Victory in Valley Forge

 

Viridian’s first regional training event of the year was held this weekend in snowy King of Prussia, PA at the Valley Forge Convention Center. Over 500 Viridian Associates traveled from all over to attend the first stop of January’s regional roadshow.

 

Leadership Dinner: The weekend kicked off on Friday night with the Leadership Dinner for Directors and above at Magianno’s Little Italy. Viridian’s crew of leaders and corporate staff got cozy in a private dining room where the group discussed Michael Fallquist’s interview on Fox 29 in Philadelphia that morning, and the jam-packed agenda for Saturday. A few lucky Associates even got a sneak peak at the 2010 Sustainability Report, which had been delivered from the printer that morning: literally hot off the press!

 

Lead by Example: Saturday’s registration got off to a bright and very early 7 am start. Registrants filed into the expansive downstairs space of the convention center, meeting fellow Associates while they waited outside the doors to get front row seats. The session kicked off with SVP Robert A. McFadden’s opening address, which set the day’s tone by reviewing 5 pillars of a strong Viridian foundation: Industry, company, product, team and YOU. The presenting Associates followed suit: Terrie Walker and Scott Friedman talked about the importance of perfecting your sales pitch and practice, practice, practice, Henri Aymonier reminded us to continually edify those around you, and Bob Quintana inspired us to set SMART goals for 2011 — even urging us to get out a pen and “write it down!” Jenna Marzullo and Sabrina Allard presented on the importance of a clear vision and a well-defined “why”, Mike Masiero gave a BIG talk about building a HUGE list, and Joel Brizzi admitted to a steamy love affair… with his electric meter.

 

WE LOVE NY: The big announcement of the morning was our launch plan for New York. The Viridian executive team revealed the beautiful new “I LEAF NY” Viridian -shirts onstage and announced the February 14 Con Edison market launch. After the big news, Associates took a session break and received this announcement handout: 8 Reasons to love 2011. Read it to see the exciting improvements we are making to our programs and compensation plan in the coming months.  

 

Generation V: Who are we? We aren’t just baby boomers, or Generation X, or even Y. We are the Viridian generation: Generation V. CEO Michael Fallquist delivered the afternoon’s keynote address with an extra dose of green. Mike introduced the concept of ‘Generation V’ simultaneously with the first edition of the annual Sustainability Report. He emphasized the importance of the report’s content, highlighted two of Viridian’s renewable resource facilities located in Connecticut and shared the story of Derrek Thomas, a Viridian Associate whose story of wind turbine installation is featured in the report. After his address, the Viridian store, located just outside of the general session room, sold out of the report before the day was over. But don’t worry, a PDF version is available for download in the resources section of liveviridian and the printed version (produced with 100% post-consumer fiber, that is to say no new trees!) is available for purchase on shopviridian.com. There is a limited quantity in print — get your copy now!

 

Kudos to Close: By the end of the day the exhaustive agenda left little room for more learning, but after a critical reminder of the top 10 compliance mistakes there was plenty of time to wrap up and recognize our emerging group of leaders. Glen Crawford and Bob Quintana led the recognition of elite ranks, and brought to stage the men and women who are rising up to fill these awe-inspiring roles. The day ended on a high note of leadership and inspiration — one that we hope can only be topped by next weekend’s training in Baltimore!