MICE (Meeting, Incentive, Convetion, Exhibition)

Blue finished his second whiskey and left the bar. He looked about. It was becoming dusk. As Blue looked to his left, there was Hank and George standing against the building. The woman was there also.

“Meet my daughter, Ella, Mr. Blue,” said Hank.

He shook hands with her. She smiled. Her dress was pretty. It was black with white flowery looking designs on each side of the blouse, extending from the shoulders to the full length of the dress. They caught each other’s eyes. Then Blue quickly look away figuring, he just didn’t need anymore trouble, but he found himself slowly turning them back to hers. Then as he talked to Hank and George, his eyes would shift to see if Ella was looking, and she was. His heart started beating faster. Matter-of-fact, the meeting was scarier than the gun fight for Blue, or was becoming so. She was as pretty as a golden sparrow; better yet, let me describe her: nice hips, a pelvic cavity area that seemed perfectly formed; slim shoulders, deliciously molded into her breast area, which were like blossoming buds, and a buttocks narrow, small and spreading as she turned and the dress stuck to her, in all the right places; her spine was tender to the eyes, as her blouse was tight against it.

She was about five foot tall, rather short, but it was fine. Nice and healthy looking. Her bosom to her lower curves had less then ounce of fat, so he quickly calculated in his mind. He wanted to grab her right there but his manners controlled his body. He was many things, but not rude or disrespectful, although his temper could be raised quickly.

“You’ll need to put down yor horse while yor here, Mr. Blue. My father owns a stable,” said Ella.

“Yaw, if you could take one more on, I’d appreciate it,” replied Blue. Whereupon, the three: Blue, Hank and Ella walked to the stable.

“Mr. Blue,” asked Ella, “evidently you won the gunfight in the saloon but dont yaw think yor going to lose one someday?”

“No ms, I hav never thought that way. Ya see, I live to shoot. Those others shoot to live.”

“Then you really enjoy it?” said Ella.

“It’s something I’m really skilled at. Yes, I enjoy it,” responded Blue.

After they bedded the horses, they went outside onto the porch. Hank went in the house, which was attached to the stable.

“I’ll bet one will get you,” Ella exclaimed; adding, “I never heard of any gunfighter going on forever.”

“I can use something to drink mis,” said Blue. Ella went to fetch him some lemonade. They both sat on the patio.

“Where are you going to sleep tonight?” asked Ella.

“Right here,” replied Blue. “If you don’t mind I’ll get a blanket and in the morning I’ll find a boarding house.”

The more Ella talked to the gunfighter the more she saw the tender and honest side to him: the side she wanted to see of course. Most of the tenderness escaped men because they hid it so well but he wasn’t afraid to share his feelings of hurt, pain and love; for the most part, yet he was blunt and that in itself could wreck a good relationship. He had loved his mother, who had died at the hands of her drunken husband when he was but eighteen; thereafter he left home; or shortly after. He had come from a family of farmers.

In the minds of each of them ran passion so deep their hearts were on fire. Ella’s thoughts turned into questions that probed into his past. Respectfully, she thought here is a man who never really fell in love or had the opportunity to. The caretaker and nurturer side of her was coming out.

Blue was easy to talk to, but hard to lead. The trail was long, and he was eroded. Too many things to express in one night he thought, too many emotions to deal with. But he liked telling them to Ella, nonetheless.

He stood up, wiped the dirt and dust off his pants, then said with a sigh from his chest,

“I need to check on my horse. Come with me!” They both walked into the stable, and then into the horse stall where Dan was tied up.

Ella knew if she stayed in there with him too long, or just long enough, life would not be the same, yet as he gave his horse water and some oats, and grass, he didn’t seem like the gunfighter he was. Then she shook her head, and told herself: I’m enchanted with this tough gunfighter, why? He’s all of fifteen years older than me, and deadly. She stood upup from watching Blue water the horse, off the stool her feet hit the floor, and Blue’s hand grabbed hers, and they walked side by side to a ladder in back of the horses that led up to the hayloft. As they sat in the hay, she stood up, unbuttoned the front of her dress, and lifted one side of the full dress; she shoved the other side in back of her shoulder and let the dress drop. ‘what am I doing,’ she thought. But couldn’t stop herself, the dress fell on the hay like a feather, she was naked. Gently, Blue did the same with his shirt and trousers. She was all he thought she was.

The Next Day
Chapter Three

See Dennis’ web site: http://dennissiluk.tripod.com

Here’s how to hold a short, effective staff meeting.

1) In general. Keep them short. Most staff meetings should last less than an hour. You want your staff to spend their time working on things that earn money for your business, not sitting in meetings. Keep them positive. Negative meetings contain insults, ridicule, and attacks. These activities create caution and resentment, which always costs your company money. Keep them interactive. Your staff consists of intelligent people. Put them to work in your meetings to advance the effectiveness of your organization.

2) Share news. Give the members of your group one minute to report on progress made in their area of responsibility. You’ll find that this results in bullet point reports of essential information. It also prevents people from philosophizing, explaining, justifying, criticizing, and engaging in other unproductive activities. Plan a time budget: 8 to 10 minutes.

3) Teach something. Invite a guest expert to give a 10 minute presentation on some skill or technology that benefits your group. Tell the expert that you want a logical explanation of practical ideas. You can also ask members of your group to take turns delivering brief tutorials on topics that benefit the others. Plan a time budget: 10 to 15 minutes.

4) Practice skills. Create team learning activities that sharpen or teach skills needed in your business. For example, you could role play job skills (especially useful for sales teams), solve puzzles (useful for high tech groups), or take quizzes (useful for everyone). Ask group members to take turns bringing an activity that reviews or teaches a valuable skill. Follow this activity with a brief recap of key ideas. Then ask the group members to give a fifteen second report on how these ideas can be applied to improve their work. Plan a time budget: 10 to 20 minutes.

5) Solve problems. Give each group member a minute to describe a challenge that hinders work on a current project and then let everyone propose solutions. Suggestions should be brief and free of self aggrandizing explanations or motivational sermons. This process also requires a positive, supportive environment to succeed. If this is used to ridicule, insult, or criticize the individual, then people will be reluctant to reveal issues that need attention. Plan a time budget: 3 to 6 minutes per person.

6) Use a facilitator. A facilitator will help you conduct meetings where the results matter. That way, you can participate, rather than spend your time managing the meeting. A good facilitator will know group decision making processes that move your meeting toward results everyone supports.

About The Author
Steve Kaye helps leaders hold meetings that produce results – fast and with everyone’s participation. He is an IAF Certified Professional Facilitator, author, and speaker. His facilitation and workshops create success for everyone. Call 714-528-1300 for details. Visit http://www.stevekaye.com for a free report.

Question: My boss conducts terrible meetings. What can I do to help?

Answer:

First, be aware that some people feel threatened by new ideas (or suggestions). Thus, apply common sense, choose what seems reasonable, and be diplomatic.

1) Start with praise, such as: “I know you work hard. And I have an idea that would help you get more done.”

2) Offer to help with some small part of a meeting that would make the process more effective.

3) Leave a book on effective meetings on your desk.

4) Give your boss a book on effective meetings as a gift.

5) Conversationally (such as during lunch) mention that you read an article about meetings that told about a “really great” technique for . . . . (something such as preparing an agenda, or making decisions, or etc.)

6) Confront your boss directly with an idea, such as, “I think our meetings would take less time if we had an agenda.”

7) Offer to prepare the agenda for a meeting. As part of this task, ask your boss questions such as, “What is your goal for the meeting?” or “What result do you want to have at the end?” Then ask other questions such as, “What do you think is the best way to accomplish that result?”.

Ask your boss to use a facilitator for a meeting.

9) Ask your boss to send everyone to a workshop on holding effective meetings (because everyone else needs it). And of course, your boss should attend, just to find out what everyone else will be learning.

10) Wait until your boss complains about bad meetings. Then ask gentle guiding questions such as, “What makes you upset with that?” Perhaps, such questions can lead your boss to accepting a new idea.

11) Complain about someone else’s meeting. For example, you could say, “Wow, what a waste to time. No agenda and no one know what to do. We just sat around and talked about everything except anything that mattered.” – - Caution. This can backfire if the boss reacts by defending the other person.

If none of these ideas work, then you might consider:

12) Wait until your boss retires, moves on, or quits.

13) Ask for a transfer to a different department (to enrich your career, for example).

Steve Kaye helps leaders hold effective meetings. He is an IAF Certified
Professional Facilitator, author, and speaker. His meeting facilitation and
leadership workshops create success for everyone. Call 714-528-1300 for
details. Visit http://www.stevekaye.com for a free report.

Make an impact at your next exhibition, banner stands and exhibition systems are an exciting medium of presentation, giving instant impact, they are ideal for conferences, retail displays and for additional emphasis on an exhibit stand at tradeshows.

There are many different types of portable banner stands available on the market but some of the most popular types feature an easy-to-use display with a retractable graphic, it works like a window blind, simply slide the graphic up and secure it. This type of banner stand can be set up very quickly, they are great for use in tradeshow booths, retail presentations and product information displays. Simply snap the pole together, pull the display graphic from the bottom base and snap to the top of the pole. When you are finished, the graphic display retracts back into the case. The display graphic is protected inside the aluminium case during transport.

Other types of banner stand use pole, roll up or telescopic means of standing and storage instead of a retractable method, the pole system being the most economical choice while some of the more cutting edge options feature lighting and double sided motorised displays. The choice of system most suited to your needs will be based mainly on portability, budget and how much of a visual impact you want to make as some systems can extend to a height of three metres.

Exhibition systems range from mini counters, pop up displays, display panels right up to large scale custom designed exhibit stands, mini counters are simply a small unit which have a display graphic at the front, these are often seen at supermarkets for product sampling. Display panels are modular panel systems that fold out to form a versatile exhibition solution, they range in size from desktop to full exhibition stands. PopUp Exhibition Stands are systems that incorporate a lightweight frame which effortlessly pops up from a folded position to form a superb graphic presentation trade stand or press kiosk, when not in use it can easily be transported in a rugged wheeled container that fits into the boot of a hatchback car.

Custom designed exhibit stands are the most visually stunning in appearance and require some planning for construction and presentation, they can include additional options such as multimedia systems, advanced lighting, flags, banners and the actual product in such cases as vehicle and home exhibits.

Full colour graphics are usually printed on high quality digital large format inkjet systems. Banners and pop-up panels are printed on top quality vinyl for stunning visuals and a longer lifespan. Artwork for graphic panels can be supplied by client to specification or can be generated at the studio of the display printing company.

Banner stands and exhibition systems can promote products and services with colourful and attractive graphics in an inspiring and imaginative manner, this is essential when attracting potential customers.

(c) Copyright 2006, Tim McCarthy. All rights reserved.
D-Signs, Tralee, County Kerry, Ireland.
Signs, Printing and Display