For its 2005 Managers' Meeting, Gatorade worked with Star Trax Corporate Events to create a series of meetings in Naples, FL, that emphasized teamwork, self-development, and planning for the future. The result was B.O.L.T.S.—Building Our Leader-ship, Teams, and Strategies. Every detail incorporated the B.O.L.T.S. objective, starting with the presenters' stage, which was built one piece at a time as the conference progressed, and included a group teambuilding activity to finish the frameworks of Habitat for Humanity homes.
Building a Theme
To give guests an idea of what was to come, participants received their meeting invitations in the form of a blueprint that was rolled up and placed inside a small tube.
On site, attendees received construction code books filled with meeting materials and a toolbox containing a B.O.L.T.S. cap, carpenter's apron, and sunscreen, along with a welcome note reminding them that the next day they would be constructing houses at a Habitat for Humanity work site.
The entryway to the general session was flanked by scaffolding, caution tape, and construction signs, indicating to guests that some serious business building was taking place. A rendering placed near the entrance helped guests understand that the stage set would progress in detail each day of the event until it evolved into a stadium.
As the set was built, it reflected that day's themed objective. On the first day, wooden flats placed on the stage represented the foundation. On the second, studs erected on top of the foundation signified the framework for that day's discussion. The third day, the stage was filled with sawhorses, ladders, hammers, nail guns, compressors, saws, and drills symbolizing the tools used for building a successful business. All these elements came together on the final day when a completed stadium set the stage for the final speaker, University of Southern California football coach Pete Carroll, who discussed how to take advantage of situations when opportunity knocks.
Giving Something Back
At its annual meetings, Gatorade traditionally includes a group activity that allows its managers to give back to the community while implementing high-level concepts gleaned from their meetings. This year, Gatorade partnered with Habitat for Humanity to help complete the framework on five houses in a Habitat for Humanity neighborhood. Each group was assigned to a different house in the neighborhood, all on the same street. Within each group, people were assigned carpentry tasks, and the recipients of the new houses visited with Gatorade managers to tell their personal stories of how their families benefited from the organization.
Gatorade is a perfect example of how today's meeting planners are working with corporations that find it vital to their success to not just have "a meeting," but to move far outside the box, and the ballroom, to brand their message through innovation and, more importantly, by creating a shared experience.
David Jaffe is vice president of marketing and account services of Star Trax Corporate Events, a national event production and management firm headquartered in Southfield, MI. To contact Star Trax, visit www.startraxevents.com.