My First Business Conference (And What Went Down)
May 17, 2007 | by brett | Permalink
Yesterday I was privileged to attend my first business conference put on by Milestone Insurance in Orange County, CA. I was invited by Milestone President Ron Hoefer, who came across our site and thought that our message to the business world would be an excellent fit for the theme of the conference. There were over 400 CEO’s, Presidents, and inspiring business leaders in attendance, along with two keynote speakers, branding expert Rick Barrera, and business educator Mark Sanborn.
Three things happened at this conference that I feel are worth mentioning.
1) Minutes after the crowd piled back into gigantic Renee and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall, Ron Hoefer strode out to the stage to make an announcement. In front of the largely successful crowd, Ron gave me a minute long intro and invited me to stand as he publicly introduced me to some of the passionate business leaders in the room. Our website was featured center stage, and I got a great ovation. All in all, this announcement led me to four excellent prospective interviews, and made the overnight Motel 6 stay well worth it.
2) In performing a group exercise focused on overpromising and overdelivering your business, I found that one of the biggest needs of business owners is passion from their employees.
3) My dad said to me yesterday that with all the information fed to you at these types of events, it is important to take away just two things. My two things that I took away were to focus ONLY on the daily activities that help people pursue their passions, and to be a leader, not a manager.
Coincidence: The venue the conference was held at was just off of Bristol Street in Costa Mesa. A little under a year ago, my first day in Corporate America happened to be in a building on Bristol. I have only been to Costa Mesa twice in my life, and both times it was to launch a new career on Bristol Street.
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Danielle Says:
May 17th, 2007
“Don’t ask yourself what the world needs; ask yourself waht makes you come alive. And then go and do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” Harold Whitman
Good words to live by in my opinion.
Any suggestions on narrowing down what makes you “come alive” on the great meandering road of life?
Brett Farmiloe Says:
May 18th, 2007
Narrowing down what makes you “come alive” on the great meandering road of life…hmmmm.
When I first started Pursue the Passion I sat down with a pen and paper and pondered the same question. The things I wrote down were things like People, Travel, Business, Sports, Meaningful Conversations, Random Emails, Helping Others, the thought of being successful, etc. From this list I constructed the underlying idea of Pursue the Passion so I could do all of the things that made me happy. Now I’ve made it my career.
It’s important that we take the time to think. You never know what can come out of a little brainstorming about yourself.
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