As some of you may know RedBalloon is a big supporter of childrens charities. Business Chicks is a fantastic network of women which raises more than $100,000 each year for Kids Help line. (I have been a regular speaker for them around the country.) I see that Business Chicks is launching a magazine – Latte. Business Chicks has kindly offered me 250 subscriptions to use in anyway I want. I thought it might be of interest to people who read…
Category Archives: General
There is a time for democracy in business…
For anyone who is a regular reader, you will know that I see my job as RedBalloon CEO as delivering on our vision and values whilst keeping everyone aligned to the plan. My buddy David Cunninham shared this gem with me this morning – and given that I have just written a few posts on the fact that I am currently working on the painted picture document it is really quite fitting. "As a leader our role is to be…
30,000 opportunities to give a good time.
I sit here just before we break for Christmas and I feel absolutely humbled by the amazing people that I work with….I might give them a vision – but they are truly passionate about what we do. So far this season more than 30,000 people will get a Christmas Gift from RedBalloon Days. That is a lot of pleasure we’ve been giving – but it doesn’t happen with out the love, dedication and persistence of the whole team. We have…
Does the work day ever end?
There is an absolute melding between what is work life and what is leisure. The challenge for employers is to make the work week as interesting as the weekend, because with blackberries, mobile phones and email – leisure time is becoming more like work. Many employees are now expected to be ‘on call & available’ people who receive emails at 10.00pm at night are expected to have them answered before 7.00am the next day. I met a man this week…
How far would you go for the dream?
I’m quite the movie buff, though rarely do I get a chance to see them in the cinema. I know I work hard, and that what my family has now has been earned, built and created by my husband and I based on years of hard work. But I was recently left considering how far would I go. What would I do for my children? The movies that often resonate with most are those based on true stories. North Country…
What not to do..
We have had our heads down over several weeks, working out what next years plan is going to look like. There are many ideas, lot’s of opportunities and things that we have not yet finished from this year. But we must choose what goes in and what is not going to make it into the plan this time. Especially in a fast growing business it is important to have a solid planning process. Exploring lots of ideas is important but…
Why must we put petrol in the car.
Now Rod Beckstrom had many interesting ideas ? way more than those presented in his book The Starfish and the Spider. He is committed to the impact that we as individuals can have on the planet. If we want to do something about it, it is up to us. Ok so I met Rod at the event in Tokyo….(this will be my final blog from the Tokyo trip) but I met hundreds of other interesting people. So who is Rod…
Great Gift of History.
We live in a digital age ? my mother fears that we will lose this generation of documents and images because we are no longer printing things out. There is simply so much information that digital storage is the only option for us now. I know myself the first digital photographs I took cannot be read by any software application ? and these are only 12 years old. What will it be like when MS office is ancient history (like…
Imagine running a business based on fun - that's what I decided to try when I left a very serious corporate career in marketing to set up RedBalloon...
Rolling out the Red Carpet.
There is a very real reason why I call myself the chief experience officer (CEO). It is not because RedBalloon sells experiences. I call myself that because it from my belief that how people experience an organization is an opportunity to either make or break a brand promise. We have always liked to stand out at RedBalloon – which is why we have had so many versions of the website and also why we have chosen our work place so…