EMT #41 with Rachel Weeks - The Power of Appreciation: Recognizing Teams That Drive Results

In this episode of Event Marketer’s Toolbox, hosts Chris Dunn and Dana Esposito sit down with Rachel Weeks, a marketing executive with two decades of experience leading growth, transformation, and culture-first teams.

Together, they explore how recognition and appreciation are more than just good leadership — they’re strategic business levers that drive retention, engagement, and real performance.

Rachel shares lessons learned from her time at Reward Gateway and other HR tech companies, explaining how thoughtful appreciation can turn stressful event cycles into high-performing, connected teams.

Whether you’re leading a warehouse crew, a creative team, or an event floor operation, this episode breaks down how to make recognition part of your culture — and why that small shift pays huge dividends.

1. Recognition isn’t a “nice-to-have” — it’s a growth driver.
Rachel explains that employee appreciation directly impacts retention, motivation, and productivity. Recognition creates emotional connection and reduces burnout — outcomes that are measurable and proven to affect the bottom line.

2. A “culture of recognition” starts at the top.
It’s not about pizza nights or bonus checks — it’s about leadership consistency. CEOs and executives need to model gratitude as part of company values so that recognition becomes baked into everyday workflows, not occasional rewards.

3. Authentic appreciation beats one-size-fits-all.
What matters to one team might not resonate with another. Rachel encourages leaders to ask employees what’s meaningful — whether it’s an extra day off, public acknowledgment, or choosing rewards that align with personal interests.

4. Recognition builds belonging — and belonging drives retention.
Simple public shout-outs or e-cards tied to company values can make employees feel seen. That sense of belonging helps teams stay motivated through demanding project seasons.

5. Communicate through the chaos.
Silence breeds uncertainty. Rachel emphasizes that during periods of change or pressure, communication is the ultimate form of respect and recognition. Even saying, “I know this is tough — we see your effort,” can rebuild trust and motivation.

6. Small acts, big impact.
Rachel introduces the “10 Minutes by Friday” rule — if leaders spend just 10 minutes each week to recognize their people, it can shift engagement metrics across the organization.

Recognition isn’t about programs — it’s about people.
This episode reminds us that behind every event, campaign, or exhibit build are teams giving their all. When leaders take the time to say thank you, they don’t just motivate — they create momentum.

In a business where deadlines don’t move and pressure runs high, gratitude might just be the most effective management strategy there is.

👉🏼 Join us for more insightful discussions like this by tuning into 'Event Marketer's Toolbox,' where industry leaders share the tools, tactics, and trends driving success in the event world.

This Show is sponsored by Blue Hive

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Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome & Introductions
• 6:04 Why Recognition Matters
• 9:09 Authentic Appreciation
• 12:39 Building a Culture of Recognition
• 17:09 Real Examples from Blue Hive
• 24:29 How to Reward Recognition
• 29:09 The Psychology of Appreciation
• 34:39 Leadership Lessons in Gratitude
• 39:09 Employee-Led Engagement
• 43:29 Leading Through Change
• 49:59 10 Minutes by Friday
• 53:59 Wrap-Up & Key Takeaways

Transcript

0:00:01

(Chris Dunn)

Hey, hello, and welcome to the Event Marketers Toolbox. I am Chris Dunn with Blue Hive Exhibits. We're here with a couple of friends again today. It's going to be a fantastic conversation. I'm here with my coworker and cohort, Dana Esposito, and we've also got Rachel in the house. But hey, Dana, how are you? 

0:00:19

(Chris Dunn)

How have you been? And tell us a little bit about yourself. 

0:00:21

(Dana Esposito)

I'm good. I'm good. I know you've been out world traveling in exhibit world here, but it's good to have you back in Massachusetts. So I'm Dana Esposito. I've been in the industry almost 30 years on both the exhibit design side, creative leadership and corporate strategy. And today we are talking with Rachel Weeks. 

0:00:40

(Dana Esposito)

So Rachel, you want to give us a little intro? 

0:00:43

(Rachel Weeks)

Hi, yes, thank you so much, Chris and Dana, for having me. It's a pleasure to be here. I've got over 20 years of leadership experience in marketing. I've had the pleasure of working with Blue Hive in the past at a number of companies. Some places I've worked are Healthcare Source, Reward Gateway, and MPHR. So I've been around the HR tech space for quite some time, and trade shows have always been a really big part of our marketing plans. 

0:01:10

(Rachel Weeks)

So I'm glad to be here. 

0:01:11

(Chris Dunn)

Excellent. And you're a neighbor. You're right down the street. 

0:01:15

(Rachel Weeks)

I'm in Bellrico, Massachusetts. 

0:01:16

(Chris Dunn)

You're in Bellrico, Mass. I'm in Andover, Dana. currently in Worcester, but we're all Massachusetts people here. So we're, we're, we're lamenting our Red Sox just a little bit. Um, although like, uh, I think almost everybody out there, right. It's like, what's your second favorite team. It's anybody who's playing the Yankees. 

0:01:33

(Chris Dunn)

So currently a blue Jays fan having, having seen Toronto dismantle the, uh, the Yankees make us feel a little bit better, uh, about that. So, um, Hey, this is going to be a great conversation, uh, with, with Rachel, Rachel, this is really cool. It was, we were chatting. you know, prior to recording here, and, and we talked a little bit about, I think you might be the very first person who's come on, who actually is and was a part of client. And that's to some extent, that's by design, because we don't want to turn this into a Blue Hive commercial, which is I'm going to be speaking out of both sides of my mouth, because I'm going to do an ad read, talk about Blue Hive. 

0:02:11

(Chris Dunn)

So anyways, but that is what it is. But we're looking forward to having a great conversation here. This is a live show. It will show up it is recorded and it will be available here on LinkedIn as well as YouTube in the and in the future. As early as I think Friday or Saturday, you will find this episode show up on your favorite podcast platform. But from, from a live show standpoint, one of the great things that, that makes this inter a little bit more interesting is the fact that we have people who are watching us. 

0:02:43

(Chris Dunn)

Feel free to drop into the comments. 

0:02:45

(Speaker 24)

Who are you? 

0:02:45

(Chris Dunn)

Where, where are you? And, and hopefully participate in the conversation. Rachel's going to bring a lot of great things to the table here with regards to you know, employee recognition, and just making sure that we're, we've got gratitude oozing through our organization and all the benefits that kind of come from that. So before we officially start that great conversation, two sponsors. One is the company that Dana and I work for, Blue Hive Exhibits. A little bit about us, we are a 20 -year -old creative organization. 

0:03:15

(Chris Dunn)

We have both East coast and west coast representation we have shops where we actually build in both locations we have warehouses we really have to kind of independently operating facilities we work together and the. The, the Vegas operation is actually expanding as we speak. We just added another 19 ,000 square feet to that location. So we've got a ton of stuff going on in the West Coast. We help out our clients. And one of the benefits of using a group like us is you might build your booth here in the Boston area. 

0:03:48

(Chris Dunn)

But if you have a bunch of West Coast shows, you know, that booth goes out to the West Coast, Vegas, you know, San Diego, San Francisco, LA, all places along that coastline, we can service from that location, which is nice and close, saving a lot of money on shipping. Secondarily, we have the folks at Fist Bump who are helping us with this broadcast. This is a group that I kind of ran into a couple of years ago. And the initial conversations were really built around LinkedIn and brand building and presence on the platform. And it really evolved into the idea of this podcast, which is super cool. 

0:04:24

(Chris Dunn)

This is Episode No. 41. I'm happy to say we've been doing it every single week since the first of the year. So we have a bunch of experience. And hopefully, our conversations are getting better. We're doing a better job. But we're, we're building a community of like -minded event professionals and marketing professionals here. 

0:04:43

(Chris Dunn)

And we invite conversation. And we're just trying to, you know, kind of, I guess, build the plane as we fly it, right, and do this in front of folks and, and invoke conversation and create a community. where we can have great sharing back and forth with ideas and so forth. And hey, Zadia, how are you? She's one of our favorite Jersey girls. She is a super listener of our podcast and show. 

0:05:08

(Chris Dunn)

So thanks for joining us. Feel free to drop some comments in. So I'm gonna kick it back to you, Dana, and you can start off with some of these great questions we've got for Rachel. 

0:05:16

(Dana Esposito)

All right, Rachel, so we're going to pick your brain and we want you to start telling us a little bit about why recognition matters and matters more than ever. 

0:05:25

(Rachel Weeks)

Yeah, you know, I think that we've all experienced different types of cultures and companies, you know, some good, some bad. And so you can draw from experiences of, you know, boy, I really, you know, hope that I don't have to live through this type of experience again, if you had one of those. And then also like, wow, you know, I really had a great experience at this company. And there's things that I love about the company. And I want to make sure that I look for those things, you know, in companies moving forward. And I really had the pleasure of working for Reward Gateway, which makes a platform for reward and recognition. 

0:06:03

(Rachel Weeks)

And so, you know, we really lived our values. We used our platform. And like I said, it just gave me such an appreciation for the importance of of being part of that type of culture and also being a leader in that type of culture. But then also, there's a legitimate business impact that goes along with it. And I might not have necessarily learned that had I not been at a company that was trying to sell a technology to support it. So, yeah. 

0:06:31

(Rachel Weeks)

Yeah, that's part of it. 

0:06:33

(Dana Esposito)

Yeah. 

0:06:34

(Speaker 10)

So talk about, too, like the hidden link between employee appreciation and engagement and retention. 

0:06:40

(Rachel Weeks)

How that all works. Absolutely. Yeah, that's exactly, you hit the nail on the head, Dana. Like, employee recognition and appreciation can lead to, you know, business impacts such as improved retention, just like you mentioned, higher productivity, greater job satisfaction and motivation. And then overall, that reduces stress and burnout. And there have been studies done by, you know, numbers of different companies, you know, that show that people would often prefer recognition to a financial incentive as a form of motivation. 

0:07:12

(Rachel Weeks)

You know, people might not think that that's true, but it really is. And that, you know, people won't necessarily look for another job if they feel like they're being recognized, you know, at the job that they're at. And so, you know, again, the opportunity to, you know, work with so many customers and collect this data on why and how recognition, you know, can really impact the bottom line of the business as a growth marketer. That's really important to me. And as a leader, that's also really important to me, you know, from a cultural perspective. And I just want to be very clear from the get -go of this conversation. 

0:07:48

(Rachel Weeks)

Number one, I don't work at Reward Gateway anymore. But also, you do not have to have a platform to have a recognition program at your company. So, like, we can talk about that a little bit more as our time goes on. 

0:08:00

(Dana Esposito)

But, you know, I just wanted to say that up front since that's where I started. I've read a lot, some books about this exact subject. And in some of the books that I've read, they talk about how some business owners or leaders, they're like, well, you know, we do have a really good culture. Or, well, you know, if they work late, like I'll get them pizza. Like in their mind, that is leading when it comes to like really recognizing a contribution. You know, they're working late, I get them pizza. 

0:08:28

(Dana Esposito)

Where it's not necessarily It's a lovely thing, but it's not necessarily what you're talking about. 

0:08:34

(Rachel Weeks)

So how could, can you explain how leaders actually can recognize what contributions are like in an authentic, meaningful way? Yeah, that's a really good way of putting it, Dana. First and foremost, a culture of recognition has to come from the top of the organization. So first and foremost, the CEO has to believe that having a culture of recognition is going to make a positive impact on the business. And they have to walk the walk as much as they have to talk the talk. And if executive leadership is doing that, then that will filter down throughout the rest of the organization. 

0:09:09

(Rachel Weeks)

And so executive leadership, if they're committed to building culture of recognition, they have to think about, well, what types of behaviors do we actually want to recognize? And working late, you know, especially you're working towards an event. You've got huge deadlines that there's no flexibility whatsoever. And sometimes you have to work really late. Getting pizza, I mean, that should be table stakes. You know, your people have to work through dinner, like they've still got to eat. 

0:09:33

(Rachel Weeks)

That should be table stakes. But is there a value associated with your company that supports hard work to meet deadlines? the behavior that you want to recognize. And that's where you want to take the opportunity to say that this particular team in the warehouse went above and beyond because they were there till 11 o 'clock last night, and they met the deadline, and everything was great. Yeah, they got pizza. 

0:10:03

(Rachel Weeks)

But that's not what's driving the behavior. 

0:10:08

(Dana Esposito)

What's driving the behavior is that the company has a culture that hard work is going to be recognized and rewarded, and that we're going to make sure that you know that as an employee of the company. So for your specific company, if you're a leader and you're like, I really want to get some eyes on this and think about this in a way that's meaningful for your company, think about specifically your company, what your company culture designates as what are these meaningful things, whether it's if someone has to work late or if someone had to travel a lot or whatever it is. Every company is different. 

0:10:45

(Speaker 6)

So what are the things that is a little bit of a above and beyond situation that your company recognizes that they're going to recognize? 

0:10:54

(Dana Esposito)

Right? And then, and then once you kind of have that list and don't, I would say, whenever you're making a list, what that affects a lot of people, don't make a list in a vacuum, right? Like talk to your managers, because every team and department is also different, right? If you're saying, well, this is what I believe is, is what above and beyond, according to me or my bubble, that might not apply maybe for you, say, if you have a warehouse and your warehouse team, right? Depending on maybe how they're paid, if their salary versus hourly, or If you know it just it just all depends on on the teams are very different. So don't make that list in a bubble. 

0:11:32

(Dana Esposito)

Bring your managers in and talk about that because you may have to. some answers you hadn't thought of. But then what happens when they start to say, OK, we've defined for us what some of our above and beyond things are? What are meaningful ways to reward those? Because some people, they think, you know, the pizza or like a Starbucks card, which none of those things are bad or wrong necessarily, but you're thinking about, you're talking about things that are deeper than that. 

0:12:00

(Rachel Weeks)

So can you, if you were to like mentor a leader on what some meaningful ways, what that could look like, what would, what would you say? Well, first and foremost, I think that, you know, recognition should be, you know, uh, I keep saying a program, but it should be part of your culture. And as part of your culture, there are tactics associated with it. And those tactics are, what are people being recognized for? How are they being recognized? And then is there any type of reward associated with that? 

0:12:34

(Rachel Weeks)

And then what would that reward be? So it shouldn't be that necessarily. And I don't want to ruffle any feathers. And again, there's no bad recognition. And it's certainly not wrong to give people pizza or give them an extra bonus for working hard. Everybody appreciates financial incentives. 

0:12:52

(Rachel Weeks)

I mean, there's no question about it. But that makes you feel good on the day. A culture of recognition should really make you feel good every day. Or at least it should make you feel good over the course of time that you're part of that culture. And that's because the company has decided on the types of behavior that it's going to recognize. 

0:13:16

(Speaker 23)

The warehouse manager might recognize their employees, you know, in certain ways based on behavior that happens in the warehouse, which could be different ways than a manager recognizes an employee, you know, who works in the office. 

0:13:29

(Rachel Weeks)

I'm an to give you a gift card to the lunch place that we all go to every day, which isn't the lunch place that the warehouse guy goes to, so he doesn't want that gift card. But it's the ongoing behaviors that you want to think about. How do you get this to be pervasive across the organization? And how do you get people to emulate the behaviors of others? And again, I think that where I've seen the most successful recognition programs is when they're based on company values. 

0:14:01

(Rachel Weeks)

And so, you know, a lot of us when we're either, you know, we're going through an interview process, you know, maybe we look and see, you know, does the company have values on their website that says something. What are those values? Well, hopefully, you know, usually those values are about, you know, taking care of your customers and taking care of each other and, you know, doing the right thing and, you know, all of those things. But you want them to be worded and presented in a way that resonates with you so that you can feel like if I go work at this company, can I emulate these values and lead by example? Yes, I can. So then when I go to that company, I have to emulate those values. 

0:14:41

(Rachel Weeks)

And I have to lead by example. So then other people know that those are the behaviors that we expect from them. And then when someone really shines and goes above and beyond and exhibits some of that behavior, and I'll just like super simple example. We had a value at one of my past companies called Own It. Pretty self -explanatory. just own it, right? 

0:15:06

(Rachel Weeks)

And people can say they own stuff every day, blah, blah, blah. But when somebody really goes above and beyond, and then they get recognized publicly at the company meeting or in the company newsletter, or however leadership has decided that they're going to publicly recognize people, because it has to be driven from the top of the organization, and everybody has to buy into that. People get excited. First of all, the person appreciates the recognition. Peers and others get excited that the person has received this recognition, because presumably they've seen how hard this person has been working. They recognize that their, that person is being recognized because they owned it. 

0:15:45

(Rachel Weeks)

Then they can say to themselves, I want to be recognized. I'm going to own it. And then they go live that value. And then hopefully they're the next one that's recognized, too. So and that's going all back to marketing. That's what drives growth and engagement. 

0:16:01

(Rachel Weeks)

Sorry to bring it back to engagement. That's what drives growth and engagement. And it can apply directly to events, you know, as far as how hard people work. Like I said before, deadlines that don't move. You know, the show's going on. 

0:16:16

(Chris Dunn)

You know, if you're not ready. 

0:16:18

(Rachel Weeks)

We had our head on that one all the time. People have to travel. People spend lots of time. I mean, Chris, you're a road warrior. I know others in your organizations are. You spend lots and lots of time away from your families, away from, you know, your own bed. 

0:16:32

(Rachel Weeks)

And yeah, it's part of the job and this is career you chose. And obviously you thrive on it and you love it. Otherwise you wouldn't do it. But that doesn't mean that you don't want to feel appreciated and for someone to recognize that you've made these sacrifices. Sure, by choice, but it doesn't mean they're not sacrifices, you know, to help grow the business. And you're going to stay at that company a lot longer than the other events company that you did the same amount of travel and you went to the same shows and you did all the same stuff. 

0:17:03

(Dana Esposito)

But they didn't appreciate what you did as an individual. Yeah, we have so here at Blue Hive, the owner, our leader, Caitlin, who you've met, you know, Caitlin, she, I love her and she, she's instituted what's called the hive time. So like once a quarter, the whole company gets together and like our warehouse is just a couple of miles away from the rest of the building. So we always feel a little disjointed, which we all hate because we like everybody, we like being together. So this is the one time each quarter where we can all be together in the same room And even though we're always going back and forth, like we're all in the same room and we get lunch and sometimes it's pizzas, but sometimes it's different things. 

0:17:49

(Dana Esposito)

And sometimes they've been some pretty interesting things that we get to have. And she gets up in front of us. And what I like is she, it's an opportunity. 

0:17:56

(Speaker 17)

I mean, like I can see her anytime. 

0:17:58

(Dana Esposito)

Right. We're both in the same office. I'm very comfortable. I can go in and ask her a question about anything, but there are people who don't even get a chance to run into her very often, but they're working like very dedicated, you know, time away from your family, all this stuff. I mean, it's work. That's what work is. 

0:18:13

(Speaker 22)

But if you want to be really good at your job, sometimes you can feel invisible. 

0:18:17

(Dana Esposito)

Right. So this is her opportunity where she gets up in front of anybody and gives everybody a little bit of an update of maybe some new things that are happening or maybe some goals that we have. And it's very, it's very casual. and it's very lighthearted, but what I love about it is, because like back in the day when I first started in the industry, I always felt like I want to do as much as I can, because that's the kind of worker I was trained to be growing up, but I always felt like I hate being in the trunk of the car when someone else is driving. I like at least want to be in the back seat so I can see where you're headed and I can hear like where you want to go, because even if what I do every day is not exactly what you're doing, I know where you're trying to get. I might be able to help in some way. 

0:19:00

(Dana Esposito)

So that conversation gives everyone in every office a chance to hear that. Like, well, this is what we've done. And by the way, these are some new clients. And by the way, here are some really cool projects we did. Oh, and by the way, just so you know, we just acquired additional websites. space in Las Vegas because we're growing in a like a nice like a organic strong safe way and and that affects everybody because there are times maybe we need we need to know we have more space in Las Vegas so like everyone's in the know You know and you feel included as part actually part of a community with the company, you know Like I always say a company is not a family, but a company is a community So we know where you're trying to go. 

0:19:42

(Dana Esposito)

We're all going there together, right? So those are some things that I really appreciate that she's made a point that she really wanted to do and then also we have like the hiver of the quarter, where up to up before hive time, you can vote on and send in to her or anonymously vote on someone who's maybe they've owned it. Right. And so not only would we find out who hive time who's won that who their hiver quarter is, and they get a gift certificate. What I really like that she started doing is, this is just I just adore this is she's started reading who some of the other people who were nominated were and what some of the notes that people were putting in there. Because originally, I mean, it was nice on its own, right? 

0:20:27

(Dana Esposito)

But you'd find out who won, right? 

0:20:30

(Chris Dunn)

But now it's not just you find out who won. one before that, you find out who else was nominated and what someone said about them. 

0:20:36

(Dana Esposito)

The other 20, the other 20 people who've been nominated and the, and the, and yeah, you're spot on. I've been waiting to kind of add that, but I'm glad you brought that up. Cause that's like one of my favorite parts because I'm involved in a lot of things, but I didn't even know that like, Oh, so -and -so, you know, like I won't say a specific project but like something that jumped out at me was there was a problem with a piece of fabric, and by no fault of our own there was a problem with these fabric. And so we expedited to remedy the problem with the fabric, and someone literally said, I'm going to hop on a plane, fly this out there, like instead of luggage, drop it off and fly back. Because we wanted to make sure the client's experience was seamless. 

0:21:19

(Dana Esposito)

And so even though it was our fault, it all matters. Paul, the gentleman who's founded and started Blue 5, he always says, don't judge us on just one thing. what we do that's great, judge us on like, if something, if the poop hits the fan, what happens? And so this person of their own volition, like jumped in like a superhero. And like, I hadn't known that happened, just because it wasn't a project I was affiliated with. 

0:21:42

(Rachel Weeks)

I'm like, damn, that's, that's, that's someone who's all in, right? So freaking well done. And the other thing about Caitlin reading all the nominees is now everybody's sitting there saying, oh good, I can nominate someone and they're going to get recognized even if they don't win. So she's now perpetuating the behavior that you want to see from the team, which is really just recognizing as many people as you want. I mean, there's nothing to not recognize people for. If you feel it, it's like the spirit of Christmas. 

0:22:19

(Rachel Weeks)

It's not just about getting the recognition, but it's about giving the recognition and making people feel good in front of everyone. And so, yeah, really kudos. 

0:22:29

(Speaker 21)

I'm glad she added that. 

0:22:31

(Dana Esposito)

And again, I think you'll see even more people submitting you know, nominations and quotes now that they know that those are going to be. Yeah. And then, and I love hearing the notes too, like, you know, like, you know, Chris was nominated and because, because of this on this project and I'm like, oh, I just, those nuggets, there's so much happens at work that you don't know about. It's so great to hear these, the positive things. So we always hear bad things in life, right? It's so easy for someone to like pick on someone, but it's so great to when people are actually voicing great things that someone's doing. 

0:23:04

(Dana Esposito)

So I, tell that story about Hive Time and what Caitlin's doing with the Hive of the Quarter and stuff, because it's a nice example of what a company has done. Can you hear angels singing? 

0:23:18

(Rachel Weeks)

No, not necessarily, but it's a cute, easy, smart thing to do. But I'm using it as an example, and I was wondering for anybody else listening, because you've had more exposure to this because of your past, are there other things that you could offer people just as examples to get their brain churning in that way of what would a leader, after they recognize what the values of the company are, what are things that they can do as a reward for recognition? Yeah, absolutely. I mean, first, you know, once you decide the behaviors that you want to recognize people for, you decide how you're going to recognize them. Is it at the quarterly company meeting? Is it on the bi -weekly company call? 

0:23:59

(Rachel Weeks)

Is it on the weekly newsletter or monthly newsletter? Like, you know, most most companies hopefully, you know, have some form of communication from leadership to their clients and whatever the platform is and the frequency, you know, that's that's a good place to incorporate recognition because people are already you know, hopefully, you know, consuming that content. And so, you know, then there are ways that, you know, maybe not everybody reads the newsletter, they skim it, they don't see everything. Well, what other types of communication or communication platforms do you use at your company? Maybe you use Slack. So maybe you create a Slack recognition channel. 

0:24:32

(Rachel Weeks)

And that's a public channel where everybody on the company can see what's posted there. And it's just meant for shout outs. And that's where you can go on and say like, hey, Dana did an awesome job on the LinkedIn Live today. Thank you so much. And it doesn't have to be anything fancier than that. But that'll make you feel good. 

0:24:50

(Rachel Weeks)

Make me feel good because I'm appreciating you. And it's in a public space that the technology already exists. People are already there. If you wanted to take it up a notch, you could create digital assets to give people. At most of the companies, you know, that I've had a recognition program like this, and we've used our values as the, you know, where to give recognition, we've created e -cards. 

0:25:14

(Rachel Weeks)

So, you know, we're all familiar with e -cards. You can send somebody a digital birthday or anniversary card or whatever. But you could create a digital e -card for each one of your company values. And when you send it on the Slack channel, or maybe it's an email or wherever it is, it's accompanied by the e -card. And that gives a really nice visual component. And I can imagine, I mean, you guys at Blue Hive do such a great job with your branding and you're tying into the whole bee theme. 

0:25:43

(Rachel Weeks)

And so, you know, you've got the Hive meeting. I'm sure you're using your Hive and, you know, using your buzzwords and all of that. And that really also helps companies internally, you know, when you name it and you brand it and that the program actually is a program that exists. And so you can talk about it and you can refer to it. So, as I said, you know, there are platforms out there that are specifically designed for reward and recognition, and they have all these bells and whistles, but you can also do it, you know, grassroots internally, you know, without making an investment like that. And it's a great opportunity for cross -functional engagement activity, because usually a program, a recognition and reward program, you know, comes out of HR, it's, you know, employee engagement and, you know, workplace workplacing, engagement. 

0:26:34

(Rachel Weeks)

But if you're going to put some branding on it and you need some design, you're probably going to want to pull in somebody from marketing. But then if you're going to start talking about, I shouldn't say but, and if you're going to start talking about how people are going to actually be rewarded in addition to recognized, well, you probably want to know what people want. So it's probably a good idea to get representatives across the company. And now you've got a recognition team, because somebody on the marketing team might not want the same reward as somebody on the engineering team. And so you want to make sure that you're getting input from everybody on what is going to be meaningful. 

0:27:10

(Rachel Weeks)

Because there is something that can kind of backfire when you give a gift that's just not meaningful enough. And you know, unfortunately, these days, like a $5 Starbucks gift card just doesn't go very far. So you're giving me something smallest, and I can't even use it without spending more of my own money, you know, or by the way, I personally don't drink coffee, so I don't go to Starbucks. So that I wouldn't want that. 

0:27:38

(Chris Dunn)

But I know Chris was talking about an example with your merch store. at Blue Hive, which I think is a great way of giving people choice on what they could be rewarded with, if you want to talk about that. Yeah, no, perfect. So we hit a chord because we all of a sudden we're getting lots of lots of comments here. So Rob, see you Zadia again, Chris and also Jim Gehrig. So thanks everybody for dropping stuff into into the chat here. 

0:28:06

(Chris Dunn)

Apparently this is a topic of interest. I want to kind of rewind for a half a second to just take us back to Dana's reference point of our our quarterly town hall meeting where everybody's there, right? So we create these feelings. And, you know, I always love to, I love the analogy of like, when people feel appreciated, they literally go through a brick wall for you. So we've just taken, you know, we've got about 80 people who are in our Boston office. The other, you know, we're 110 or so roughly speaking. 

0:28:37

(Chris Dunn)

So there are other remote folks or Vegas or wherever they, they might be, but we, you kind of, and they're, everybody's there. Uh, even, you know, even remote people are, are on the, on the cameras. So we're all leaving feeling this, like superpower, like, this is awesome. I love this company, and I'm ready to go forward. So I want to take basically that feeling and just spin it back to you. 

0:28:59

(Chris Dunn)

So the psychology of appreciation, right? What's going on in our brains? 

0:29:04

(Speaker 20)

And, and how does that translate when You know, I know I kind of get the goosebumps and I'm like, this is such a great decision I made to be at this company. 

0:29:12

(Rachel Weeks)

But tell us a little bit about maybe some of those psychological things that are happening and then maybe the data that kind of backs that up, if you would. Sure. I mean, I'm no psychologist, but I mean, the dopamine rush is real. Right? You know, I mean, we're all on our phones every day, and we're looking for the notifications. Like, we want that rush. 

0:29:31

(Rachel Weeks)

And a lot of that rush is healthy, you know, maybe not from social media. But you know, that's the rush that you get when you get recognition, and you get the public recognition. And even if you give it, you know, that is, you know, true science at work. that makes you feel good. And so that's one very small piece of it. But there was a survey done by a company called Nectar last year that said that, I'm reading from this, that 84 % of employees feel that recognition affects their motivation to succeed at work. 

0:30:05

(Speaker 19)

84%. 

0:30:06

(Rachel Weeks)

That's like everybody. That's almost everybody. And that 78 % would be more productive if they were recognized more frequently. And that's not because they're sitting around being lazy. It's because if they're recognized and acknowledged for what they're doing, they're going to get that dopamine rush and then they're going to want to do more. It all makes sense. 

0:30:27

(Rachel Weeks)

71 % of employees would be less likely to leave their organizations if they were recognized more frequently. So, you know, like I said, you can work for two different events companies and literally do the same exact job and have a completely and totally different experience if you feel recognized someplace and you don't feel recognized. 

0:30:45

(Speaker 6)

someplace else. 

0:30:47

(Rachel Weeks)

So even SHRM surveys show that 75 % of US employees say morale and motivation would improve if managers would simply say thank you more often. So let's pause on that for a second. We could all probably all say thank you more often. 

0:31:11

(Dana Esposito)

full stop. So it will make a difference to your employees and to their commitment and productivity and retention and all of that. I agree completely to the point where I'm going to give an example of proof. And so when I was in high school and college, going to school for design, I always worked at a country club in town as a waitress and in the kitchen. And there were four brothers that were owners, and one of them was in charge of all the weddings. So say I was waitressing at a wedding, we would all go down to eat supper after we set up the room before, you know, the guests would arrive. 

0:31:46

(Dana Esposito)

And it's a wedding facility, so you're always looking to make sure everything's nice. Well, I happened to notice that there was some sliding glass doors, the sun was coming in, there were like little kid fingerprints from like previous wedding. So I went and got some Windex and I'm wiping it down. And everyone else had already gone down to eat. So I was doing this and I'm going to head down to eat. And the owner stops the brick and goes, Hey, Dana, thank you for doing that. 

0:32:06

(Dana Esposito)

And I'm thinking, and I said, well, nope, no problem. I'm thinking it was dirty. It needed to be done. So I did it, but he would do that. And so, yeah, I was a waitress. It wasn't my job to clean, but it was just part of the, you were part of the experience. 

0:32:22

(Dana Esposito)

So you made sure it was done. And I just remember thinking like 16 years old, um, him saying thank you to me whenever I would do something like that. 

0:32:31

(Rachel Weeks)

And here I am over 50 and vividly still remembering the owner saying thank you to me whenever I did something that was important. 

0:32:40

(Dana Esposito)

slightly above and beyond. 

0:32:43

(Rachel Weeks)

And that just reiterates the classic quote that, you know, while you might not remember exactly what somebody said to you, you remember how they made you feel. Absolutely. 

0:32:52

(Dana Esposito)

And you remember the thank you part of what he said, which is the important part, because that's what made you feel good. And that's why you're telling this story. Well, and he also he also treated everyone. It's a wedding venue. So, you know, think of them like Caddyshack, right? I mean, these are all high school kids, right? 

0:33:08

(Dana Esposito)

With like a few adults running the show. And so your busboys and your waitresses in the prep in the kitchen and the cocktail waitresses were like the island of misfit toys, really. And so he treated you the way you acted. And at 16, I always acted older because the way I was brought up, I was very firm. And so I appreciated that he treated me the way he didn't treat me like a dumb kid. Right. 

0:33:33

(Chris Dunn)

So he made me feel like a grown up, which at the time is how I acted. 

0:33:37

(Speaker 15)

So I appreciated that. 

0:33:38

(Chris Dunn)

Right. 

0:33:39

(Dana Esposito)

So it goes right back into how it makes you feel. I want to go the other way. I want to. 

0:33:45

(Chris Dunn)

Be less of an adult and more like a child. 

0:33:47

(Speaker 19)

Oh, we know about that. 

0:33:48

(Chris Dunn)

We know that about you, Chris. You don't have to, like, state that. Empyrean tendencies. Yeah, that's on full display. I'm going to own it right here. I have a specific example of something that just happened, which I think is illustrating everything that we're talking about. 

0:34:02

(Chris Dunn)

So we'll fall on the sword and admit that I can do a better job as a leader. 

0:34:08

(Speaker 18)

We have management meetings once a month, which, again, is just, this is a cultural thing. 

0:34:14

(Chris Dunn)

My wife works in a school system, not to go off on a tangent, but there's been lack of quality leadership for quite some time. And the thing that she gripes about the most is the lack of communication. 

0:34:26

(Dana Esposito)

And just, she's like, I just never know what's going on. 

0:34:28

(Speaker 6)

I don't know. 

0:34:29

(Speaker 17)

I don't know what their goals are. 

0:34:30

(Chris Dunn)

And I feel like I'm not a part of the team. She's in the trunk, see? She's in the trunk. trunk. She's not, she can't see where they want to go. Yeah. 

0:34:38

(Chris Dunn)

So I try to remember this, right. Cause I, I learn and try to learn from all of these things around me. Um, so anyways, we're in the management meeting and one of the managers, uh, from, from one of the departments speaks up and he's like, can I just say that, um, my team feels, uh, sad and angry sometimes when Every other group and organization within the organization, warehouse builders, designers, managers are all recognized. But our group is forgotten for whatever reason. And this particular group is a super important part of the process, but they tend to be on the front end. What they're doing is definitely behind the scenes kind of stuff. 

0:35:19

(Chris Dunn)

And it just it can go unappreciated. And the message was like loud and clear. And I was like, oh, crap, because I could think of a specific instance Yes, show just happened recently. I sent the pictures back, you know, in the company email to the whole team. Hey guys, awesome client, super happy. Thanks so much for everybody who touched it. 

0:35:39

(Chris Dunn)

And there were some things that kind of went sideways. So I did name off a handful of names, especially so, so, so blah, blah, blah, right. Which in my mind, I'm like, I'm really kind of rewarding these people in front of everybody. And this is great. But the downside of that is when I forgot to add the person who had done, you know, that, that particular, you know, you know, very important tasks and associated work on that project. When I failed to name them, I really self -defeated, you know, the whole purpose. 

0:36:08

(Chris Dunn)

I wanted to pump the team up, and I demotivated that person. I was not intending to do so by any means. I just forgot. 

0:36:17

(Speaker 16)

But, but that's how it came off. 

0:36:19

(Chris Dunn)

So, you know, I, That's just a message to the leaders out there who have the best intentions, and they're trying to do the right thing, and they're trying to reward folks. for their great effort in public. Just make sure that your list is dialed in, and you've got everybody. Or you just need to generalize it and say, like, guys, across the board, team did awesome. Thank you. 

0:36:41

(Dana Esposito)

Every single department, boom, boom, boom. The suggestion from this manager was, Can we just, if we're going to name names, let's go back and do that, you know, independent or internally, you know, an email, quick, you know, Slack or a text or a Teams message like, Hey, dude, awesome job on that. I really appreciate your hard work. So I want to let everybody know across the board, I want to, you know, make sure that my, that my gratitude filters down to all the proper people. 

0:37:09

(Chris Dunn)

But again, so that's the, that's the, that's the you know, can be the flip side of it, if you don't do it well, or if you haven't put enough thought into, like, making sure that everybody on that team, you know, gets a piece of that reward pie. Yeah, it's tricky in an industry like ours where every project hits at least a dozen departments. And then inside that department, it's not always one body from that department, it can be multiple. So that can be a little bit dangerous, where to your point, Chris, you're trying to do something good. And it's like, you know, it backfired a little bit, but at the same time, kind of a really great lesson, because moving forward, you know how to do it in a way that your intention will, will hit the way you want. So. 

0:37:50

(Chris Dunn)

Yeah. So the next day, I, I looped in this manager as a CC on my email to the entire sales team. And I said, Let me just paint a little picture for you. Here's a story. And this is what I did. I made a mistake. 

0:38:02

(Chris Dunn)

I please, when you're, when you're showing gratitude to the entire team, make sure you got your list dialed in and, or just keep it really, you know, kind of over the, you know, across the board and just thank everybody equally so we don't have this scenario where somebody feels like they've been singled out or, or underappreciated. Before I kick this back to Dana for the next set of questions, I also want to touch on another thing. And again, not a Blue Hive commercial, but I think we're doing some things really well. And I'm here for 20 years. I love this company. 

0:38:35

(Chris Dunn)

I don't know how many years ago it started, but probably a dozen, at least, maybe more. A group of employees really took it upon themselves to become kind of this voice of employee engagement on the inside. And they, it's called the Buzz Squad. So we have this internal group. No one owns this job unto themselves. And Um, but they've started this group. 

0:38:55

(Chris Dunn)

And initially it was like, gee, I don't know how management's going to think about this. Like we're spending time during the company, you know, paid time during the day. And we're talking about things that are affecting the company where we're planning. They're planning parties. They plan the recognition. They plan the spirit days for, you know, once every, every, uh, every month. 

0:39:13

(Chris Dunn)

Um, and, and actually the opposite happened. This is before Caitlin, this is when Paul was running the company and he got work, he got wind of it. And he was like, Oh my God. You guys are awesome. He not only loved it, but he fully embraced it. He's like, thank you so much. 

0:39:29

(Chris Dunn)

This is a piece, sorry, that's been missing. He was a bit of a, you know, he wasn't around a lot. He was a bit of an absentee owner, right? He was managing from Florida and only here in the summertime. But he, he leaned in. He's like, this is great. 

0:39:43

(Chris Dunn)

Like, like make it official. Like BuzzSquad's a real thing. 

0:39:46

(Rachel Weeks)

So, uh, we have this internal group and anybody in the company can be part of the BuzzSquad. Uh, and they meet, I think monthly and they plan our parties and they plan all these things. We have ice cream, you know, in the summertime when it's hot and we have these spirit days, we do, you know, beers with buzz. We, we, you know, meet up once a month or once a quarter or whatever. Uh, it's little stuff like that. It just makes. 

0:40:10

(Rachel Weeks)

going to work fun. I mean, that's, that's just so meaningful. And I think that today, most progressive leaders know that culture is important. You know, Paul is maybe a little bit of an older school guy, but recognized the importance, but didn't like make it happen. But it happened organically. And that is so powerful. 

0:40:32

(Rachel Weeks)

And that in and of itself, is a demonstration of employee engagement. The employees are so engaged that they want to do something outside the scope of their job to make the company better. And yeah, I mean, sure, they have to peel off a little bit of work time to do it. But at the end of the day, you know, it just makes everybody more productive. And that, you know, supports growth, which is, you know, what this is all about. So I love that. 

0:40:56

(Rachel Weeks)

I think that's fantastic. Yeah, and I think, again, it goes back to, you know, ensuring that you're including representatives from across the company in these initiatives. At my last company, we called it the Culture Club and, you know, had a different name someplace else, I forget. But it's like, you know, you want to make sure that every department is represented. And you're just there to think about how to make, how to make it fun. you know, how to make it better so that you're spending all this time together, whether it's online or in person, you're still investing all of this time, all of this, you know, mental and emotional energy. 

0:41:29

(Rachel Weeks)

And you want to be able to, like, cut loose and do fun things with these people that hopefully you really do enjoy spending time with. 

0:41:36

(Speaker 6)

And that's why you're there. 

0:41:38

(Chris Dunn)

And that is also, you know, that's another thing that this is a whole other conversation. 

0:41:41

(Rachel Weeks)

But, you know, people who have friends at work are more likely to stay. 

0:41:47

(Dana Esposito)

you know, because they are engaged, because not just because, you know, they go there to sit and have coffee and like, you know, have lunch with their friends or whatever, but because you're committed to a common goal and that you enjoy the people that you're working with to do this together to achieve this common goal. I've been at a job where I didn't really have a friend, you know, friendly and camaraderie. 

0:42:10

(Chris Dunn)

But I mean, especially when, you know, you're an executive, you know, there's just fewer people that you can really be friends with. 

0:42:16

(Dana Esposito)

And it's, and it was hard. It was, I missed it. Kind of lonely, right? It's like, Yeah, it is a little, and they do say that, the higher up you get, the lonelier it is. Yeah, well, you spend a lot of time at work. 

0:42:28

(Rachel Weeks)

So yeah, yeah. Right. We work a lot, a lot longer than we are, you know, at home awake anyways. So Rachel, let's talk a little bit about change and challenge. So do you have any recommendations or personal strategies for keeping teams inspired during a demanding project? Or maybe it's not necessarily a project, just a certain time of year where these two months we're always sort of drowning. 

0:42:55

(Rachel Weeks)

It's just the nature of the rhythm of our business. anything to kind of support those times? Well, that's certainly the rhythm of your business, the way events seasons go. So I'm familiar with that. But I think, you know, Chris, Chris made a really important point about what his wife said about the lack of communication is what breeds the uncertainty and the concern. Because when people hear nothing, they start to make things up, and they start to say things. 

0:43:24

(Rachel Weeks)

And that's the proof. They speculate. When I'm, when I, as a leader, foresee a big change, you know, and I know it's coming, and like, I can prepare for it, or I mean, even if you can't, you know, you figure it out, I try to make very sure, number one, that I'm, you know, communicating as much as I possibly can within the confines of, you know, whatever the news might be, you know, you might be going through an acquisition, you can't always talk about that. But, you know, going through some changes based on goals in the organization. And, you know, this may, even telling people, this may create some uncertainty. That is less uncertain than hearing nothing and having that feeling of uncertainty come from within you, right? 

0:44:09

(Rachel Weeks)

So I, just really try to do a very, very good job at communicating before, during and after, you know, not only what's happening, why it's happening, but also just being a, you know, an empathetic leader saying, I know how this might make you feel. if it's putting somebody in a position to feel uncertain about their job, or, you know, AI is a huge transition that we're all going through right now. And there are teams that there are people who are fearing for their jobs, I'm going to get replaced by AI. Well, leadership has to address that. And, you know, I personally believe that, you know, AI is a tool that, you know, can make us all bigger, better, faster, stronger. 

0:44:49

(Rachel Weeks)

So like, it's a good thing. But, you know, we're still learning how to adapt and work it into all of our organizations. But if you don't talk about it, you know, that's what gives people the concerns. So I, and then tying it all back, you know, really to recognition and appreciation, is that when you're going through those tough times, or maybe when you've gone through it, and it's behind you, and you can actually breathe, recognize people for that. You know, we know that that was just like the toughest month. Everybody just worked 80 hours a week because we had so many shows. 

0:45:20

(Speaker 13)

And yes, you got pizza every night. 

0:45:22

(Chris Dunn)

I hope you got pizza every night because you were there every night. But you know, because you just we appreciate you so much. And that can come after in a public setting. And maybe there's a reward associated with it, but maybe there's not. But as long as that acknowledgement is there, then people don't have that loneliness. They don't feel like they're doing it for nothing. 

0:45:42

(Chris Dunn)

Because there's also just, you know, the camaraderie and all of that, that helps breed, you know, productivity as well. Yeah. It's all excellent stuff. And you're spot on like our business. We're drinking from the fire hose sometimes and other times it's kind of crickets. The way that our business works 

0:46:04

(Chris Dunn)

is, you know, from January to June, like we're, we're slammed. The summer is a much slower timeframe, which feels great in the beginning and then starts to feel really weird. And you get nervous and you're like, why don't we have any work, but that's just the way it is. And it's not like we have no work, but there's a lot less, right? When you're, especially you're coming off of this extended season of like, everybody's running around with their hair in fire and then it starts again. And it's even more compressed in the fall. 

0:46:31

(Chris Dunn)

It's mid August to, you know, after Thanksgiving and you just, it's, we're cramming a lot of stuff into that short period of time. 

0:46:37

(Rachel Weeks)

So I think just that, that communication, um, you know, is super important. And I do, I do feel like, you know, we're, we're blessed to have leadership in our particular company. And I know that there's a lot of other companies doing a great job, you know, of it out there as well. And just kind of, you know, building an organization that is, that is resilient, right? It can kind of, it can grow, and it can, it can morph with, with the times. It can adapt to what's happening with, you know, Things like AI, economic fluctuations, everything's up and down. 

0:47:12

(Rachel Weeks)

And there's just a lot of unknown in the marketplace. 

0:47:15

(Chris Dunn)

But being somewhere that's stable certainly feels good versus coming in every week wondering if you're going to have a job next week. Yeah, and I think it's really important to remember that, you know, when there are, you know, unsettling things, you know, going on externally, and I think I said this earlier on our prep call, you know, it's not necessarily what happens, but it's how you respond or how you react to what happens. 

0:47:42

(Dana Esposito)

And what you can do as a leader when you're going through those challenging times is recognize people. 

0:47:48

(Rachel Weeks)

and tell them that they're appreciated and make them feel good because it's not going to make the external factors go away. It's not going to change, you know, the economy or everything's more expensive or you can't fly right now or whatever, but it's going to make people feel part of a community. 

0:48:06

(Chris Dunn)

Dana, we talked about that, of their company, that everybody's going through the same thing and that they're understood. And that's really important. We got a comment from, I'm not sure who that is. I don't know, Juana, if you can see that LinkedIn users, so all vendors I work with say the communication is everything and they're always glad for it. Communication is key. 

0:48:27

(Speaker 15)

Agreed. 

0:48:27

(Chris Dunn)

It's pretty hard to over -communicate. Just like it's pretty hard to over -recognize. 

0:48:32

(Speaker 13)

I mean, it's just, it's all good. 

0:48:36

(Chris Dunn)

And in my early days, I was a big Tony Robbins fan. 

0:48:39

(Speaker 14)

And one of the statements that I literally, so I was 22 years old, and now I'm 58, 40, I don't know, a long time ago, right? 

0:48:46

(Chris Dunn)

Almost 40 years ago. The quality of my communication is the quality of my life. Right. It's not just business. It's how you communicate with your spouse, your parents, your kids, like everything. Okay. 

0:48:57

(Chris Dunn)

Jim. 

0:48:58

(Rachel Weeks)

Yeah. So across the board. So, hey, we are closing in on 50 minutes here on the Toolbox. This has been a great call conversation. We're going to start to wrap it up a little bit in hopes that we get out of here and let you guys back to your, your real world, the real world in under an hour. But we like to close here on the toolbox with some key takeaways as we're kind of wrapping up. 

0:49:22

(Rachel Weeks)

So, Rachel. Do you have kind of anything that you want to like really kind of put a pin in and shine a light on, whether we've spoken about it already, or if it's maybe something you've kept in your back pocket, but just kind of a couple of takeaways for our listeners and folks watching us that they can maybe take and use and put into action. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I think we've touched on some of these things to some extent, but you know, first and foremost, you want to think about what behaviors you want to recognize. Do you have company values? Are those the things that you want to recognize? 

0:49:56

(Rachel Weeks)

And if not, are there other things? And what may those be? Also really important is to make the time to do it. And I always like to give a shout out to a former coworker named Greg Lederman, who wrote a book called Crave. And it's all about what we crave internally. And that's where I learned about the dopamine stuff. 

0:50:17

(Rachel Weeks)

But in the book, he has a concept called 10 Minutes by Friday. which is exactly what I said. Can you make 10 minutes by Friday to recognize people? Nobody's too busy to make 10 minutes by Friday. Come on, you know? So there's that. 

0:50:33

(Rachel Weeks)

And then the last piece is, you know, if you are going to do rewards, which companies have to think about, you know, if we're going to do monetary or financial reward, you know, do we have the budget for that? 

0:50:43

(Speaker 13)

And how's that all going to work? 

0:50:45

(Speaker 11)

But then there are other kinds of reward, like maybe it's a front row parking spot. 

0:50:50

(Chris Dunn)

you know, if that's something that's coveted, especially like at the warehouse. 

0:50:53

(Speaker 11)

Or maybe it's an extra day of PTO if, you know, that's something that people, you know, would desire. 

0:50:59

(Chris Dunn)

Or maybe it's shopping at the swag store. But it's letting people choose. It's not giving somebody a gift card to a restaurant that they would never go to eat at, you know, because then that's just not going to make them feel good, which is, you know, backfiring of the whole thing. So, you know, I think those are three very simple things that any leader or really anyone can, you know, just keep in mind as far as, you know, what types of behavior do you want to see, you know, from your teams, from your co -workers that at the end of the day, you know, are going to help everybody achieve their goals, which is growing the company and making more money, right? Yeah. Yeah. 

0:51:36

(Chris Dunn)

Perfect. I mean, so just to, I guess, kind of put a bow on that is on the sales side, what are the actions that we want to encourage more of. 

0:51:50

(Rachel Weeks)

Well, we coming out of coven sat with Caitlin. we want to make sure not only are we holding on to our existing clients, but we want to find new customers, right? So we devised kind of an incentive program for our sales team, where when you bring in a brand new logo, somebody that's not worked with Blue Hive in the past, or not just a spinoff from a company, opened another division or something, but when you have a net new company that joins the Hive team, they earn an extra commission. And they're entered into a A big picture competition for a new business development competition. So we always want to be building in that direction. And that came from clarity on like, what is it we're trying to do? 

0:52:36

(Rachel Weeks)

Well, we're trying to make sure we get new customers. OK, well, how do we do that? 

0:52:39

(Speaker 12)

incentivize the process. 

0:52:41

(Speaker 7)

So what you're talking about is just the fact that I mean, sales organizations are really good at incentivizing, but they're not always good at incentivizing the right behaviors. 

0:52:51

(Chris Dunn)

So again, that could be a completely and totally different conversation. But you guys, obviously, you did a really good job at that, because you said this is what we need to incentivize. And therefore, you know, they did it. But but organizations have to think of incentivizing beyond sales. 

0:53:04

(Dana Esposito)

Right. I mean, it's always about incentivizing sales, but everybody else, the group that felt a little bit left out, you know, when you forgot to recognize them, like, well, they need incentives, too. And so, you know, that's where, again, it's all about coming from the top and how it's going to be pervasive through your culture. Yeah. Perfect. Awesome. 

0:53:25

(Dana Esposito)

Well, this has been great. Does anybody want to add anything to this? I know, Dana, this really kind of was, was a lovely little topic that you as a leader within the organization, without your design hat, but really as somebody who kind of looks for ways to improve the organization. I mean, this is, this is totally in that wheelhouse as well. Well, even like little things I try to do just as examples that maybe people watching might want to borrow these ideas. Like for instance, once a week we go over all the projects that are in with design and anytime one of them has sold, it's been signed off on it's in front of everybody. 

0:54:05

(Dana Esposito)

And we always say, Good job. Nice job. Thanks. Like, good job. Because if without that particular happening at that call, it would just happen behind the scenes. It's like, you know, the, the company churning going, right. 

0:54:17

(Chris Dunn)

But it's just a nice opportunity to say good job in front of all the people who touched it to that point. 

0:54:23

(Speaker 11)

I try to, if we're in a meeting and someone had an idea, whether they are or not, something I had learned was try to always make sure you repeat that. 

0:54:33

(Chris Dunn)

Like, oh, like Chris isn't in the meeting, but he had a really good idea the other day. Right? So if he's not there, he's represented. And someone might say later on, oh, well, you know, in that meeting, they mentioned you had a good idea. So he knows that his teammates, even when he's not present, have his back. are still talking about him in a positive way, you know, except for the days when Chris acts like a complete dork and we have to like, you know, I'm just kidding. 

0:54:58

(Chris Dunn)

But no, like he knows that like we're gonna have his back when, especially when he has a good idea and he's not there to say it, like we're not gonna steal his thunder. We're gonna repeat it and give him credit for it, you know. Catch your children doing something good, you know, and not just doing something bad, right? Nice. All right, guys, we're going to wrap this up. We're at 55 minutes. 

0:55:18

(Chris Dunn)

And this has been a fantastic conversation. Once again, this, this show will live on in infinity, here on on LinkedIn on YouTube. And then I'm a podcast guy, like I love listening to this stuff. I actually, I go back and I listened to some of our episodes. And I really learned a lot from them, not only from the conversation, because during the process, it's kind of like I'm trying to map out where am I going to insert myself and ask a question. 

0:55:44

(Chris Dunn)

But there's a lot of things that can be learned from even listening to something that you were part of on the front end. 

0:55:51

(Speaker 10)

So Rachel, you dropped a lot of great nuggets here. 

0:55:53

(Dana Esposito)

I'm sure we can learn some things. 

0:55:56

(Speaker 10)

And even going back and listening over and over again. 

0:55:59

(Rachel Weeks)

That usually comes out I think on Friday that hits all the platforms Friday or Saturday. So thank you so much for joining me, Rachel and Dana. Thanks, everybody who took the time to join us live today. And again, hopefully, this has been some some really great information. We focus normally on trade shows and events. And this is just a little bit of a broader type of a spectrum. 

0:56:22

(Rachel Weeks)

But it's so important to all of us right without a properly well oiled machine, culture and organizational you know, prowess to make your company work well, like we're all, you know, you can have the best event in the world, but if your company doesn't, isn't doing well, then none of that really matters. 

0:56:38

(Speaker 9)

So, yeah. 

0:56:39

(Speaker 8)

And Rachel, you have a lot of, you know, knowledge and experience and all this, and I just want the, the audience to know that you are actually seeking a new adventure. 

0:56:50

(Chris Dunn)

Yeah, thank you. 

0:56:51

(Speaker 5)

I appreciate the plug, Dana. 

0:56:53

(Chris Dunn)

Yeah, I am in a fractional CMO role now and looking to work with more clients and, you know, happy to work with people on reward and recognition programs. You know, that's part of growth and partnering with HR teams. 

0:57:08

(Speaker 7)

But, you know, at heart, I'm a growth marketer and a marketing strategist. 

0:57:11

(Chris Dunn)

And so the opportunity to come into a company that's looking for, you know, some marketing leadership to achieve their goals, you know, I'd love those opportunities. So I'm available on LinkedIn, and I look forward to connecting with people. Thanks, Dana. You're welcome. Very good. 

0:57:26

(Speaker 6)

And Juana, can you pull that up? 

0:57:27

(Speaker 5)

There it is right there. That's how you find her, Rachel Weeks. 

0:57:30

(Speaker 4)

Does that make sense? Awesome. Well, thank you so much for being on the Toolbox, Rachel. and thanks everybody for stopping by. Happy eventing. Have a great rest of your week and weekend, and I look forward to seeing you next time. 

0:57:44

Cheers, everybody. Thanks for having me. Take care. Bye -bye.