Director’s Choice Sales Training
January 20th, 2010 by Patrick Connor
Last week, the sales team at Director’s Choice Tour & Travel began the process of learning Buying Facilitation® with it’s creator Sharon Drew Morgen. Our five day face-to-face training was the beginning of a 9 week training/coaching program designed to incorporate Ms. Morgen’s decision-facilitation paradigm into our sales and service methodology.
Without a doubt, the training that we received provided us with an entirely new way for our sales team to help our customers consider and navigate through their buying decisions – providing a fantastic vehicle for us to better serve our customers. Thanks to Sharon Drew’s fantastic work, her visionary ideas, a well-thought out coaching plan and a tireless effort by our eager team, I am excited to report that we have already begun reaping measurable benefits – just a few days after being immersed into a concept that was totally foreign at the outset. I cannot wait to see how our skills will progress over the next 7+ weeks, but I feel confident that we are headed for a level of success that was previously unattainable!
In addition to the application of Buying Facilitation® as a sales concept, it became immediately apparent that this ideology could – and will – weave its way throughout our entire corporate culture. In fact, we have already applied this decision-facilitation methodology to several aspects of our business with great success. Indeed, Sharon Drew also taught us how Buying Facilitation® can be used as a leadership/decision-making tool for us to us internally (team building, executive decision making, etc.) and with our clients (customer service, negotiation, problem solving, etc).
Isn’t it great when the right team, information, and presenter collide to create excellence in a form that helps to provide students with positively-life-changing experiences!!
Posted in Personal Improvement, Student Travel, learning | Comments (0)
Musical Excellence At The Midwest Clinic
December 24th, 2009 by Patrick Connor
Over the last decade, I have had the honor to travel to the Midwest Clinic in Chicago with a number of fantastic ensembles. Not surprisingly, each of these groups has presented a concert of the highest quality for their attentive and supportive audiences.
This year, however, two of the ensembles that we (Director’s Choice Tour & Travel) escorted to Chicago raised the bar for high school performing ensembles.
The Spring Percussion Ensemble, under the direction of Rick Rodriguez, was unlike any academic concert I have ever witnessed. Their music was flawlessly prepared and their performance quality was on par with Blue Man Group or Stomp. From hand position, to facial expressions, to breathing – every detail was perfect. Their repertoire ranged from traditional to cutting-edge, and was mostly centered around the melodic percussion and auxiliary instruments rather than drums.
A new composition from world-renowned composer and performer She-E Wu closed the show, at which time the standing-room-only audience could barely contain themselves. A much deserved standing ovation followed, allowing ample time for the students and teachers involved with this project to know just how much it was enjoyed. As I stood clapping enthusiastically, I couldn’t help thinking “I would buy a ticket to see that again.”
After the Spring concert, I was hesitant to attend any other performances for fear that they would pale in comparison.
The next day, however, the Hebron High School Clarinet Choir, directed by Andy Sealy, presented a concert that would hold it’s own in any company.
As they opened with Bach’s Fugue in G Minor, it became clear that the audience was in for a treat!
This sixteen piece ensemble played with such musicality and technique that it was hard to believe the performers were high-school aged and not professional musicians. With a flawless stage presence, the ensemble performed works from Nelhybel, Rutter, Debussy, Grainger, and others.
Throughout the hour long performance, each piece ended with a unison whispered “wow” from the audience followed by a roaring applause. It was clear that every educator in the room new they were in the presence of excellence.
Additionally, guest oboe soloist William Wollett (a graduate of Hebron High School and student at Julliard) played beautifully and effortlessly giving one of the finest live oboe performances I have ever witnessed.
So, congratulations to the students and teachers of the Hebron High School and Spring High School ensembles. I am sure that your performances last week will have a lasting impact on all of those fortunate enough to attend.
Tags: Clarinet Choir, Hebron Band, Midwest Clinic, Percussion Ensemble, Spring Band
Posted in Student Travel | Comments (0)
Writing Blog Entries With Photos from the iPhone
December 9th, 2009 by Patrick Connor
I was asked this morning about how to make a blog post with a photos from an iPhone.
Here is what I did:
Download Wordpress App to my iPhone
Enter my blog, username, and password
Write this post and click on the photo icon to add a picture
Ok, it’s as simple as that!
Tags: sarah dent
Posted in Travel Journal | Comments (0)
Marcus Band Redefines Class
November 15th, 2009 by Patrick Connor
I am writing this from the Indianapolis Airport, headed home from a fantastic trip with the Marcus High School Band from Flower Mound Texas.
The reason for this trip was to participate in the Music For All Bands of America Grand Nationals, a marching contest featuring top high school bands from across the USA. In last night’s finals competition, the Marcus Band won top honors in the Music caption, and placed fourth overall. Congratulations to the students, teachers, and parents for an amazing end to a successful 2009 season!
While their field performances this week were world class, their “performance” off the field has been even more impressive. From the second that I met these outstanding young ladies and gentlemen at the DFW airport on Thursday, they have been nothing less than perfect. Without exception, each student has been so very polite and respectful of every person and place they have encountered that it is almost not believable. I can honestly say that in the 12 years since we started Director’s Choice, I have never heard the words “please ” and “thank you” more consistently.
Anytime the students are asked to listen, they do so – intently and immediately. During several hours of intense rehearsals, the band members remained totally focused and worked diligently to put the final touches on an already outstanding show. And, as other bands performed and were recognized, the students were so appreciative that you would think they came just to support their peers.
I hope that someday my daughter will have the opportunity be a part of an organization that understands excellence at the level achieved by the Marcus Band!
Posted in Student Travel, Travel Journal | Comments (0)
Cline Tours is Trying To Steal My Client
October 15th, 2009 by Patrick Connor
Recently, my company contacted Cline Tours, a charter coach company based in Ridgeland, Mississippi, regarding a quote for a Mississippi band traveling to Orlando. After sending us pricing for the charter, a sales person from Cline Tours contacted my client directly offering to save the group money by eliminating the “middle-man”.
Here is an excerpt from the email I received:
“After you talked with Cline Tours, they called me and offered a package with 2 overnights on the buses, one night in a hotel with breakfast, admission to Universal and Islands of Adventure, and the Music in the Parks performance for…”
I find it shocking that any company would have the audacity to immediately turn around and try to steal a piece of business from which they are already going to profit!
I have contacted my sales person (John McCommon) this morning to express my concern, and he assures me that this is against their policies. He is going to investigate how such a thing happens and get back to me this afternoon. I have no idea how they believe they can right this situation, but I am interested in his response.
In the meantime, I am working with my client to – get this – revamp their package to include a lesser hotel – similar to the one offered by the coach charter company. Which now means that I will likely have to put this group in a hotel that is below the service standards that we promise our clients – or lose the business.
I will post later in the day with a follow-up on Mr. McCommon’s response and how the situation resolves itself with our group. For now, I warn my colleagues to beware of any supplier (note that to avoid litigation – I am not singling out any one company in this statement) that has a reputation of unethical business practices such as contacting clients directly.
Posted in Student Travel | Comments (0)
Westwood High School Band on Voice of America in Thailand
September 25th, 2009 by Patrick Connor
Jack Green, the Director of Bands at Westwood High School, was kind enough to send me some mp3 files of a Voice of America in Thailand radio piece that covers the Westwood Warrior band’s recent trip to New York and performance at the Statue of Liberty.
I have always encouraged our group leaders to involve the local and regional media in their travel and performance experiences, but this is way beyond regional coverage!! Not surprising considering that everything this group does is first rate!
I have attached the transcript and podcast files to this post.
Audio From Mr. Green
Audio From NYC Trip
Posted in Student Travel, Travel Journal | Comments (0)
Great Reading
September 22nd, 2009 by Patrick Connor
Over the last 10 years, I have bounced back and forth from periods where I love who-done-it fiction, to times where I enjoy reading about business and self-improvement. A few weeks ago, I turned my attention from the latest Dean Koontz novel towards the topic of communication (specifically verbal business/group communication).
Unlike some other topics to which I have been recently drawn, I have been able to find much helpful material written on this subject.
One of my favorite resources for professional learning, the Harvard Business Review, has a great collection entitled Effective Communication. Contained within are a number of articles regarding the skills and goals required for effective verbal communication. Out of this collection, two articles stand out. The first is How To Run A Meeting by Antony Jay, which talks about the functions of meetings and offers advice for planning and implementing a successful meeting. The other is Listening to People where authors Ralph G. Nichols and Leonard A. Stevens discusses the importance listening and how each of us can work to improve our listening skills.
Additionally, I have found myself reading and rereading Robert’s Rules of Order – Simplified and Applied. While found the expected detailed explanation and examples of Parliamentary Procedure contained in this text, I also found it to offer a tremendous insight to human communication and interaction.
So now what? If you have any ideas for must-reads on this or other topics, please let me know. Otherwise, I am off to Amazon.com to find new material with the intent of satisfying my growing curiosity of verbal communication.
Posted in Personal Improvement, learning | Comments (2)
SYTA 2009 Conference – Huge Success
September 3rd, 2009 by Patrick Connor
Over the last week, almost 1000 members of the student and youth travel industry met in Norflok, VA for the 2009 Annual SYTA Conference.
This year’s conference was a huge success with notable high points including presentations from Helen Marano – US Department of Commerce, Roger Dow – US Travel Association, and Peter Pantuso – American Bus Association. While much attention was focused on the challenges of the US and World economy, there was a great optimism about the continual growth of the Student Travel Industry.
Led by a new management team (Association Management Group), SYTA is looking forward to enhancing relationships with multiple segments of the education industry in the near future to ensure that the synergies between student travel and education are thoroughly explored. With determination (and a little luck) SYTA should be able to work proactively to ensure that students are traveling with professional travel providers that understand the specific needs of youth travel.
On a lighter note, about 15 SYTA members (of which I am honored to be among) performed a concert for the entire membership on the final night of the conference. Thanks to the folks at PhotoVision/Create A Video, a DVD of the performance will be available soon with proceeds going directly to the SYTA Youth Foundation.
Posted in Student Travel | Comments (0)
SYTA Band Headed To Norfolk
August 26th, 2009 by Patrick Connor
After 20+ hours of rehearsals over the last 2 days, the SYTA band will load the tour bus at 8 AM with our luggage, instruments, and 30 songs to perform for our friends and colleagues on Tuesday.
Posted in Student Travel | Comments (0)
Joie de vivre
August 11th, 2009 by Patrick Connor
For the 3rd time in 12 years, I took off work early today to play golf. This was my first round in months, and…
Wait. Let me Tarentino this for you…
In January our entire family decided to take golf lessons at golfTec. To this point, it has been a great experience! Bobbie Jo, Courtney, and I have all been diligent at attending lessons and practicing (except for me during the swine flu season – I mean travel season). When we review the videos from our lessons, it is easy to see the improvement that has been made. While we have been out to the driving range a few times, we have been cautious about actually playing a round of golf for fear that it might be frustrating and detrimental to the learning process.
So today…
Gary Rector and I teed off at 3:00 PM and had a blast. While I still have massive room for improvement, most of the shots I hit went in the basic direction that was intended and traveled the distance that I expected (So I don’t sound boastful, you should know that I drive an astonishing 185 yards). I had 1 par, several bogies, and found myself with a long par opportunity on about 15 holes.
Now for the exciting part – I only lost four golf balls. While that may sound like a lot to you, the last time I played I lost about two dozen. According to my math, this means that if my “hot” streak continues, I will be saving $30-$50 per round, which means I might be able to play golf more than once every ten years.
How cool is it to spend 4 hours, $30, and actually have a good time!?!
SYTA Youth Foundation Golf Tournament – watch out – here I come!
Posted in Personal Improvement | Comments (1)