@CdnSponsorForum @MarkHarrison3 thanks for for an incredible first #CSFX experience! #inspired
This was one of my favourite tweets received after CSFX16 came to a rocking conclusion on Saturday. Rocking? How rocking? I’m talking Sam Roberts surprise live appearance rocking. CSFX is headed to the JUNO Awards in 2017, and Roberts, along with guitarist Dave Nugent, shocked our delegates with a sneak peek of what’s to expect.
CSFX16 was indeed truly inspiring. Call me biased if you will, but I was thoroughly inspired, and the sentiment was unsolicitedly shared with me by so many delegates, it could have been the conference theme. With fifty moving speakers, three hundred motivated delegates, and the unprecedented buzz of the NBA All-Star all around, CSFX16 had everyone soaring!
Now comes the hard part. Keeping that amazing feeling. Translating it into your every day. Unleashing it into action. It’s time to turn inspiration into perspiration. But how?
Well, let’s look at the ingredients that inspired you so thoroughly. Was it a great presentation or panel? Perhaps it was a key slide or message from several speakers? So let’s begin there. Make a list. Type out the notes you took. Number how many jolts of inspiration you took in. If it was twelve or more, then great. If it was less, you need to build the list. Now calendarize each jolt of inspiration to the Wednesday of the next 12-16 weeks. Yes Wednesday. That’s Humpday. This will get you over the hump. Then every week I want you to reflect on that inspiration. Re-read your notes. Peruse their presentation. Look up the speaker online and see what she has said recently in the Twitterverse. Send her an email or a LinkedIn request to stay in touch. Don’t let it slip.
The second ingredient probably came from some memories you had from the weekend. Whether it be a networking event, one of the presentations, an NBA All-Star event, or your meeting Sam Roberts. Share those memories. Write a blog. Curate something for Instagram. Develop an internal presentation to share key learnings. Putting your own spin on these memories will not only ensure they stay in your mental archive for a longer time, but also add to your motivation to achieve greater heights. At that moment, when they happened, you were ready to climb a mountain. Don’t you want that feeling back again and again?
The final ingredient was undoubtedly some of the amazing people you met. I was blown away by how many people came in from all across Canada for this year’s event. I guess I shouldn’t have been. I know you made a ton of great contacts whether it be through the CSFX16 basketball tournament, a bus ride to the NBA All-Star Practice, or sharing a roundtable. Now comes the easy part. Staying in touch, building a lasting relationship, growing your network, establishing lifelong alliances. You have our app. Our app has you. Put it to use. Make a list of fifty – yes fifty. Or at least twenty-five. I prefer fifty, people that you want to stay connected with. Every day do something incredibly simple. Say HELLO. Thank-you Adele for bringing that word back into culture, community, and business. It’s a great word. So every day, send a note, make a call, send a handwritten note, extend a lunch invite, or hookup when you’re in one another’s hometowns. It’s that easy. One a day. The next fifty business days. Your business network has just exploded.
I don’t need to wrap up this blog with a corny message about hard work and how it pays off. But what I can say is this. If you follow just one of the suggestions above, or two, or all three, you will generate a far greater return on your time and resources invested in CSFX, than you could possibly imagine. I know personally I wish I could stop time and stay suspended in the magic of February 11th to 13th. I can’t stand waiting over a year until CSFX17 in Ottawa. But I have to. Sadly it only comes once a year. But I like trying to keep that feeling year-round.