Our first AYM High Mini-Summit on Labor Day weekend was a huge, sold-out, soaring success! We limited attendance to seven stores and had a packed agenda. Sessions were held both at our newly renovated AYM High headquarters and adjacent Island Ship Center training store in Grand Island, New York, just five minutes away from Niagara Falls.
Special guest Ryan McCarthy of Social Status Marketing—the website and SEO master behind aymhigh.com, ambc4me.org, islandshipcenter.com, and many more industry-leading sites—surprised our AYM High Mini-Summit attendees with analytics and personally-done research on each of the seven stores in attendance. That revelation of how each business appears on Google, how well each shows up when searched for using different keywords, and how much more business could be gained by a few simple tweaks to sites and searches sparked a whole lot of aha moments, discussion, inspiration, and strategy creation.
We had intentionally set a flexible agenda for our first AYM High Mini-Summit; we knew we’d have to pivot, as our event was specially designed to address the needs and requests of each of the attendees and intentionally made to be flexible so we could have the discussions that needed to happen as they came up and as conversations were sparked. So, after Ryan’s revelation to our guests, our trajectory shifted…and so much necessary, important work got done.
Flexibility is essential—in event planning, in agenda setting, in our day-to-day business dealings, and in all facets of life. Our clients and friends who truly have soared are those whose path above the clouds is nothing like they predicted it would be when they were planning for it on the ground. You don’t need to know how everything will work out. In fact, you can’t know. But you do need to have faith that, if you put in the work and lead with an open mind, a gut full of grit, sleeves ready to be rolled up, and a heart to do the right thing and treat people according to the golden rule, you’ll find your path, dig into it, launch, and soar. And we’ll be right there, cheering you on.
For those who didn’t get to the first AYM High Mini-Summit, here’s a peek at the agenda. Though, as mentioned, we did pivot from this a bit in order to maximize our time together with our clients in attendance:
Saturday
8:30 a.m. - Meet in lobby of DoubleTree for rides to AYM High headquarters
9:00 a.m. - Welcome, coach and attendee introductions, and working breakfast at AYM High headquarters
9:30 a.m. - Guided ISC store tour and opening procedures overview
10:00 a.m. - Morning program begins
· Just Say No So You Can Grow inspirational session led by Fahim and Marty
· Tote bags presentation and giver mentality lesson; gift giving time begins
· AMBC and AMBC-U presentation by Tommy Armstrong
12:00 p.m. - Catered working lunch (with birthday surprise for one of our attendees) at AYM High headquarters; afternoon program begins
· Ryan McCarthy presentation on websites and SEO
· Who’s on Your Bus? video introduced by Steve
· Break-outs with coaches to maximize time and focus on what you need; coworkers will be separated into rotating groups to have 20-minute discussions on…
o Print and design with Seema
o Pricing, mailboxes, and fulfillment with Yusuf
o ISC SOPs, retail, and guest experience with Jasmine
o Marketing, communication, social media, and online space claiming and accessibility with Marty
o Exit strategy with Steve
o Relationships (Hotel pickups, chamber of commerce, service to community, etc.) with Fahim
3:30 p.m. - ISC closes for day and ISC Family (team members) join mini-summit
· AYM High Buffalo Wing Breakouts (mild, medium, and hot role play questions asked to attendees by the ISC staff)
5:00 p.m. - Rides back to DoubleTree to refresh
6:30 p.m. - Meet in lobby of DoubleTree for rides to Buffalo Tikka House
7:00 p.m. - Dinner at Buffalo Tikka House
9:30 p.m. - Meet in lobby of DoubleTree for guided walking tour nighttime view of Niagara Falls with fireworks at 10:00 p.m.
Sunday
8:30 a.m. - Meet in lobby of DoubleTree for rides to AYM High headquarters
9:00 a.m. - Working breakfast at AYM High headquarters; morning program begins
· Hands-on print workshop with AYM High coaches, including demos on mounting, sign-making, business cards, and more
· Attendee strengths, weakness, special sauce, swag, brochure, logo, branding group workshop with peer-to-peer feedback
12:00 p.m. - Catered lunch at AYM High headquarters; afternoon program begins
· MBM representative and automated cutter demonstration
· Paper presentation on paper types for professional printers
· AMBC certified packing class presented by Marty
· AYM High testimonial videos, offerings, and recommendations
4:30 p.m. - Rides from AYM High headquarters to Maid of the Mist
5:00 p.m. - Maid of the Mist boat tour of Niagara Falls (wear shoes that can get wet) (note: while well intended, we totally missed the boat. It turns out that, on Labor Day weekend, even if you’ve purchased all of your tickets in advance like we did, you still have to wait in a two-plus hour long line to get on the Maid of the Mist. Not wanting to waste that time with our attendees, we pivoted and did a walking tour of the falls instead so we could maximize our time together at dinner)
5:00 p.m. - Alternatively to the Maid of the Mist for those who choose, coach Steve will stay back at the AYM High headquarters until 6 p.m. for personalized P&L and ultimate report analysis (please bring those documents along if you so choose)
7:00 p.m. - Semi-formal dinner with customized AYM High-selected menu at Parkway Prime (located inside the DoubleTree)
As you can see from that agenda, it was a packed-tight weekend, but the feedback, testimonials, and joy we’ve received as a result of it go beyond expectations. We are so grateful for all who came. Please check out our socials @aymhighconsultants to see lots of photos, videos, testimonials, and more from the event.
Here's an awesome testimonial from Kevin, one of our event attendees:
Come soar with us!
Comments