CHRISTMAS COMMANDOS MAKE YOUR YEAR-END EVENT A “TOTAL VICTORY”Written by Boyd Hooper
CHRISTMAS COMMANDOS MAKE YOUR YEAR-END EVENT A “TOTAL VICTORY”If you thought all of America’s best commandos were clearing caves of Afghanistan think again. We discovered two real-life commandos that are busy clearing boredom from corporate Christmas parties of America. That’s right, a U.S.Army Ranger and a retired Green Beret group commander, have made it their mission to make your corporation’s year-end event a “Total Victory”! They call themselves Christmas Commandos. They will add spirit, enthusiasm—and a big dose of Christmas cheer and humor—that will make your corporate Christmas party one that employees will talk about in year to come. At a time when most American corporations are nursing their wounds, counting their losses, and firing their accounting companies, a comic-laced, in-your-face, motivational year-end event has never been more welcome. Long ago, legendary Bob Hope used to take his USO variety show to soldiers abroad to raise their morale. The Christmas Commandos bring their own brand of variety entertainment and morale-raising to corporate armies of America. With army cadence singing, that involves audience, dance routines, hilarious comedy sketches, and surprises galore, Christmas Commandos expertly camouflage a heart-warming and motivating year-end message that makes their engaging presentation so much more than just entertainment. Their mission is not only to celebrate hard-fought business battles of past year, but to rally troops for missions in year ahead. Many companies want to do something a little different and break mold by introducing a fun and relaxed atmosphere to their Christmas party and other events. Event planners are realizing that events have not only become an important PR exercise to promote company itself, but also vital for in-house relationships and staff incentives. Those companies are now booking entertaining training like Christmas Commandos. “Christmas is perfect time for companies to give something back to employees as most organizations today realize that it's their people who make difference to company and not their products. Making employees feel appreciated is more important than ever!” - AP Irish Sentinel In genre of giving back with purpose and creativity, Christmas Commandos’ powerful production hits target like a guided missile. Their high-energy motivational message is seasonally themed and strategically designed to deliver a humor-filled payload that will impact both head and heart. The unique variety show format will beguile and charm audiences with characters from Seuss books, movies, and real life—which in turn deliver a seasonal message that’s sure to capture every heart in audience. The Christmas Commando performance can include everything from appearances of squads of active uniformed commandos, improv skits, and 6’3 half of duo painted bright green doing a first-person rendition of classic Grinch story. Audiences will also find themselves highly involved as they become enlisted to participate in skits or to sing U.S. Army Ranger Cadence with Christmas Commandos. “Audiences will not soon forget this presentation,” says Art Coombs, who has had previous experience with Commandos. “The Commandos and their presentation have a lasting impact. Where most corporate year-end events are quickly forgotten, these guys and their message will stay with your people well into new year.” Besides inspiring and motivating your team of employees, Christmas Commandos have designed another event called “Grinch Giving” where corporations can send Grinch character into community as their corporate ambassador of good will—a great PR move! Keith Barr, President of Echopass Corporation says, "I know people have hired Grinch to perform at hospitals, armed forces units, and local schools, but we hired Grinch as a way to show appreciation and give special recognition to our own people and their families. We set up a special family day where spouses and children came into company so entire family could share experience and make memories together. Our people still talk about that event and how much their families appreciated them working for a company with that type of mindset." Who are Christmas Commandos? Kirk Weisler and Don Spradling both make their livings as professional speakers and consultants. Don is a senior consultant for Franklin Covey organization and Kirk Weisler is most well known as Chief Morale Officer of customer relationship management industry. While both have very impressive histories as platform presenters, their military background is even more impressive. There combined bio, which can be found on Christmas Commandos website (www.teamdynamics.com/cc), reads like a who's who of Special Operations community, listing such accomplishments as Airborne Ranger and Special Forces qualifications, Commanding Officer of 19th Special Forces Group, US Army Pathfinder, U.S. Army Jumpmaster, Master Parachutists ratings in several countries, unconventional warfare training, counter-terrorism, and 42 years of combined Special Operations military service.
| | The Feasibility Study and You: A Dynamic DuoWritten by June Campbell
You have a great new business idea. You've asked your friends and family for feedback and they gave you thumbs up approval. You've asked your existing customers if they'd have use for such a product or service and they've indicated they would. Lastly, you've done some soul searching and you know you're truly interested in this concept and have commitment to stick with it over long haul.So far so good. Now it's time to do a feasibility study. I can hear resistance already. "A feasibility study, you say? Isn't it something that CEO's of Fortune 500 companies fiddle with? What does it mean to owner of a small or home business like me?" Consider: A feasibility study is research that gives you preliminary information regarding your business idea's potential to succeed in marketplace. It can mean difference between success and failure. There are plenty of business ideas. Some of them will work. Some will not. We know that every year, scores of new businesses flounder and fail, despite owner's hard work and enthusiasm. Sadly to say, one major reason for failure is entrepreneur's willingness to commit to a favored idea without researching feasibility of concept. The demons battled here are internal ones: Loving an idea doesn't mean it's going to be a success. Smart entrepreneurs know importance of doing initial research before investing time and money in starting a new business, or in developing a full-scale business plan. This gathering of information is feasibility study. It can be a complex, formal document used for attracting investors, or a simple page of notes to oneself. Regardless of which format you need, feasibility study should address following categories in detail: a. The Product or Service Describe product or service. What is it? How and where will it be manufactured or produced? By whom? How will it be delivered to customers? In what way is it unique?
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