Remarkable Experience. Worthy of an Encore.

What makes something remarkable? Memorable? Have impact? Worthwhile?

What inspires 200 people to travel from all over the US and 3 separate continents for 2 days to listen to a number of speakers?

I returned Saturday evening from a remarkable 2 day conference, which was sponsored by Bob Burg, author of The Go Giver and a number of other books.

Each one of us who attended took a risk, not knowing whether the time we would be spending away from our families and offices would be worthwhile. As I have learned from attending two different events, this year and last, great value can be obtained by attending these types of events. I trusted the person organizing it, Bob Burg, and was confident that he would gather an outstanding group of presenters. He delivered and exceeded my expectations.

This was not an investment or financially related conference (which we attend a lot of). Will my firm and our client's benefit? Absolutely! We recognize the value in continually learning, being exposed to new and different ideas from many different sources. This helps us to continually review our practices and procedures, to renew our energy and strive to improve.

I heard (and interacted with) very diverse and knowledgeable speakers. They addressed topics ranging from leadership, service to our clients, marketing, social media and “personal development” (for lack of a better word).

There were numerous takeaways for me and my firm. Some of the themes which were emphasized were the importance of deepening and maintaining relationships (even in a social media world), how to create even more value for our clients, being resilient through the ups and downs of life and a business, and the benefits of working with others in mastermind groups (like peer learning groups, which we have done for years). Another reminder was to have fun and add more humor to our lives. As with all events like these, the keys are to follow through and our ability to be disciplined and implement ideas from the conference.

One of the speakers, Mark Sanborn, wrote a book titled Encore Effect, which discusses how to create something remarkable, and to be able to have the discipline to deliver it at a consistently remarkable level. He is encouraging us to create a performance, or a business, that is worthy of an encore, a standing ovation.

By attending events like this, by making the time and effort, we are continually striving to improve ourselves and create a firm that others will feel is worthy of the term, an "Encore Effect."