Annual Inspiration

After six decades at the helm of Minnetonka-based Carlson Companies, a multi-billion-dollar marketing, travel, and hospitality business, Curt Carlson decided to hand over the corporation to his daughter, Marilyn Carlson Nelson, in 1998. The company would make the announcement at the annual meeting in Las Vegas, coinciding with the company’s 60th anniversary. This was a big deal.

“She needed to shake everybody up,” says Geri Schmid, travel account manager for Carlson Marketing, of the new leader. The company arranged for Carlson Nelson to ride in a fighter jet with the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds. Images of the flight were displayed in a montage played during the meeting’s opening.

Then, as the pictures began to fade from the screen, a figure dressed in a flight suit swooped down a zip line from the balcony. The person landed on the stage and took off a helmet; it was none other than Carlson Nelson.

Not only did the stunt rivet the audience (and impress them—Carlson Nelson is a grandmother), but it reinforced the idea that a dynamic leader was taking the reins of the company. “That’s why the introduction of the meeting was so key,” says Schmid. “Marilyn needed to send a strong, meaningful, impactful message: ‘I’m here, in charge, committed, and I’m going to do what it takes.’”

Introducing new leadership is just one of the reasons companies hold annual meetings. These are also prime opportunities to assess a business’s accomplishments, review financials, share sales strategies, and reward outstanding performance.

However, an overload of dry statistics can make the yearly gathering an insipid event. Innumerable graphs and tepid speeches can seem indistinguishable from one another; numbers jumble; the employee of the year gets a plaque.

If a company pays big bucks to pull together stakeholders for an annual meeting, it should make sure people get something from it. Fortunately, many meeting planners are pepping up events in novel ways to keep attendees entertained and engaged.