Honk for Love
On my way home from work last Monday, I passed by these two little boys playing on their front yard. The one that was about 6-yrs old held up a sign that said, "HONK FOR LOVE ". I did. That made my day =)
Let me share my experience of going to a big corporate meeting today. This happened in mid-June, and was a national conference that pulls all K's employees from North America. It's been held in Texas, San Fran, San Diego, etc in the past. Apparently some of the perk experiences included spa treatment or golf play, which unfortunately there was none of this time. That would have been nice.
This year the conference was held in Chicago (kind of the reason I was able to go, since I'm a contract employee). I took the express train to Chicago for the first time on a weekday morning. The express is great because it takes 35-40min (vs. the 1-1.5 hrs metra ride that makes stops), so it's faster than driving through traffic. Then, I navigated myself around the union station and came out of Jackson Ave., smack into a taxi that was stopped with a group of cars at a red light.
"Hey, are you working? " "Come in , come in! " The stars were aligned, and I had an easy trip to the Intercontinental Hotel, where upon my arrival the bellman opened my door and said, "Welcome to the Intercontinental. Please exit this way when you're ready." I had a good amount of time to get my name tag/lanyard and look around the Vendor Fair. At the vendor fair, I participated in the health screening where I learned my BP is above normal levels. I'm thankful for my experience at Hallmark Services, because it exposed me to a lot of medical knowledge that I would never have learned on my own otherwise.
At check-in, I was given a free bluetooth to be used with the company's blackberry (which I only get if I'm full-time), and a book called Micromessaging. Stephen Young, the author of that book, started off our meeting with his little "workshop". I think this was one of the best and most interesting parts of the meetings, because Microinequities are so very much around us. This refers to the little messages that are sent aside from the words that are said. It is about what message is sent and how the receiver hears it. It goes beyond body language, and is very hard to put your finger on. The one that I can pinpoint the most in my life is when I'm spending time with a friend one-on-one and he/she checks his/her phone every 5 minutes. HELLO??? It is very frustrating if it happens while I'm speaking and it makes me lose my train of thought. It's funny because I was hanging out with a friend in a crowded place once, and I could not get her eye contact while I was talking. She was just so distracted with the surroundings, that I started mumbling random things to see if she was listening. She was not. lol
Meetings during the conference ran from about 10am-4pm on Wednesday and Thursday. They were mass presentations about the company as a whole, or presentations grouped by region. It was informative, and very exhausting because it is like sitting in lecture. And a lot of information overlapped after a while, so it was at times redundant. But, I had breakfast, lunch, and steak dinners (Capitol Grill dining and Filet at the Sheraton) served to me so that made it nice. Also got a free rolly luggage from doing the health screening which was the best thing I took home on Friday. Friday was a community service event in the morning, where we learned about the Chicago Jesuit Academy and it's impact on helping young men further their education. 98% of the student population in Chicago public schools (or middle schools?) is African American/Latino, and many don't get to pursue higher education. The clip about the school was really cool and did a good job of showing the importance of CJA. We were separated into groups of 10 or less, and each group had a letter written to them from a student at CJA. Our task was to write a response that would answer questions, motivate, and inspire. I took charge of my group in reading, taking notes, and writing (with my group's help of course).
We were dismissed at 9:45am, and I had an errand to get done: renew my passport at the Brazilian consulate 2 blocks down. The I/C hotel is very nice in how they serve you-- It's dialing 0 on your hotel phone and having the receptionist greet you by your last name, it's the bellman who approaches you and asks you if he can do what you were about to ask him to do, it's the kiosk in the lobby that lets you check in for your flight. As much as I wanted to relax in my room and just bounce on the bed and watch a movie until check out time, I didn't want to risk being unable to do my errand. Renewing my passport: fee, 80 dollars, money order, 2 dollars, return envelope from usps express so things can be secure, fast, and you won't have to wait in line again, 12 dollars, passport photo, 17 dollars (it would have been 7 dollars but I made a mistake), getting your passport in the mail the next Monday? Priceless. I was done with this about 10:30am. I know, I could have not checked out so early. It was also thunderstorming, so I couldn't walk around town and see the Pavillions in millenium park and the new Modern Wing at the Art Institute like I wanted to =(. My plan was to take the express train at 5pm, but there was no way I wanted to wait around in the city. So I was in the 1.5 hr 12:30pm train back, and walked to my apartment in the humidity with my things. I got home and crashed for 3 hours, when Brian woke me up to take me to renew our lease. K had us booked from 7am to 11pm/12am every day. I got to go to the Navy Pier for the first time (fantastic calm spot) and there was always booze available, but 4-5hrs of sleep at night?
I was exhausted.
Let me share my experience of going to a big corporate meeting today. This happened in mid-June, and was a national conference that pulls all K's employees from North America. It's been held in Texas, San Fran, San Diego, etc in the past. Apparently some of the perk experiences included spa treatment or golf play, which unfortunately there was none of this time. That would have been nice.
This year the conference was held in Chicago (kind of the reason I was able to go, since I'm a contract employee). I took the express train to Chicago for the first time on a weekday morning. The express is great because it takes 35-40min (vs. the 1-1.5 hrs metra ride that makes stops), so it's faster than driving through traffic. Then, I navigated myself around the union station and came out of Jackson Ave., smack into a taxi that was stopped with a group of cars at a red light.
"Hey, are you working? " "Come in , come in! " The stars were aligned, and I had an easy trip to the Intercontinental Hotel, where upon my arrival the bellman opened my door and said, "Welcome to the Intercontinental. Please exit this way when you're ready." I had a good amount of time to get my name tag/lanyard and look around the Vendor Fair. At the vendor fair, I participated in the health screening where I learned my BP is above normal levels. I'm thankful for my experience at Hallmark Services, because it exposed me to a lot of medical knowledge that I would never have learned on my own otherwise.
At check-in, I was given a free bluetooth to be used with the company's blackberry (which I only get if I'm full-time), and a book called Micromessaging. Stephen Young, the author of that book, started off our meeting with his little "workshop". I think this was one of the best and most interesting parts of the meetings, because Microinequities are so very much around us. This refers to the little messages that are sent aside from the words that are said. It is about what message is sent and how the receiver hears it. It goes beyond body language, and is very hard to put your finger on. The one that I can pinpoint the most in my life is when I'm spending time with a friend one-on-one and he/she checks his/her phone every 5 minutes. HELLO??? It is very frustrating if it happens while I'm speaking and it makes me lose my train of thought. It's funny because I was hanging out with a friend in a crowded place once, and I could not get her eye contact while I was talking. She was just so distracted with the surroundings, that I started mumbling random things to see if she was listening. She was not. lol
Meetings during the conference ran from about 10am-4pm on Wednesday and Thursday. They were mass presentations about the company as a whole, or presentations grouped by region. It was informative, and very exhausting because it is like sitting in lecture. And a lot of information overlapped after a while, so it was at times redundant. But, I had breakfast, lunch, and steak dinners (Capitol Grill dining and Filet at the Sheraton) served to me so that made it nice. Also got a free rolly luggage from doing the health screening which was the best thing I took home on Friday. Friday was a community service event in the morning, where we learned about the Chicago Jesuit Academy and it's impact on helping young men further their education. 98% of the student population in Chicago public schools (or middle schools?) is African American/Latino, and many don't get to pursue higher education. The clip about the school was really cool and did a good job of showing the importance of CJA. We were separated into groups of 10 or less, and each group had a letter written to them from a student at CJA. Our task was to write a response that would answer questions, motivate, and inspire. I took charge of my group in reading, taking notes, and writing (with my group's help of course).
We were dismissed at 9:45am, and I had an errand to get done: renew my passport at the Brazilian consulate 2 blocks down. The I/C hotel is very nice in how they serve you-- It's dialing 0 on your hotel phone and having the receptionist greet you by your last name, it's the bellman who approaches you and asks you if he can do what you were about to ask him to do, it's the kiosk in the lobby that lets you check in for your flight. As much as I wanted to relax in my room and just bounce on the bed and watch a movie until check out time, I didn't want to risk being unable to do my errand. Renewing my passport: fee, 80 dollars, money order, 2 dollars, return envelope from usps express so things can be secure, fast, and you won't have to wait in line again, 12 dollars, passport photo, 17 dollars (it would have been 7 dollars but I made a mistake), getting your passport in the mail the next Monday? Priceless. I was done with this about 10:30am. I know, I could have not checked out so early. It was also thunderstorming, so I couldn't walk around town and see the Pavillions in millenium park and the new Modern Wing at the Art Institute like I wanted to =(. My plan was to take the express train at 5pm, but there was no way I wanted to wait around in the city. So I was in the 1.5 hr 12:30pm train back, and walked to my apartment in the humidity with my things. I got home and crashed for 3 hours, when Brian woke me up to take me to renew our lease. K had us booked from 7am to 11pm/12am every day. I got to go to the Navy Pier for the first time (fantastic calm spot) and there was always booze available, but 4-5hrs of sleep at night?
I was exhausted.