Putting it all on The Table
Author: Kathy DelMedico
I spent the earlier part of my events career heavily involved. I joined any committee that would have me, attended every industry meeting and conference that was available, and worked my way up the ILEA ladder from local chapter member to International Board of Governors. It was my passion and I loved it! I met incredible kindred spirits who wanted nothing but an opportunity to make the industry better. The competition stopped at the door and we all had a common goal to advance the awareness of this growing market as well as make each other better.
After opening my business, having a child and moving to New Hampshire, my focus started to shift and I started to lose and miss the everyday connection with my peers. Unfortunately, I did not make the time to attend local meetings or industry events. However, every time I picked up the phone or reached out to one of the contacts I had made in the business, they answered the phone, talked me through whatever challenge was arising or supported any project we were producing. The connection was not lost. In fact, it reminded me that there are colleagues out there still willing to support and assist.
So after many years, the time was right when a long-time trusted industry friend called and asked if Chris and I wanted to join twelve of our event peers in a collaborative, vulnerable, in-depth multi-day work session focused on company strategic growth. We were invited to The Table produced by XPL and we were in – no questions asked. Only caveat, if both of us attended, we couldn’t interact with each other! Hmmm…we were still in, and excited, about taking this journey together as the last twelve years with Ember have been focused on getting the job done, not always where we are going. We were ready to dedicate time, step away from the day-to-day and focus on the future of our business.
The next few months were filled with thought provoking questions, homework, teasers as to what we were about to experience, where we were going and who the other attendees would be.
We prepped our team for our departure and the fact that we were taking ourselves out of commission for the better part of a week (party at Ember!), packed our bags and headed west.
Although our journey had started several months before arrival, the guests of The Table gathered in a central location to have our identities revealed before we drove to our destination. It was thrilling to see familiar faces from my past that I hadn’t seen in years. It was even more thrilling to pick up our relationships where we had last left them. In addition, the new faces were as welcoming as the old and the combined energy around the room was a sign of things to come.
During our time at The Table, we were educated, pushed to dig deeper, entertained, and challenged. Chris and I kept our promise to work on our own, not as a unit, and we were thrilled to hear our synergy was not only apparent to the other guests, but we were aligned on all that we worked on when we re-grouped at the end of our time away.
Now of course I can’t give away all the secrets during our time together, but I can tell you this, it was a phenomenal experience to be surrounded once again by peers who are open, hold nothing back, share concerns, ideas, and support. Not only did it re-affirm my love for the industry, it reminded me that all you have to do is reach out and there will always be someone there to assist and always make the industry better.