brainstorming that quite possibly caused him to loose whatever little hair he had left.
Well Scott, you should have known the job was dangerous when you took it.
After 9 hours of grinding through summit stuff, it was time to get on with the real matter at hand, watching Game 6 of the NBA Finals. But little did we know we would have been better off, and better entertained, just continuing to talk about the Summit instead. The Lakers loss didn't dampen any spirits, not that any of the non-cali folks really cared... but they did try to provide moral support.
Yared was especially happy because unbeknownst to us she is a Celtics fan... gggrrrr...
Greg however, was inconsolable, until he went and bought some t-shirts for his wife. I didn't know that shopping for his wife would be Greg's thing, but hey whatever floats his boat.
Speaking of shirts, I think Sabine was eyeing mine all night...
While Deetricia and I were laughing on the outside... we were really crying on the inside. Who wouldn't after their team got blown out by 39 points to set an NBA record, in the biggest game of the season. Sigh... until next year. As the immortal Chick Hearn, and soon-to-be Lakers fan Daniela Simpson, would say, "The lights out, the eggs are cooling, the butters getting hard and the jell-ooooooo's jiggl'n!"
On Day 3, it was onto San Francisco for the team meeting with IDEO. Just so everyone knows Daniela made all the transportation arrangements, and all I can say is, "Holler.... Ball'r in da house!"
(more pics of the stretch limo later in the blog... )
The IDEO office is one of a kind, even their waiting area was cool and different.
And here's the famous shopping cart that was featured on ABC's Dateline.
At IDEO there's a cool digital display for each of their meeting rooms so that no one is confused as to who has the room booked (note to Greg... it be good to have something like this in Glendale!)
And here's the rest of the IDEO tour:
Not too shabby.
At day's end, the team got ready to fly home. As a group we decided, "No! We should set an example and save money for the Summit! Instead of taking cabs, let's drag our luggage around and take the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit)!" I have to say that was dedication.
Meet the IDEO Team (from left to right -- Arvin-Industrial Designer, Molly - Logistics Specialist, Chris - Project Mgr., Brian - Transformations consultant). Not pictured: CoeLita Stafford - Sr. Human Factor/Proj Lead, Dave Thomsen - Project Designer. The team that will be working with us will be -- Molly, Chris, Coe Lita and Dave.
After 5 hours of brainstorming and discussions, it was time to decompress and celebrate a successful kick-off... in style.
After 5 hours of brainstorming and discussions, it was time to decompress and celebrate a successful kick-off... in style.
And an evening at the theater...
I didn't know much about Hairspray, except that it was a movie with John Travolta in it. The show was fun and it gave me a chance to catch a few zzzz's in the dark... win win.
The next day it was time for the Content team to shift things into the next gear to knock out some of the Playgroup details. We gathered in Downtown SF at the Speakeasy office for some no-frills, roll-up-your-sleeves work.
Lunch couldn't come soon enough, and it gave us a chance to check out the city and for the ladies to do some shopping...
As Vanessa pointed out to me... this is the largest Banana Republic store in America.
At day's end, the team got ready to fly home. As a group we decided, "No! We should set an example and save money for the Summit! Instead of taking cabs, let's drag our luggage around and take the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit)!" I have to say that was dedication.
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