Yes, And...
Last week, we invited all of our sales and marketing mutts to an off-site summit of sorts. After receiving a vaguely-titled "Sales And Marketing Training" calendar invite, most of us were expecting a day featuring coffee, baked goods, and some of Ben Savage's greatest PowerPoint hits.
Imagine our surprise when a stranger in a blue blazer herded us into a lopsided circle and informed us that we'd spend the rest of the morning learning about improv.
“I’m sorry, what?”
Shawn Westfall, Artistic Director at The Unified Scene and CEO of Commedia Partners, guided us through a handful of warmups while he explained how the basic principles of improv (escaping your ego for the good of the group, maintaining eye contact, etc.) could be applied to the "real world," which, in our case, happens to be the world of brewing and selling amazing craft beer.
Highlights of our training session included a multi-faceted marketing plan for sponges...keto-friendly, sustainably-sourced sponges made specifically for giraffes and endorsed by Geoffrey himself (we could get him on the cheap since he's recently unemployed) and Shawn conducting an orchestra of people with incredibly strong emotional responses to inanimate household items:
It was silly, revealing, easy and thoughtful all at the same time. Those who follow our brand know we're always down to get a little weird, so seeing our team grow as John became more and more jealous of his microwave was just icing on the cake.