In the fall before the initial Big D BBQ Battle (even before it had its name), I was introduced by a friend in the non-profit segment to the development director of the North Texas Food Bank. Little did I realize at the time how important that introduction would become in the formulation of the mission […]
Inventing an Event: Heartstrings Read More »
When you choose a late April date for an outdoor event in Texas, consider that it might be a warm day. So, for the inaugural Big D BBQ Battle we knew we were going to need to provide water to our guests. And it needs to be iced. Our first avenue was to ask for
Inventing an Event: Water and Ice Read More »
It seems simple enough: the leader should be the voice. The one at the front should have the pipes to voice the organization’s image. Well, for us, it just happened to work out that way. The North Dallas Chamber’s partnership with Radio KAAM 770 for the Big D BBQ Battle meant we had to voice
Inventing an Event: Finding Your Voice Read More »
One critical element of a successful event is beer. All along we’ve been billing this event as “beer, beef and a band.” Let’s explore each of these elements as they relate to The Big D BBQ Battle.” OK, enough of the professorial posturing, this is about finding a good brew, a great brand that matches
Inventing an Event: Beer Read More »
When I signed on to the North Dallas Chamber a year ago, one of my assignments from my new boss was a “BHAG.” BHAG, you say? Well what he really meant was a “Big Hairy Audacious Goal.” I think the term has it’s origin’s in Jim Collins’ book, “Good to Great.” So, over the next
Inventing an Event: The Big D BBQ Saga Read More »
We’ve all had to do it: the person we are looking for on the other end of the phone is note there and we end up “talking” with voicemail. That’s where you can either shine or fail. Please try for “shine.” Recently I had to recruit a group of people for a large event assignment.
Leaving a Credible Voicemail Read More »
Ok, that sounds like something you’d read on a dating site. Well, this is anything but a dating site. But if you did….oh, let’s get to the topic at hand. Recently I was charged with producing a large barbeque event. My life is BBQ 24/7 and, consequently, that initialism is in the front (and side
How to Meat People Read More »
Sometimes we get so wrapped up in performing a task or completing a project we forget a basic rule of thumb: who the customer is. One time in my career I worked inside a large corporation in a communications department. My boss was a quite demanding and exacting person. In a side discussion with a
Remembering the Customer Read More »
Every once and a while we find ourselves listing, to use a nautical term, to one side or the other of our networking life. We’ve taken a turn to another type of business, we spend the bulk of our time with one group or our business has just flat fallen off. So, what do we
“Never burn a bridge.” “Be careful the bridge you burn you may be standing on.” “Bridges are for crossing not burning.” We’ve all heard these networking proverbs. And either lived by them or been the victim of them. But tell the truth, is there ever a time when it’s okay to burn a bridge? Let’s
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