by K. Douglas Erdmann, President & CEO
Once every two years? Due to the logistics and expense involved with gathering staff from around the world, our in-person staff conferences do not happen very often. Because of that, we really want to make them count. This most recent conference did indeed COUNT!
Held the first full week of January, the location was Chiang Mai, Thailand. Previous conferences always occurred in the U.S. An overseas venue, though, made it easier and cheaper for staff to travel to. Also, experts agree that, at least for new staff, meeting in a location outside of one’s home country is better for cross-cultural adjustment to one’s target country.
The name of the conference was “Refresh,” and refreshment is what Wendy Moore, REI’s Director of Communications and consummate conference director and her team aimed to provide. And they delivered. We were refreshed physically and emotionally by the beautiful and relaxed tropical resort where we stayed. But we were also refreshed in our vision and our relationships.
Our main speakers were a fascinating couple who helped start a hospitality business in Indonesia over 20 years ago. The business has thrived, but more importantly, it has developed the professional skills and transformed the personal lives of many of its employees, exactly what REI tries to do in the countries where we operate.
This couple’s challenging talks were supplemented by inspired sharing by David Staff, our Director of Field Staff Care. REI’s mission was kept front and center by a talk I provided, as well as reports by each country leader who shared about what REI staff and volunteers are doing in each of their respective countries.
Special guests included the director of coaching for a large global non-profit who trained us in communication skills and a doctor couple from the Philippines who are considering joining our staff.
Relationships are the glue that hold an organization together. Time over meals as well as late afternoons and evenings were set aside for deepening those relationships. It was fun to see couples spending time with other couples, groups of ladies getting time together, and our many young singles hanging out together.
And, of course, there was a “fun day” which, not surprisingly, many staff used to enjoy viewing elephants, Thailand’s national animal.
The time was such a success that it seemed people did not want to leave!
But leave we did, refreshed and eager to pursue our mission . . . building people so that they can build their nations.
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