Look back and learn; look forward and build
On Tuesday, October 24, 2017, I was excited to join my fellow Felicity communications and content professionals to attend our fifth annual urban retreat. The day-long event was held at Montecito, the hip and happening hangout in downtown Toronto, owned by Canada’s favourite filmmaker, Ivan Reitman. This was the perfect ‘set’ for a day of learning, creating, planning and answering the big question ‘How might we be even better partners for our clients than we are now?’
After a ‘coffee kick-start’ session of networking and catch-up with the team, our morning began with a discussion led by founder Amy Laski. She looked back on the growth trajectory of Felicity and our current activities, and we learned about events and launches coming up in the months ahead.
She wrapped up with a look to the future and an invitation to ‘dig in’ and collaborate on where and how we want to grow our agency in the ever-changing business environment. Groups were formed to discuss the current business, workplace and media landscape, and to stimulate discussion about the changes we are seeing and how we might address them in our day-to-day.
Felicity Big Picture Award
A highlight of the day was recognizing our Felicity Big Picture Award recipient for the second half of 2017. The Felicity Big Picture award was designed to recognize the work of Associates who are exemplifying what Felicity is all about. He or she:
- Makes Felicity a place Associates love to work
- Demonstrates “best business partner” practices for our clients
- Contributes to our “whole person” culture
- Exemplifies transparency, simplicity, big picture thinking and an eye to growth.
This honour went to vice president Rachel Evans, who exudes the Felicity spirit every day and works tirelessly to ensure our clients and our team are set up for success. Congratulations Rachel!
Extra! Extra! Felicity announces pro-bono partnership with Outward Bound
Following a delicious lunch, we heard from a new pro-bono client of Felicity, Outward Bound Canada. Marketing director Bill Alexander and director of corporate and foundation partnerships Stefanie Crispino shared the Outward Bound mission…
‘To cultivate resilience, leadership, connections and compassion through inspiring and challenging journeys of self-discovery in the natural world.’
They told us about the positive impact Outward Bound has on at-risk youth, survivors of violence, veterans, aboriginal groups and students of all ages. Felicity is proud to partner with Outward Bound and we are looking forward to sharing our work with you. Stay tuned!
Build a Better Brainstorm with Velocity Partnership
Next, we welcomed Marysia Czarski, managing director of Velocity Partnership, to work with our team to make our brainstorming process even more powerful. After walking the team through the various stages of creativity tips to build a better brainstorm, The Felicity Team was revved up and ready to ideate! In only SIX minutes we filled a whole board with 25 great ideas for an upcoming project. Marysia proved to all of us that her model for creativity really does work.
Welcome to the world of Yemmies
Have you heard of Yemmies? Our next speaker introduced us to the world of Young Educated Millennial Mommies, who they are, what they do, how they shop and what type of products they like to consume. Kathy Perotta from Ipsos presented fascinating research on this segment and how best to connect and communicate with them. Fun fact: by 2026, 28% of the population will be Yemps (Young Educated Millennial Parents.)
What are some of the attributes of the Millennial female? She wants:
- To consume real food;
- To consume organic food;
- Modernized comfort food;
- Portion-controlled food that is nearby, quick to access;
- To eat 5-6 meals a day;
- Diversity in their food choices.
They don’t pantry load (although they may once their kids grow to be teen boys, take it from me!); and they are occasion agnostic – they will consume any food at any time of day (cereal for dinner anyone?)
Many thanks to Amy and my Felicity colleagues for a full day of learning, laughing and getting to know everyone better. I left Montecito inspired and excited for the year ahead.
In his eye!
