15 years, 1.500 events, 10.000 happy clients

This month we will be celebrating our 15th anniversary and we are pleased to take this opportunity to share our vision for the next 5 years and blend it expertly with our experience over the last 15 years.

Firstly, thank you to all the many friends, collaborators and customers who have made this possible. We began this journey before YouTube and Facebook existed (Are we really that old?). Then, the only way to meet customers and find out what they wanted was to talk to them directly, not via 140 characters.

Today thanks to social media we can take our message to audiences all over the world. We started off in 2003 in Barcelona as an experiences company offering wow experiences with a small team of fresh-faced friends, we began the journey into the unknown. Many, many people told us the idea would not work and we listened, but felt we had to do it anyway.

Today over 10,000 happy clients later we are so glad we did. We launched our new website this week to reflect the changes in our market and the wider portfolio that we offer our customers.

Spain-wide

We have moved from being a local Barcelona-based DMC to offering event services all over Spain, which makes us a perfect partner to work with if you are looking for:

1. Great transport links

2. A range of 4,5-star hotels

3. A range of convention centres

4. Unique incentive ideas

5. Cultural expression

6. Great food & weather

Mindfulness and Connection

I remember when the mindfulness concept was a laughable proposition only taken on by people sat on the fringes of corporate culture. Today this forms a central focal point for many companies. It makes sense really when you think about the adage “as you are within, so you are without” We are so encouraged by the number of companies that request an activity that requires the delegates to reconnect with themselves before connecting to those around them. From an early morning walk together to yoga or Pilate’s on a catamaran, the idea of Mindfulness has gone from fad to function in the corporate incentive world.

Social media transmission

Today if you organise an event for 500 people, you can easily multiply this by 5, because delegates are keen to record everything from the presentation of the food to the colour of the shoes of the presenters – nothing is out of bounds! This mean that as event planners, our dedication to meticulous planning is even more important because the result will be amplified for better or for worse.

Attitudes towards incentive events

I remember the first team building event I attended as a participant was a disaster, I hated every minute of it. My company took 30 of us members of the to do the do the Beaujolais Run. I enjoyed the breakfast but the thought of driving from London to Burgundy with “work people” has zero appeal to me. (Although today I would absolutely love to do it).  What struck me most was the arbitrary way in which the decision was made. It was presented to us as an incentive but it was really an expression of the desires of the company owners. Today incentive trips are carefully thought out programs that takes many months of planning. I remember one CEO saying to me, “I cannot get these trips wrong, I get more nervous about organising my company incentive trips than I do for sales client meetings.” The attitude towards events has changed for all stakeholders, it is no longer seen as a jolly of opulent displays of largess, but carefully structure events to facilitate inter colleague communication.

Repeat Destinations

We have found that our clients are now comfortable picking a small handful of destinations and sticking to them on rotation. We have noticed that people want to form a better relationship with the destinations they visit, rather like going to your favourite restaurant. The programs will vary widely each time of course and that is where the role of a good DMC comes in. A good DMC should be able to give you a different experience of the city each time you visit.

Thank You

Last year we ran a survey to find out exactly what our customers thought about us and one of the key questions we asked was “what three words would you use to describe your interactions with LifestyleDMC?” The answer came back quite resoundingly “FUN; PROFESSIONAL; CREATIVE” We have had the privilege of working with many amazing clients from over the world and look forward to meeting more fantastic companies and individuals as we continue to grow over the next 15 years!!!