The elegant Hotel Contessa on the San Antonio Riverwalk was a fantastic venue for our annual BestPractices Conference. With almost perfect weather, a helpful hotel staff and an excellent line-up of speakers, all the stars were aligned for a wonderful conference.
The hotel entrance offered a view of the patio and Riverwalk, immediately pulling participants into the charm of San Antonio.
During the two-day conference, participants listened to dynamic speakers discussing some of today's most important people-related topics:
Developing and Keeping Your Best People
Fostering Personal and Professional Growth
Getting Serious About Career Planning
Producing World Class Coaches
Putting Team Members First
Managing Intergenerational Communications and Expectations
The breakout sessions on Thursday afternoon fueled discussions, generated ideas, and gave firm members a chance to share innovative ideas.
Thursday night's reception gave everyone a chance to network with other participants while enjoying some evening air. Attendees also had a chance to meet our conference sponsors, David Bergstein from CCH and Steffanie Gunn and Melissa Matt from the Alliant Group (giving their best pose at right).
The evening left participants free to find their own entertainment, and most took advantage of the many restaurants, historic sites and shops within walking distance.
As part of our full service conference experience, we provided some late night amusement in the form of a "Pre-Dawn Pajama Judging Contest." Seriously, we were all happy at how well participants functioned the next day after the 2:26am fire alarm.
Molly Epstein's session finished out the conference with a challenge to work together to match characteristics to generational groups.
Thank you to everyone involved! We hope it was an enjoyable and educational experience.
We hope to see you all next year. We are considering holding BestPractices 2008 on the East Coast. What do you think of Providence, Rhode Island next October? Email your opinion to Georgia Cummings at georgiac@upstreamacademy.com.
