Thoughts & Musings on the Innovation Journey: Chapter 8: Game Time!

Looking back on things, I think the days leading up to the Summit were as meaningful, if not more so, than the 4 days of the actual Summit. I just remember how busy all of us were the weekend before the start of the Summit, everyone was doing something all the time -- staying up late, taking no breaks, drinking lots of coffee, folding, sorting, whatever... and I thought I would be so stressed, but it wasn't bad at all... in fact I have to say it was a lot of fun hanging out, joking around and spending time together as a team for one last time.

T-Minus "2 Days" and counting: Saturday.

I think the Confections folks went the extra mile to make sure that there would be no shortage of candy during the Summit Week. Thank goodness my son didn't get wind of this, otherwise he'd still be eating.

The ladies starting on the Welcome packets. As much as I loved the flipping action, I was more taken in by the $2 bill. Show me the money... just trying to be real.

Yared, hard at work. This became a familiar scene througout the Summit.

Everyone was focused...

While some were also focused on doing the hokey pokey...

And Greg as usual was focused on figuring out, "where's my VBMA partner?"

I wonder if Frank had any clue as to what we were about to put him through.

The War Room, and this was before things got really messy and PACKED!

I wonder, because we all technically "worked" on a Saturday and Sunday, do we get extra days off? I think someone needs to look into this for the team.

Everyone was pitching in and getting things done. Good thing there were 18 of us.

I literally breathed a sigh of relief when I finally saw the Journal boxes coming in. I could have kissed the bellman, but that would have been awkward afterwards.

After weeks of hard work, it was good to finally see the finished book and actually be able to hold one. Suffice to say it didn't turn out too badly. Except for the little copy mix up, I was extremely proud of the piece, and glad that our team pushed for no Summit Workbooks this year.

It's amazing that there were over 675 books in that pile, thank goodness I didn't have to make those piles, or put the journals together by myself! Have I mentioned that I love my teammates?

Look at all the stationery the team sorted through....

... and all done with a smile :)

Here's Jess with all of her Welcome Packets & Name Tags... so many Name Tags...

Folks clowning around...

And even the Summit Team gets special Welcome Packets, complete with team shirts, a clipboard, a detailed flow of show, all tied together with a fancy string... everyone say, "Thank You 'On Time + 10 Minutes' (or 'Napolean')!"

The Main Ballroom under construction. I snuck in a peek to see what goes on 'pre-show.' Doesn't look like much now, but in two days it's going to be "Magical."

We even had help from family. Vanessa's son, Josh, stopped by to provide some entertainment for Greg and to lend us some morale support.

T mius "1 Day": Sunday before Summit

The day started off early with a walk-thru and Yared reminding us what we all needed to do...

Howard from AV Masters giving the team the last run through on when the sets and lighting will be completed.... so will there be doors or no doors on the set?

There were a lot of details to go over that morning...

Here's Peter, our contact at the Hyatt. This was his 7th Summit, and he was well prepared for all the requests and needs of the team.

Greg, finding ways to pass the time.

Did I mention the morning walk-thru turned out to be a very long meeting?

The team's first look at the video screens. Nicely done...

The team regrouping after the morning meeting.

Then it was back to the walk-thru...

We were joined by Christina Hayes, the next Summit lead, a title that was short-lived as Christina left the company 2 weeks after the Summit ended.... thanks for visiting Christina.

Let the show begin... a quick AV run-thru... ooooo... look at the cool clouds...

It's almost time for the real deal! Electricity was in the air, or maybe that was all the AV Masters gear.

Summit, Day 1: Monday

Here's the first of many more meetings that we will have at7am. I'm not a coffee drinker, but I was this week.

Some were focused on the discussions at hand, but all of us were gitty about the walkie-talkies.

"+10" in full effect, ramping up to form, kudos to Sarah for always being ready to get the meetings started, because we all know that early morning is not her favorite daypart.

It's off to the races...

Welcoming table duties at the Hilton -- Paparazzi and Dan's Friend, we both had our best friendly, inviting (not in a creepy way) smiles on.

+10 and Crash stopped by to hold up the Welcome sign because it was so windy outside and to make sure Maurice and I weren't goofing off... or maybe to join us in our goofing off.

Here's Top Chef and Platinum doing their thang at the Hyatt, looking oh so helpful in their cool green Summit shirts.

The free massages were a big hit, and made oh so many peole happier and that much less grumpy.

After getting tired of Welcomng people at the Hilton, I moved over to the Hyatt, where in between welcoming guests, I taught our resident German how to flash gang signs... that would be an "S" for Summit '08... dog.

With most of the guests on-site and enjoying refreshments, the team got ready to greet our 700 guests. So a quick change and a couple of cocktails later, it was time for the team to take center stage.

It's an interesting view looking at the crowd from the front... even with the pressure to control spending company-wide, it was good to see that we still had a great turnout this year.

But no rest for the weary... after the greeting it was back to set up. Shotz did a lot on the first day from getting the Welcome Kit done and coordinating the massages, Deetricha then moved onto the Innovation Displays.... ooooo.... so pretty.

And the evening closed with setting out the journals and training with IDEO. And thanks to a plane delay, training took place at 11pm... but that didn't deter us from getting the job done.

Day 1 was a great success -- between the casual dress, the massages and the minimal Welcome Packet (not to mention Brad's pretty good Rod Sterling impression), the team received a lot of positive feedback already. It was a great start, but there were still a lot more stuff to come.

Day 2: Tuesday

The day started with... surprise! A 7a.m. meeting.

But that certainly didn't dampen any spirits.

The place was packed out!

Daniela, whipping AV Masters into shape... with a smile.

Dan Pink... meet Dan Pink's Friend (AKA Mo Smith)

The calm before the storm... set up for the IDEO session. Is that Orange, Blue, Red then Green? Or Green, Blue, Red, Orange?

And did Insigniam sit in on the session? That's what I want to know.

Big ups for Erin who did a fantastic job organizing the Set-Up... it would have been a disaster if I had to do it. And the butcher paper was awesome... and so cheap too!

Ok time for the doors to open!

One of the the highlights of the Summit... fingerblasters...

The attendees got to work and work they did showing how passionate they were for consumers..

Attendees and SMT Members alike.

Great job IDEO Team, you're worth every penny... and there were a lot of pennies.

Having the consumers for the sessions were a big hit.

While the attendees worked, so the the Summit Team...

Kevin and Greg, seriously... you can't figure out why everyone wonders about you two... c'mon, seriously?

Evidence that work was done...

Summit Team and IDEO certainly represented.

New shirts means onto the next program. Tuesday night dinner was a big hit, especially the Karaoke. And the team actually got a chance to eat together (at least some of us...)

We even had a guest visitor come and be a part of the fun... it's GARY! Looks like Activision is treating him well if he could take a day off to come join us for the Summit. It was good to see his MuiTai, ballet dancing self.

Day 3: Wednesday

I think by Day 3, the 7am meeting became ol' hat and everyone was excited to get the day going because the end was in sight and we all were looking forward to the celebration.

There is no escaping the Paparazzi Jennifer...

and to our 6th man... Frank Giffen... who go buried in the back row... how poetic, like a man who did all the work behind the scenes.

There was a lot of buzz in the 1st session of the day, you can tell people were excited to see what we had in store after the great day that we had on Tuesday.

Here's the back stage access from AV Master's Command Center, and Daniela's right there to make sure everything works according to schedule.

It warmed my heart to see the journals being used...

After a rousing recap, it was finally time for IDEO to bid farewell. But not before a lot of love was shared, credit given and patting of the backs. It was well deserved 'cus IDEO worked their tails off and pull off an incredible experience in a very short amount of time. Like I said, worth all the pennies.

As for the team, well... that's right... a standing O.

Here we were, right about to go on stage for our moment of recognition. Kev was a little pumped up.

Here was the view from the stage... and from behind Brad. A job well done Team! And yes that was a standing O again.

A sigh of relief... the tough part was over, now it's time to PARTY, VBMA-style!

I think Victoria needed a moment ;)

It was party time! Sigfried and Roy (with Yared) all looking quite daper, ready to get the show on the road.

While the rest of the team schmoozed and took the wonderful work done over the last 7 months. Everyone looked... "marrrvelous darling... just marrrvelous."

Let's go Summit '08...

Post-VBMA goofing off...

It's After-Party Time!

The party ran late into the evening complemented by great In-N-Out food. I think the Canadian contingent is still out there dancing.

That's is all she wrote folks... great work... great Summit... great team!

Day 4: Post-Summit Celebration

After 7 months of Summit, it was finally time to put the Summit behind us and focus on ourselves. The boys blew off steam with some go-kart racing at K1 Speed in Irvine. "We don't need no stink'n massages..."