AppleOne co-sponsors successful workshop and networking event with
CEO Nexus at Synapse Summit 2020
Event Photos
The sun was shining and the energy was palpable when more than 6,000 top tech entrepreneurs joined forces at the Synapse Summit 2020 in Tampa, Florida this past week. From fresh startups to second-stage companies to worldwide brands, representatives connected to swap the latest innovations, spark inspiration and strategize for future partnerships. Synapse Summit is in its third year and keeps growing.
This year, the event was held in downtown Tampa and the Amalie Arena where more than 300 speakers took to seven stages with over 100 breakout sessions. CEO Nexus was in attendance and even had the opportunity to co-sponsor a workshop and an after-hours break-out session with AppleOne Employment Services where we transformed a private VIP area into the Lonely At The Top Lounge for CEOs.
I’d like to extend special thanks to AppleOne’s Michael Logal and Nicole McMurray who help set up the sponsorship. McMurray is a member of our CEO Nexus network who takes part in our C-suite program. Her team did a wonderful job with this entire event.
In our workshop session with business leaders, McMurray discussed human resource management – attracting and retaining talent in today’s hot market. Articulating your company culture is a cornerstone of an engaged workforce, Murray told those gathered. One common HR challenge many companies face, she said, is building a culture of communication as well as one that tells their unique company story.
According to McMurray, hiring talent that meshes with your culture starts at the interview. When it comes to successful job interviews, she explained, it’s about trying to determine whether your top candidates align well with your company culture. Zeroing in on the individuals who fit the culture will afford the best opportunity of finding satisfied employees who will flourish in their roles.
And since it was Valentine’s Week, McMurray discussed how the interview process is similar to dating.
There’s the first date, where you break the ice, confirm if you’re a match, dig into the details and then put the ball in their court.
As things start getting serious, you examine values, determine priorities and tailor expectations – and get engaged!
The relationship grows even stronger with effective feedback, communicated support and shared goals, and you decide to stay together – marriage.
A successful relationship may even turn into a decision to start a family, with successive generations working together as a company grows for the future.
But the work doesn’t end there. She reminded leaders to spend time with their top people and to continually engage to ensure employees are not only satisfied, but also challenged, especially in a hot market. Like so many business processes, meeting the needs of the most valuable employees requires not only having a plan, but also executing against that plan.
Those gathered at Synapse Summit 2020 also discussed larger workforce trends, such as how Millennials (56 million) and Gen X (53 million) make up the bulk of the modern workforce, while America’s 41 million Baby Boomers are now a minority. But keep an eye on Gen Z – the youngest working generation is only 5 percent of the workforce with 9 million workers today, but projected to swell to 61 million workers in the coming years.
After McMurray’s portion of the workshop, we shared the importance of a peer learning process to apply new information and strategies in a business. Mary Key, our roundtable Tampa facilitator, explained how a peer-based problem-solving process can enhance on-going education as well as provide networking opportunities. She demonstrated how access to research and business intelligence program such as GrowFL can assist in growing topline sales results.
McMurray concurred. As a member of the CEO Nexus Roundtable, she explained the value of a roundtable process in applying new information across and beyond the leadership team.
The highlight of our day was the exclusive event we hosted at the Heineken Lounge in the Amalie Arena, the home of the Tampa Bay Lightning. AppleOne’s team did an outstanding job of attracting more than 150 business leaders and second-stage CEOs to our private, after-hours event, where we rebranded the Heineken lounge as a destination for CEOs we affectionately called the Lonely At The Top Lounge.
We provided the refreshments and ambience as our guests relaxed and connected at the end of a busy day. Event organizers suggested it was one of the best CEO-centric networking sessions during the first day! AppleOne, which has a large presence in Tampa Bay, reported that the entire event was phenomenal for lead generation and connecting across companies.
CEO Nexus services growing, second stage companies. Our professionally facilitated CEO Roundtable Programs of non-competing businesses focus on strategy, operations, leadership and succession. To learn more visit CEO Nexus.
Click here for a look at our workshop PowerPoint.
Click here to view the Nicole McMurray testimonial.
Click here for the Synapse Summit website.
Click here for the Tampa Bay article.