I returned to my alma mater the other weekend to celebrate homecoming. It had been two years since I was last on campus, and I enjoyed my time immensely! I got to see good friends, enjoy the campus, and spend time outside in the beautiful Michigan autumn weather. 

Last year, the team at Baudville undertook a significant marketing initiative – to re-launch the brand with a new focus, hundreds of new products and a marketing campaign to announce our changes to the world. It was a lot of work and a ton of fun, and at the end of it all I think we all felt great about the outcome of our efforts. Best of all, our customers responded with praise and orders. By all accounts it was a success, and then came the icing on the cake: we received notice that the international direct marketing community had taken notice as well, as we were nominated for a John R. Caples award for our promotional campaigns.

Last week, I travelled to New York City for the awards gala – a fancy big city event attended by some of the highest-profile advertising agencies in the world. My table alone was represented by four countries, which, as I learned, was a pretty big deal. So when the time came for our category to be announced I brimmed with excitement. “How could our work not win?”, I thought. But the envelope opened and… we lost. 

Each year, Baudville celebrates its accomplishments with a Year End Party.  The theme of the party is always a surprise and isn’t revealed until the day of the party.  This year, the employees arrived at the party to discover that they had taken a walk back in time and were celebrating New Years Eve 1929 aboard the Orient Express.  They also found themselves in the middle of a complex murder mystery drama involving interesting characters and a snake.  As the plot thickened, a delightful dinner was served aboard the train.  Finally, the deception and motive was revealed.  One table of super sleuth Baudvillians successfully solved the mystery and was awarded a prize. 

A large portion of the evening is spent recognizing the accomplishments of each department.   Special recognition goes to a few select individuals for submitting great product and process suggestions and perfect attendance.  Two employees who best exemplified Baudville’s core values in 2009 also received one of our most prestigious award the INSPIRE Award. 

As Cindy mentioned last week, we had our Year End employee party last week. This event has major cultural significance for our organization, and the 90% participation rate can prove it! It’s an employee-only event that encourages team building and camaraderie among the entire company. Employees look forward to spending the evening together eating, being entertained, winning prizes and receiving recognition from our President and Senior Vice President. 

Baudville has some special recognition traditions that happen at the end of the year. We actively promote and practice day-to-day recognition throughout the year, but our experience has also taught us that having formal awards is an important part of a recognition strategy. Employees strive all year to receive such honored recognition. 

We recently inaugurated two of our employees into a new leadership training program at Baudville. Both employees have a solid performance history at Baudville and have earned the respect and admiration of their peers. They also already shoulder significant responsibility. Yet they chose to pursue further development opportunities that will inevitably lead to more responsibility., which leads one to ask a perfectly reasonable question: