Birdland

With business slower and bottom lines smaller than they have been in recent memory, many  Los Angeles businesses are shifting attention on ways to improve employee morale while keeping costs in line. Hence, the old days of all-night open bars are long gone, and a new era of company frugality has been ushered in. So what is an event planner, office manager, of an LA company head supposed to do to reward employees and keep the work environment fun?

Corporate team events have long been considered a standby for good, clean fun. But the teambuilding aspect of them seems to be a punch-line of many water cooler jokes. Combining competition with team spirit, a kart race outing may be just what the accountant ordered. Kart racing is action-packed, and entails good-natured, competitive fun, and individual racers can form teams to aim for the best times. Precisely because a kart track isn’t what comes to mind when most people think of corporate event venues to host parties or outings, kart racing is wildly popular among corporate participants. The competitive nature of racing offers an outlet to express a lot of the petty competition that emerges in the office – a truly valuable vent for all of the people who feel like they would like a clean, acceptable shot at “settling the score.” And the fun that is had in the process provides an outlet that keeps competition in the office from becoming counterproductive.

For many adults, the prospect of squeezing into a kart is somewhat daunting. But the only of the indoor Go-kart corporate event venues in Southern California has cars that are truly built for adults, which takes the pain out of racing. Others still are concerned about speed and safety: go-karting is about as safe as bumper car riding – in fact, it’s arguably safer, given the fewer instances of crashes (reduced risk of whiplash) and the safety of the equipment – the cars, seatbelt, and helmets – themselves. There are others still who believe that because all corporate team events are cheesy or boring that kart racing will be boring, too: the biggest fallacy of all.

Kart racing is fast, fun, and – in a word – a little bit silly. The shear scale and format of the vehicles seem to undermine a little bit of the seriousness of the competition and really make kart racing good fun for everyone.

It’s something about the Midwest. Maybe it’s corn-feeding, the beer, or the cheese – kids out here are just bigger. That means they also to be much better at football. State universities like University of Michigan, University of Ohio, Kansas State, and University of Iowa combined send hundreds of kids to the NFL each year. Many of these players come from the same states they play for, raising an interesting possibility – is there something about certain areas that makes their students better athletes and superior football players?

Consider this. Starting in high school, Michigan football players have already made it through a number of cuts. The first cuts aim at weeding out any inferior athletes or players. A subsequent round of cuts is implemented at bigger schools that separate the students with enough talent and athleticism to play in college from other students, whose careers will probably end after high school. Among the former group, further divisions are made between Division 1, Division 2, and Division 3 material in order to create “strings” of players – starters, relief bench players, and backup bench players. By the time a recruiter for a big NCAA school comes to watch a game, literally a dozen players have been eliminated for each player that does actually play the starting position on offense, defense, or special teams.

What is it that makes some players better than others? Can it really just be a matter of Midwestern genetics, diet, and the obsession with football? Many of the coaches I’ve talked to who coach high school Michigan football players agree that beyond determination to become a better player and a better athlete, beyond natural ability and natural athleticism – studiousness can make a borderline college player into Division 1 material. Since football requires players to read other teams’ tactics and to respond to those in literally milliseconds, varsity players who take the time to study the game and their opponents will have a tremendous advantage, especially since – as they learn from watching instead of from a coach – they will internalize what they learn and be able to implement it with great efficacy.

All an aspiring college athlete needs to do is take the advice of the great Midwestern coaches. A real love for football will make it easy to watch games played by great teams and the thousands of high school football video clips that are available online. Just by viewing, a player can intuit the common mistakes made by players and learn to avoid them, while also noting even just a few of techniques and strategies used by winning players to blow out opponent after opponent.

Getting the word out takes what it takes to get the job done. Event staging at bars, clubs and other venues is a much-dreaded ritual for all professional musicians. Any drummer’s dream, of course, is to play at a venue that has the equipment he or she already schleps, set up to his or her specification. But dreams rarely come true. The next best thing for any professional musician or group is to have a drum riser that is easy to transport and setup for those venues that lack risers, which are a drummer’s best friend because they allow him to easily hit all drums, allow sound to more easily travel beyond the stage, and give him some much-needed attention since he sits in the back.

Affordable drum risers that fit the bill are available online and are a must-have for any band that values its time. Being able to set up and breakdown quickly means less time on-site and more money for your time. While not every band can make it big, almost all can make it worthwhile by making the dreaded rituals a little easier with stage equipment designed for ease of use and transportation.

Does the thought of a Sixty Minutes’ reporter at your doorstep make you sweat? (It should!)

Do public speeches make you nervous?

What about the all important presentation to your shareholders?  (You have a few moments to make a convincing argument.  It’s do or die sometimes.)

How many times has an athlete or political candidate said something on camera that they wish they could retract?  (Hurry, get thee to an image coach!)

Did you know that from the time you enter a room, you have approximately ten seconds to make (what may turn out to be) a lasting impression! Ten seconds!

Your entrance is carefully observed.

Are you slumped over?  Are your shoes dull?  Are your eyes nervous and wandering?  Is your belly hanging out of your skirt or pants? Are you a wallfower? Is your nose suspended from the ceiling?

Your posture, your handshake, the placement of your name tag, your steady and interested eye gaze, all feed into how seriously you’re taken and yes, all factor into “moving up the corporate ladder”.

The positive manner in which you handle your email, speak on the telephone, manage dissension within your department, can all be learned tools that can enable you to more effectively mobilize your team.

Do you wanna know a dirty little secret? Shh….don’t tell, but many CEO’s use a wine list as a testing ground.
Yes, indeed.  Handing the wine list to you, they will carefully make observations about you . . . whether you’re honest or not (How, you ask? Something to think about.) and how you treat the service staff. Are you really the wine connoisseur that you have long professed to be?

They will observe you under pressure. But coaching can boost your confidence.

Confidence equals respect.  Respect equals power!

You don’t have to be a tall, imposing figure to command respect.  Your body language and mannerisms, the way you utilize the art of small talk, your style of dress, combined with a healthy knowledge of your company, product or service can catapult you to statuesque levels beyond a yardstick!

A few tweaks here and there can absolutely improve self-esteem, eliminate certain nuances, and turn around the way you’re accepted or perceived.

Accomplished business executives, professional athletes, award winning novelists, actors and winning political candidates all need (and the many successful ones, receive) media and image consulting.

Professional media/image coaches and consultants work to hone your speaking and presentation skills.  You will be the same person . . . only better!!

I will be happy to answer any questions that you may have regarding image and media consulting.

The Chicago art scene is bursting with artists and exhibits designed to satisfy any art lover. The art community is a close and vocal one, coming together for various forums on the state of visual art both in Chicago and around the world. Exhibits pop up every week that showcase artists’ talents from all over the city. There are open galleries for the public and other art aficionados to get together and appreciate the work and inspiring pieces that are completed. Groups meet to critique and evaluate each others’ artistic pieces and offer support and guidance for any aspiring artist to grow and learn.

What does this mean to the artist? It means that Chicago is a rich, vibrant city that will welcome you with open arms. Finding art supplies in Chicago could not be easier. Art supply stores are available to satisfy your every need. The public is ready for new and exciting artists to break onto the scene, and your hard work will be viewed and appreciated. Chicago is a dense, well-populated city and there are plenty of opportunities for an artist to get his or her name out in the open. Art supplies in Chicago are abundant and artists are ready to help each other; what are you waiting for?

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