The post-holiday Tuesday. That really feels like a Monday. Which makes you really confused on a Wednesday. Yeah, it’s one of those weeks.
Normally they are hard to get into the swing of, and maybe that’s the case for me this time because the past 24-or-so hours have been filled with things not included in my average weekdays. Sometimes you have to mix it up with different happenings that are still in your circle of “normal” – including this list of things I should do more often:
Attend local event professional networking events: As this is actually part of my (personally instilled) professional goals, yesterday, I attended an ISES Cleveland breakfast meeting to start the day. The meeting’s topic was recapping The Special Event Conference that took place last month in Chicago. The ISES members broke out into “roundtables” to share what they learned on their trip.
Original photo c/o Dale McDonald; Instagrammed version c/o @NickTheHouse.
What did we learn in turn?
- We seriously need coffee to operate before 9:00AM – notice the way I’m clutching that Starbucks cup…
- Event professionals LOVE their Apple products. Their were iPads EVERYWHERE!
- Do your research before buying your conference pass – do you want to go to sessions every day, or just one day, or just sit in the lobby to just talk to people?
- Event professionals are investing great deal of time in Twitter, Facebook and Instagram – both to promote their events as well as share their work.
- Smoking and drinking are excellent gateways for networking. And probably other things, but I’m sticking to my rum and Diet Coke.
Get out of the office to visit important contacts: Yesterday for me that meant heading out to the Lasting Impressions showroom to do some research for an upcoming subcommittee meeting. It’s always fun to get inspired!
On the left: a teaser for a possible theme; On the right: a wall of spoons – some inspiration for another surprise!
Treat myself to a weeknight spa treatment: Right in line with my new year resolutions, month number two’s self-worth beauty treatment was an hour long Swedish massage at Jenson Massage Therapy in Brecksville.
Housed out of the same building as Vertical Runner, Julie was incredibly kind and very good at her job! It was my first visit, but it won’t be my last – she knew exactly how to focus on the portions of my body that needed some extra attention while addressing my want for some relaxation. I found out she, too, is a proud Golden Retriever owner. Before I left, she even brought out her phone to share some pics of her pup. Love me another #crazydoglady!
Get excited about something at my gym: I’ve committed back to my gym workouts – I’ve gone twice already this work week, including this morning. While I stuck with the elliptical/track combo as I build up my cardio again, I was greeted today with this news:
REALLY?!?!? It’s about time! And of course, they arrive the week I plan to start running more regularly…
What have you done recently that is a bit out of your normal daily operating procedure?
It was SO awesome to see you yesterday! We’d love to see you at ISES events in the future.
Here are some great photos from Dale – http://isescleveland.com/portfolio/tse-wrap-up-2013/
A massage sounds divine…….
Jay and I have started going to the gym before work 2 days a week. I have never been a morning exerciser, but I love having it out of the way so that I can spend more time with Colin in the evening!
Oh networking events…how I love to hate, but SO need to do more of these too!! Love that you are steppin up the cardio, not that you need it of course, but sometimes little changes make all the difference right?!
I had a massage this week – an energy healing massage – which is out of the norm, but so so so amazing. I’m glad I did it. I also took a day off to spend a day taking care of me – haven’t done that before either!
Nice work with the networking event. I am trying to go to more of those, but still find them somewhat awkward, especially in groups where there are just too many people. I almost like them when there’s a smaller amount of people, because you really are forced to mingle and not stick to one set of people!
I’m so jealous of that massage… sounds like heaven. Spinning can help build cardio, too!
Excited for you to do some running this spring!
I miss spinning classes so much! I understand what you mean, I recently forced myself to switch my weekly routine with meal planning and only eating out on the weekends. It’s been one of my “things I need to do” forever. It feels good to stick with it.