The first thing we saw upon accessing our beach house was the stunning view. How could we not be inspired?
Last week, the entire NMX team converged upon San Diego county to have our first ever, in person, team-wide meeting. This was no easy feat. As several of us don’t live in the San Diego area, our meetings are generally conducted via Skype, telephone or over dinner when we get together at conferences, but even then we don’t usually have the whole team together at the same time. For NMX co-founders Rick Calvert and Dave Cynkin, the meeting was something to be proud of as it’s proof of the growth our organization and our conferences are achieving.
The NMX and TBEX team converges on the deck to give our post show analysis.
In the past year there have been many new hires to the NMX team. We acquired TBEX, the travel blogger conference and added to our sales and marketing team. We even brought in a new Conference Director for the Social Media Business summit. New Media Expo is no longer a six man operation.
Our meeting took place in Encinitas, California, in a house overlooking the beach. Our week was spent renewing bonds with existing team members and getting to know some of the new members of the team. We laid out our job duties, defined the purposes of our content and conferences, analyzed our June conferences and planned our Las Vegas conference. There are also rumors that I will neither confirm nor deny of a late night hot tub party.
Now back at our desks, the NMX team is focused, pumped and in take no prisoners mode. New Media Expo is going to rock because we’re committed, and we can’t wait for January to come.
What follows are some of the highlights of our team retreat and time spend at the NMX Beach House.
Before we began our meeting, we each had to tell a little about ourselves, including what we like to do during our down times. Bet you didn’t know that our staff accountant spends a lot of time on dirt bikes or that our Director of Marketing races sailboats or even that our CMO is a national champion in taekwondo, did you?
CEO & Co-Founder, Rick Calvert, explains to us the differences and unique aspects of each of our conferences.
Our co-founders, Rick Calvert and Dave Cynkin, took time to discuss the differences in the content and community for our different conferences. New Media Expo (NMX), our flagship event, is a conference for content creators. Social Media Business Summit (SMBS) is a conference within a conference geared towards helping businesses use and measure social media, and TBEX, our newest acquisition, is a conference for travel bloggers.
Technology Director Chris Castro helps to coordinate giant white boards listing all staff duties and tasks.
We also put together giant white boards listing everyone’s duties so we’re clear on everyone’s gigs in order to best work together without stepping on toes. With all the new hires, and very few of us working in the same office, this was a good thing to go over.
CMO & Co-Founder Dave Cynkin recorded it all.
Now, you may be wondering, where’s Dave? Dave did plenty of talking but when he wasn’t presenting or listening, he was recording the entire meeting. Not sure what we’ll do with it all – I think there’s good bribery material there.
Soon after arriving, the team relaxes and gets to know each other. From Left to Right: Patti Hosking, Shane Ketterman, Carrie Herbert, Jill Angus, and, on his first day on the job, SMBS Conference Director Mark Fidelman.
For the brand new members of our team, there couldn’t have been a better way to learn who we are and what we’re all about than in such a relaxed atmosphere.
James Craven, Allison Boyer, Deb Ng and Rick Calvert get some beach time in.
Our house was high on a bluff with no beach access, but that didn’t stop some of us from making at least one trip to the beach to enjoy the sunset. TBEX Sales Director James Craven, Community Outreach Coordinator Alli Boyer, Director of Community Deb Ng, and CEO Rick Calvert weren’t about to let the opportunity pass.
Rick Calvert and Chris Castro cap off a perfect week.
Those of us who were left on Thursday night, our last night, were treated to music from Chris Castro and Rick Calvert, the perfect way to end a perfect week.
