The Looking Ahead Honors
2018 Winners:
Anne Marie Zwerg and Karl Seckinger in Bogotá
2018 Honorable Mention:
Lara Yawno, Rosha Rad, and Kristy Simshauser in Melbourne, as well as
Adhiraj Thakur, Catarina Longman, Andrea Marzullo, Gursheel Dhillon, Russel Stagg, and Shikha Sarkar in Singapore
When searching for potential nominees for 2018’s Looking Ahead Honors, the Global Awards jury selected our most organized individuals and teams. The teams they nominated are extremely effective at making sure all events take place throughout the year, no matter what!
We found that nominees for this category consistently plan and outline their event schedule months – even a full year – in advance. They take certain months into special consideration where it might be a challenge to find a good date (here’s looking at you, August and December), and keep an eye on public holidays, local special events, and their own holiday plans in order to avoid any disruptions in the event schedule.
If a scheduling conflict arises and one of our nominees cannot host an event, we learned that they either outsource the work to a strong team of temporary hosts and volunteers to keep the events up and running or plan a ”make-up” event into their events calendar.
Why They Won
One of 2018’s jury members makes the case for the Bogotá team’s win:
“Anne Marie and Karl have been a great team right from the start: together they’ve developed an event planning schedule that ensures that they plan up to three months in advance. By publishing the events early, they make sure that Consuls can plan their events and activities around them and members are notified early on. Since they have good relationships with venues, they never risk having a drop — when a venue backs out, they can always find another one to host the event at. For their planning skills, they deserve the Looking Ahead Honors very much!”
Interview with the Winners
How early in advance do you plan your events and what tool do you use to keep track of them?
Bogotà Team: We try to keep things planned about three months ahead. This lets other Consuls plan around our official and expat events accordingly.
What steps do you take to maintain three monthly events despite holidays, summer vacations, and other scheduling conflicts that come up?
Bogotà Team: We communicate often as to what conflicts may come up, and how to overcome them. We are a good team and can always find a solution. Plus, when you plan three months ahead, it gives you more time to respond to complications. If a venue has an issue, we can sometimes move to a venue that was booked for a different date, and switch dates.
Do you ask for help to keep the events going even when you are unavailable?
Bogotà Team: We do have a fantastic helper that handles the front door at the events. Everybody knows her and respects her. This gives us the freedom to handle issues during the event, as well as to circulate and introduce new members to the community. She also covers for us if one of us can't make the event for one reason or another.
Congratulations to Karl and Anne Marie, 2018’s winners for the Looking Ahead Honors!
We would also like to recognize our honorable mentions, Adhiraj Thakur, Catarina Longman, Andrea Marzullo, Gursheel Dhillon, Russell Stagg, and Shikha Sarkar in Singapore, as well as Lara Yawno and Rosha Rad in Melbourne, for leading communities where the “show will go on”, no matter what.
About the Winners:
Karl Seckinger is originally from the Washington D.C area but has also lived in Rio De Janeiro. He has a large Colombian family and moved from Raleigh, North Carolina to Bogotà in 2015. He has over 30 years of experience in restaurant management. Karl is earning his teaching certification and is studying Spanish. He spends his free time volunteering for a foundation teaching English to disadvantaged kids.
Anne Marie Zwerg was born in Alabama, USA. Within the US, she has also lived in Virginia, New Hampshire, New York, Texas, New Mexico, and Nevada. After studying Economics and International Management in the US, she began her international career in Puerto Rico and Colombia. She is culminating a Ph.D. in Business which has included taking courses in England, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, and Norway. She is currently the Director of the Business Administration program and the Master of International Management program at Universidad de La Sabana and a visiting professor in Universidad Panamericana in Mexico and Fachhochschule Münster in Germany. Her expertise is in Diversity in Global Virtual Teams.
