Review of the 2009 Owners Retreat

Mon, 10/26/2009 - 10:54 — Mark Carlson

 

Review of 2009 Owners/Manager Retreat
 
NNEAPS and MAPS Recruiting Firm Owners and Managers joined together in October in a collaborative fashion for a very informative program of roundtables and speakers.   The overnight event was held at the Wequassett Resort on Cape Cod in a beautiful relaxing setting on Pleasant Bay.    Roundtable discussions yielded owner/managers shared information in a non competitive, casual format regarding successful compensation packages, marketing strategies, pricing, and ideas about growth oriented niche markets.  Equally they discussed insurance solutions, employee retention, credit lines and vendor relations.    The evening concluded with a cocktail reception and dinner following around an outside fireplace on the ocean’s edge where members networked and made new friendships with other attendees from 4 states. 
 
Speaker presentations the following morning included Bill Fields, an Insurance Lobbyist in Massachusetts.  A new health insurance reform package in their state has lead to huge financial burdens for their companies.      Firms from this state have been hit extremely hard with fines while they assumed management of this new law was being conducted correctly.   With many appeals in place now, Fields is spearheading the arguments with state leaders to refine this confusing new law.      Legislation is in the works for similar programs in NH.  Owners were enlightened to the necessity of staging grass roots campaigns now to help thwart passing this legislation in neighboring states. 
 
A very interactive session was also presented by Mike Ramer of Ramer Search Consultants on Success in 2010 Creative Marketing, PR, and Social Media.   Together with Mike, attendees’ dynamically explored formulas for new strategies for marketing in the changing world of recruiting, offering value added services and creative ways to increase the bottom line through social media and candidate relations.  A New Jersey native, he even dared to taunt this hardcore group from Red Sox Nation by adorning his Yankees enthusiasm which made for some fun camaraderie and radical competition of a different kind.   
 
Attendees felt this extremely valuable event will always be a “must attend” for those that were new to the format.        
 
Submitted by Tracey Madden, McIntosh Staffing.