TCYP Annual Conference Recap

Last week, I joined around 50 young professionals in the TC area for a fun-filled day we like to call the TCYP Annual Conference! This year the TCYPs decided to do something a little "out-of-the-hotel-conference-room" and into the great northern Michigan outdoors. As you can imagine, it was an incredibly good time and a beautiful place to spend the day (even if it was chilly and a bit rainy).

This year's conference took place at the Leelanau Outdoor Center, which is a camp during the summer and acts as a company/school retreat facility in the fall and winter. It never ceases to amaze me how many wonderful things there are in our area that I've never seen or experienced before, and the Leelanau Outdoor Center (lovingly dubbed "LOC") is one of those places. The whole property took my breath away, and it made me want to be a kid at summer camp all over again. Luckily, that is essentially what I got to do: play games and have fun with total strangers who end up being my friends at the end of the day, all while playing outside and stepping away from technology. I'm always game for that.

The morning started off with a hot (delicious) breakfast and gave us the chance to meet with some new friends and reconnect with old friends. Everyone gathered in the great house, which was nice because it kept us out of the rain during the worst of it.

After breakfast, we listened to Bill Marsh Jr. give the keynote address. I found Bill's presentation to be insightful, beneficial, and relevant to my life and where I am in my career. He talked about personal branding, and how to view yourself as a brand where people come to expect certain things from you as an individual just as we expect certain things from other brands we use. What do you stand for? How do you present yourself to people? Do you deliver a consistent high-quality product to everyone you work with, so that they know what to expect when they work with you? It made me think about who I am, how I want to be perceived by the world, and what I need to change to get what I really want out of life (and also spend more time pinning down what I really want out of life. As he put it, the steps are very straight-forward and easy to grasp but are difficult to think about and put into place. I am working each day to take what he said into consideration for my life as both an individual and as a professional.

After all that sitting and focusing, it was time to head outside and start moving! We were broken up into groups and set off to do some team-building and communicating activities, which were really fun and very challenging. For instance, I was blindfolded while my team tried to guide me to swing over to a wooden platform 12 feet away. Oh, yeah, and only 2 members of my 10-person team could talk. It was intimidating, but I learned to work together with these total strangers and trust in them to help the whole team succeed. We also did a balancing-beam-type activity (shown above) where we needed to move from the little square platforms and move the beams to get our whole team across to the other side...without talking to each other. Pretty nuts!

It was great learning more about my team members and working together to accomplish something even though we didn't know each other at all when the morning started. We established a sense of companionship and teamwork through our body language, physical actions, and attentiveness to each other without being allowed to talk to each other for 90% of the activities. I didn't realize how tricky or rewarding it would be, but I definitely noticed the growth in our group and how much more relaxed and comfortable we were with each other when we were finished.

The LOC is located right on the coast of Lake Michigan, so I was ecstatic that we were able to go down to the beach before lunch. I mean, just look at that beautiful water! Even on a cloudy, rainy, chilly day...I am still so calmed and yet exhilarated by the power and magnitude of Lake Michigan.

After another delicious and satisfying meal, we were off to some more fun! Rock climbing, canoeing, a high ropes course, ziplining...man, I really do want to go back to summer camp!!

I chose to do the climbing wall and the zipline, and I was pumped about both my choices. I realized two-thirds up one of the climbing walls that I was pretty uncomfortable up there and maybe a bit scared of heights, so I came back down. But, I gave the "harder" wall a chance and made it all the way to the top with the help of one of the LOC counselors and my fellow YPs cheering me on. I was very proud! Everyone did a great job. I had to go over and see what the ropes course crew was up to, though, because it looked like one sweet ropes course.

 

We also got to ride the 250' zipline through the forest, which is ALWAYS fun. Still, I think it's even more fun when you're with a fantastic group of YPs and you're trying to shoot a ball into a basketball hoop situated halfway down the course. Just sayin'.

Our day concluded with a hike up to Pyramid Point. If you live in the TC area and you've still never had your breath knocked out of you from the view at the top of Pyramid Point, you absolutely positively MUST GO. It is one of the most fantastic views in the whole area, and it's a very secluded hike...it is not as popular as some of the other sights in the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, which makes it feel even more intimate and personal. Like I said, even on a "bleh" kind of day, there is something magical about this place we are lucky to call home.

Warren Call, 2013 TCYP Chair, trying to convince everyone to run to the bottom of the sand dune...or something.

Our group had diminished some by the end of the day (I heard that some canoes flipped over the in water...ouch), but I still had the opportunity to meet new YPs I didn't get to see during the rest of the day and connect with some fantastic people. Oh, and did I mention that Pyramid Point is amazing?

Overall, the conference exceeded my already-high expectations. I met some truly fantastic and inspirational people, and I felt that I grew as an individual and as a professional. I was challenged, I tackled new activities, and I was able to make some real connections with professionals who are my age and live in my town. There is a great strength and comfort that comes with being around like-minded people who are ambitious, intelligent, passionate about what they do, and in love with this region we all call home. I was so glad I was able to be a part of this day and learn so much from so many people. It was a wonderful experience, and I already can't wait until next year!

Did you attend the TCYP Annual Conference? What did you think about it? Please share your feedback and thoughts in the comments below!

- Mo

An Overview of the TCYP Annual Conference

Yesterday was the Traverse City Young Professionals Annual Conference (if you're friends with me on Facebook you already know this. I may or may not have been casually mentioning it for the past month or so) and it was quite the event.

Everyone in attendance left the event feeling like they had gained a ton of knowledge, tips and tricks from all of the speakers they experienced.

The day started out with Keynote Speaker, Organized Audrey. Audrey was not only a joy to chat with, she gave a presentation that I'm pretty positive inspired everyone in the room to live a much more organized life. Her audience was engaged the entire time- seriously...someone had to take a bathroom break and literally sprinted back into the room so they wouldn't miss too much of her speech...she was that great.

When Audrey's presentation concluded, we had a round table session with a wide variety of topics. When I say wide variety...I mean a wiiiiide variety. We had Round Table topics that spanned from "What is Rotary" to "Vegan and Vegetarian Living" all the way to "How to Exercise at Your Desk." All of our speakers came prepared with goodies for attendees and all the knowledge a person could want about the subject being presented. I also want to let everyone reading this blog know that yes, you can work out your triceps while at work.

The Lunch Panel speakers were not only an impressive and influential bunch, they also had great advice and interesting things to say. The topic of the panel was "Things I wish I knew when I was 24," so the audience of YPs was absolutely kept engaged.

The afternoon breakout sessions were a hit- speed networking even had to turn YPs away first session because it reached max capacity! All of the other breakout speakers were extremely well received and from the feedback I've received thus far, all of the YPs were very happy with the presentations and were kept engaged the entire hour they were in attendance. The speakers I spoke to said that all of the YPs had excellent questions and were a fantastic audience- way to represent Traverse City, YPs!

The conference was followed by a reception in Aerie Lounge, which was a hit (but when is Aerie Lounge not a wonderful time? You really cannot go wrong!).

All in all, this year's conference was very well-received! Thank you to everyone who attended and we cannot wait to see you at the YP events coming up early next year and at the 2013 conference!

So...what are your plans on October 23rd?

Seriously. What are your plans on October 23rd?

Well, perhaps I should start out by asking you a few questions:

1. Are you are Young Professional between the ages of 21-40?
2. Do you enjoy networking with other Young Professionals in your community?
3. Would you like to learn from some of Traverse City's leaders?
4. Do you enjoy having your head shot taken....for free?
5. Would you like to spend a day doing all of these things at the Grand Traverse Resort and Spa?

If you answered "Yes!" to at least two of those questions, then you should look into signing up to attend this year's Traverse City Young Professionals Conference at the Grant Traverse Resort and Spa. And yes...this event is on October 23rd (how observant of you!).

Why am I pushing this event on the blog, you ask? Well, there are quite a few reasons. I believe that it is actually an event that will be worth your time to attend. There are some spectacular speakers lined up and the topics they are speaking about are extremely relevant to Young Professionals and their current interests. There is also a phenomenal keynote speaker, Organized Audrey, who will be able to give you the tips and tricks you need to finally clear out your inbox, organize your files, and avoid sending irritating emails (Admit it...you've probably CC'd far too many people at some point. It's okay, we've all been there). I'm also promoting this event because I'm one of the coordinators for it.

...but that does not mean that I am shamelessly self-promoting. I bring up the fact that I'm assisting in the coordination since because of that, I know how excited all of the speakers are to be involved. I am the one who receives phone calls and emails from speakers and speed networkers and such telling me that they are honored to have been invited because they believe that Young Professionals is an outstanding organization and that Traverse City's YPs are just such impressive individuals. I also know all of the topics for the round table discussions, break out sessions and other speeches, so I know that they are actually topics that I cannot wait to hear about.

As a YP - especially one who is on the lower end of the age spectrum - I can tell you that the topics of discussions and speeches are exactly what I would like to learn about. The topics span from business etiquette to learning how to keep the workplace green and even a discussion on ways to exercise while at your desk.

So basically what I'm saying is- this is such a wonderful opportunity- one that is right in the Grand Traverse area! Do yourself a favor and sign up to attend right here. You will not want to miss this- invite your friends, spread the word, and hopefully I'll see you there!