Last week at RedBalloon we were full of the joys of Christmas. The IT team hosted our final company meeting of the year and were massively creative with their festive theme ; including beaming in their colleague Dave from Perth to have him appear in a cut out Santa via Facetime – (I guess you had to be there). As part of the planning process and moving my role to be Founding Director I needed to update my job description…
Tag Archives: Fun at work
Get a buzz from giving
Kahlil Gibran: “You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.” You would expect that I would write a blog at this time of year about the importance of giving – Christmas is everywhere, especially at RedBalloon. However here’s a thought: One of the greatest gifts you can give is your time – and when you do – you will experience a euphoria, which is very good for…
Coming up this week 7 November
I usually write this post on a Sunday evening as I prepare for the week. Last weeks post on my weekly activity – was about the uncertainty of travel, but by Monday afternoon that had changed. (In the short term anyway). I like many others fear it will be a long drawn out battle. Last week therefore was productive – with the excitement of the company lunch – falling on the same day as Melbourne Cup – the festive season…
Yoooo hooo… is anybody listening?
As I sat in the back of a taxi rushing from one appointment to another this week… quick to check my phone for messages as soon as I jumped in the cab, the taxi driver asked “And how’s your day going?” I stopped and chatted and found out what he thought of the troubles with the unions and Qantas. The taxi driver lamented that most people were to busy on their mobile phones to chat any more. As I said…
Enough is enough; retailers won’t agree
I was fascinated to learn that there is a Buy Nothing New Month in Australia. I love this idea… though of course retailers will not… (I’m sure the liquor retailers don’t like Dry July either.) I was in the US last summer on holiday with my family and I was completely overwhelmed by the consumerism. (And quite frankly everything began to look the same). I heard that 10% of all women’s clothes sold in Australia are never worn. It is…
Coming up this week 8 August 2011
What a wonderful weekend of celebration for the RedBalloon team at Fraser Island. Great to get together, have a few laughs and launching the theme for 2012. ‘Small things BIG impact’ – to the song of Bear Grylls We have asked the team to identify and quantify the things that could make a big difference to the bottom line and ultimately achieving our Big Hairy Audacious Goal. For instance Trudy has already identified that if we reduce the weight of…
Culture Check
We are fast approaching RedBalloon’s tenth birthday, with that it mind I wanted to check in with the team ‘What does it mean to you to be a part of the RedBalloon story?’ The answers were delightful and insightful… but this particular answer from one of the newer RedBallooners is very worth reproducing in whole. If you were to ask the similar question in your organisation, you too could get a great insight into the ‘mood’ – think of it…
Coming up this week – 1 August 2011
This week is exciting at RedBalloon – we are celebrating many things, including 17 RedBallooners being promoted to new roles… which is wonderful to be able to provide career growth in such a relatively small organization. Last week I had lunch with the ‘newbies’ and I always delight at their enthusiasm – funny now though for me, as many of them were in primary school when I started the business, so when I ask “how did you hear about RedBalloon?”…
Coming Up this week 20 June 2011
After a forced extra 2 days of holiday last week due to the ash cloud – I am finally back at my desk and excited by the days ahead. (It is after all the pointy end of the year.) Monday: Planning presentations from each team leader, and reviewing of business cases at the board meeting. Tuesday: Finalising budgets and start the performance review process Wednesday: Presentation for Aspire Women in Business Network Lunch, then have to dash to Melbourne for…
Grateful for the noisy sounds of silence
I have found myself a few extra (unplanned) days in Exmouth WA – as all the planes are grounded. It is quite an interesting sensation to be given two extra days of holiday. I was already mentally making note of all the things that need to be done on my return, plans to be reviewed, evaluations to be done, budgets to be approved – it is after all only a few weeks to the end of the financial year. Instead…
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...
