Carmen Rodriguez from our South Florida offices highlights below the best ways to stay ahead of the game in the events and destination management industry!
As event professionals at CSI we pride ourselves in delivering An Exceptional Experience, Every Time with all those we work. It’s imperative to us that the work we do exceeds expectations and makes a mark in the industry. It’s in CSI’s DNA to be one-of-a-kind, innovative and extraordinary, which is what we always strive for. We want to ensure that the experiences we produce leave lasting impressions and create wonderful memories that keep our clients, vendors, and partners coming back for more. So how can a team of event professionals ensure that we are consistently providing an exceptional experience while always staying ahead of the game to ensure that we obtain repeat business?
Being in the marketing and events field for the past seven years, I’ve found that the following three strategies are the best ways to thrive in our field. 1) Think Outside the Box, 2) Cultivate Win-Win Partnerships and 3) Always Stay Inspired! Join me as I describe why I believe these three strategies help CSI stay innovative.
THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX
Often, no matter the industry you work in, we can find ourselves getting used to doing things a certain way for a long time and rarely changing our methods. I mean, if it’s not broke why fix it – right? In some cases, this can be true. Not everything has to be looked at to fix, change or improve. However, in the events industry what will keep us ahead of the game is to think outside the box. If we stay confined to a box with four walls constantly doing the same thing for every event, then we don’t grow, and we become stagnant and boring. To “think outside the box” means to look at things differently with a different angle and perspective. Finding new ways to do things that have never been done before! It comes with trial and error, taking risks as well as doing research on what the competition and other industries are doing. It helps to look outside of your four walls to generate ideas and push the boundaries!
CULTIVATE WIN-WIN PARTNERSHIPS
This strategy is one of my favorites. Cultivating win-win partnerships can do more for you in the long run than you might think, and sometimes gets taken for granted. I believe that there are so many creative ways to work with partners to reach a common goal and create these win-win scenarios that work for everyone involved. All it takes is willingness to put in the effort to grow these relationships, taking the time to find the right partners, and sitting with them to find the ways that the partnership can be maximized on both ends. Since this takes so much effort and time, it is easily overlooked and becomes a missed opportunity. Having a mindset ready to develop these relationships helps to enhance the experiences we provide and produce flawless outcomes with lasting impressions.
ALWAYS STAY INSPIRED!
Lastly, it’s extremely important to always stay inspired! If we stay inspired, we are motivated and enthusiastic to work. If we are happy doing what we do, then it shines through our work. In order to always stay inspired, we must keep an open mind, find inspiration at home, in the streets and basically anywhere and everywhere we can. We can’t get bogged down in our work. We must keep a positive mind, be creative, keep our eyes open, and simply enjoy life so that finding inspiration is something we love to do versus something we ‘must’ do.
The overall idea is to never settle or get too comfortable in your work. When we create and produce successful work it’s easy to stick to what we know works, but there comes a time where we need to grow and evolve. It’s imperative to keep up with trends and push the envelope where we can. As a company whose innovation is at our core, it’s our responsibility to always find ways to grow and stick to our promise of delivering An Exceptional Experience, Every Time!