Look closely at the inside cover of Seth Godin’s new book Linchpin and you will find a picture of me and my colleague Nick Rossi. Imagine how excited we were to discover this when the book arrived! How did this happen? Well, unbeknownst to us, our colleague Mary Sullivan sent in our photos in response to the questions, “Who Matters to you? Who could you not live without?”

Take a moment now and think about the people who really matter to you – those people that you just can’t live without.

Call them. Write them a note. Send off an e-mail. Celebrate them! Do it often. It feels good to be on either side of this equation.

I will join Seth in the chorus by saying, celebrate the linchpins! We most certainly need more of them.

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“I arise in the morning torn between a desire to save the world and a desire to savor the world. This makes it hard to plan the day.”

- Elwyn Brooks “E. B.” White

E.B. White penned, among other books, Charlotte’s Web – one of my all time favorite children’s books. If I had the opportunity to sit down for coffee with E.B. White today, I might challenge him to think that there’s time and space in the day for both saving and savoring. Thankfully, that notion has begun to work its way into our manner of doing business. Call it conscious capitalism, corporate social responsibility, or what you will – it’s a movement toward thoughtful leadership with a strong sense of mission and purpose.

Eighteen years ago I founded Wilsonwest on the simple principle that a respect for the quality of life for my employees (and me) directly contributes to the high quality work we deliver for our customers. At the time, I remember being challenged as to why my clients and future clients would care if I valued and supported a high quality of life for my employees. I never wavered, and now I know first-hand the wisdom of this decision and am honored to have contributed to the enrichment of the lives of my employees. Collectively, we work to contribute to the growth and well being of our customers’ businesses and employees by building and nurturing the relationships that are core to their business success. It’s a good cycle and one that affords us the opportunity to both savor and save.

If the wise spider Charlotte were here, my guess is that she’d weave those words into her web.

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Seth Godin never ceases to amaze, impress, inspire, and otherwise get you off your seat. This time, it’s with the publication of an e-book entitled What Matters Now drawing upon the wisdom of the wise ones of our day – people we should all be paying attention to. Each short essay is centered around a word and an idea that matters now. You can download it here.

Seth encourages us to share the book and with his prompting, I have added a word of mine to the list…

Everything moves so quickly now. Is there time for the elegance of grace? Please tell me that it’s not forgotten. With grace, one moves easily, seemingly unhurried – yet traveling with the greatest of ease. This ease of motion has a calming effect upon others. Your movement appears effortless and refined.

Acting with grace bestows respect upon the tasks you are performing and the people you engage. It is pleasing to all and generous in spirit. Powerful yet humble by nature, a graceful act inspires others.

Is there time for grace? Yes, I argue. Grace in its seemingly effortless beauty is timeless and is what matters now.

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Be Remarkable…
Do Good Work That Matters…
And Imagine The Possibilities!

Willard, the Wilson Family Garden Gnome, under the juniper trees in Shasta County

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It’s easy to go back to school these days given the amazingly rich content available to all of us on the web. I schedule a class a couple of times a week and tune into TED Talks, webinars, and conferences from the comfort of my office. In my quest to become more savvy about social media and real-time web, this morning I tuned into LeWeb ’09, a tech conference (and much more) held annually in Paris and attended by thousands.

I loved Chris Pirillo’s talk and his notion that community requires tools that CANNOT be built – notably SPIRIT. Nope, can’t build a spirit tool – that comes from within. Build a community he argues? Nope, they build themselves from within. That resonated with me as I have been searching for a little more soul in my social media.

Do you agree with Chris’s notion?

Watch/listen to Chris and then tell me what you think in the Comments Section of this post. I look forward to our conversation.

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Each year at this time, as I count my blessings, I count among them the most wonderful invitation I receive each year: Thanksgiving brunch at Thomas Keller’s Manhattan restaurant Per Se – complete with the best indoor seats for viewing Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Does it get any better than that?

For 85 years, Macy’s Parade has kicked off the holiday season with glorious bands, balloons, and floats. 85 Years! I salute Macy’s for sticking with this parade through good and bad years (including both the Great Depression and the current recession).

Now, go out there and spread some of that good will and good cheer! Pretty soon more parades will start happening again in this country.

Happy Thanksgiving from all of us here at Wilsonwest who love parades, parties, and the like.

*Full disclosure: I borrowed this post’s clever title from Per Se’s invitation. Thank you Thomas Keller and the generous people of Per Se for the yearly invite.

admin The Wilsonwest Way culture, drink, food, holidays

Bespoke is a term employed in a variety of situations to mean an item custom-made to the buyer’s specifications.

In this age of recession, cutbacks, and the absence (or rejection) of luxury, I challenge you to think of the term bespoke in a different way – as something essential and authentic, rather than frivolous. What could be better than having something created for you and with you, in a manner that is thoughtful, artful and genuine? And how would you relate to that experience, product, or purchase? I believe the result would be one that carries a deeper meaning, a higher degree of care, and an appreciation that is both long-lasting and powerful.

This week I had the privilege and great pleasure to visit the perfumer Yosh Han and experience the ultimate in tailor made: the creation of a bespoke fragrance. The session began in her stylish salon with a casual conversation, setting the stage for what was to follow. I sampled many exotic and some familiar scents – identifying those that thrilled and captivated from the ones that neither suited my mood nor taste. She then employed her perfumer’s chemistry to help guide me in refining my blend. Yosh likens the end result to a portrait in a bottle, capturing one’s authentic persona and style. The beautiful bottle of my signature fragrance is now nestled between others on my perfume tray and is clearly the star of the show. No other fragrance could possible carry the meaning this experience provided for me and each time I use the perfume, I know I will cherish the drops as much I cherished the time with Yosh.

Bespoke is at the heart of what we do here at Wilsonwest. Each event experience is handcrafted with our customers in mind: their brand, mission, vision, and values are at the core of our blending. We, too, begin the process with a conversation in which we do a lot of listening that helps us uncover what will help guide us to work together with you. Our goal in this process is to create a meaningful event experience that delivers on strategy, artful design, and intelligence.

Bespoke events and meetings are the only way you should be thinking when investing those precious event dollars. Call us and let’s get started.

admin The Wilsonwest Way collaboration, events, relationships

The Fruits:

This Summer, the Wilsonwest team worked to launch a music program at Gateway High School: a distinguished San Francisco public charter school. Through community outreach, we outfitted the music room with drums, keyboards, a guitar, a sound system, music stands, and more. During a time when school funding is being slashed, it was exciting to add a great jazz program to the electives at Gateway. We were thrilled to receive word this week with an update on the new program:

“I am happy to report that I got to hear the Gateway jazz band on Friday morning along with my colleagues, all faculty, and staff. They were awesome! What a wonderful class – thanks to you and your hard work to lift this off the ground. Now they are being courted to play everywhere and at everything.”

- Tina McGovern, Director of Development at Gateway High School

Special thanks to Daniel Swan of Swan Entertainment, Dawn Richardson (Drummer extraordinaire), and Nick Rossi for your donations of equipment and instruments for the program.

We hope you will consider making a donation to this amazing school via their website.

The Flowers:

And, thanks to our client Cisco, we spread a little cheer in Southern California as well:

“Thanks so much for the October 22, 2009 flower donation following your Four Seasons San Diego event! As a result of your donation, we were able to deliver 18 arrangements and 12 succulent wreaths to the VA San Diego Medical Center. We were also able to use the loose flowers to create 3 centerpieces and to supplement another donation which was delivered to the UCSD Medical Center. The staff at both facilities were thrilled to accept such a lovely donation and told us the flowers are a wonderful treat for the patients!”

I love this organization! Got flowers? Call Blooms from the Heart to share flowers from your event.

And last, but definitely not least…

The Vegetables:

Our team spent an afternoon at the San Francisco Food Bank this week sorting through 15,800 lbs. of cucumbers. Our hosts at the Food Bank advised us that every pound of food connects to a meal for four people. Meaning, our efforts effectively touched the lives of over 50,000 San Franciscans. Donating your time at the Food Bank offers both immediate gratification and a great opportunity for casual conversation with your colleagues. It’s a great (and free) team-building event with immediate results!

admin The Wilsonwest Way Add new tag, culture, food, green

We have been making great strides on the Green Events Front over the past year and are excited to be founding members of the Northern California Chapter of the Green Meetings Industry Council.

Oracle is clearly a thought leader in this arena as is evidenced through their work over the past several years in greening Oracle Open World, a massive event which takes over the streets of San Francisco every October, drawing tens of thousands of attendees. I toured the event yesterday courtesy of the Oracle Team and witnessed first hand the great work they are doing: 30% less signage, the use recycled materials, serving local food and beverage, eliminating bottled water, compostable materials and MUCH more. Most importantly, they have approached this effort with rigor and strategy: sharing their goals and initiatives with their partners, stakeholders, exhibitors, suppliers, and attendees from the start. While random acts of greenness may be an added bonus, it’s clearly not the heart of their work and ultimately it’s their strategy that will deliver the results they hope to achieve – to create an event with the lowest possible environmental impact and to divert 100 tons of waste from landfill. WOW! 100 tons of of waste! Congratulations to the Oracle team.

Wilsonwest and Green Consultants have partnered to create an educational session for event producers on how to develop a road map and strategy to green their events and organizations. This process requires an investment of time up front and will ultimately strengthen your efforts and connect your green and sustainable activities to your company’s mission, vision, and values. If you would like to learn more about how to build and strengthen your green activities, please contact us.

For details on Oracle OpenWorld 2009 green activities and programs, results from 2008, and more, visit the link.

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Last week, we were dining at Flour and Water here in San Francisco (it only took me a month to get a reservation) and in walked Ruth Reichl, Editor of Gourmet magazine, author, and food critic. I recognized her immediately and was excited to have such a foodie in our ‘hood. Seeing her reminded me of a great Summer memory of at least ten years ago. I was visiting family in Ohio and reading her book Tender at the Bone, a memoir of her life (with a food providing a backdrop, of course). I had plenty of leisure time that week and when I came upon Ruth’s story about her childhood memory of eating her first soufflé – accompanied by a recipe – I was inspired to try one of my own. That entire week was spent perfecting my soufflé, much to the delight of the family and neighborhood children who enjoyed both the rejects and the winners.

Whenever I see a famous person (no, it’s not every week) I usually keep my distance and avert my gaze, as that is just what seems to be the right thing to do. But this particular evening at Flour and Water, I decided to stop by Ruth Reichl’s table and thank her for contributing to such a great memory for me. She looked me in they eye, thanked me for sharing my words, and smiled at me in the best kind of way.

So yesterday, when I read of the sudden closing of Gourmet, I was especially saddened. I know that the writers, editors, and staff of Gourmet were the inspiration for many, many amazing culinary journeys, celebrations, and memories over the years.

Thank you Gourmet for inspiring us to keep tasting, to delight in diversity and perfection, and to relish in the discovery of something new. You will be missed.

admin The Wilsonwest Way drink, food, San Francisco