Fiji's To Do List--Nothing!

If there was ever an incentive trip where people talked about loving the opportunity to relax, Fiji was that trip! This past week has been a wonderful opportunity to enjoy beautiful weather, tropical scenery, visiting with some of the greatest people on earth, and a to-do list with nothing on it!

I won’t go into great detail—many demonstrators blogged about the Fiji incentive trip all week long, so there are plenty of stories out there. But I wanted to recap the highlights for Sterling and I, and just to remember a nice week in my life.

For us, the highlight was definitely the service project. We planned an optional half-day service project for any demonstrators who wanted to participate, and approximately 200 demonstrators and guests joined us at a Fiji hospital and orphanage, providing valuable work. We went to the hospital and sanded, painted, did yard work, and other general clean-up chores. A smaller group went to the orphanage and folded laundry, read to kids,  and papercrafting (a huge hit!). Loved the opportunity to turn our yearlong “Making a Difference for 25 Years” theme into action!

Another highlight was our final event—an evening to remember that began with a group of Fiji warriors escorting us to dinner and entertainment, which included a children’s chorus and fire dancers.

Our opening event was also great. . . we got to welcome everyone to Fiji (Bula!), plus hand out copies of the new catalog as well as free products!

Other than that, Sterling and I stuck pretty close to the food and pool . . . my favorite place for more reasons than the obvious! (smile) We know that on an incentive trip, we can always find demonstrators simply relaxing around the pool.

Of course, we don’t have many photos of the pool lounging. Even though that’s where we spent most of our time, we’re smart enough to know that most people don’t want to have photos of themselves wearing bathing suits plastered on blogs . . . so we just enjoyed the relaxing and visiting.

The beauty of an incentive trip is that you don’t have to go anywhere or do anything. Many of our demonstrators traveled halfway around the world and didn’t feel the need to travel any farther, simply loving every minute of doing nothing! Others traveled halfway around the world and wanted to see everything there was to see, so there were plenty of demonstrators coming and going on excursions as well. And many demonstrators and their guests did a little bit of both.

Thanks to all our demonstrators who achieved this fabulous trip—I enjoyed spending the week with you  and your guests!

The Home Office Regional Project

I'm in Fiji this week with our North American incentive trip winners, but I wanted to share this project with you.

When I posted last week about our home office regional, I couldn’t share my project because it was created from new products from the new catalog, which wasn’t yet available. Now that the catalog is available online for our demonstrators, I can show projects featuring new products.

So here is the project I demonstrated. . . .

Enjoy!

A Banner Project

I love banners of all kinds. . .they’re a fun, quick way to add a little customized home décor to any room. You can use them for parties, seasonal decorations, special occasions. . .whatever. I thought I’d share one of my recent banner projects with you. I wanted this banner to have neutral colors, so it would coordinate with any colors. And, of course, it had to have layers and dimensions.

Hope you enjoy. . .

I’m heading to Fiji for our North America incentive trip, so I won’t be posting much over the next week and a half, but I’ll definitely tell you all about it when I come back!

Bula!

 

A Home Office Regional (with catalog release date correction!)

NOTE:  I am so sorry! I put the wrong date on this post earlier today and have created some confusion. The catalog will be online on April 24. . . this Wednesday. I'm so sorry! I've changed it now. . . please spread the word that I made a mistake!

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We wrapped up a regional unlike any other regional this weekend—our first-ever home office regional. What a fun and different environment!

The Main Stage was set up in the Distribution Center, with pallet racking in the background and conveyor belts overhead. Make & Takes and tables were set up in the atrium, and displays were in our two Training Rooms. The store (yes, I said store—more on that later) was also in the Distribution Center.

The excitement at the regional was awesome! When Sara and I arrived at the home office at about 7:30 a.m., demonstrators were already lined up waiting to get inside, and the regional didn’t start until 9! And that enthusiasm only increased once everyone got inside and the morning session started!

Besides being in the home office, a couple of other things that set this regional apart was the chance to be the first to see—and BUY—new product. (Hence, the store.) The new catalog is unveiled to our demonstrators online on WEDNESDAY, so we felt like this weekend was the perfect opportunity to have a regional that focused almost exclusively on new products.

We had a full house—I think about 375 demonstrators. . . as many as our fire code would allow! Demonstrators came from all over North America (I think I heard we had demonstrators from more than 20 states and provinces)  to enjoy presentations that featured new product and inspiring project ideas, as well as receive a new catalog, and at the end of the day, actually buy some of the new products. No wonder the energy was so high, right?

Usually I show the regional project that I demonstrated, but because the projects featured new product and we aren’t allowed to show any new products OR projects featuring new products until after the catalog is released, I’ll have to wait to share my project until later. All the demonstrators at the regional were sworn to secrecy as well, promising they’d follow the same guidelines, so you shouldn’t be seeing any project or products or the catalog itself. Thankfully, you won’t have to wait very long!

Several demonstrators asked if this home office regional was going to become an annual event. I don’t know the answer to that yet, but I know if it was, I’d definitely be there! It was fabulous, and I loved every minute of it!

Our Annual Breakfast---Kanab Style

This morning Sterling and I woke up early and were on the road before 5 a.m., heading down to Kanab for part 2 of our annual employee appreciation breakfast; several other corporate team members also went down as well.

Our Kanab group is smaller than the home office, so we could still cook for everyone and eat all together. By the time we arrived, the other CT members had already begun cooking and had the serving under control as well, so I got my favorite assignment—mingling and hugging.

The food was delicious. . . we had pretty much the same thing as yesterday: French toast, ham, eggs, and fruit. Everyone seemed to enjoy the chance to relax and visit and be appreciated!

One thing they didn’t enjoy, however, is me taking pictures! I love our Kanab employees; they are humble, down-to-earth people. . . and getting them to pose for a picture is like pulling teeth! They’re usually good sports and let me snap a few even though it makes them uncomfortable, but since today was about thanking and appreciating them, I decided to show my appreciation by not making them smile for the camera. I snapped a couple of our Heart of Stampin’ Up! recipients and one of our corporate team cooking, and then I called it good.

Because our Kanab office is smaller, our breakfast is a little more casual. . .we joke around and are more playful. I don’t use a mic when I’m talking to the group. We also typically only have one Heart of Stampin’ Up! receipient, but this year had more nominees in Kanab than we’ve had before (woo hoo!), and we honored two employees with the recognition: Arlene Lundberg and Brent Alvey.

Congratulations to these outstanding employees. And just like our home office, there are so many employees who could receive this award. . . so many hardworking people who devote themselves to Stampin’ Up! and our demonstrators.

Sterling and I headed back home afterwards (it was a quick trip down and back in one day—beautiful weather both ways!), and I felt deeply grateful again for the incredible people I work with!