Wednesday May 27 marked our third annual Felicity Urban Retreat, held this year at the scenic Estates of Sunnybrook. This day-long meeting gave us the opportunity to connect as a team,explore industry-leading ways to be our clients’ best business partner, and to learn about some systems we’ll be putting in place to enable this.

With a look back on the past year’s successes and a look to a future that’s filled with new opportunities, exciting events and programs, this Felicity Urban Retreat left us feeling refreshed and inspired.

As a virtual team with Associates across the country and the globe, it was great to watch as everyone connected in person—sometimes meeting for the first time, despite the fact that we’ve been working closely together for months or years.

Inspiring Change

We were fortunate to take part in two fabulous keynote sessions, the learnings from which  will be applied to our professional and personal lives, and the work we do with our clients and partners.

In the morning, Ann Gomez and Susan Pons of Clear Concept amazed us with their productivity principles to simplify a busy life. As busy professionals, many of us face the daily challenges of managing priorities, interruptions, and long to-do lists. Ann and Susan provided some surprisingly simple tips for increasing productivity, which included:

• Letting go of the need to multi-task and focusing on just one thing at a time
• Establishing a “focus routine” that involves rewarding yourself after a stint of productive work time (Think: 30 minutes of focused work followed by a reward which could be a short walk, a cup of tea,  checking your email, or even chocolate!)
• Freeing yourself from “email addiction” by removing all email notifications on your computer and smart phone
• Making over your to-do list to reflect your priorities
• Creating a daily plan at the end of the day so you’re ready to start fresh in the morning

If you notice we’re all even more efficient in responding to emails and completing tasks, and very zen-like in our time-management, it’s all thanks to these impressive ladies.

In the afternoon, we heard from Mike Dover, one of the authors of WikiBrands and Managing Partner of Socialstruct Advisory Group. Mike spoke about some of the hottest trends in technology and how they’re shaping the way people consume media and connect with one another, and how, in turn, brands must evolve. The insights we gained from Mike’s talk will help inform our creativity when it comes to working with our clients to bring their stories to life.

The Big Picture!

Celebrating accomplishments and recognizing Associates who exemplify Felicity’s values is what the new Felicity Big Picture Award is all about! The award is given to an individual who makes Felicity a place Associates love to work, demonstrates “best business partner” practices for our clients, contributes to our whole person culture, and exemplifies transparency, simplicity, and big-picture thinking, with  an eye to growth! We were excited to present this award to two highly-deserving Associates: Andrea Wahbe, our B2B Content Strategist, who successfully led a number of client and internal growth initiatives this year, and Account Lead Teresa Pagnutti,who demonstrated excellence in media relations when working with one of our clients to earn coverage that exceeded all expectations. Congratulations ladies!

After a full day of collaboration, conversation, and creation, we all left ready to get to work. Judging by the tone and energy of this year’s retreat, the rest of 2015 is sure to be incredible. Stay tuned for some of the exciting things we have in the works!