Staying Connected
A retreat or forum is the perfect opportunity to share your personal experiences with your colleagues and learn from each other. The “sharing” is powerful! The purpose is to exchange ideas, offer marketing tips, and to create a special bond with your colleagues. To broaden the international scope of an event, special guest speakers are invited to participate. We will also notify you when companion organizations are offering related learning opportunities.
Our first retreat was held in honor of Letitia Baldrige (center) at the Four Seasons in Washington D.C. This was an amazing the opportunity to meet experts from other states and countries, as we dined with the gracious Letitia Baldrige, who allowed us to call her “Tish.” (Sadly, Letitia passed away a few years later.) Her autobiography: “A Lady, First: My Life in the Kennedy White House” and “The American Embassies of Paris and Rome” were given as gifts to our team. Letitia Baldrige, author, etiquette adviser, and business executive, became a household name as Jacqueline Kennedy’s White House chief of staff. During her career she presided over several Presidential State dinners.
Currently, our retreats and forums are virtual. They serve as an introduction of colleagues followed by one-on-one opportunities for those interested. When the subject matter has a fit, the webinar will be tied to a guest opportunity to expand the learning.
Thank you so much for putting the Zoom together. It was nice to meet everyone, and I am going to stay in touch with the group. In being unemployed for the first time in 23 years I am now learning the value and necessity of social media marketing–and I have to adjust accordingly. I look forward to opportunities to talk about that. As an aside, your work has been far more valuable than you know—in my time at Riverside I met students from Columbia University ($60K a year tuition) who couldn’t write a decent thank-you note, and I thought of you immediately!! My dream job would have been to work for the UN in a protocol capacity—-and I’m so sorry I never pursued that, but time moves on. I have a degree in Mortuary Science, and I think I will pursue that now. Maybe a future in Hospitality in a funeral home setting is in my future—-who can say. Many thanks once again for all you have done, all you do, and all you will do. —Angela Gregory
A Sampling of our Virtual Meetings
Invitations are sent privately to GPA graduates with topic, time, and link information.
Connect and Learn
New Ways to Use Your SME
Training!
The purpose of our first virtual forum is to connect! Whether you are using your training materials or have set them aside, this is an opportunity to reconnect with the training and decide how you want to move forward or advance.
Our quarterly topics will help you can gain more knowledge as we investigate website and social media marketing strategies and gain updates on image, etiquette, and protocol trends.
What You Should Know About
Building or Modernizing
Your Website
featuring WordPress Specialist:
Michael Hebner
Three things you should know about effective Websites:
1. The Classic Editor plugin will be officially supported until December 31, 2021.
2. The new trend is the Gutenberg Block editor.
3. Website design needs to be mobile-friendly. HUGE reason for the updates. If you have already updated to Gutenberg Block, you will learn some new plugin recommendations for our industry.
All in attendance received a 28-page website resource guide from Mike.
Training Geared to Our Youth
Our three young professional panelists will answer questions and share their insights on what their generation is looking for (or needs) to further develop their professional presence and interpersonal communication skills as they relate to image, business etiquette, and protocol. Each of our panelist is dedicated to forming or assisting with young professional groups.
Susana Tresente
Project Manager for the Economic Development team for the City of Peoria
Sebastian Narvaez Medina
Operations Manager at Riley Decker Companies
Planning Strategies
This is an opportunity for YOU to SHARE what you accomplished and want to accomplish so we can all help you get there by supporting your GOALS and offering NEW IDEAS.
Most importantly, these retreats are meant to help you form a special bond with each other as you gain fresh insights for business growth.
We become true experts by
learning from each other!