Leadership
-
Singapore MICE Forum
SACEOS this year hosted the Singapore MICE Forum, to explore the challenge faced by the events industry in its ability to engage the audience from the conceptualisation to materialisation stages of events. The question posed to attendees – “Are we really engaging?” SACEOS operates to help those in the events business to develop and prosper, and to work closely with the government to meet the objective of making Singapore the best venue in Asia. Felicity was invited to facilitate a panel at this year’s Forum, to share insights from leading companies on what they see as important considerations when it comes to branding/positioning in Asia. On the panel was Wee…
-
Singapore MICE Forum – Masterclass on Integrated Communication
As part of this year’s 2017 Singapore MICE Forum, Felicity was commissioned by SACEOS to write and deliver a one-day masterclass on integrated marketing communications for the travel, tourism and business events industry. Deliverables for the workshop included: What is IMC? What is the benefit? What are the latest trends in marketing? How to write an integrated communications plan? Measurement and evaluation The system and tools of IMC Ten Singapore-based events professionals attended the interactive workshop, covering how to get more value from marketing communications strategies. Key insights of the day centred on the way practitioners are the translators to the power of communications, asked to cut through more noise…
-
10 things I’ve learnt from 10 years in business
Valuing the work that you do is hard. Your impact is not the same for everyone and adjusting that to suit people’s needs is something that takes time to get right. Focusing on the work and not the bank balance reaps more return. More people should say exactly what they are thinking; and more people should be ok with hearing it. It would save time and we’d get a lot more done. Know your weaknesses and outsource them to others. Anything else is a false economy. You can’t do everything, nor do everything well. Being present with someone for 10 mins and looking them in the eye accomplishes more than…
-
EEAA Leaders Forum 2017
The Exhibition and Event Association of Australasia (EEAA) aim to provide members with the opportunity to hear about the latest business trends and opinions, make valuable industry connections, and hold noteworthy forums for coaching leaders and building competencies specific to the events sector. This year’s annual Leaders Forum in Sydney was an opportunity to take a step back from day-to-day management to focus on issues and opportunities that are having the greatest influence on the events and exhibitions. Felicity was asked to join a panel titled: C-Suite of women in the workplace, moving women from management to C-Suite, facilitated by EEAA CEO Joyce DiMascio. Alongside Felicity was Libby Lyons, Director of…
-
Up and down like a yo-yo, a day in the life of a business owner
Some people ask me, “What’s it like owning a business? It must be great,” and a lot of the time it is. My particularly fantastic days are when the members of the team achieve beyond their own expectations and they overcome a challenge and triumph. They are my greatest days. Great days are when you win a new piece of business that you fought hard for and you know you’re right for. Great days are when people are happy and there’s great energy in the office, there’s money in the bank and there’s the will to keep growing and expanding and developing. Great days are when a client sends an…
-
Boards, are you truth seeking, or weight throwing?
When you are the consultant working on developing strategy for an organisation and the CEO says, ‘please take out the negative comments received through the staff consultation from the report prepared for the Board’ – you know the system is broken. Depending on your perspective, you might say that the CEO isn’t doing their job properly, however, this request is the result of a set of circumstances that have meant the CEO doesn’t feel like they can deliver the truth, and then more importantly ask for support to address the issues at hand. This goes on and on until unresolved issues bubble to the top and a crisis ensues or, it…
-
Felicity Zadro – one of 2017’s most influential Australian female entrepreneurs
Felicity Zadro recently featured in the Sydney Morning Herald as one of Australia’s nine most influential female entrepreneurs of 2017. Find out why by reading the full article here.
-
HOW TO WRITE A KILLER MARKETING PLAN – the hard parts uncovered
This article was originally published in Spice Magazine, Issue 76, Feb 2017, p. 11 Google will provide millions of articles telling you that in order to have a killer marketing plan, you need SMART goals, great key messages, and a timeline you can stick to. There are templates galore with directions on what to put into which box. These are great, and immensely useful, however, after working with over 400 companies, I can say, it is not a poorly constructed SWOT or having too many goals that will make a marketing plan fail. The key to writing a marketing plan that really works, lies in how the plan is brought together,…
-
Do we have strategy days to process emotion?
At a recent CEO luncheon, the business leaders around the table got talking about the challenges of developing strategy in their organisations. Through the discussion we addressed how often, why and what ensues, when one leader said, ‘I think we have strategy days to process the emotion in the business.’ This seemingly incongruous idea about emotion and strategy struck a chord with me. I’ve often talked about strategy being the vehicle to consensus, but does it go deeper than that? In the seemingly logical, analytical process of developing strategy, are we missing the ingredient that will make it all stick? Naming and dealing with our emotions?
-
What I applied to parenthood that I learnt from ‘business-hood’
My first baby was born almost ten years ago – I started my integrated marketing and communications agency in 2007 and like any new parent, I had no idea what I was doing, I read all the books, dealt with a few disasters, spent all my money at the types of shops that have their own car park, worked around the clock and tried to navigate a brave new world. My human baby, my gorgeous little girl, was born one year ago and now with a pre-teen business and a toddler I’ve noticed a cross-over of challenges and successes. There are many lessons from business-hood that I have applied to…
