It worked!

CEO Ray delivers more than just English!Our Euro Expo was a success. The attendees left refreshed and renewed, the suppliers gained potential new clients, and I saw a plan come together.  This idea of having an expo for the franchisees of Master Partners that have possibly never met our senior staff or been through our training was a stretch in my mind.  Usually, we can advise and inspire franchisees at these events because we know them and they know us.  We have proven ourselves in the early stages of their business and as they have matured.  This was different.  Or so I thought...

Our best idea came in supplying the Master Partners from each country attending with our presentation slides and materials before the event.  They in turn, translated the words and brought laptops with them to the conference.  As our speakers delivered material from the stage, attendees could listen and watch in English or follow along in their language courtesy of their Master Partner, who did the slide translation as well as spoken translation at each of the tables.  I have included two pictures of this underway in our sessions.  I think and heard from the franchisees that this worked very well.

Translations were provided by the Master Partners

The Awards Ceremony was done in a unique fashion, each Master Partner was given the opportunity to come to the stage and give their country's respective awards, in the language of their choice.  This was very well done by our Masters, they enjoyed being on the stage in front of their people at such an important event.  It helped us, too, because we aren't experts at the proper pronounciation of the names of all of the franchisees that hail from other countries.  We may be close, but there's nothing like a native tongue to say it correctly, especially when it counts for a nice award or recognition.  This was also a highlight for me...

Some portions of the expo did not need translation - our dress up "Rock to the Top" dinner was a good deal of fun, and with excellent participation!  Whoever said (and I definitely heard it...) that the European franchisees wouldn't get "dressed up" was way off on their guess - we saw some great costumes and had many requests for a similar event at Las Vegas World Expo next July.  We'll see how that fits into the planning.

Our next Euro Expo heads to Paris, the announcement was made by Jim Tatem on the final night.  That will bring even more franchisees in attendance, partially because of its proximity and ease of getting into.  More importantly, the news of the success of this past event in Zurich will spread.  Our franchisees from South Africa came.  Ireland, Netherlands, Belgium, France, Spain, Germany, UK, Romania, Albania were all represented and joined us. It was a good push for some franchisees in a new direction, for others a nudge back on track. And for me a chance to visit with great folks, meet new people, and help them in their stores. See why this works for everyone?

-dm