That seems to be the favorite t-shirt saying of Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) Annual Conference attendees. We wrap up our exhibiting at SHRM today, and everyone on the Baudville team is excited about the feedback we’ve received from attendees. It seems SHRM can’t get enough of our new branding and products!

Our witty t-shirts and Stupendous bags have caught the attention of bloggers, attendees and even other exhibitors. It seems like recognition with humor is a welcome addition to today’s workplace. Using the witty sayings from our Exclamations line is a great way to encourage reluctant managers to recognize; giving recognition that’s funny makes it easier and more accessible for those who may be uncomfortable with it.

We’ve been proclaiming our new message loud and proud on social media throughout the conference. This year, SHRM has been dominated by active Twitter accounts and live bloggers. This group of experienced HR professionals is writing about their experience at the conference, the trends in the industry, and reporting on sessions and speakers. We even got a shout out on our friend Michael VanDervort’s blog! You can see what else the talk of the conference is by following our Twitter account.

We finish up the conference today at 2pm. We hope to talk to many more interested attendees and hopefully reunite with some of our new friends for one last time!

 See pictures of our booth, staff and popular t-shirts on our Facebook page.

A lot is involved in planning a tradeshow, especially when your company is unveiling a new brand, releasing 250 new products, and expecting 8,000 attendees. Inevitably, with so many different elements required for a tradeshow to be successful, something is likely to go wrong. Thankfully, when you work with individuals who believe in your company mission, challenges are opportunities for teamwork to truly shine.

While setting up for the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) Annual Conference and Exposition on Saturday, I grew increasingly concerned by the fact that my UPS 2-day Saturday shipment had not yet arrived.

My co-worker and I called numerous Baudville employees at home on Saturday evening. They all were willing to wreck their brains for an account number and even sacrifice grilled chicken to access an email account. Together, we discovered an error had been made in the shipping, and the boxes were not scheduled to arrive until Tuesday – the last day of the conference.

Several phone calls later, two more Baudville employees volunteered to make an extra trip to Baudville, pick up products needed for our display, check them on the plane, and hand deliver them to me in New Orleans.

Thanks to several different Baudville employees – each willing to sacrifice a small piece of their weekend – our tradeshow display was complete for Sunday night, the opening of the SHRM Exposition Hall.

And thank goodness it was.

As soon as the doors opened, our booth was overrun by attendees who could smell our gourmet cupcakes from down the aisle. Our carefully thought-out booth plan quickly went out the window. Instead, all Baudville employees on hand jumped in to help distribute bags and cupcakes fast enough to keep the crowd moving.

For the second time in the short weekend, I witnessed the teamwork of Baudville spring into action. Together, we gave out the 500 cupcakes from the Kupcake factory and over 600 "I’m with Stupendous" tote bags like experienced champs.

Many SHRM attendees will look back fondly on this year’s conference, and maybe they will remember the memorable General Session by Jack Welch, the career assistance they received, or the valuable networking with other HR professionals. I know I will remember SHRM09 for the teamwork that made Baudville’s presence a success.

Times have been tough, and we know that many organizations have cut employee recognition items from their budget. After all, people are just happy to have a job now, right?

Wrong. Employee engagement matters now more than ever. And when the economy picks up, whether your people stay or go will depend on how you treat them now.

And while a single pizza party isn't quite enough to quell an employee uprising, giving frequent expressions of appreciation can do just the trick.

We feel day-to-day recognition is a way employers and managers can begin to work on the long-term retention of key talent and improve morale, culture and performance at the same time.  Day-to-day recognition is defined as the genuine everyday expressions of appreciation given to reinforce and reward positive behaviors. What makes it different than the expected year-end award or service anniversary gift is that everyone is eligible to receive day-to-day recognition throughout the entire year.

It’s a more effective recognition strategy because it reinforces desired behaviors of more people more often. More reinforcement = more desired behaviors = more productivity, engagement and profitability.

Makes sense, right? We think so. We recently wrote a white paper on the subject that is a free download in our Recognition Resource Center. Check it out, and let us know what you think. Better yet, put day-to-day recognition to work. We think you’ll quickly see its effects and never want to go back to a workplace without it.

The Society for Human Resource Management Annual Conference and Exposition begins Sunday, June 28, and Baudville will be there with bells on. We’ve been regular exhibitors for a few years now, and we thought that SHRM would be the ideal time to launch our new identity and products. What’s better than celebrating with 10,000 of our closest friends?

Sunday night, join us in booth #339 for gourmet cupcakes from the local New Orleans Bakery the Kupcake Factory  and stop by their place later in the week to try more delicious treats! We’ve also got some sweet swag, including THE BAG for SHRM09. Yeah, it’s pretty cool.

Can’t get to New Orleans this year? Don’t sweat it (literally, it’s going to be HOT there!). Sign up for our Conference Daily emails, and we’ll let you know what’s happening with three e-newsletters direct from the Baudville tradeshow booth. And follow us on Twitter for more instant updates. The whole Baudville team is armed with their Blackberries and phones and is ready to Tweet up a storm!

See us at SHRM and get this bag!

Over the past year all of us at Baudville have come to know and be obsessed with “the new brand launch” so much so that after a while the process can become as much the goal as the goal itself.  I was reminded of this one night my wife asked me “so why are you re-launching the brand – what’s the point?” 

At first I was indignant and about to respond with the quick reply of a business guy that it was necessary to grow the company, or a key part of our strategic plan, or some like reason based in sound business logic – which would be true as that is where much of the process and decisions to rebrand the company started.  But something stopped me short of a terse reply.

A time for change

Often times over the past year I have wondered if we could achieve what we were setting out to do – after all I had scoffed many times at other companies attempts to reinvent themselves – what’s the point, I often thought, of saying something new when you really didn’t have anything new to say?  Was Baudville so different – did we in fact have something more to say? 

Then round about the middle of this whole thing something big happened.  The Recession.  The economic struggle played out in many theatres big and small – from big government to small towns; our nation’s largest corporations to small businesses just like Baudville; and over the course of that the national mood has soured – and without question it seems as though work life was just not as fun as it once had been.

And while all this was happening around us something was happening here at Baudville too.  Yes the leaders of the company were talking about change and the evolution of a brand, but our team was more than listening; they were creating that change.  Often times as a small business owner I reflect on the short but simple words of Teddy Roosevelt, “Do what you can, where you are, with what you have.”  A phrase required for a company of less than 80 employees with big goals and usually a translation to “okay guys – let’s just do the best we can.”   But over the past year, I have witnessed much more than the best we can.   I have seen our staff come together around a common goal – one that at once had significance for only our business, but over its life has come to represent for me what our economy and most certainly our work life needs most.

A healthy dose of positivity

It’s that simple really.  Seems we have all been caught in a downward spiral of late – and while no simple thank you, or ‘atta boy can fix a company or pay a mortgage, what it can do is change an attitude, make someone smile, or turn a day from down to up.  Put a few of those together and the impact on a company can be huge.

Okay so back to the question, what’s the point?  Well it took me a little while to get there but it seems after developing over 250 new products, 10 new themes, and 1 new brand the point has become clear; 80 people working everyday to make our company and yours a better place to work – I’d say that’s worth and exclamation point!  Do we have something to say – you bet we do – and it matters now more than ever.

I hope you find something in our new store that will help you influence those you work with and who work for you in a positive way – I can tell you it has made all the difference here and it can where you are too.

I look forward to hearing your success stories – feel free to email me anytime.

Cheers! 

Brad
President
Baudville Inc

brad@baudville.com