On Thursday, January 23rd, 2020 the inaugural LA Workplace Summit was held at the Riveter in Marina Del Rey.
It was a gathering of business executives, managers, entrepreneurs, solopreneurs, Millennials, Baby Boomers...all with the common desire to connect, share ideas and activate inspiration around some key organizational leadership topics.
The event space created an instantaneous buzz and excited anticipation upon entering for both the guests and speakers, joining the collective buzz of industrious Riveter members sprinkled throughout the modern, yet welcoming co-working surrounds of wood, steel, concrete and modular furniture.
Once nourished with breakfast snacks and coffee, the attendees were greeted by Riveter Events Director Madelyn Shaughnessy, who also provided a brief explanation of the Riveter’s history, and mission to inspire female collaboration and empowerment, simultaneously building an all-inclusive community.
Launching the first topic Activating the Visionary was Shelly Carlin, the Executive Vice President of HR Policy and its Center On Executive Compensation. Her focus on organizational growth through purposeful visioning had the room enthralled, especially with her anecdotal examples from her time as the Senior Vice President of Human Resources at Motorola Solutions.
Following Shelly was the charismatic self-mastery expert Mary Jo Lorei who took the room on an experiential journey and exploration of personal vision, and its relation to the collective vision of teams and companies. The intimacy and connection created during Mary Jo’s 45 minute workshop was the perfect way to warm up the crowd, and have them get to know themselves and each other a little better.
Just before the first break, Co-host Mark Francis introduced Jorge Garcia, the Head of Partner Development for Everytable, who also provided guests with a delicious array of nutritious salads for lunch. Jorge explained the powerful vision of Everytable to “make good food accessible to everyone, no exceptions.”
After the lunch break, the second segment commenced which focused on the topic of Millennial Motivation. Shawn Lipman, the CEO of thriving E-commerce company Feedonomics blew minds with his personal account of leading organizations with a culture focus. He also described both the differences and similarities between the Millennials and other Generations with regards to motivation and employee engagement, while describing the creativity and capabilities of Millennials as “lightning in a bottle” that requires the appropriate leadership skills to harness.
Following Shawn was former College and NFL quarterback coach Evan Burk, who now coaches business executives, including the emerging Esports space, where there is certainly an abundance of Millennial generation influence. Evan used his exceptional story telling ability to engage and educate the audience how to lead Millennials.
Closing out the day with the third and final segment Inspiring Emotional Intelligence (EQ) were co-hosts Marc Stcherbina of Winning EQ and Mark Francis of Uspire. Stcherbina concentrated on one of the most important aspects of EQ – Empathy. Attendees once again had the opportunity to connect with a partner, and practice building empathy through active listening skills.
Mark Francis continued the theme of creating a dynamic experience, with his workshop on identifying the leading behavioral styles of oneself and others. There were plenty of a-ha moments accompanied by laughter, which was the perfect way to lead the audience into the fundraising raffle, followed by happy hour.
Attendees dug into their pockets and collectively raised $660 to be donated to the Foundation for Rural and Regional Renewal, a fabulous organization leading the efforts in rebuilding the devastation caused by the tragic bushfires in Australia.
A special mention to Angel Bags, Soulcycle, Modo Yoga, F45 Manhattan Beach, Color Wine, Gloveworx, Surf Air and LA Galaxy for donating some incredible prizes.
The fun continued with a Happy Hour mingle at the end of the day, fueled by our good friends at Sufferfest Beer, Color Wine and GT's Kombucha. Attendees were able to connect further with other attendees, and also ask the guest speakers some burning questions on the themes discussed throughout the Summit.
If you are interested in gaining access to video footage of the sessions throughout the day, just leave your name and email below for information about accessibility to the LA Workplace Summit video library.