the GE Monogram Experience :: An open blog post to GE, my host

Well done.

When I was invited to travel, all expenses paid, to Louisville Kentucky to take part in an “experience” that would surround your Monogram line of kitchen appliances I did not know what to expect. I accepted the invitation and decided I would like to go as an observer and chronicler of your event.I wanted to experience the experience from another vantage point and your people fearlessly let me do that. I say fearlessly because once the parameters were set (no audio recording and all photos would be run by you before publishing) I was allowed to stand back and photograph most of the proceedings to the best of my ability. My ability is questionable but, I believe, what the photographs capture is not.

Determination, conviction and endurance

I was impressed with the folks you had chosen to convey your message. They were, each and every one of them, into it. And honestly, it did not feel like it was because you were paying them. It was as if they had a genuine vested interest in your company, but more specifically in the Monogram line. There is a purity to the way these folks carry out their mission that is refreshing. I came away feeling like innovation is your company’s top priority. The three words at the top of the photo are crucial if innovation is to take place and these were qualities I saw time and again from your people. Our session was pushing 4 long days, it required tons of set up and follow up and they do this 42 times a year. That is a baseball schedule and your players, in the world of baseball, would be called gamers!

The kitchen is a workshop

…and a workshop is a place for constant learning.

But mostly for doing.

People make journeys worth taking…

…poses worth striking…

…and food worth eating.

On a final note, your emissaries acknowledged, time and again, their awareness that taking time away from our businesses back home was a sacrifice. This was important because the time element was definitely one of the things that I had to grapple with in my decision to attend. It is a credit to the strength of your program, your people and your product that I never once felt this journey was a waste of my time.

Thank you!