October 5, 2020 • 35 mins
BONUS EPISODE!!!
We have so much great content that this week you get two episodes! *Cue the airhorns*
Staceyann and Patrick are joined by Nevar Cambell CMP - President of MPI Tampa and Event Sales and Services Manager at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay. This week we discuss virtual learning, site visits, staying connected and cocktails!
Make sure you rate and subscribe wherever you are listening!
Email us your questions and event stories to be featured on the show:
wellseasonededucation@gmail.com
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Staceyann VanHorne-Doria (00:01):
Hey everyone, I'm sure you're
wondering why we're in yourpodcast feed on a Monday. We
have so many episodes lined upfor you and we want to make sure
we get them out while stilltimely and relevant. So enjoy
today's bonus episode and comeback on Wednesday for another
one. I'm not saying that I'mdrinking but I'm saying that
drinking may come up today. Soenjoy and thanks for listening!
(00:42):
Hey everybody welcome back toanother episode of Well Seasoned
the Podcast we are going to talkabout something that is so
highly relevant right now in theage of COVID. And it is about
selling so Patrick, who are wewith today?
Patrick Brochu (00:58):
Today we have a very special guest and I'm
honored to have her on we kindof sprung this one on her last
minute and she agreed to do itbut no surprise there. Once you
know who we're talking about.
This is novar Campbell, c. m pshe is the event sales and
service manager at Busch GardensTampa Bay. But she is also the
president of MPI Tampa BayShapter. What what!
Staceyann VanHorne-Doria (01:24):
We only two big things here only
big things.
Patrick Brochu (01:26):
MPI president only big things. She also has a
awesome Instagram feed. It'scalled a Campbell and a
Cocktail. And maybe we'll everif we have time talk about that
a little bit later. So welcomethe bar. Thanks for joining us.
Nevar Campbell (01:41):
Thank you so much for having me. I'm excited
to be here.
Staceyann VanHorne-Doria (01:44):
Thank you. Is there anything you want
to add to that all of yourtitles and all the importance? I
feel like the minion right nowI've been depressed guys,
Nevar Campbell (01:52):
Patrick, that was a great introduction. Thank
you so much. It's been a joybeing a part of MPI Tampa Bay
tell I got to meet both of you.
So MTI is just such a greatorganization. But I love what I
do at my park. And what I do onmy Instagram just brings so e
joy at home
Staceyann VanHorne-Doria (02:09):
and that's what it should be right
like people go to social mediaand they get all stressed out
and they want to live up itshould be your joy. So that's
awesome.
Patrick Brochu (02:16):
Like Stacey, your joy on your social media
feeds is mostly about yourcooking.
Staceyann VanHorne-Doria (02:21):
That's it I cook everything and I, I
could spend days cooking like Ihave done sous vide for like 48
hours and I enjoyed it.
Patrick Brochu (02:28):
And the two of you guys both of your feeds on
your Instagram look soprofessionally done awesome
shots of a drink awesome shotsof food. But mine's a little all
over the place. I guess if I hada patch, you would just be the
kids because you know, whatever.
Everybody loves my kids morethan they love me. But that's
boring. I'm not jealous all thetime. You should be Yep,
Nevar Campbell (02:46):
They're stinking cute.
Staceyann VanHorne-Doria (02:47):
They really are
Patrick Brochu (02:48):
One of them was just out here with me and made
an appearance a minute ago. Buthe's disappeared since.
Staceyann VanHorne-Doria (02:52):
Funny because he's walking around with
his helmet on
Patrick Brochu (02:54):
Yeah, who knows he might be back. We'll jump
right into today's topic. Today,we wanted to talk about selling
in the age of COVID. I askedNevar on because she has been
instrumental in virtualnetworking events, both within
MPI and other areas. So she cantalk about that from that angle,
but also talk about her jobduring this COVID situation that
we're dealing with. Let's startby talking about virtual
(03:16):
networking. We can talk aboutplatforms that we want. But one
thing that I think isinteresting is times of these
virtual events, what platformshave you used in this virtual
networking, not a virtualconference, but virtual
networking Nevar or Stacey, thatyou guys find the best?
Staceyann VanHorne-Doria (03:34):
In terms of virtual networking, I
find that everyone is prettymuch sticking to the go twos,
right. They have a lot of zooms,they have go to meetings, you're
seeing a little bit of MicrosoftTeams pop up. And of course now
because of COVID a lot of peopleare getting on to this special
platforms like the individualplatforms where you could have
(03:54):
like a trade show and yourbreakout meetings and whatnot. I
don't know what you're seeing alot of on your sidebar.
Nevar Campbell (04:00):
Yeah, I'm definitely more zoom base and
always throws me off when Idon't check a meeting. Notice
before I go and login, I'm like,Oh, no, I don't have this one.
Staceyann VanHorne-Doria (04:08):
I know exactly right.
Nevar Campbell (04:09):
I have to hurry and get signed up
Patrick Brochu (04:10):
That is annoying the bar because it's like today,
you're automatically thinking,Okay, we're so busy with so many
back-to-back-back virtualmeetings. It's like, okay, zoom,
I've got my goto meeting. I'vegot my team's downloaded. And
then somebody sends you one formeeting XYZ, new one that you
have to download. And you'relike, Oh my god, I didn't
realize and then you're likescrambling and like you start
sweating. And
Staceyann VanHorne-Doria (04:32):
you're like I'm running late, because I
didn't realize it's gonna takeme 10 minutes to download this
new platform or app to getonline app to sign up here. And
it's not very consistent. Likewith Teams, I noticed,
especially with Teams Live,people have the ability to log
on anonymously. You don'tactually see who you're speaking
to you unless they're in thechat. And they say I had to log
on anonymously. But my name isStacey and I'm like, well, that
(04:54):
kind of sucks. There's just somany platforms out there now.
And obviously we're seeing waymore people because of what's
happening, and that can be sofrustrating because you have to
learn about it. But like, Iknow, there's just a time
element of it. Because that'sthe only way we can get in front
of people, are you noticing thatit's starting to encroach on
your personal time? Everyone'shaving a meeting at every time
(05:18):
of day and they want you they'relike, how are you managing that?
Nevar Campbell (05:21):
Oh, wow. Yeah, it seems like I'm now taking,
it's gonna sound terrible takingcalls in the car, on my way home
from work, I have the video off,but I still want to be a part of
it and not miss out. Like, maybeit's time that like, while we
were in quarantine, time wasn'tan issue. It was like, I could
take a Zoom at six o'clock,because I hadn't done anything
(05:42):
all day. And now I'm jugglingwork and being home. And I'm
like, I still signed on to this,even though it's kind of late.
And I'm like, Yeah, I might aswell
Staceyann VanHorne-Doria (05:49):
Yeah it's that work life balance,
where we as society have alwaysdone a really horrible job of
the work life balance, and COVIDhappened. And it was like this
automatic assumption, especiallywithin the events world that you
had nothing to do like you wereautomatically let go or you were
furloughed, and you know, youhave to stay relevant. So you
have to attend all these things.
And it's exactly what she said,I can't tell you the amount of
(06:11):
times I've taken a zoom call inCostco or on my way to doing
whatever, where I'm just like, Idon't want to sit in front of a
computer again, I just want tobe outside, you're sitting
outside in your backyard.
Because what else I mean,outside is closed, you can't
really do much. So it's reallyhard. How do you bounce it? and
Patrick, like you said, You havetwins? How are you bouncing it
(06:33):
with all these calls?
Patrick Brochu (06:34):
It's super difficult. And I won't say that
I'm necessarily proficient at iteither. And I personally
probably need to do a better jobthat that work life balance, but
one of the things like Nevarsaid that I think is
interesting, because during theheight of quarantine, and you
know, right now we're at thisweird place, and some people are
still corn, some people aren'tand things are getting back to
normal and some places but notothers. But like Nevar was
(06:55):
saying that she is back to work.
So at the beginning of COVID,like the happy hours became
popular, and me and thenetworking side, love the happy
hours, because I was actuallygetting to know more people more
frequently and bringing morepeople into my personal network,
also enabling me to be able toexpand my network outside of
just my area. But you know,though, back then the happy
hours were four or five bucks.
(07:17):
But now because some people aregoing back to work, they're
getting pushed back. And thatwas that's meaning for certain
people. Okay, nevarez in thecar, you're at Costco, me, I'm
here at my house where I live,we're still in the strict
quarantine. But I've been now inmy home office working all day
on proposals reaching out topeople, but then at night, it's
maybe I go eat dinner, and thenI come back to my office. And
(07:37):
then I'm working more. And mywife is asking, Well, why are
you doing this? Well, I have toexpand my network. So it's like
a weird time thing that's goingon, especially cuz we're all in
different places, and all indifferent situations.
Staceyann VanHorne-Doria (07:48):
I'm in northern Nevada, in Reno. And
there's still obviously somerestrictions that's in place,
things have opened up. Butthere's still a lot of
restrictions in place. And youknow, it's just about your
comfort level, are you ready toactually re enter the world. But
I find that there's just alsostill an oversaturation of these
events. They know companiesthat's doing a virtual event
(08:10):
every day of the week.
Patrick Brochu (08:11):
Yeah.
Staceyann VanHorne-Doria (08:11):
And then the sales rep that's doing
one specialty for their regionevery Thursday, and then there's
maybe their region that's doingone every Friday the varg.
What's your company doing interms of virtual events? Are you
guys doing a lot? Or...?
Nevar Campbell (08:24):
Company wise, since I'm at a theme park, we're
not doing anything virtual. Themost is what I'm actually doing
for my clients. I did kind ofsee with getting familiar with
Zoom during all of this, I'venow found new ways of like
reaching my clients instead ofhaving them come out physically
for a site that isn't always theeasiest, especially if it's a
client out of city or out ofstate, I've now moved to more of
(08:48):
a virtual platform for my sitetours and being able to walk
them through it all more thanjust the proposal live they've
received. But like for MPI, wewent from having two virtual
networking events a week we dida coffee talk every Tuesday
morning, and then a five o'clocksomewhere every Thursday. Now we
(09:08):
do one a week and it rotatesbetween a Tuesday or Thursday.
And we've definitely seen likeour numbers drop off, but at the
same time, we have members thatwe're trying to keep engaged.
It's hard if you keep it goingfor the few or you kind of start
to eliminate it completelybecause Tampa's like Reno and
that most things are back tonormal. You just have to wear a
(09:30):
mask.
Staceyann VanHorne-Doria (09:31):
You mentioned two things there that
I thought was interesting nowthat we're kind of getting back
into the routine with MPI, youkind of have to shift what you
were doing before but let's talkabout what you're doing at Busch
Gardens because what I findfantastic about what you just
said is so many people are doingthese Zoom meetings and it's you
sit there you talk, you mightshare a presentation but now
you're doing it as your virtualwalkthrough right? So how would
(09:54):
you actually conducting thatbecause that is something that
is a little bit different. Youdon't have to feel like you
You're just in office? Are youliterally walking with a phone?
Are you doing a PowerPoint? Howdo you do that?
Nevar Campbell (10:05):
So I've done both options. Okay, so like, I
know, there's plenty of reallycool platforms out there that
you can do like the 360 tourswith and stuff. But like right
now isn't the time a company cankind of invest in those options.
So it's getting really nittygritty, I'm very lucky to have a
(10:27):
great photographer andvideographer on our team. So I
can always ask him for somephotos. So professional, photo
wise, I've put together aPowerPoint that kind of walks
our clients through each of ourdifferent spaces and
subscripting. Art, it's not thestandard for wall ballroom and
seeing a area of the park andhow you can activate it. I've
(10:48):
done that. And then I've alsojust gotten on FaceTime or zoom,
and like, physically walkedthrough the park and showed them
the animals. And, yeah
Staceyann VanHorne-Doria (10:58):
I think that's awesome. Because
like, as a planner, I need to bein the space, I want to feel the
space and see the room. Andthere's a reason why we conduct
site visits, right? You couldsee the pictures online, but
it's different kind ofexperience it the thought of
Okay, yeah, I'm getting on thezoom conference, but it's not
the usual like, we're going tobe talking we're going to be
walking, she's going to beshowing me the space, I think is
(11:21):
such a draw, or even with myteam, what I started doing is
we're moving away from theseated zoom meeting, and we'll
take the phone and just walkwith the dog or now everyone's
doing the what's going in yourbackyard, you know, just
something different, because itcan just get repetitive. So I do
like that. I like that a lot.
Patrick Brochu (11:42):
Yeah, 100%, I want to go back a little bit to
what Nevar was saying aboutkeeping those members engaged --
With MPI?
-- one thing that I found,yeah, with MPI, and just
networking in general, one thingthat we found is I do know, from
MPI global, their education ison an all time high. So people
(12:03):
are trying to go back, get somecertifications, you know,
filling their time up with this.
But well, we've been finding ourchapter level with our chapter
events with our chaptereducation, our numbers virtually
weren't very high, we weregetting much higher numbers on
our networking side than on ourour education side, which is
interesting, because MPIGlobal's reporting that they're
receiving so much in theireducation, but what we're
finding down here and in ourmarket is just people wanted to
(12:25):
connect and stay connected. Andoverall, that's the the point of
our industry, right? MPI's thingis, we know, when we meet, we
change the world, it's abouthaving people there in the
ballroom in person live. Andright now, because we can't do
that we're striving for the nextbest thing. I know that there's
a fear for some people that arelike some of these virtual
things that so much better. No,this is not going to take the
(12:46):
place, this is going to be atemporary thing. And maybe some
of this will be integrated forthe future. But I guess my rant
here is people want to have thatconnection with other people. I
can't tell you how many timesthat I've signed up for what I
thought was going to be avirtual networking event. And
you get on and it's actually awebinar. And then you're like,
oh, man, I'm on here because Iwanted to connect with somebody.
(13:07):
Yeah, you know, now I'm like,Oh, I'm on this webinar and
comment in the chat or whatever.
And maybe I see somebody I know,chat back and forth with them in
the chat while the webinarsgoing on. But I want more that
connection. I've been strivingfor that connection in our in
Staceyann VanHorne-Doria (13:21):
I think there's so much going on
our industry.
now, are you we're saying wedon't have the funds do a lot
right now in our industry, yougot to make whatever tools work.
And I think that has caused usto be more forgiving. In a lot
of ways. We're event planners weare um, we're a group of
judgmental people.
Nevar Campbell (13:42):
100%
Patrick Brochu (13:42):
Understatement yeah
Staceyann VanHorne-Doria (13:44):
My goodness, I can't go to a
friend's barbecue without beinglike, well, if it were me, I
would have started this 15minutes ago and had everything
laid out.
Patrick Brochu (13:53):
Yeah, you're looking at the buffet. You're
like, Well, why are the forksover there? And why are the
napkins and who would place thecondiments before the hot dogs
and hambergers?
Staceyann VanHorne-Doria (14:01):
Oh, forget it. going to weddings is
the worst. Oh my gosh, I can'tgo to a wedding without like, if
I go wanting to reach for aradio or wanting to be like,
Hey, hi, there's a spill over inthat corner someone gonna get-I
can't. But like I said, we don'thave the funds. So a lot of
these webinars, a lot of theseevents are free to go to. And so
because of that, there's just somuch more opportunities, right?
(14:22):
Like, you know, before there wasthe big shows, there's the MPIs,
there's the IMEX, there's toConnect Corporate, it goes on
and on. But you have to choosewhich one can I go to because of
location because of timing,travel. And now we have all
these webinars to go to how do Iprioritize my schedule right now
(14:43):
to actually get what I wantbecause it can also start being
repetitive. Like Patrick said,you're signing up for something
that you think is a networkingevent and it's a webinar or I
get maybe two to three emails aday and that's because I highly
filter my emails telling meabout a new planet. form to host
an event after a while it'srepetitive. How do you assess
(15:05):
which one to go to? Like whichevents event which webinar? What
virtual event do you go to? Doyou have a process? Or do you
kind of just feel it out?
Nevar Campbell (15:13):
Oh, I'm a sucker for my association so if it has
MPI in it, I usually give it alittle bit more benefit out of
the doubt. There's also anorganization here in Tampa that
was founded to help eventindustry professionals. It's a
grant-based companyorganizations that people can
fill out and receive fundingfrom them. But they started
(15:36):
actually doing their own virtualnetworking sessions. A lot of
it's just complaining. But ithas been good to like listen to
Patrick Brochu (15:45):
not complaining, venting
Nevar Campbell (15:47):
Venting, but it's been good to listen to and
kind of hear what everybody elseis going through. And especially
it's a different dynamic thenwas most associations are made
out of because it could be aphotographer, a hairdresser,
kind of wide range AV companies.
So it's been interesting tolisten in on some of those
conversations. So I want to seethose pop up. I'm always like,
(16:10):
oh, maybe I'll check it out. ButI've participated in a couple of
those like, oh, webinar,networking things, or they have
like a catchy subject line. Andthen when you actually watch it
that had nothing to do with whatI thought I was signing up for.
Patrick Brochu (16:26):
Oh that's the worst.
Staceyann VanHorne-Doria (16:26):
Yeah the marketing team did not speak
to the creative. And it's justwas basically about what means
that obviously, president ofMPI, does we know where your
priorities lie, right. So it'skind of about your personal
priorities. I think, on my side,I think my priorities shift to
be week to week or day to day,right. It's kind of dependent on
(16:48):
what my companies that Irepresent me one week, it might
be, I need you to find aplatform another week, it might
be how do we creatively designour agenda in a virtual world?
No, we do not want to attend anevent at 7pm on a Friday,
because it's virtual? No,doesn't mean I need to be on a
virtual event for 10 hours. No,I think it's kind of week to
(17:12):
week on that, you know, how Itry to manage my schedule and
what I'm trying to learn. And atthe same time, it's, you're kind
of forced to be a jack of alltrades. Right now, if the world
was open outside, I would neverbe attending webinars about a
virtual event platform.
Patrick Brochu (17:26):
Yeah.
Staceyann VanHorne-Doria (17:27):
It wasn't going to happen, or how
to creatively design an agendafor virtual event or stuff like
that I just would not beattending. And I think also for
me, I do crave that networkingin the hospitality because even
though I'm a member of MPI, I'min an area that doesn't have a
local MPI chapter. So I'mactually pretty active in
Florida's chapter in Florida'shappy hour events, because I
(17:49):
want that interaction. I want tocontinue learning and I've
learned a lot from hotels juston what they're doing to be safe
in the world right now. Whatabout you, Patrick?
Patrick Brochu (17:59):
For me, the advantage has been, I'm used to
hopping on a plane going to acity, maybe I'm attending an
event, maybe not, and thendoing, you know, a series of
sales calls or something likethat in a specific city. But now
you know, I'm not having toleave my house to do it. I'm
actually able to go to othergeographic regions quicker by
dropping in. And again, likeNevar said, using those
(18:21):
associations, whether it be MPIor CITE or a few other
organizations that on theirmailing list, CITE Minnesota is
having a networking event. I doknow a few people. So I wrote
some people out in Minnesota forHey, are you attending this?
Yeah, but then I got myself anattendee buddy that can start
introducing me to people in thatregion. So you have a virtual
attendee buddy. Yeah, thevirtual attendee buddy in that
(18:42):
region. And Stacey, it's funnybecause this is something that
we actually talked about in ourlive in person meetings in our
networking. So one, we talkedabout having that attendee
buddy, like, if you're at anevent, trying to get somebody to
go with you, or, or meet thatone person, make a connection
and walk around with becausewhen you're with somebody, it
helps you not feel like justthat lonely person out and the
two of you together can improvesomebody easier than just you
Staceyann VanHorne-Doria (19:03):
So you and Nevar need to be virtual
attendee buddies, for sure.
Patrick Brochu (19:06):
Oh, trust me, we have we've been virtual attendee
buddies on a computer. Yeah. Butthat's been the one advantage to
this is I've been able to expandmy network and therefore my
company's network throughoutthis process that's been going
on. So the end of the day, yeah.
Are we down revenue? Absolutely.
Everybody is but you know, we'reactually trying to use this time
to expand our network. And nowwe have so many new people and
(19:29):
clients and clients that nowknow as they didn't know us.
Staceyann VanHorne-Doria (19:32):
That's interesting. You said expanding
the network and growing thatway. It'stough to say, how are
we pivoting in ways-
Patrick Brochu (19:40):
oh that word
Staceyann VanHorne-Doria (19:41):
I know right? How many times have you
heard that word. Now? How are wepivoting in ways that stays true
to us? We're trying to findcreative ways to bring in funds
but it's not. I'm an eventprofessional. I'm not a car
salesman. I'm not a professionallandscaper ight? So how can I I
use my expertise in a way that'sgoing to expand and stay true to
(20:05):
us. I don't know, has BuschGardens done anything? Or have
you yourself Nevar done anythingthat you would not have done
January, February, that you'redoing now that you're kind of
learning and growing from?
Nevar Campbell (20:16):
I think, for me, the biggest thing was the online
education that became available,a lot of our local universities,
all the different eithercertificate programs, our free
continuing education. So Isigned up for a couple from UCF
on management skills and kind ofgrowing myself outside of my
(20:36):
field. That's kind of huge tome, but the park wise, we're
just taking all of our seats,
Staceyann VanHorne-Doria (20:41):
But you're saying management skills,
right? That's not even outside.
That's something that you useeverywhere, right?
Nevar Campbell (20:47):
Yeah, exactly.
Like I'm taking personalfinance, management and
communication. So it's, therehave been cool classes, it's all
online, you're not interactingwith anybody else. But it's
perfect. For those days, whenyou don't really want to do
anything. I just like put myiPod on and start taking
classes. It's been great.
Staceyann VanHorne-Doria (21:05):
I know a lot of people are taking them
emergency management classes toI've seen that a lot. Something
I'm doing and I started itbefore, and I'm restarting
again, is I'm studying to be asommelier. So I'm picking up
wine and, and learning aboutwine and old world, new worlds
and different grapes andtechniques and whatnot. It's
(21:25):
just outside. But inside, Imean, how many high end events
do we do where you want to do apairing, right? And it's just a
different step within theindustry. So I mean, I think
that's something that's prettycool. This time forced you to do
things that you didn't have timeto take a management class, you
know, and I think that's prettyawesome. I don't know, Patrick,
what do you think?
Patrick Brochu (21:45):
I think the people like Nevar that have
taken advantage of the time thatwe were given that we didn't
know we were going to be givenand tried to do something with
it. That's the smart thing tohave done. I did a few
certifications FAU presentedone, Hospitality Field One, did
that one, did a few otherthings. And just trying to make
(22:07):
good productive use of my time,but also expanding both for my
company and inside the industry,but also a few things outside of
the industry and Nevar, itsounds like you did the same
thing kind of expanding yourselfhelping yourself. So
Staceyann VanHorne-Doria (22:20):
I also noticed that we are reaching out
to our contacts more than wehave before, right. So all these
wellness checks theorganization, the company is
telling you Hey, you know youneed to call your contacts and
make sure they're okay. And it'skind of turning into this
wellness check slash soft sellkind of call. What's really
(22:41):
funny is when I get the wellnesschecks and people I have no idea
who they are they just checkingin I know you're doing good. I'm
like, I have never--like who are you?
-- spoken to you before a day inmy - who are you? And it turns
into a soft sell. So I don'tknow we as an industry. And as
we keep going right? You get sofocused on doing and selling and
signing the contract. But youforget about the humanity side
(23:04):
of it. Right? When this allstarted, I reached out to most
of my contacts. And I was like,Hey, I know this is a crappy
time. Just checking in makingsure you're okay, hope
everything's doing well. I don'tknow if you've been doing that a
lot on your end with whether ornot it's your contact that you
were close with on a dailybasis, or just someone that you
know, you spoke to once I don'tknow if you've been doing a lot
(23:26):
of those wellness checks.
Nevar Campbell (23:27):
Yeah, I definitely have. So I had
actually just started myposition at Busch Gardens on
March 13.
Staceyann VanHorne-Doria (23:34):
Oh, girl.
Nevar Campbell (23:35):
So, yes. So like the world turned upside down
like almost immediately, and Iwas furloughed on April 1 and
then I started back on June 1.
So like, I didn't really have achance to reach out to any of my
contacts even tell them I wasthere prior to everything
happening. So it wasn't untilbeginning of July, I finally
(23:57):
actually even reached out to mycontacts. And I was just like,
Hi, I want you to know I'm here.
I'm Well, I hope you're welllike so it was such a weird
transition. Prior to this, Ifeel like I constantly wrote
hope you're doing well and anemail. And never really actually
meant that, like I was just likesomething you say, and it has a
(24:18):
whole new meaning now, when youtype in, I hope you're doing
well, right?
Staceyann VanHorne-Doria (24:23):
It's so true. I just had this
conversation with my CEO of mymedical org. And I said, we're
also so accustomed to, likesomeone's asking How you doing?
And you kind of just brush itoff and you're like, Oh, I'm
fine. It's fine. Everything'sall good. And it's like so many
times people have stopped me andbe like, No, seriously, how you
doing? We're all trapped insideoutsides a [sensored] place a
(24:45):
bad place. I don't know if we'recursing or not. And you really
do genuinely want to know like,you know, I have family in the
Bronx. So when people call andthey say How you doing? they
genuinely are asking like youhave family in the epicenter
right now are-is everyone okay?
Or Stacey like you're a socialperson and you're trapped inside
and on my side 2020 has been awhole year.So like, I had this
(25:08):
transition with my personal lifeand my father in law passed away
in February and then COVIDstarted and then my mother in
law moved in, and we didn't knowwhat was the fate of our jobs
and what we were going to do.
And everything happened all atonce. And then somebody asked
(25:28):
how you doing and you just, I'mfine, everything's all good. And
it's like, I just want to gooutside and go to a bar and have
a drink and eat in therestaurant. And I just want to
go see my family in New York.
And I think that's really yourfeelings, you know, and it kind
of puts in perspective howimportant your mental health is,
right? Like it's reallyimportant to get through this.
Patrick Brochu (25:49):
The good news for you. For all of us. There's
only 144 days left in the yearthough we're on the countdown
there. Also, Nevar, one of yourpoints when he said I would
always write you know, thebeginning of an email Hey, hope
you're doing well. And thenhere's my app, or whatever. But
yeah, I switched up and if youguys have ever written me know
that, you know, either my out ofoffice replies normally have
(26:11):
like something humorous at themor you know, I normally put
something funny in there,whatever. And some some people
don't care for the personalityand some people really get a
kick. But at the end of myemails I switched up because I
I've always been short in theend of my emails, I always say
best Patrick, but I switched upand I started to people that
don't know as well I put ahere's my email. Thank you
again, but uh, and then staysafe and sane. And then Patrick,
(26:33):
now if I really know you, I saystay safe, sane and sober.
Staceyann VanHorne-Doria (26:40):
Not with all my cocktails
Patrick Brochu (26:41):
and I normally get replies back off for those
that are like oh my god, youknow me too well. Oh, my
goodness. Yeah. I hope you'redoing well too. Or whatever.
Staceyann VanHorne-Doria (26:49):
What are you doing right now like
through all of this to kind ofjust stay sane? What's your
thing?
Nevar Campbell (26:54):
I ride my bike at least twice a week if not
three or four times a week. Ithink last weekend I did over 50
miles this weekend. It was only35 so it had cleared Yeah. And
then it's all the drinking soit's like I do something healthy
and then I do the drin
Patrick Brochu (27:13):
Well, you and a lot of other people it's kind of
off topic but fun like right nowyou can't buy a bike anywhere
bikes are sold out
Staceyann VanHorne-Dori (27:19):
because I want one it's a bike shortage.
Patrick Brochu (27:21):
Yeah, there's a big bike shortage but also age
wanted to get some kettlebellweights and personal improvement
home stuff is out of stockpeloton there's like a huge
backorder on peloton. So butyeah, it's it's interesting.
Nevar and a lot of people itseems like the outdoors is
obviously become a big thingright now.
Staceyann VanHorne-Doria (27:37):
Yeah, I have a Peloton. So I have been
riding my Peloton. I want toactually get a bike to venture
outside but bike shortage.
There's none. So Reno is rightnear Lake Tahoe and Truckee in
California. And so I live inthis like beautiful area where I
could go hiking, this bronzegirl has bought hiking shoes,
and I actually do hikes now. Andit's hilarious because like my
(27:59):
mom is like, I don't want tohear anything about your hikes.
There's snakes, there'swildlife, I don't want to have
anything to do. Don't tell meabout it. Just call me and ask
me how my day is. That's it.
Like that's the only thing todo. I truly am enjoying it. You
have to find some way to get outthere and I have a sensitivity
to sitting in front of thescreen too long. Like once I'm
done with work I typically don'tlike getting back on the
(28:21):
computer again. That's that'sall we do is look at screen so I
like just getting outside anddoing something and not having
to interact with a another bluelight.
Nevar Campbell (28:31):
Yeah, I love hiking. I keep seeing everybody
that's doing all these crosscountry trips right now and
going all these national parksand I'm like, Man, I'm like I
want to go and do that. Likethis would be the perfect time
the parks aren't packed
Patrick Brochu (28:43):
We've had the same thought here pages like oh,
let's rent an RV and
Staceyann VanHorne-Doria (28:46):
No I'm not doing that. That's too much
just too much of a commitment tothe outside. I'm not doing it.
Patrick Brochu (28:51):
Well we are at that time and I can't believe
it's flown by this fast. Solet's go ahead and do one last
night
Staceyann VanHorne-Doria (28:56):
To wrap up. I wanted Nevar to leave
us with your personal nugget ofwisdom. It could be anything
from how to mix a cocktail. Whatyour favorite cocktail is or
what two things not to mix in acocktail to I would recommend
this bike ride. What is yourlast words that you would like
to leave with everyone?
Nevar Campbell (29:16):
So Prosecco makes everything better. So
that's just kind of myphilosophy on life. So having a
bad day, just open a bottle ofProsecco.
My favorite cocktail and it's aweird wine and but it's been
popping up everywhere. It'scalled a jungle bird -
I'm writing- and it is amazing, as long as
you like Campari, party rum,pineapple juice and a couple
(29:37):
other things in it, but it isprobably my favorite tropical
cocktail.
Staceyann VanHorne-Doria (29:44):
Jungle bird.
Nevar Campbell (29:45):
Yeah!
Staceyann VanHorne-Doria (29:46):
I'll be looking that one up. Thank
you. Would you like to tellpeople where to find you and how
to get in contact with you?
Nevar Campbell (29:52):
Oh, yeah. So you can connect with me on LinkedIn:
Nevar Campbell, CMP or BuschGardens, Tampa Bay:
Nevar.Campbell.BuschGardens.com
Staceyann VanHorne-Dor (30:02):
Awesome.
Well, thank you for joining us.
Nevar Campbell (30:05):
Thank you. This was so much fun.
Staceyann VanHorne-Doria (30:06):
Yeah t
Patrick Brochu (30:08):
Thank you Nevar.
This was awesome hanging outwith you. And I know people
can't see your background thatwe see in our zoom meeting here,
but it looks like she's on abeach. I hope it's not a virtual
beach, but the waves haven'tmoved in some time. So I'm gonna
go ahead and say...
Staceyann VanHorne-Dor (30:24):
Alright.
So you know what time it is.
Paprika. I want to talk aboutyour obsession. Putting you on
the spot.
Patrick Brochu (30:37):
Mine? You're talking about me?
Staceyann VanHorne-Doria (30:39):
No I'm talking about-Who else is there,
Patrick?
Patrick Brochu (30:41):
Okay, I'm ready.
I'm listening.
Staceyann VanHorne-Doria (30:43):
Bob Ross. Let's talk about BobRoss.
Patrick Brochu (30:45):
Oh, Bob Ross.
Okay.
Staceyann VanHorne-Doria (30:47):
So I learned on a trip in Vancouver
that the broke shoes have a loveof Bob Ross. And listen, I like
me some Bob Ross. Bob Ross iscool. But you love you some Bob
Ross. What is that?
Patrick Brochu (31:02):
My wife and I, we really really like Bob Ross.
Staceyann VanHorne-Doria (31:03):
Oh.
I'm Otis Redding.
Patrick Brochu (31:04):
But sometimes we like to put on Bob Ross. Because
And we have you know, the twinfive year old boys running
around the house crazy. So overthe last couple of years, we
actually both refound Bob Ross.
And what I mean by that isduring it when the kids were
taking naps, or whatever, and wewanted to have kind of chill
time. You know, maybe we'relistening to music. My wife
(31:24):
likes smooth jazz through thehouse. Like that's a calming em
tionalthat helps both of us take a
nap. Because Oh my god, youknow, have you ever watched the
show? And Bob Ross during mychildhood, he was already done
painting, his show stopped insomething like '91. And I was
(31:47):
born in '95, or '85. But -
Staceyann VanHorne-Doria (31:51):
I was about to say who you gonna lie
to?
Patrick Brochu (31:52):
- sorry. But by the time that his were being
shown on reruns on PBS, that wasalways my thing. And I think my
parents or grandparents orwhoever would take care of me at
the time would show it just tomake them fall asleep. But I
love some Bob Ross. And so wewatch him. And it's just a
smoothing thing. And the showwas I believe The Joy of
Painting.
Staceyann VanHorne-Doria (32:12):
Have you ever actually painted any of
them? Like you guys need tolike- Oh, god, no
- not take a nap -- why not?
Man, everybody could do it. Yougot to beat the bush brush. Like
you know, you've beaten thedevil out of it.
Patrick Brochu (32:25):
Beat the devil out of the brush.
Oh my God, if somebody'slistening to this and doesn't
know that reference -
Staceyann VanHorne-Doria (32:32):
I know they're gonna be like -
Patrick Brochu (32:33):
- yes. So he he would always say now it's his
favorite time, you know, thecleaning brush and say, now it's
time to beat the devil out ofit. He's very religious. And
then he's just hitting it onlike the bottom painters flying
everywhere. I mean, is this likeall this like kind of crazy joy
looking like he's going on? Aninteresting fact is that he
actually every painting that hepainted, he painted it three
times, he would paint it once,when he would look at discover
(32:55):
it, he would paint it a secondtime to practice and then the
third time live on TV, everypainting that he ever did
painted three times. And it hasbeen said that in his lifetime,
he painted 30,000 paintings. Andthe man paints and makes it look
so effortless and easy, andputting a happy cloud here and
and maybe a little tree there.
Staceyann VanHorne-Doria (33:15):
You have got to do it with the kids.
That'd be so adorable.
Patrick Brochu (33:19):
But anyway, the Joy of Painting is now turned
into the joy of growing plantsbecause after you learned about
that Stacey -
Staceyann VanHorne-Doria (33:28):
Had to -
Patrick Brochu (33:29):
- in the mail at our house, a box came right at
the beginning of the COVID andit was a Chia Pet Bob Ross. So
his Afro is the Chia Pet. It'sgreat.
Staceyann VanHorne-Doria (33:42):
When I got it at the store, like they
looked at me like I was crazy.
And then they looked at who itwas. And they're like, oh, Bob
Ross is just an awesome dude.
And I'm like, yep, I'm getting aBob Ross Chia Pet. It was
fantastic. How can I not?
Patrick Brochu (33:58):
Yeah, so Bob Ross How much? I mean, how much
more iconic PBS if you grew upin that era of PBS is Bob Ross.
Staceyann VanHorne-Doria (34:09):
Oh my god. Fantastic.
Patrick Brochu (34:11):
Well, that was a random subject to bring up
Staceyann VanHorne-Doria (34:13):
I had to. I had to.
Patrick Brochu (34:14):
I guess paprica, it's the seasoning that means
nothing right?
Staceyann VanHorne-Doria (34:18):
A little bit of paprika for you
Patrick Brochu (34:19):
Little bit of paprika. Alright guys. Thank you
very much Nevar, for joining usand until next time,
Staceyann VanHorne-Dor (34:26):
Alright.
Patrick Brochu (34:28):
Bye.
Staceyann VanHorne-Doria (34:29):
Bye.
Episode produced by PatrickBrochu and Staceyann VanHorne
Doria. Sound editing by RocciDoria and song by Dr. Delight.
Hey everyone, I'm sure you're
wondering why we're in yourpodcast feed on a Monday. We
have so many episodes lined upfor you and we want to make sure
we get them out while stilltimely and relevant. So enjoy
today's bonus episode and comeback on Wednesday for another
one. I'm not saying that I'mdrinking but I'm saying that
drinking may come up today. Soenjoy and thanks for listening!
(00:42):
Hey everybody welcome back toanother episode of Well Seasoned
the Podcast we are going to talkabout something that is so
highly relevant right now in theage of COVID. And it is about
selling so Patrick, who are wewith today?
Patrick Brochu (00:58):
Today we have a very special guest and I'm
honored to have her on we kindof sprung this one on her last
minute and she agreed to do itbut no surprise there. Once you
know who we're talking about.
This is novar Campbell, c. m pshe is the event sales and
service manager at Busch GardensTampa Bay. But she is also the
president of MPI Tampa BayShapter. What what!
Staceyann VanHorne-Doria (01:24):
We only two big things here only
big things.
Patrick Brochu (01:26):
MPI president only big things. She also has a
awesome Instagram feed. It'scalled a Campbell and a
Cocktail. And maybe we'll everif we have time talk about that
a little bit later. So welcomethe bar. Thanks for joining us.
Nevar Campbell (01:41):
Thank you so much for having me. I'm excited
to be here.
Staceyann VanHorne-Doria (01:44):
Thank you. Is there anything you want
to add to that all of yourtitles and all the importance? I
feel like the minion right nowI've been depressed guys,
Nevar Campbell (01:52):
Patrick, that was a great introduction. Thank
you so much. It's been a joybeing a part of MPI Tampa Bay
tell I got to meet both of you.
So MTI is just such a greatorganization. But I love what I
do at my park. And what I do onmy Instagram just brings so e
joy at home
Staceyann VanHorne-Doria (02:09):
and that's what it should be right
like people go to social mediaand they get all stressed out
and they want to live up itshould be your joy. So that's
awesome.
Patrick Brochu (02:16):
Like Stacey, your joy on your social media
feeds is mostly about yourcooking.
Staceyann VanHorne-Doria (02:21):
That's it I cook everything and I, I
could spend days cooking like Ihave done sous vide for like 48
hours and I enjoyed it.
Patrick Brochu (02:28):
And the two of you guys both of your feeds on
your Instagram look soprofessionally done awesome
shots of a drink awesome shotsof food. But mine's a little all
over the place. I guess if I hada patch, you would just be the
kids because you know, whatever.
Everybody loves my kids morethan they love me. But that's
boring. I'm not jealous all thetime. You should be Yep,
Nevar Campbell (02:46):
They're stinking cute.
Staceyann VanHorne-Doria (02:47):
They really are
Patrick Brochu (02:48):
One of them was just out here with me and made
an appearance a minute ago. Buthe's disappeared since.
Staceyann VanHorne-Doria (02:52):
Funny because he's walking around with
his helmet on
Patrick Brochu (02:54):
Yeah, who knows he might be back. We'll jump
right into today's topic. Today,we wanted to talk about selling
in the age of COVID. I askedNevar on because she has been
instrumental in virtualnetworking events, both within
MPI and other areas. So she cantalk about that from that angle,
but also talk about her jobduring this COVID situation that
we're dealing with. Let's startby talking about virtual
(03:16):
networking. We can talk aboutplatforms that we want. But one
thing that I think isinteresting is times of these
virtual events, what platformshave you used in this virtual
networking, not a virtualconference, but virtual
networking Nevar or Stacey, thatyou guys find the best?
Staceyann VanHorne-Doria (03:34):
In terms of virtual networking, I
find that everyone is prettymuch sticking to the go twos,
right. They have a lot of zooms,they have go to meetings, you're
seeing a little bit of MicrosoftTeams pop up. And of course now
because of COVID a lot of peopleare getting on to this special
platforms like the individualplatforms where you could have
(03:54):
like a trade show and yourbreakout meetings and whatnot. I
don't know what you're seeing alot of on your sidebar.
Nevar Campbell (04:00):
Yeah, I'm definitely more zoom base and
always throws me off when Idon't check a meeting. Notice
before I go and login, I'm like,Oh, no, I don't have this one.
Staceyann VanHorne-Doria (04:08):
I know exactly right.
Nevar Campbell (04:09):
I have to hurry and get signed up
Patrick Brochu (04:10):
That is annoying the bar because it's like today,
you're automatically thinking,Okay, we're so busy with so many
back-to-back-back virtualmeetings. It's like, okay, zoom,
I've got my goto meeting. I'vegot my team's downloaded. And
then somebody sends you one formeeting XYZ, new one that you
have to download. And you'relike, Oh my god, I didn't
realize and then you're likescrambling and like you start
sweating. And
Staceyann VanHorne-Doria (04:32):
you're like I'm running late, because I
didn't realize it's gonna takeme 10 minutes to download this
new platform or app to getonline app to sign up here. And
it's not very consistent. Likewith Teams, I noticed,
especially with Teams Live,people have the ability to log
on anonymously. You don'tactually see who you're speaking
to you unless they're in thechat. And they say I had to log
on anonymously. But my name isStacey and I'm like, well, that
(04:54):
kind of sucks. There's just somany platforms out there now.
And obviously we're seeing waymore people because of what's
happening, and that can be sofrustrating because you have to
learn about it. But like, Iknow, there's just a time
element of it. Because that'sthe only way we can get in front
of people, are you noticing thatit's starting to encroach on
your personal time? Everyone'shaving a meeting at every time
(05:18):
of day and they want you they'relike, how are you managing that?
Nevar Campbell (05:21):
Oh, wow. Yeah, it seems like I'm now taking,
it's gonna sound terrible takingcalls in the car, on my way home
from work, I have the video off,but I still want to be a part of
it and not miss out. Like, maybeit's time that like, while we
were in quarantine, time wasn'tan issue. It was like, I could
take a Zoom at six o'clock,because I hadn't done anything
(05:42):
all day. And now I'm jugglingwork and being home. And I'm
like, I still signed on to this,even though it's kind of late.
And I'm like, Yeah, I might aswell
Staceyann VanHorne-Doria (05:49):
Yeah it's that work life balance,
where we as society have alwaysdone a really horrible job of
the work life balance, and COVIDhappened. And it was like this
automatic assumption, especiallywithin the events world that you
had nothing to do like you wereautomatically let go or you were
furloughed, and you know, youhave to stay relevant. So you
have to attend all these things.
And it's exactly what she said,I can't tell you the amount of
(06:11):
times I've taken a zoom call inCostco or on my way to doing
whatever, where I'm just like, Idon't want to sit in front of a
computer again, I just want tobe outside, you're sitting
outside in your backyard.
Because what else I mean,outside is closed, you can't
really do much. So it's reallyhard. How do you bounce it? and
Patrick, like you said, You havetwins? How are you bouncing it
(06:33):
with all these calls?
Patrick Brochu (06:34):
It's super difficult. And I won't say that
I'm necessarily proficient at iteither. And I personally
probably need to do a better jobthat that work life balance, but
one of the things like Nevarsaid that I think is
interesting, because during theheight of quarantine, and you
know, right now we're at thisweird place, and some people are
still corn, some people aren'tand things are getting back to
normal and some places but notothers. But like Nevar was
(06:55):
saying that she is back to work.
So at the beginning of COVID,like the happy hours became
popular, and me and thenetworking side, love the happy
hours, because I was actuallygetting to know more people more
frequently and bringing morepeople into my personal network,
also enabling me to be able toexpand my network outside of
just my area. But you know,though, back then the happy
hours were four or five bucks.
(07:17):
But now because some people aregoing back to work, they're
getting pushed back. And thatwas that's meaning for certain
people. Okay, nevarez in thecar, you're at Costco, me, I'm
here at my house where I live,we're still in the strict
quarantine. But I've been now inmy home office working all day
on proposals reaching out topeople, but then at night, it's
maybe I go eat dinner, and thenI come back to my office. And
(07:37):
then I'm working more. And mywife is asking, Well, why are
you doing this? Well, I have toexpand my network. So it's like
a weird time thing that's goingon, especially cuz we're all in
different places, and all indifferent situations.
Staceyann VanHorne-Doria (07:48):
I'm in northern Nevada, in Reno. And
there's still obviously somerestrictions that's in place,
things have opened up. Butthere's still a lot of
restrictions in place. And youknow, it's just about your
comfort level, are you ready toactually re enter the world. But
I find that there's just alsostill an oversaturation of these
events. They know companiesthat's doing a virtual event
(08:10):
every day of the week.
Patrick Brochu (08:11):
Yeah.
Staceyann VanHorne-Doria (08:11):
And then the sales rep that's doing
one specialty for their regionevery Thursday, and then there's
maybe their region that's doingone every Friday the varg.
What's your company doing interms of virtual events? Are you
guys doing a lot? Or...?
Nevar Campbell (08:24):
Company wise, since I'm at a theme park, we're
not doing anything virtual. Themost is what I'm actually doing
for my clients. I did kind ofsee with getting familiar with
Zoom during all of this, I'venow found new ways of like
reaching my clients instead ofhaving them come out physically
for a site that isn't always theeasiest, especially if it's a
client out of city or out ofstate, I've now moved to more of
(08:48):
a virtual platform for my sitetours and being able to walk
them through it all more thanjust the proposal live they've
received. But like for MPI, wewent from having two virtual
networking events a week we dida coffee talk every Tuesday
morning, and then a five o'clocksomewhere every Thursday. Now we
(09:08):
do one a week and it rotatesbetween a Tuesday or Thursday.
And we've definitely seen likeour numbers drop off, but at the
same time, we have members thatwe're trying to keep engaged.
It's hard if you keep it goingfor the few or you kind of start
to eliminate it completelybecause Tampa's like Reno and
that most things are back tonormal. You just have to wear a
(09:30):
mask.
Staceyann VanHorne-Doria (09:31):
You mentioned two things there that
I thought was interesting nowthat we're kind of getting back
into the routine with MPI, youkind of have to shift what you
were doing before but let's talkabout what you're doing at Busch
Gardens because what I findfantastic about what you just
said is so many people are doingthese Zoom meetings and it's you
sit there you talk, you mightshare a presentation but now
you're doing it as your virtualwalkthrough right? So how would
(09:54):
you actually conducting thatbecause that is something that
is a little bit different. Youdon't have to feel like you
You're just in office? Are youliterally walking with a phone?
Are you doing a PowerPoint? Howdo you do that?
Nevar Campbell (10:05):
So I've done both options. Okay, so like, I
know, there's plenty of reallycool platforms out there that
you can do like the 360 tourswith and stuff. But like right
now isn't the time a company cankind of invest in those options.
So it's getting really nittygritty, I'm very lucky to have a
(10:27):
great photographer andvideographer on our team. So I
can always ask him for somephotos. So professional, photo
wise, I've put together aPowerPoint that kind of walks
our clients through each of ourdifferent spaces and
subscripting. Art, it's not thestandard for wall ballroom and
seeing a area of the park andhow you can activate it. I've
(10:48):
done that. And then I've alsojust gotten on FaceTime or zoom,
and like, physically walkedthrough the park and showed them
the animals. And, yeah
Staceyann VanHorne-Doria (10:58):
I think that's awesome. Because
like, as a planner, I need to bein the space, I want to feel the
space and see the room. Andthere's a reason why we conduct
site visits, right? You couldsee the pictures online, but
it's different kind ofexperience it the thought of
Okay, yeah, I'm getting on thezoom conference, but it's not
the usual like, we're going tobe talking we're going to be
walking, she's going to beshowing me the space, I think is
(11:21):
such a draw, or even with myteam, what I started doing is
we're moving away from theseated zoom meeting, and we'll
take the phone and just walkwith the dog or now everyone's
doing the what's going in yourbackyard, you know, just
something different, because itcan just get repetitive. So I do
like that. I like that a lot.
Patrick Brochu (11:42):
Yeah, 100%, I want to go back a little bit to
what Nevar was saying aboutkeeping those members engaged --
With MPI?
-- one thing that I found,yeah, with MPI, and just
networking in general, one thingthat we found is I do know, from
MPI global, their education ison an all time high. So people
(12:03):
are trying to go back, get somecertifications, you know,
filling their time up with this.
But well, we've been finding ourchapter level with our chapter
events with our chaptereducation, our numbers virtually
weren't very high, we weregetting much higher numbers on
our networking side than on ourour education side, which is
interesting, because MPIGlobal's reporting that they're
receiving so much in theireducation, but what we're
finding down here and in ourmarket is just people wanted to
(12:25):
connect and stay connected. Andoverall, that's the the point of
our industry, right? MPI's thingis, we know, when we meet, we
change the world, it's abouthaving people there in the
ballroom in person live. Andright now, because we can't do
that we're striving for the nextbest thing. I know that there's
a fear for some people that arelike some of these virtual
things that so much better. No,this is not going to take the
(12:46):
place, this is going to be atemporary thing. And maybe some
of this will be integrated forthe future. But I guess my rant
here is people want to have thatconnection with other people. I
can't tell you how many timesthat I've signed up for what I
thought was going to be avirtual networking event. And
you get on and it's actually awebinar. And then you're like,
oh, man, I'm on here because Iwanted to connect with somebody.
(13:07):
Yeah, you know, now I'm like,Oh, I'm on this webinar and
comment in the chat or whatever.
And maybe I see somebody I know,chat back and forth with them in
the chat while the webinarsgoing on. But I want more that
connection. I've been strivingfor that connection in our in
Staceyann VanHorne-Doria (13:21):
I think there's so much going on
our industry.
now, are you we're saying wedon't have the funds do a lot
right now in our industry, yougot to make whatever tools work.
And I think that has caused usto be more forgiving. In a lot
of ways. We're event planners weare um, we're a group of
judgmental people.
Nevar Campbell (13:42):
100%
Patrick Brochu (13:42):
Understatement yeah
Staceyann VanHorne-Doria (13:44):
My goodness, I can't go to a
friend's barbecue without beinglike, well, if it were me, I
would have started this 15minutes ago and had everything
laid out.
Patrick Brochu (13:53):
Yeah, you're looking at the buffet. You're
like, Well, why are the forksover there? And why are the
napkins and who would place thecondiments before the hot dogs
and hambergers?
Staceyann VanHorne-Doria (14:01):
Oh, forget it. going to weddings is
the worst. Oh my gosh, I can'tgo to a wedding without like, if
I go wanting to reach for aradio or wanting to be like,
Hey, hi, there's a spill over inthat corner someone gonna get-I
can't. But like I said, we don'thave the funds. So a lot of
these webinars, a lot of theseevents are free to go to. And so
because of that, there's just somuch more opportunities, right?
(14:22):
Like, you know, before there wasthe big shows, there's the MPIs,
there's the IMEX, there's toConnect Corporate, it goes on
and on. But you have to choosewhich one can I go to because of
location because of timing,travel. And now we have all
these webinars to go to how do Iprioritize my schedule right now
(14:43):
to actually get what I wantbecause it can also start being
repetitive. Like Patrick said,you're signing up for something
that you think is a networkingevent and it's a webinar or I
get maybe two to three emails aday and that's because I highly
filter my emails telling meabout a new planet. form to host
an event after a while it'srepetitive. How do you assess
(15:05):
which one to go to? Like whichevents event which webinar? What
virtual event do you go to? Doyou have a process? Or do you
kind of just feel it out?
Nevar Campbell (15:13):
Oh, I'm a sucker for my association so if it has
MPI in it, I usually give it alittle bit more benefit out of
the doubt. There's also anorganization here in Tampa that
was founded to help eventindustry professionals. It's a
grant-based companyorganizations that people can
fill out and receive fundingfrom them. But they started
(15:36):
actually doing their own virtualnetworking sessions. A lot of
it's just complaining. But ithas been good to like listen to
Patrick Brochu (15:45):
not complaining, venting
Nevar Campbell (15:47):
Venting, but it's been good to listen to and
kind of hear what everybody elseis going through. And especially
it's a different dynamic thenwas most associations are made
out of because it could be aphotographer, a hairdresser,
kind of wide range AV companies.
So it's been interesting tolisten in on some of those
conversations. So I want to seethose pop up. I'm always like,
(16:10):
oh, maybe I'll check it out. ButI've participated in a couple of
those like, oh, webinar,networking things, or they have
like a catchy subject line. Andthen when you actually watch it
that had nothing to do with whatI thought I was signing up for.
Patrick Brochu (16:26):
Oh that's the worst.
Staceyann VanHorne-Doria (16:26):
Yeah the marketing team did not speak
to the creative. And it's justwas basically about what means
that obviously, president ofMPI, does we know where your
priorities lie, right. So it'skind of about your personal
priorities. I think, on my side,I think my priorities shift to
be week to week or day to day,right. It's kind of dependent on
(16:48):
what my companies that Irepresent me one week, it might
be, I need you to find aplatform another week, it might
be how do we creatively designour agenda in a virtual world?
No, we do not want to attend anevent at 7pm on a Friday,
because it's virtual? No,doesn't mean I need to be on a
virtual event for 10 hours. No,I think it's kind of week to
(17:12):
week on that, you know, how Itry to manage my schedule and
what I'm trying to learn. And atthe same time, it's, you're kind
of forced to be a jack of alltrades. Right now, if the world
was open outside, I would neverbe attending webinars about a
virtual event platform.
Patrick Brochu (17:26):
Yeah.
Staceyann VanHorne-Doria (17:27):
It wasn't going to happen, or how
to creatively design an agendafor virtual event or stuff like
that I just would not beattending. And I think also for
me, I do crave that networkingin the hospitality because even
though I'm a member of MPI, I'min an area that doesn't have a
local MPI chapter. So I'mactually pretty active in
Florida's chapter in Florida'shappy hour events, because I
(17:49):
want that interaction. I want tocontinue learning and I've
learned a lot from hotels juston what they're doing to be safe
in the world right now. Whatabout you, Patrick?
Patrick Brochu (17:59):
For me, the advantage has been, I'm used to
hopping on a plane going to acity, maybe I'm attending an
event, maybe not, and thendoing, you know, a series of
sales calls or something likethat in a specific city. But now
you know, I'm not having toleave my house to do it. I'm
actually able to go to othergeographic regions quicker by
dropping in. And again, likeNevar said, using those
(18:21):
associations, whether it be MPIor CITE or a few other
organizations that on theirmailing list, CITE Minnesota is
having a networking event. I doknow a few people. So I wrote
some people out in Minnesota forHey, are you attending this?
Yeah, but then I got myself anattendee buddy that can start
introducing me to people in thatregion. So you have a virtual
attendee buddy. Yeah, thevirtual attendee buddy in that
(18:42):
region. And Stacey, it's funnybecause this is something that
we actually talked about in ourlive in person meetings in our
networking. So one, we talkedabout having that attendee
buddy, like, if you're at anevent, trying to get somebody to
go with you, or, or meet thatone person, make a connection
and walk around with becausewhen you're with somebody, it
helps you not feel like justthat lonely person out and the
two of you together can improvesomebody easier than just you
Staceyann VanHorne-Doria (19:03):
So you and Nevar need to be virtual
attendee buddies, for sure.
Patrick Brochu (19:06):
Oh, trust me, we have we've been virtual attendee
buddies on a computer. Yeah. Butthat's been the one advantage to
this is I've been able to expandmy network and therefore my
company's network throughoutthis process that's been going
on. So the end of the day, yeah.
Are we down revenue? Absolutely.
Everybody is but you know, we'reactually trying to use this time
to expand our network. And nowwe have so many new people and
(19:29):
clients and clients that nowknow as they didn't know us.
Staceyann VanHorne-Doria (19:32):
That's interesting. You said expanding
the network and growing thatway. It'stough to say, how are
we pivoting in ways-
Patrick Brochu (19:40):
oh that word
Staceyann VanHorne-Doria (19:41):
I know right? How many times have you
heard that word. Now? How are wepivoting in ways that stays true
to us? We're trying to findcreative ways to bring in funds
but it's not. I'm an eventprofessional. I'm not a car
salesman. I'm not a professionallandscaper ight? So how can I I
use my expertise in a way that'sgoing to expand and stay true to
(20:05):
us. I don't know, has BuschGardens done anything? Or have
you yourself Nevar done anythingthat you would not have done
January, February, that you'redoing now that you're kind of
learning and growing from?
Nevar Campbell (20:16):
I think, for me, the biggest thing was the online
education that became available,a lot of our local universities,
all the different eithercertificate programs, our free
continuing education. So Isigned up for a couple from UCF
on management skills and kind ofgrowing myself outside of my
(20:36):
field. That's kind of huge tome, but the park wise, we're
just taking all of our seats,
Staceyann VanHorne-Doria (20:41):
But you're saying management skills,
right? That's not even outside.
That's something that you useeverywhere, right?
Nevar Campbell (20:47):
Yeah, exactly.
Like I'm taking personalfinance, management and
communication. So it's, therehave been cool classes, it's all
online, you're not interactingwith anybody else. But it's
perfect. For those days, whenyou don't really want to do
anything. I just like put myiPod on and start taking
classes. It's been great.
Staceyann VanHorne-Doria (21:05):
I know a lot of people are taking them
emergency management classes toI've seen that a lot. Something
I'm doing and I started itbefore, and I'm restarting
again, is I'm studying to be asommelier. So I'm picking up
wine and, and learning aboutwine and old world, new worlds
and different grapes andtechniques and whatnot. It's
(21:25):
just outside. But inside, Imean, how many high end events
do we do where you want to do apairing, right? And it's just a
different step within theindustry. So I mean, I think
that's something that's prettycool. This time forced you to do
things that you didn't have timeto take a management class, you
know, and I think that's prettyawesome. I don't know, Patrick,
what do you think?
Patrick Brochu (21:45):
I think the people like Nevar that have
taken advantage of the time thatwe were given that we didn't
know we were going to be givenand tried to do something with
it. That's the smart thing tohave done. I did a few
certifications FAU presentedone, Hospitality Field One, did
that one, did a few otherthings. And just trying to make
(22:07):
good productive use of my time,but also expanding both for my
company and inside the industry,but also a few things outside of
the industry and Nevar, itsounds like you did the same
thing kind of expanding yourselfhelping yourself. So
Staceyann VanHorne-Doria (22:20):
I also noticed that we are reaching out
to our contacts more than wehave before, right. So all these
wellness checks theorganization, the company is
telling you Hey, you know youneed to call your contacts and
make sure they're okay. And it'skind of turning into this
wellness check slash soft sellkind of call. What's really
(22:41):
funny is when I get the wellnesschecks and people I have no idea
who they are they just checkingin I know you're doing good. I'm
like, I have never--like who are you?
-- spoken to you before a day inmy - who are you? And it turns
into a soft sell. So I don'tknow we as an industry. And as
we keep going right? You get sofocused on doing and selling and
signing the contract. But youforget about the humanity side
(23:04):
of it. Right? When this allstarted, I reached out to most
of my contacts. And I was like,Hey, I know this is a crappy
time. Just checking in makingsure you're okay, hope
everything's doing well. I don'tknow if you've been doing that a
lot on your end with whether ornot it's your contact that you
were close with on a dailybasis, or just someone that you
know, you spoke to once I don'tknow if you've been doing a lot
(23:26):
of those wellness checks.
Nevar Campbell (23:27):
Yeah, I definitely have. So I had
actually just started myposition at Busch Gardens on
March 13.
Staceyann VanHorne-Doria (23:34):
Oh, girl.
Nevar Campbell (23:35):
So, yes. So like the world turned upside down
like almost immediately, and Iwas furloughed on April 1 and
then I started back on June 1.
So like, I didn't really have achance to reach out to any of my
contacts even tell them I wasthere prior to everything
happening. So it wasn't untilbeginning of July, I finally
(23:57):
actually even reached out to mycontacts. And I was just like,
Hi, I want you to know I'm here.
I'm Well, I hope you're welllike so it was such a weird
transition. Prior to this, Ifeel like I constantly wrote
hope you're doing well and anemail. And never really actually
meant that, like I was just likesomething you say, and it has a
(24:18):
whole new meaning now, when youtype in, I hope you're doing
well, right?
Staceyann VanHorne-Doria (24:23):
It's so true. I just had this
conversation with my CEO of mymedical org. And I said, we're
also so accustomed to, likesomeone's asking How you doing?
And you kind of just brush itoff and you're like, Oh, I'm
fine. It's fine. Everything'sall good. And it's like so many
times people have stopped me andbe like, No, seriously, how you
doing? We're all trapped insideoutsides a [sensored] place a
(24:45):
bad place. I don't know if we'recursing or not. And you really
do genuinely want to know like,you know, I have family in the
Bronx. So when people call andthey say How you doing? they
genuinely are asking like youhave family in the epicenter
right now are-is everyone okay?
Or Stacey like you're a socialperson and you're trapped inside
and on my side 2020 has been awhole year.So like, I had this
(25:08):
transition with my personal lifeand my father in law passed away
in February and then COVIDstarted and then my mother in
law moved in, and we didn't knowwhat was the fate of our jobs
and what we were going to do.
And everything happened all atonce. And then somebody asked
(25:28):
how you doing and you just, I'mfine, everything's all good. And
it's like, I just want to gooutside and go to a bar and have
a drink and eat in therestaurant. And I just want to
go see my family in New York.
And I think that's really yourfeelings, you know, and it kind
of puts in perspective howimportant your mental health is,
right? Like it's reallyimportant to get through this.
Patrick Brochu (25:49):
The good news for you. For all of us. There's
only 144 days left in the yearthough we're on the countdown
there. Also, Nevar, one of yourpoints when he said I would
always write you know, thebeginning of an email Hey, hope
you're doing well. And thenhere's my app, or whatever. But
yeah, I switched up and if youguys have ever written me know
that, you know, either my out ofoffice replies normally have
(26:11):
like something humorous at themor you know, I normally put
something funny in there,whatever. And some some people
don't care for the personalityand some people really get a
kick. But at the end of myemails I switched up because I
I've always been short in theend of my emails, I always say
best Patrick, but I switched upand I started to people that
don't know as well I put ahere's my email. Thank you
again, but uh, and then staysafe and sane. And then Patrick,
(26:33):
now if I really know you, I saystay safe, sane and sober.
Staceyann VanHorne-Doria (26:40):
Not with all my cocktails
Patrick Brochu (26:41):
and I normally get replies back off for those
that are like oh my god, youknow me too well. Oh, my
goodness. Yeah. I hope you'redoing well too. Or whatever.
Staceyann VanHorne-Doria (26:49):
What are you doing right now like
through all of this to kind ofjust stay sane? What's your
thing?
Nevar Campbell (26:54):
I ride my bike at least twice a week if not
three or four times a week. Ithink last weekend I did over 50
miles this weekend. It was only35 so it had cleared Yeah. And
then it's all the drinking soit's like I do something healthy
and then I do the drin
Patrick Brochu (27:13):
Well, you and a lot of other people it's kind of
off topic but fun like right nowyou can't buy a bike anywhere
bikes are sold out
Staceyann VanHorne-Dori (27:19):
because I want one it's a bike shortage.
Patrick Brochu (27:21):
Yeah, there's a big bike shortage but also age
wanted to get some kettlebellweights and personal improvement
home stuff is out of stockpeloton there's like a huge
backorder on peloton. So butyeah, it's it's interesting.
Nevar and a lot of people itseems like the outdoors is
obviously become a big thingright now.
Staceyann VanHorne-Doria (27:37):
Yeah, I have a Peloton. So I have been
riding my Peloton. I want toactually get a bike to venture
outside but bike shortage.
There's none. So Reno is rightnear Lake Tahoe and Truckee in
California. And so I live inthis like beautiful area where I
could go hiking, this bronzegirl has bought hiking shoes,
and I actually do hikes now. Andit's hilarious because like my
(27:59):
mom is like, I don't want tohear anything about your hikes.
There's snakes, there'swildlife, I don't want to have
anything to do. Don't tell meabout it. Just call me and ask
me how my day is. That's it.
Like that's the only thing todo. I truly am enjoying it. You
have to find some way to get outthere and I have a sensitivity
to sitting in front of thescreen too long. Like once I'm
done with work I typically don'tlike getting back on the
(28:21):
computer again. That's that'sall we do is look at screen so I
like just getting outside anddoing something and not having
to interact with a another bluelight.
Nevar Campbell (28:31):
Yeah, I love hiking. I keep seeing everybody
that's doing all these crosscountry trips right now and
going all these national parksand I'm like, Man, I'm like I
want to go and do that. Likethis would be the perfect time
the parks aren't packed
Patrick Brochu (28:43):
We've had the same thought here pages like oh,
let's rent an RV and
Staceyann VanHorne-Doria (28:46):
No I'm not doing that. That's too much
just too much of a commitment tothe outside. I'm not doing it.
Patrick Brochu (28:51):
Well we are at that time and I can't believe
it's flown by this fast. Solet's go ahead and do one last
night
Staceyann VanHorne-Doria (28:56):
To wrap up. I wanted Nevar to leave
us with your personal nugget ofwisdom. It could be anything
from how to mix a cocktail. Whatyour favorite cocktail is or
what two things not to mix in acocktail to I would recommend
this bike ride. What is yourlast words that you would like
to leave with everyone?
Nevar Campbell (29:16):
So Prosecco makes everything better. So
that's just kind of myphilosophy on life. So having a
bad day, just open a bottle ofProsecco.
My favorite cocktail and it's aweird wine and but it's been
popping up everywhere. It'scalled a jungle bird -
I'm writing- and it is amazing, as long as
you like Campari, party rum,pineapple juice and a couple
(29:37):
other things in it, but it isprobably my favorite tropical
cocktail.
Staceyann VanHorne-Doria (29:44):
Jungle bird.
Nevar Campbell (29:45):
Yeah!
Staceyann VanHorne-Doria (29:46):
I'll be looking that one up. Thank
you. Would you like to tellpeople where to find you and how
to get in contact with you?
Nevar Campbell (29:52):
Oh, yeah. So you can connect with me on LinkedIn:
Nevar Campbell, CMP or BuschGardens, Tampa Bay:
Nevar.Campbell.BuschGardens.com
Staceyann VanHorne-Dor (30:02):
Awesome.
Well, thank you for joining us.
Nevar Campbell (30:05):
Thank you. This was so much fun.
Staceyann VanHorne-Doria (30:06):
Yeah t
Patrick Brochu (30:08):
Thank you Nevar.
This was awesome hanging outwith you. And I know people
can't see your background thatwe see in our zoom meeting here,
but it looks like she's on abeach. I hope it's not a virtual
beach, but the waves haven'tmoved in some time. So I'm gonna
go ahead and say...
Staceyann VanHorne-Dor (30:24):
Alright.
So you know what time it is.
Paprika. I want to talk aboutyour obsession. Putting you on
the spot.
Patrick Brochu (30:37):
Mine? You're talking about me?
Staceyann VanHorne-Doria (30:39):
No I'm talking about-Who else is there,
Patrick?
Patrick Brochu (30:41):
Okay, I'm ready.
I'm listening.
Staceyann VanHorne-Doria (30:43):
Bob Ross. Let's talk about BobRoss.
Patrick Brochu (30:45):
Oh, Bob Ross.
Okay.
Staceyann VanHorne-Doria (30:47):
So I learned on a trip in Vancouver
that the broke shoes have a loveof Bob Ross. And listen, I like
me some Bob Ross. Bob Ross iscool. But you love you some Bob
Ross. What is that?
Patrick Brochu (31:02):
My wife and I, we really really like Bob Ross.
Staceyann VanHorne-Doria (31:03):
Oh.
I'm Otis Redding.
Patrick Brochu (31:04):
But sometimes we like to put on Bob Ross. Because
And we have you know, the twinfive year old boys running
around the house crazy. So overthe last couple of years, we
actually both refound Bob Ross.
And what I mean by that isduring it when the kids were
taking naps, or whatever, and wewanted to have kind of chill
time. You know, maybe we'relistening to music. My wife
(31:24):
likes smooth jazz through thehouse. Like that's a calming em
tionalthat helps both of us take a
nap. Because Oh my god, youknow, have you ever watched the
show? And Bob Ross during mychildhood, he was already done
painting, his show stopped insomething like '91. And I was
(31:47):
born in '95, or '85. But -
Staceyann VanHorne-Doria (31:51):
I was about to say who you gonna lie
to?
Patrick Brochu (31:52):
- sorry. But by the time that his were being
shown on reruns on PBS, that wasalways my thing. And I think my
parents or grandparents orwhoever would take care of me at
the time would show it just tomake them fall asleep. But I
love some Bob Ross. And so wewatch him. And it's just a
smoothing thing. And the showwas I believe The Joy of
Painting.
Staceyann VanHorne-Doria (32:12):
Have you ever actually painted any of
them? Like you guys need tolike- Oh, god, no
- not take a nap -- why not?
Man, everybody could do it. Yougot to beat the bush brush. Like
you know, you've beaten thedevil out of it.
Patrick Brochu (32:25):
Beat the devil out of the brush.
Oh my God, if somebody'slistening to this and doesn't
know that reference -
Staceyann VanHorne-Doria (32:32):
I know they're gonna be like -
Patrick Brochu (32:33):
- yes. So he he would always say now it's his
favorite time, you know, thecleaning brush and say, now it's
time to beat the devil out ofit. He's very religious. And
then he's just hitting it onlike the bottom painters flying
everywhere. I mean, is this likeall this like kind of crazy joy
looking like he's going on? Aninteresting fact is that he
actually every painting that hepainted, he painted it three
times, he would paint it once,when he would look at discover
(32:55):
it, he would paint it a secondtime to practice and then the
third time live on TV, everypainting that he ever did
painted three times. And it hasbeen said that in his lifetime,
he painted 30,000 paintings. Andthe man paints and makes it look
so effortless and easy, andputting a happy cloud here and
and maybe a little tree there.
Staceyann VanHorne-Doria (33:15):
You have got to do it with the kids.
That'd be so adorable.
Patrick Brochu (33:19):
But anyway, the Joy of Painting is now turned
into the joy of growing plantsbecause after you learned about
that Stacey -
Staceyann VanHorne-Doria (33:28):
Had to -
Patrick Brochu (33:29):
- in the mail at our house, a box came right at
the beginning of the COVID andit was a Chia Pet Bob Ross. So
his Afro is the Chia Pet. It'sgreat.
Staceyann VanHorne-Doria (33:42):
When I got it at the store, like they
looked at me like I was crazy.
And then they looked at who itwas. And they're like, oh, Bob
Ross is just an awesome dude.
And I'm like, yep, I'm getting aBob Ross Chia Pet. It was
fantastic. How can I not?
Patrick Brochu (33:58):
Yeah, so Bob Ross How much? I mean, how much
more iconic PBS if you grew upin that era of PBS is Bob Ross.
Staceyann VanHorne-Doria (34:09):
Oh my god. Fantastic.
Patrick Brochu (34:11):
Well, that was a random subject to bring up
Staceyann VanHorne-Doria (34:13):
I had to. I had to.
Patrick Brochu (34:14):
I guess paprica, it's the seasoning that means
nothing right?
Staceyann VanHorne-Doria (34:18):
A little bit of paprika for you
Patrick Brochu (34:19):
Little bit of paprika. Alright guys. Thank you
very much Nevar, for joining usand until next time,
Staceyann VanHorne-Dor (34:26):
Alright.
Patrick Brochu (34:28):
Bye.
Staceyann VanHorne-Doria (34:29):
Bye.
Episode produced by PatrickBrochu and Staceyann VanHorne
Doria. Sound editing by RocciDoria and song by Dr. Delight.
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