Campus Vacations Joins Verve!

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Campus Vacations Joins Verve!
Campus
Vacations
Joins Verve!

Find out how we're      Which members               Kritsen Rowsey                Want to find out
using therapy to        of the leadership           tells us all about            why Community
be our best!            team are you?               Fall Break fun!               are our warriors?

             V E R V E ’ S   M O N T H LY   M A G A Z I N E   •   O C TO B E R   I S S U E
Campus Vacations Joins Verve!
CONTENTS
                                                                                                      We're bringing you this issue fashionably late (as usual)...                      THIS MONTHS
1.    Editors Letter                                      01
                                                                                                                                                                                        MAGAZINE
2.    New Starters                                        02                                          ...however to make up for it we have something for everyone, from
                                                                                                      the sublime (coaching and therapy), to the ridiculous (things Jack
                                                                                                                                                                                        TEAM
3.    Interview with Justin Van Camp                      10
                                                                                                      and Ted would never say) and everything inbetween....
4.    Why coaching matters                                14                                                                                                                            CHARLES BARNARD
                                                                                                        This issue's big exciting story is that we have a new Canadian
5.    Therapy at Verve                                    16            WHAT IS FALL BRE AK? - P10
                                                                                                      office! Campus Vacations is now part of the team and they could                   GEORGE POWELL

6.    A Crash Course in Design Thinking                   20                                          not be a nicer bunch (of course they couldn't, they're Canadian) - its
                                                                                                                                                                                        AL ANA PEREZ
                                                                                                      amazing to have them as part of the team!
7.    The Warriors of Verve - Community                   22
                                                                                                                                                                                        CAISIE DILKS

8.    Kristen tells us about Fall Break                   26                                            And also thank you to everyone who reached out about wanting
                                                                                                                                                                                        ELINA MEIMANE
                                                                                                      to be part of this month's issue - you can see from the team list that
9.    Caisie takes us to ADE Dance Event                  28
                                                                                                      we had a new mix of contributors - slack me (@annebedi) if you'd                  GEORGIA OWEN
10.   #Whatup from Team Hamburg                           30                                          like to be part of next months issue!
                                                                      WHY COACHING M AT TERS - P20                                                                                      JOE MARTIN
11.   Charles Whirlwind Adventure                         32
                                                                                                                                                                                        JOE STEVENS
12.   The Sports Squad                                    36
                                                                                                                      ANNE BEDI                                                         KRISTEN ROWSEY
13.   Wired                                               40                                                          EDITOR
                                                                                                                                                                                        ORL ANDO BAEZA
14.   My Set of the summer                                42
                                                                                                                                                                                        VIVIENNE SUNG
15.   High Five                                           44

                                                                         FROM TE A M HA MBURB - P36   THE DESIGN TEAM
16.   Which member of the leadership team are you quiz?   46

17.   Interview with Orlando                              51

18.   Lock-ins                                            52

19.   What else is happening?                             54

20. And other stories                                     56

21.   Things jack and ted would never say                 58                                          MATTHEW KENDALL                         GRANT BARRATT
                                                               CHARLES WHIRLWIND ADVENTURE - P40

ii         Verve Magazine | Issue 13 | October 2018                                                                                                                    Verve Magazine | Issue 13 | October 2018   1
Campus Vacations Joins Verve!
NEW STARTERS

Marjorie Love Conway                Mary Montgomery                      Phoebe Gash                          David Kroes                       Megan Wright                      Jesse Owens                            Orlando Baeza                         Gary Rosoff
Account Manager II                 Office Manager                        Software Engineer Intern             All things people                 Assistant                         Salesforce Administrator               VP of Marketing                       VP of Business Development
Community - Los Angeles            People & Talent - Los Angeles         Engineering - London                 People & Talent - Los Angeles     Office of CEO - London            Sales - Las Vegas                      Marketing - Los Angeles               Inventory and Business
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               Development- Los Angeles
Who’s the most famous              Who’s the most famous                 Who’s the most famous                Who’s the most famous             Who’s the most famous             Who’s the most famous                  Who’s the most famous
person you’ve ever seen/met        person you’ve ever seen/met           person you’ve ever seen/met          person you’ve ever seen/met       person you’ve ever seen/met       person you’ve ever seen/met            person you’ve ever seen/met           Who’s the most famous
in real life?                      in real life?                         in real life?                        in real life?                     in real life?                     in real life?                          in real life?                         person you’ve ever seen/met
Hugh Hefner. At one of my          I managed a restaurant in             The most famous person I’ve          Allen Ginsburg — he               Most famous person I’ve met:      I met Kylie Minogue once after         I have worked in and around           in real life?
previous jobs, we threw 3          WeHo near the Hills so we got         met by a long way is Ralph           autographed my orange.            The one and only Stone Cold       my friend randomly lent his            lifestyle culture my whole            Kobe Bryant, Shaq, John Elway,
parties a year at the Playboy      a lot of celeb types in constantly.   Fiennes (aka Voldemort) - he                                           Steve Austin, Oddly dead          chihuahua to her when she was          career so this is tough. Kobe?        Robin Williams (Funny Oscars
Mansion and I got to interact      Charlize Theron, Halle Berry,         came to do an interview at           What is your favourite            handsome IRL.                     recording an album in the UK.          LeBron? Lenny Kravitz? Jonah          story)
with Hef each time. He was a       Kristen Bell, Michael Vartan,         my school. He was incredibly         swear word?                                                         Bit of a long story.                   Hill? Michael B Jordan? James
really sweet man.                  Joss Whedon, Zach Braff, Alex         engaging and I was totally           ‘Butt-rash fungus’                What is your favourite                                                   Franco? Rihanna? Nas? I’ve            What is your favourite
                                   Pettyfer, and Tyra Banks were         starstruck. Coming in close          (I type, smiling).                swear word?                       What is your favourite                 been around a few different           swear word?
What is your favourite             all regulars. My biggest fan          second was when I was about                                            The F word, waaaay too much.      swear word?                            people along the way. :)              For Fuck Sake.
swear word?                        girl moment came when Tom             6 years old and Katy Hill from       If you had to wear one piece of                                     ''Twat'' - I always thought it's
By far Fuck is my favorite cuss    Hiddleston and Hugh Laurie            Blue Peter came to Cyprus            clothing that you currently own                                     had a great ring to it.                What is your favourite                If you had to wear one piece of
                                                                                                                                                If you had to wear one piece of
word. Use it on the daily.         came in for dinner one random         (where I lived at the time) to fly   for the rest of your life, what                                                                            swear word?                           clothing that you currently own
                                                                                                                                                clothing that you currently own
                                   night. I came around their table      with the Red Arrows. I got to        would it be and why?                                                                                       Shit. No, it’s probably fuck. Shit,   for the rest of your life, what
                                                                                                                                                for the rest of your life, what   If you had to wear one piece of
                                   “checking up” on them so often        hold her hand as we walked                                                                                                                      did I fuck this up already?!          would it be and why?
If you had to wear one piece of                                                                               My Apple Watch — it talks to      would it be and why?              clothing that you currently own
                                   Hugh Laurie invited me to sit         across an airfield.
clothing that you currently own                                                                               me!                               Pyjamas - really don’t            for the rest of your life, what                                              My Baseball Hoodie.
                                   down with them and have a                                                                                                                                                             If you had to wear one piece of
for the rest of your life, what                                                                                                                 understand why people actively    would it be and why?
                                   glass of wine to relax. I accepted.   What is your favourite                                                                                                                          clothing that you currently own
would it be and why?                                                                                                                            chose to wear anything other      I absolutely love my watch. I've
                                                                         swear word?                                                                                                                                     for the rest of your life, what
My grey hoodie shirt. It’s                                                                                                                      than pyjamas at home.             only recently started wearing
                                   What is your favourite                When ‘wank’ is used adjectivally.                                                                                                               would it be and why?
comfortable and I can rock it                                                                                                                                                     it, but it's quite satisfying not to
                                   swear word?                                                                                                                                                                           Basketball shorts because it’s
casually or dress it up a bit.                                                                                                                                                    have to find your phone and
                                   Far and away - Cunt.                  If you had to wear one piece of                                                                                                                 eternally comfortable and also
                                                                                                                                                                                  get distracted by a tonne of
                                   Americans can be super uptight        clothing that you currently own                                                                                                                 functional. I like versatility, ha!
                                                                                                                                                                                  messages when you just need
                                   about that word but I think it’s      for the rest of your life, what
                                                                                                                                                                                  the time.
                                   just great.                           would it be and why?
                                                                         Tricky because you’d need
                                   If you had to wear one piece of       to account for the seasons…
                                   clothing that you currently own       imagine wearing a hoodie
                                   for the rest of your life, what       in the summer we just had…
                                   would it be and why?                  Maybe a hat? I could cope with
                                                                         wearing a hat for the rest of
                                   Probably my Frye boots. Does
                                                                         my life.
                                   that count? They’re super comfy,
                                   durable and badass. I feel
                                   like I can do anything in those
                                   boots. Basically, I am answering
                                   this question “in the event of
                                   a zombie apocalypse what
                                   would I wear...”

2            Verve Magazine | Issue 13 | October 2018                                                                                                                                                                                   Verve Magazine | Issue 13 | October 2018                3
Campus Vacations Joins Verve!
NEW STARTERS
                                                                                                                                                       CAMPUS VACATIONS

Patrick Guido Arminio                Anja Bexelius                       Paul Monk                                Evan Fonfa                           Justin Van Camp                   Alex Handa                        Eugene Winer                       Corinna Howard
Software Engineer II                 Senior Sales Manager                Software Engineer I                      Accountant II                        Leading our outside sales team    Advisor                           Advisor                            Senior Manager of Events ops
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              & Program Development
Engineering - London                 Sales - London                      Engineering - London                     Finance and Legal - Las Vegas        Sales – Toronto                   Sales – Toronto                   Sales – Toronto
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              Events Operations - Toronto
Who’s the most famous                Who’s the most famous               Who’s the most famous                    Who’s the most famous                Who’s the most famous             Who is the mot famouse person     Who’s the most famous
person you’ve ever seen/met          person you’ve ever seen/met         person you’ve ever seen/met              person you’ve ever seen/met          person you’ve ever seen/met       you’ve ever seen in real life     person you’ve ever seen/met       Who’s the most famous
in real life?                        in real life?                       in real life?                            in real life?                        in real life?                     Dalai Lama and Jane Goodall       in real life?                     person you’ve ever seen/met
I briefly worked with the            I went to a Christmas dinner with   Most famous person I’ve ever             When I was in Los Angeles            Eugene Winer.                     - its a tie                       Nelson Mandela.                   in real life?
current wife of Chris Wood           a client of mine and surprisingly   met is Dennis Rodman, NBA                recently I saw Larry David                                             What’s your favourite swear                                         David Duchovny, I was an extra
(Bastille’s drummer), she was        one of the owners and also the      Hall of Famer. I met Dennis at a         walking out of a hotel I was         What is your favourite            word?                             What is your favourite            on site.
kind enough to give me and           biggest actor in Sweden, Mikael     pool party in Las Vegas a few            staying in. I happened to be         swear word?                                                         swear word?
                                                                                                                                                                                         I’m very proper, I never swear,                                     What is your favourite
two friends tickets for Bastille’s   Persbrandt, joined us.              years ago. An interesting guy...         getting in my car at the same        Merde.                                                              Calisse Tabarnak.
                                                                                                                                                                                         anyone can vouch for that.                                          swear word?
concert in Rome a few years                                              a giant of a man.                        time and was following behind
ago.                                 What is your favourite                                                       his Tesla for a few blocks. I kept                                                                       If you had to wear one piece of   Câlice or the classic Fuck.
                                                                         What is your favourite                   thinking how he would be the         If you had to wear one piece of   If you had to wear one piece of
                                     swear word?                                                                                                                                                                           clothing that you currently own
What is your favourite                                                   swear word?                              best/worst person to get in a        clothing that you currently own   clothing that you currently own
                                     Huvva!                                                                                                                                                                                for the rest of your life, what   If you had to wear one piece of
swear word?                                                                                                       car accident with!                   for the rest of your life, what   for the rest of your life, what
                                                                         Hmm, the word f*ck tends                                                                                                                          would it be and why?              clothing that you currently own
                                                                                                                                                       would it be and why?              would it be and why?
Shit.                                                                    to come to mind, purely for                                                                                                                       My Garmin Watch - gotta count     for the rest of your life, what
                                     If you had to wear one piece of                                              What is your favourite               A warm jacket!                    My underwear, to spare the
                                                                         versatility. Although I’m not sure                                                                                                                those miles and calories.         would it be and why?
                                     clothing that you currently own                                              swear word?                          I don't like being cold.          world from having to look at
If you had to wear one piece of                                          I really have a favorite, I think it’s
                                     for the rest of your life, what                                                                                                                     my furry buttocks and bullocks                                      The large Adidas sweater
clothing that you currently own                                          situational. However I’m trying          Fuck. It never gets old.
                                     would it be and why?                                                                                                                                all day                                                             I accidentally stole from a
for the rest of your life, what                                          to cut down on the swearing.
                                     I would move someplace                                                       If you had to wear one piece of                                                                                                            SnowJam passenger, because
would it be and why?
                                     warmer and walk around in           If you had to wear one piece of          clothing that you currently own                                                                                                            it's crazy comfy.
Nike shorts and t-shirt, they        one of my tunics all day.           clothing that you currently own          for the rest of your life, what
super comfy and look really
                                                                         for the rest of your life, what          would it be and why?
nice :)
                                                                         would it be and why?                     Probably my black jeans. I
                                                                         An overcoat. Warm, functional,           wear them multiple times a
                                                                         durable and never goes out               week anyway, and I think they
                                                                         of fashion. Although if global           are appropriate for many
                                                                         warming continues this may not           occasions.
                                                                         be the smartest pick!

4             Verve Magazine | Issue 13 | October 2018                                                                                                                                                                                  Verve Magazine | Issue 13 | October 2018             5
Campus Vacations Joins Verve!
NEW STARTERS
CAMPUS VACATIONS

Danielle Jones                      Emily Tsinkas                      Megan Boese                          Mallorie Ihnat                     Leigh Kane                        Shelby Bolitsky                   Patrick Whearty                     Cheryl Myerscough
Agent                               Senior Agent                       Account Manager                      Senior Agent                       Senior Agent                      Event Operations Coordinator      Agent 2                             Events Operations Coordinator
Sales – Toronto                    Sales – Toronto                     Sales – Toronto                      Sales - Toronto                    Sales - Toronto                   Sales Toronto                     Sales - Toronto                     Events Operations – Toronto

Who’s the most famous              Who’s the most famous               Who’s the most famous                Who’s the most famous              Who’s the most famous             Who’s the most famous             Who’s the most famous               Who’s the most famous
person you’ve ever seen/met        person you’ve ever seen/met         person you’ve ever seen/met          person you’ve ever seen/met        person you’ve ever seen/met       person you’ve ever seen/met       person you’ve ever seen/met         person you’ve ever seen/met
in real life?                      in real life?                       in real life?                        in real life?                      in real life?                     in real life?                     in real life?                       in real life?
I worked as an assistant           I met Lil Jon in Cancun on          I met Mary-Kate and Ashley           Justin Timberlake.                 Lebron James.                     I've met Skrillex.                Dave portnoy (owner of              Owen Wilson, while shopping at
to a publicist for Toronto         Spring Break!                       Olsen during an interview they                                                                                                              barstool sports)                    Third Street Promenade.
International Film Festival. One                                       did with MTV when I was in           What is your favourite             What is your favourite            What is your favourite
of my favourite (and slightly      What is your favourite              high school... A friend and I        swear word?                        swear word?                       swear word?                       What is your favourite              What is your favourite
embarrassing) memories             swear word?                         waited all morning, crouched         Not sure if this is a swear word   Go Fuck Yourself!                 Fuck.                             swear word?                         swear word?
would be when I delivered          I don’t really say it a lot but I   up on the streets of Toronto in a    but I use ‘tits’ a lot lol.                                                                            Don’t have a favorite, try not to   Fuckface.
the wrong lunch orders to Jake     think the word cunt is funny.       line that was wrapped around                                                                                                                swear that much but I guess it
Gyllenhaal and his assistant.                                          the block. We were able to be                                           If you had to wear one piece of   If you had to wear one piece of
                                                                                                            If you had to wear one piece of                                                                        would be “shit”.
                                                                       on set while they were filming,                                         clothing that you currently own   clothing that you currently own                                       If you had to wear one piece of
                                   If you had to wear one piece of                                          clothing that you currently own
What is your favourite                                                 that’s the day all my childhood                                         for the rest of your life, what   for the rest of your life, what                                       clothing that you currently own
                                   clothing that you currently own                                          for the rest of your life, what
swear word?                                                            dreams came true.                                                       would it be and why?              would it be and why?              If you had to wear one piece of     for the rest of your life, what
                                   for the rest of your life, what                                          would it be and why?
                                                                                                                                               My Hat.                           My velour hoodie because it's     clothing that you currently own     would it be and why?
Fuck.                              would it be and why?
                                                                       What is your favourite               My roots sweatpants, they are                                        literally the comfiest piece of   for the rest of your life, what     Red flannel shirt
                                   Definitely my sweat pants                                                the definition of comfy, you                                                                           would it be and why?
                                                                       swear word?                                                                                               clothing I've ever owned.
If you had to wear one piece of    because they are so comfy.                                               can only get them in Canada!
                                                                       Fuck ‑ I still remember looking it                                                                                                          Denim blue express t shirt.
clothing that you currently own                                                                             They’re perfect for the cottage,
                                                                       up in the dictionary for the first
for the rest of your life, what                                                                             sleeping or lounging around on
                                                                       time as a kid..
would it be and why?                                                                                        a lazy Sunday.
As a Canadian I should                                                 If you had to wear one piece of
probably like the cold or at                                           clothing that you currently own
least be used to it, but that’s                                        for the rest of your life, what
not the case and I am always                                           would it be and why?
complaining I am freezing! So
                                                                       Can i pick my hair scrunchie?
I would choose my Lazypants
                                                                       If not - I would have to say my
sweatsuit. There is nothing
                                                                       fave pair of PJ’s for optimal
softer, comfier and warmer in
                                                                       comfort.
my wardrobe.

6            Verve Magazine | Issue 13 | October 2018                                                                                                                                                                            Verve Magazine | Issue 13 | October 2018            7
Campus Vacations Joins Verve!
NEW STARTERS
CONTRACTORS

Steve Jalim                           Pauline Richey                      Sheila Htin-Kyaw                    Arthur Azis                       Paul Annett
Software Engineer                     Senior Product Manager              Software Engineer Intern            Paralegal                         Principle Product Designer
Engineering - London                  Product - London                    Engineering - London                Finance and Legal - London        Design - London

Who’s the most famous                 Who’s the most famous               Who’s the most famous               Who’s the most famous             Who’s the most famous
person you’ve ever seen/met           person you’ve ever seen/met         person you’ve ever seen/met         person you’ve ever seen/met       person you’ve ever seen/met
in real life?                         in real life?                       in real life?                       in real life?                     in real life?
My secret super-power is              Chris Hadfield - astronaut.         The actor Tim Roth has bought       Bradley Cooper once               I once worked with Beyoncé.
saying dumb stuff to celebs.          Not famous to everyone but          me a drink. We were chatting        accidentally poured a beer
                                      he was a commander on               to a friend who was working         on my head at Glastonbury         What is your favourite
Exhibit A: Me, on deadline,           the ISS (International Space        behind the bar at the Lizard        (he apologised - we are all       swear word?
during my first job as a              Station) - he got Twitter famous    Lounge in Paris and Tim joined      good now).                        At the moment it has to be the
journalist: “Which [bad word]         particularly for performing         us. There was some small talk                                         one my 9 year old recently
idiot stole my [bad word] chair!?”    Bowie’s Space Oddity whilst in      but he was most interested in       What is your favourite            came out with – “What the
Jeremy Clarkson: “Er, me.”            space. Very cool and interesting    my boyfriend’s native country,      swear word?                       fudgecake?!”
Wheels it back over and sits on       human.                              Burma/Myanmar.                      CHRISTMAS NIGHT! ‘cause it
the edge of a desk instead.                                                                                   doesn’t really make sense and     If you had to wear one piece of
                                      What is your favourite              What is your favourite              it makes me laugh when my         clothing that you currently own
Exhibit B: I was a contestant         swear word?                         swear word?                         grandmother says it.              for the rest of your life, what
on Pointless. Thirty seconds          Having fallen in love with          I don’t really swear unless I’m                                       would it be and why?
before filming started an             The Good Place: “Holy               driving (in which case it’s a       If you had to wear one piece of
episode, Alexander Armstrong                                                                                                                    I tried to think of something
                                      Motherforking Shirtballs”. A        stream of F-word variations),       clothing that you currently own
was chatting about how he                                                                                                                       cool, but my wife says it’s
                                      great way to swear even when        but I do say ‘bloody’ a lot which   for the rest of your life, what
loved living in Oxfordshire.                                                                                                                    obviously my dressing gown.
                                      hanging out with folks with         I argue is not a swear word as      would it be and why?
Mishearing, I managed to                                                                                                                        At least I’ve got Arthur Dent for
                                      kids :)                             it’s uttered by the fairy bloody    I have a matching corduroy
accidentally diss his favourite                                                                                                                 company.
                                                                          godmother in Shrek!                 over-shirt and trousers that my
home county. (We still made it
                                      If you had to wear one piece of                                         friend made for me which I
to the semi-final, at least.)                                             If you had to wear one piece of
                                      clothing that you currently own                                         reckon would do me pretty well
                                                                          clothing that you currently own     for all occasions.
What is your favourite                for the rest of your life, what
                                                                          for the rest of your life, what
swear word?                           would it be and why?
                                                                          would it be and why?
Anything in French. Probably          Definitely one of my dresses
                                                                          If I had to wear one thing
connard.                              with decent pockets. I pretty
                                                                          for the rest of my life I would
                                      much never get rid of any of
                                                                          choose my eternity ring. It was
                                      the ones I have with pockets as
If you had to wear one piece of                                           given to me by husband after
                                      they are so rare - I blame the
clothing that you currently own                                           the birth of our daughter in
                                      patriarchy ;) Pockets have a
for the rest of your life, what                                           Singapore. It reminds me daily
                                      surprisingly interesting history.
would it be and why?                                                      not only of him but that we
                                      If that sentence doesn’t make
A now-ragged Howies t-shirt                                               made a whole new person! :D
                                      you snore, feel free to ask me
that’s nearly a decade old but        about it!
still fits perfectly. I was wearing
it when my first daughter was
born - it was old then!

8             Verve Magazine | Issue 13 | October 2018                                                                                                                              Verve Magazine | Issue 13 | October 2018   9
Campus Vacations Joins Verve!
WITH CAMPUS VACATIONS JOINING
                                                VERVE WE WENT STRAIGHT TO JUSTIN,
                                                ONE OF THE FOUNDERS WHO IS
                                                JOINING US, TO FIND OUT HOW THE
                                                COMPANY STARTED.

                                                Take us back to the beginning…                                      out all the trips happening in my neighbourhood – so
                                                We grew up in Ottawa, Alex, Eugene and I [three founders],          I was front lines.
                                                which is the capital of Canada – Alex and Eugene were best
                                                friends at school and then I was a few years behind them            How did the company come about?
                                                and met them later.                                                 So Alex was working at his dads agency, Eugene was
                                                                                                                    helping when Alex wasn’t around and I was there too – but
                                                How did the whole Student Grad thing come to pass?                  we were doing this alongside our studies. Alex created a
                                                Well originally in the 90s this tradition developed of going        brand called S-Trip as his college project which became the
                                                away with your friends after you graduated. Groups of kids          brand that dealt with all the students and thats the brand
                                                were doing it just using local travel agencies and there was        that eventually created Campus Vacations..
                                                nothing official. There was no name for this trip, it wasn’t like
                                                in Greek life where they have these specific trips they go on       When did you go full time?
                                                – here it was totally organic. It was just a few groups who         So I got a summer job with an American company that
                                                thought of it and then eventually a load of different groups        were doing these grad trip and I saw the way they ran
                                                ended up going away together to the same place and from             their business and were scaling and
                                                there people started thinking about how they could all go           I thought, nobody is doing this
                                                together in bigger groups.                                          properly in Canada. So I went
                                                                                                                    back home, Eugene and Alex
                                                How did you three get involved?                                     were at University at this
                                                It was through Alex’s dad who owned one of the travel               time and I decided to
                                                agencies who help facilitate all these trips - ‘Handa Travel’.      quit school and do this
                                                One agent there decided to send all the students who came           full time.
                                                to him to one destination and the students really enjoyed
                                                that. That sense of all celebrating together before they went
                                                their separate ways. And then every year it would get bigger
                                                and bigger. It got so big in our city there was more then
                                                1000 students going to Acapulco Mexico one year. The local
                                                newspaper would send a reporter so parents could see what
                                                their kids were getting up to.

                                                And how did you three get involved?
                                                So Alex planned the trip for his year through Handa Travel,
                                                and then Alex and Eugene started working at his Dad’s
                                                agency being the travel agents for other students trips. I was
                                                the rep who organized my own years trip and Alex was my
                                                agent. I was very passionate about it – it was the coolest
                                                thing to be involved with and Alex hired me when I came

                           HOW IT ALL STARTED   back from the trip to help book the next years trip. I helped

10   Verve Magazine | Issue 13 | October 2018                                                                                    Verve Magazine | Issue 13 | October 2018        11
Campus Vacations Joins Verve!
I had made a deal with Alex’s
                       father to give me a desk and a phone
                                                                      THE WAY VERVE HAS BUILT ITS
                       because I wanted to try and prove
                       we could do trips outside of Ottawa            BUSINESS UP, VALUING ITS PEOPLE
                       where we grew up, because at this              SO MUCH AND ITS CULTURE WAS
                       time that was the only place doing
                       these ‘grad trips’. I had to teach myself
                                                                      SOMETHING THAT WAS VERY SPECIAL
                       everything, faxing off airlines, buying        AND WE FELT THIS WAS THE BEST FOR
                       space, I made a small website. I had
                                                                      CAMPUS VACATIONS.
                       a lot of success, selling trips in the first
few months. I called Alex and Eugene and said “I’m doing
this, you need to come home”. And they came to do it. So in           strategy of using peer-to-peer selling. It was very exciting.
about 2004 we decided to separate what we were doing                  We also felt that student travel had so much opportunity but
from Alex’s dads business and do our own thing – and we               was a niche that nobody else was paying attention to, but he
used S-Trip as the main brand.                                        was and we felt we could together introduce this around the
                                                                      world in a way that has never been done before. The way
What was your mission?                                                Verve has built its business up, valuing its people so much
We had one mission: market creation. Grad trip was a                  and its culture was something that was very special and we
tradition in Ottawa but nowhere else. So we went round and            felt this was the best for Campus Vacations.
we sold this idea…that when you graduate you should all go
somewhere together and celebrate. We went from town to                So what are your, Eugene and Alex’s roles in the
town and convinced them they were missing out. We grew                company now?
our business from just us to 8-9 full time staff and we got into      So Eugene and Alex are joining in an advisory capacity,
every town in Canada and started to push into America.                and I’m joining full time. My role is helping to build the
                                                                      outside sales team that’s going to be selling travel all
                                                                      across north America.
What made you want to get involved with Verve?
We first heard about Verve because we were competing
with the JusCollege brand. We were fighting over the same
groups, sales people going head-to-head in Greek Life
and Spring beakers in the States. Then we were introduced
to Callum. Mine and Alex’s conversation with Callum was
very surprising because we always felt like we’d kind of
been alone on this peer-to-peer thing. We saw a massive
potential in it, and we had acquired lots of companies who
were doing it. We had proven it in North America – we knew
it could work. It was amazing for us to meet someone who
not only saw the same potential as we did but was acting
on that potential, who was following through on a very big

                                                                                  Verve Magazine | Issue 13 | October 2018            13
Campus Vacations Joins Verve!
WHY COACHING MATTERS
                                                                                                                           belief. I listen for self-imposed limiting assumptions           the ideas – and that is so exciting. My background is in
                                                                                                                           when I coach, and help the person I’m coaching                   professional service firms -- big corporates, law firms
                                                                                                                           explore what is holding them back. My job is to see              and banks -- and that just doesn’t happens in those
                                                                                                                           the potential in those I coach, and to support them in           types of environments. I ask people working there
                                                                                                                           developing that.                                                 what they want, and we work it out and sometimes
                                          W E W EN T TO O U R HEAD O F                                                     What is the most common type of work you
                                                                                                                                                                                            we realise that there’s no way to navigate the political
                                                                                                                                                                                            constellation and bizarre bureaucracy to get there.
                                          COAC HI N G AL I HAL L TO EX P LORE                                              do with everyone?
                                                                                                                           The most important work I do is help individuals raise           I had this coach in high school who would say, “If in
                                          MO R E W HY S HE F EELS COAC H I N G                                             their awareness and take responsibility for who they             your mind you can conceive it and in your heart you
                                                                                                                                                                                            do believe it then your body will achieve it.” At Verve, I
ALI HALL                                  I S S O I M P O RTAN T AN D HOW I T’S                                            are and what they see. I ask those I coach “what is
                                                                                                                           driving you?” or “what is stopping you?” I want to               feel is exactly like that. I’m the coach that tries to help
Head of coaching
                                          D I FF ER EN T AT V ERV E.                                                       know what is preventing someone from having a                    them unlock potential, deal with inner critics and help
                                                                                                                                                                                            create the conditions for people to thrive.
                                                                                                                           difficult conversation, or blocking them from what
Why do you feel                           opportunity they want to explore.        you find frustrating?” or “is this it   they are trying to achieve and then asking them
                                                                                                                                                                                            Being an in-house coach for a whole
coaching works?                           Coaching works because it is about       where you fee you’re getting stuck?”    questions to help them find ways forward. I want to
                                                                                                                           know what someone believes they could accomplish                 company is a first for you - how has that
One of the reasons coaching is
                                                                                                                                                                                            differed from working with a few individuals
so powerful is because it is time         I listen for self-imposed limiting assumptions                                   if they knew they couldn’t fail. I’m helping them to
                                                                                                                                                                                            from one company?
                                                                                                                           hone their awareness and feel empowered to do what
for the person being coached
                                          when I coach, and help the person I’m                                            they want. Deep down people crave choice and                     Firstly it gives me a broader context because I know
to stop and reflect. Coaching is
asking questions -- and not even          coaching explore what is holding them back.                                      responsibility and at Verve that coincides perfectly with        how the organisation works and the dynamics at
                                                                                                                           the company’s core drivers of freedom and ownership.             play on a wide scale. What I really love about being
necessarily profound ones. It
                                          creating a reflective space for the      It is about breaking down the story                                                                      a coach to the company is my ability to help enact
could be as simple as “what gives
                                          person being coached to explore          into small parts and noticing where     What has been different about your work at                       change, rather then trying just to help the people I’m
you energy?” or “when are you at
                                          what they want, what the reality         there is energy and possibility.        Verve and other places you’re worked?                            working with enact it. If someone says that there’s
your best?” Most sessions begin
                                          looks like, what options they face                                               The thing I love about Verve, and something I                    this huge blocker, and it has to do with the dynamics
with the question, “what do you
                                          and how to get there.                    Is there anything that is               genuinely witness all the time, is that if there’s               between a few people (for example) then I can call
want to get out of this session?”
                                                                                   universal in your coaching              something that someone really wants to do, and it’s              a meeting with all those people and we sort it out.
People may want to discuss what
                                          Much of my time is spent reflecting      sessions with everyone that             inline with Verve’s core purpose, then the company               Because I’m coaching everyone in the room, I feel like
is frustrating them or making them
                                          back what I hear and then testing        you work with?                          says do it. Try it. Go for it. Ultimately Verve is open to all   I can have meetings with positive intentions where
anxious, or they may begin with an
                                          it - such as “is this is the part that   A common theme is around self-                                                                           everyone feels supported, challenged and listened to.

14       Verve Magazine | Issue 13 | October 2018                                                                                                                                                      Verve Magazine | Issue 13 | October 2018           15
Campus Vacations Joins Verve!
Therapy at Verve                                                                       Our Therapists
Callum’s has always been a huge advocate of therapy as a way of
removing the things that are holding everyone back and we’ve been                      Prof Jamie Hacker Hughes                                 Fiona Nicolson
trialling offering therapy as part of the mastery process for the last few                                Prof Jamie Hacker Hughes                                    Fiona Nicolson
years. We’ve had such positive results we’re now locked in therapist in                                   has been working with Verve                                 is a therapist we
                                                                                                          over the last few months. “I’m a                            used for the last
the UK and are looking for ones in Vegas and LA. We spoke to Callum
                                                                                                          consultant clinical psychologist                            few years.
and the other people involved to find out more.                                                           and specialise in using a type of
                                                                                                          therapy called EMDR. EMDR (or                          Fiona is a
                                                                                       eye movement desensitisation or reprocessing             cognitive hypnotherapist.
                                                                                       in full) is a form of therapy which helps people to      Cognitive hypnotherapy differs
                                                     Callum Negus-Fancey               remove psychological blocks in the form of doubts,       from traditional hypnotherapy
                                                                                       fears, trauma and addictions that may be affecting       because it also draws on recent
                                      I think what’s interesting is that we all        their performance or enjoyment at work and at            discoveries in psychology,
                                      have saboteurs that hold us back and I’ve        home replacing them with more adaptive ways of           cognitive theory and neuro
                                      found that the change you can make by            thinking and behaving.                                   linguistic programming (NLP).

                                      tackling these has a surprisingly big impact
                                                                                       “EMDR, (Eye Movement Desensitisation and                 It works to unlock potential
                                      on all parts of your life. Thats because         Reprocessing) is a form of therapy developed about       through pinpointing and positively
                                      it doesn't tend to just deal with the one        30 years ago which uses eye movements (or other          changing the negative beliefs that
                                      particular issue you were trying to solve, but   forms of bilateral stimuli) to facilitate, through a     can hold individuals back.
                                                                                       process of dual attention, a process of adaptive
                                      instead affects you're overall performance,      information processing. In other words, EMDR
     happiness and wellbeing in a way that’s very profound. Therapy also doesn't       blocks the normal use of working memory which
                                                                                                                                                See what some of our
     tend to feel as iterative as other forms of development - instead it feels        allows information stored in long term memory to
                                                                                                                                               team had to say about
                                                                                       be retrieved, processed and resolved.”
     like a huge step-change as you find yourself overcoming something you                                                                     their experiences with
                                                                                                                                                     Jamie and Fiona.
     never thought you’d be able to solve. I've seen Jamie and lots of different
     therapists to help me develop as a leader and I really recommend it.

     How to get therapy through Verve?
     We have a therapist in the UK called Jamie who specialises in EMDR and
     we’re looking for a great therapist in both Vegas and LA. You can use your
     mastery budget to see them (talk to your manager) and it gets you about 3
     sessions which is more than enough to have a huge impact.

16        Verve Magazine | Issue 13 | October 2018                                                                                            Verve Magazine | Issue 13 | October 2018    17
We spoke to some of the people who have seen Jamie and Fiona
     Harriet Cross                                                    Dan Almeida                                                    Anne Bedi                                                       Irene Coghlan
     (Pollen Membership Manager)                                      (Pollen Member Growth)                                         (Communications & Brand Director)                               (Global Head of Partnerships & PR)

                             Had sessions with Fiona                                         Had sessions with Fiona                                        Saw Fiona a few years                                          Saw Fiona last year and
                             last year and has just                                          last year, and is about to                                     ago and saw Jamie earlier                                      this year has started
                             started seeing Jamie.                                           go and see Jamie.                                              this year.                                                     seeing Jamie.

                             The reason I wanted to go was I                                 The main reason was insecurity                                  I was suffering for travel anxiety                             I went to Fiona originally to
                             realised that there were situations                             about what people were thinking                                 that I’d had since I was around                                tackle my public speaking nerves.
                             which were giving me anxiety                                    about me – I’m a highly sensitive                               19. It all started when I had to                               Naturally, I don’t enjoy being
     when they shouldn’t. I realised I had an overall anxiety         to people’s body language and tone, and I constantly           go on very strong medication to cure a benign brain                                    in the spotlight and had some
     where I didn’t feel good enough and it was affecting             over analyse everyone and don’t take what people say           tumor which caused extremely high anxiety and when              embarrassing attempts at public speaking growing up
     me in my relationship, my friendships and at work. I’ve          at face value. So when people say things I think “do           I came off the medication the anxiety, although far             so always tried to avoid it. When I moved into the new
     started seeing Jamie this year and been doing EMDR               they actually mean that” and that will stay with me            lower, ultimately stayed. It all became focused on travel       partnerships role at Verve, it was much more client/
     and together we determined exactly where the anxiety             the following day “do they think am I doing a good             anxiety – I didn’t do any big travel (planes or long car        partner facing and I felt my nerves had become a barrier
     was causing me the most problems both in my personal             job”, “what do they think of me”. It happens in work, it       journeys) and I found even short bus journeys stressful         so I really wanted to work on it.
     life and at work, and then working out the exact                 happens in my personal life: to give you an example say I      and struggled with the sense of overwhelming panic in
     situations where I felt stressed when I didn’t need to and       haven’t spoken to a really good friend in ages, and then       the run up and during the experience. It got worse and          Fiona helped me address some of my nerves around
     then we did the EMDR on that.                                    I reach out to them to arrange catching up – if they           worse over the years and became really debilitating - I         public speaking but she also helped me deal with work
                                                                      then they come back with a wishy washy answer because          really wasn’t coping at all. About 4 years ago I saw Fiona      stress and the constant feeling that I wasn’t doing
     We started on stuff at work first and then when we               they’re busy, in my mind I’ll start being like “are they mad   and post sessions with her I was able to start travelling       enough. When I first went to see her, I was quite
     started doing situations where I felt stressed at home           at me?” and “what did I say that pissed them off?”.            internationally for work and pleasure. I still found it         sceptical about what I would get from it, but over time
     realised I already found myself looking at stress in                                                                            difficult and draining emotionally, but I could do it. Then     I started to notice the benefits and one of my friends
     a totally different way. I saw Fiona last year and she           This is then replicated at work where I’ll have a short        last year I went to see Jamie and did EDMR and that             actually commented on how I seemed much happier
     had started the process of changing how I felt about             conversation my manager or with someone from a                 was when everything changed – it actually mostly cured          and less stressed and wanted to know what I was doing
     situations, so I already felt further along. The last session    different department and if it goes really well I could        my travel anxiety for 95% of the time. I suddenly found I       differently. She has actually gone to see Fiona herself
     I had with Jamie I could really feel the difference – I          come away thinking that was really productive and              was totally relaxed around travel and chose, rather then        since then and found her great.
     mean I was in the kind of situation a few days ago that          its all fine, but if I pick up on anything not being okay,     simply coped with, going in long car journeys. I didn’t
     would have caused me so much stress before him and I             even something really insignificant, I’ll then spend ages      have any anxiety in the week running up to the travel           I went to see Jamie this year and we continued to work
     realised I felt absolutely fine. I can feel the difference and   thinking afterwards “what did I do?” or “what were             either.                                                         on my public speaking nerves. I was able to test this out
     I’m really looking forward to the next sessions.                 they really thinking” or “what have I done wrong” and                                                                          like-for-like recently when I did a reading at a friend's
                                                                      it affects me really deeply and my productivity takes          This has enabled me to do the job I do now as I travel          wedding in front of a room full of people I know very
                                                                      a nosedive. Frustratingly it becomes a self-fulfilling         for work internationally constantly, I have felt my             well and noticed that the extreme nerves I'd had before
                                                                      prophecy where now my performance is affected                  productivity go up without a doubt, mainly because              were gone. Five years before that I'd read at another
                                                                      because I was worried that it was when in reality it was       I’m not tired all the time because being anxious is             friend's wedding and was terrified, with shaking hands,
                                                                      nothing. Its absolutely exhausting.                            exhausting. However it’s not just about the travel              voice, sweaty palms and speaking way too fast, but this
                                                                                                                                     because although it felt like my anxiety was all focused        time round, I was in control.
                                                                      Fiona didn’t have a huge effect on me to be honest I           on that, actually it was affecting my entire life – and
                                                                      think I might just not be very receptive to her kind of        having that removed has opened up my world literally            Before I saw Jamie and Fiona I had been avoiding public
                                                                      work because I was over analysing what she was saying          and figuratively. Occasionally it flares up still when things   speaking but now when I'm asked to talk at conferences,
                                                                      to me, and when she was asking me questions I’d be             are particularly stressful, but the times it happens are        weddings, the town halls etc I'm up for it – it’s been
                                                                      overthinking it: “what is she trying to do” or “what is she    so rare that I never worry about it. I’ve stopped getting       great for my confidence and important for my job.
                                                                      thinking” and maybe that stopped it from working. I saw        anxious about the possibility of getting anxious and that
                                                                      little changes afterwards that helped, and I could see         in itself is a huge win.                                        I’m continuing to work on my public speaking as part
                                                                      where she was going with her work, and it did work for a                                                                       of my Mastery plan but rather than worrying about
                                                                      little bit but not enough to make me want to go back. I’m                                                                      controlling my extreme nerves, I can now focus on
                                                                      looking forward to going and seeing Jamie and seeing if                                                                        developing my actual presentation skills and style which
                                                                      he will have a bigger affect.                                                                                                  will help me perform better in my role.

18           Verve Magazine | Issue 13 | October 2018                                                                                                                                                        Verve Magazine | Issue 13 | October 2018            19
A crash course
                       in design thinking
                                       A
                                                    s part of my trip to Vegas,   Why did we do this?
                                                    I facilitated a two hour      Anyone who tackles problems that impact customers of any type can use
                                                    design thinking workshop      the design thinking approach to help them get to better, more innovative
                                                    to introduce everyone         solutions. The idea of this workshop was to demonstrate some of the core
                                       to how we like to solve problems in        values of this approach, and also to help build empathy between product/
                                       product and design. From the outside       design and other teams who might not understand why we ask so many
VIVIENNE SUNG
                                       this will have looked a bit like a         questions instead of jumping straight into solving problems. Some of the
Chief Product Officer
                                       kindergarten art project (right down to    takeaways I hoped people would have are:
the pipe cleaners and stick on gems), but underneath the hood it was a fun        •   Human-centred design: Empathy for the person we are designing for,
way to learn about some key concepts from design. The workshop, which                 and feedback from users, is fundamental to good design - if we skip this
was designed by Stanford d.school, gives anyone that takes part a quick               step our solutions will inevitably fail.
and dirty introduction to the way to approach design thinking. Instead of
                                                                                  •   Experimentation and prototyping: Prototyping is not only a way to
just telling everyone about design thinking you actually get to do it.
                                                                                      validate an idea; it is an integral part of our innovation process. We build
                                                                                      to think and learn - the activity of building improves our solution no end!
The topic of the workshop was to improve the gift giving experience for a
partner, so that the next time they have to give someone a present it would       •   A bias towards action: Design thinking is a misnomer; it is more about
feel easier/better/simpler!                                                           doing that thinking. We as a team aim to have a bias toward doing and
                                                                                      making over thinking and meeting.
We broke down the process into 5 stages, with a couple of rounds of rapid         •   Show don’t tell: Creating experiences and telling good stories is the best
fire iteration in each stage:                                                         and most impactful way to communicate a vision.

•   Empathise: gain a deep understanding and empathy for your customer            •   The Power of iteration: The reason we go through this exercise at a
    and their problems                                                                frantic pace is that we want people to experience a full design cycle.

•   Define: select a problem you heard from your customer to solve                    A person’s fluency with design thinking is a function of cycles, so we
                                                                                      challenge participants to go through as many cycles as possible—
•   Ideate: come up with as many potential solutions to that problem as
                                                                                      interview twice, sketch twice, and test with your partner twice.
    possible
                                                                                      Additionally, iterating solutions many times within a project is key to
•   Prototype: build a demonstration model of a favoured solution
                                                                                      successful outcomes.
•   Test: give it to your customer to try out and feedback on
At the end, everyone presented their designs back to the group. We had            If you fancy giving this a go for yourself then you can do a virtual version of
some amazing fun solutions - from Salesforce integrated calendars to              this workshop here: A Virtual Crash Course in Design Thinking — Stanford
flying gift parrots and mobile Apps.                                              d.school. All you need is a partner, a bunch of craft materials (the more
                                                                                  glitter the better!) and a couple of hours.
                                                                                  I’d love to hear how you get on!
‘THE WARRIORS’ OF VERVE:
THE FIRST TEAM TO
RESPOND YES TO A LOCK-
IN, AND THE LAST ONES
TO LEAVE THE OFFICE
AFTERWARDS. WHAT DO WE
DO ON A DAILY BASIS AND
WHAT IMPACT DOES THIS
HAVE ON THE COMPANY?

                   GEORGE
                   POWELL
                   Community Manager

“Community is so important as we look after
our users and, without our Ambassadors and
customers, we’d have no business.” - Ryan
Bentley, US
We’re a company that prides itself on providing
money-can’t-buy experiences to Ambassadors.
That can mean anything from securing the
best possible rewards, through designing the
product in a way that’s simple to use, to making
sure that Ambassadors remain motivated and
receive only the most relevant and engaging
communications.

The Community team are able to touch on every
aspect of this. It’s the link between Ambassadors
as far and wide as Chile, Poland and New
Zealand, as well as the rest of the world.
Working in Community encompasses managing
Ambassador relationships all the way through
the funnel, driving activation, engagement
& reward redemption, motivating our
Ambassadors, collecting feedback, all campaign
communications & humanising the business as
much as possible.

         Verve Magazine | Issue 13 | October 2018   23
BUT WHAT DOES THE DAY OF (THE TYPICAL)                                                                                                                                      WHAT PHELAN LOVES

COMMUNITY MANAGER LOOK LIKE?
                                                                                                                                                                             ABOUT COMMUNITY:
                                                                                                                                                                            "Community is that human touch that
                                                                                                                                                                            lots of other companies don’t seem to
                                                                                                                                                                            have these days. I enjoy seeing some
                                                                                                                                                                            of our Ambassadors join the team and
9am
                                                                                                                                                           grow throughout the company, from an Ambassador
Still in bed                                                                                                                                               to a Community Manager, Membership Manager,
                                                                                                                                                           client success or wherever! I can think of Georgia,
10am                                                                                                                                                       Harriet, Ellen and Jack Fossey - all coming through the
                                                                                                                                                           ranks!"
Still in bed                                   ANGELA VERATTO DOING A VIDEO
                                               DASHBOARD WALKTHROUGH
10.15am                                                                                                                                                                    WHY GEORGIA THINKS
                                            15 minutes of ping-pong or Fifa to
                                                                                                                                                                           COMMUNITY IS IMPORTANT:
Checking messages from                      restore faith in humanity.
Ambassadors and emails to see               _                                                                                                                               "It’s the customer-facing side of the
how the day’s lookingx                      Brainstorming engagement ideas
                                                                                                                                                                            company. We motivate Ambassadors,
                                            with the team and Emily Adams
                                                                                                                                                                            push them to sell, and get them
11am                                        from CRM, such as video tutorials
                                            or walkthroughs.
                                                                                                                       SCHEDULING IN COMMUNICATIONS        earning their top rewards. They’ll have a better time at
Either in the office or, at least,          _                                                                                                              the festival, and we get more sales."
upright.                                    Building out templates for
                                            newsletters and content to catch                                           Between May and September,
Now, we’re ready to start the day           the eye of Ambassadors.                                                    community received a tide
                                                                                                                                                                            WHY ANGELA VERATTO
                                            _                                                                                                                               LOVES COMMUNITY
                                                                                                                       of 123,000 messages from
Responding to questions from                Meeting with CSM to discuss how                                            Ambassadors and customers.                           "I love the way I'm learning and
Ambassadors like “what’s a box              we can increase the number of                                              Despite the amount of fire-                          having the freedom to share my
office?” or “are you allowed to take        active Ambassadors.                                                        fighting though, we all love                         ideas, working in a great team where
in chocolate bars?”. These are legit        _                                                                          what we do, and we all want                          everyone helps each other and
questions.                                  Scheduling in communications so                                            to find improvements so             enjoys their job. It’s great, believe me - from Monday
                                            ambassadors keep in the loop of         GIFS, ANIMATIONS AND IMAGES        Ambassadors and their friends       breakfast in the office until the weekend when the
                                            any news as well as engaged.            ARE NOW A STAPLE IN ALL EMAILS
                                                                                                                       can have a better experience.       festival is on!"
                                            _                                                                             It’s this last point which is
                                                                                   _
                                            Jumping on a few calls with                                                perhaps the most important.
                                                                                   Running experiments on how to
                                            Ambassadors to get some                                                    As we look to grow rapidly
                                            feedback and have a chat. This is
                                                                                   convert inactive Ambassadors or                                                          WHY RYAN BENTLEY
                                                                                                                       next summer, we’re looking
                                            useful in gaining insights into what
                                                                                   on ways to motivate people to hit                                                        LOVES COMMUNITY
                                                                                                                       at ways of reducing the
                                                                                   reward thresholds.                                                                       "I love working in Community because
                                            to improve and feedback to the                                             issues Ambassadors face, so
                                            wider team.                                                                everything goes as smoothly as                       the Ambassadors and customers are
                                                                                   End of the day
                                            _                                                                          possible in 2019. So, if you want                    what allow us to do what we do! It can
                                            Adding best practices or results of                                        to see what we’re working on,                        be stressful, but once you start figuring
                                                                                   This is when members of the
                                            experiments to Notion for current                                          or if you want an insight into      it out and getting the issue resolved, the Ambassadors
                                                                                   team will talk about ways to
                                            or future Community Managers                                               what our Ambassadors are            and customers are always super grateful and you
                                                                                   improve campaigns or brainstorm
                                            - if you want a link to our Notion                                         thinking, come find us in the
                                                                                   ways to improve the dashboard                                           can even joke around with them. It’s just a great
 WE PREFER THE                              pages, just shout!                                                         cave or one of the tables in LA!
                                                                                   or automated emails for                                                 experience to be a part of."
 HEARTWARMING MESSAGES
                                                                                   Ambassadors.

24         Verve Magazine | Issue 13 | October 2018                                                                                                                            Verve Magazine | Issue 13 | October 2018   25
FALL
                                                   WHAT IS FALL BREAK?
                                                   Fall Break is a mid-semester “holiday” where students
                                                   get a long 3-day weekend. Most campuses will either give
                                                   students a Friday or Monday off of school. Typically, Fall Break
                                                    falls either the first or second weekend in October; however,
       KRISTEN ROWSEY                              can run throughout October and even into November.
       Senior Account Manager

       HOW MANY TRAVELERS DO THE TRAVEL
       TEAM DEAL WITH?
       This year we traveled 4,721 students to Vegas during the month of October. That’s over 1K more than we did in 2017!

       WHO WORKS ON FALL BREAK?
       Everyone on the travel team really contributes to this trip. Everyone from Customer Service to Marketing & CRM, to Sales &
       Operations all really comes together to pull their weight and contribute in different ways. Bo, Zach and myself primarily sold
       this trip; however, the rest of the sales did close some additional groups. Sales is also extremely instrumental in hosting and
       working at the clubs. Operations & Hailey specifically, played an integral role in basically making sure EVERYTHING goes
       smoothly. From check-in, to hotel logistics, shuttles & open bar, operations ensures this is all set up for our groups and runs
       according to plan. Mackenzie worked long hours sourcing hotel rooms & continually tweaking these based upon our projec-
       tions. Garrett & Andrew setup an incredible lineup & ensured our students would have the promised entry. Customer Service
       played a crucial role for all of us in ensuring clients are really being taken care of. They assist is so many ways, continually
       answering questions, dealing with tricky situations and occasional difficult students. Giuliana was instrumental with the
       product side, Sarah Jane with our mass messaging & Sean with graphics. These are just a few key people & departments;
       but truly everyone in every department really came together & helped make Fall Break a massive success.

       WHAT TYPE OF ACTIVITIES ARE THERE?
       We provide them a club access lineup that they get complimentary entry to with their wristband. They just need to arrive
       and be inside by cutoff times with an even girl to guy ratio! Lineup will typically include a few options each day and night,
       Thursday-Sunday.

       ANY STAND-OUT STORIES?
       There were some students from two different universities that didn’t travel with us, even though a majority of their cam-
       pus did. These students chose to book around us and unfortunately when they showed up in Vegas, the company they had
       originally booked with, hadn’t pulled through and the students were left blindsided with no reservations. Their friends who
       did book with us, immediately reached out to see if we could help their friends out. We were able to hook them all up with
       reduced club access passes & even a hotel room for the weekend. We were able to come through as the hero’s and help
       these poor students out. Several reps from these two schools that did book with us, reached out expressing their gratitude
       and appreciation for what we’d done. I know this will go far specifically for those organizations & helping secure bookings
       from those groups next year! Travel team = Vegas Legends.

                                                                                      Verve Magazine | Issue 13 | October 2018            27
17-21ST OCTOBER

AMSTERDAM DANCE EVENT
OCTOBER SAW ANOTHER YEAR OF
VERVE AT AMSTERDAM DANCE EVENT!
                                           clients and prospective clients alike.

                                           From this we were able to secure
                                           LiveNation Sweden who confirmed
                                           Summerburst and Way out West,
                                           I-Motion agreed on 10 Festivals
CAISIE DILKS                               across their portfolio, Paramo
Senior Client Success Manager              Presenta in Colombia agreed to

A
                                           working with us on Estéreo Picnic,
                                           and DGTL said yes to us working
          DE is an annual
                                           with their Barcelona event!
          electronic music
          conference and festival
                                           On top of this huge success, Verve
          which offers a full
                                           hosted a networking event in
program of daytime conferences
                                           the evening, with a mixologist,
and night time parties across 450
                                           canapés and some key names in
events, with 2200 artists in 115
                                           tow. In attendance was the We Are
venues across the 5 day schedule.
                                           FSTVL team, the Director of Elrow,
                                           the Head of Insomniac, PayLogic’s
The shows attract over 450,000
                                           team, Stubhub and TicketMaster to
people from all over the world to
                                           name a few.
the city, making Amsterdam one
of the busiest clubbing cities in the
                                           Aside from a few sore heads
world! So obviously Verve had to
                                           and probably a bit of liver
be there…
                                           damage, Verve came out on top
                                           once again!
The Sales and CS teams from
Europe attended on top form,
                                           Until next year, ADE!!!
holding meetings with our current

28        Verve Magazine | Issue 13 | October 2018                                  Verve Magazine | Issue 13 | October 2018   29
#WhatsUp?
From Team Hamburg
                              We wanted to find out more about
                              where our German teammates work
                              from, so Elina reached out to Mark
                              to find out more!

                                       H
                                                   ere is your inside look on where                 often do afterwork drinks in a pub called “dschungel“ or
                                                                                                    do our typical hawaiian lunch bowl which we both love.
                                                   Jan and I work, and some reasons
                                                   why you guys should definitely                   As anyone who has ever met Jan will surely
                                                                                                    understand, it took him no time to become the center
MARK POEHNER                             come and visit us. Hamburg is always a                     of attention in the whole office. So I am spending a
Senior Client Success Manager
                                         little in the shadow of our big neighbour                  good amount of time updating people on where he
                                                                                                    is at the moment or where his car has broken down.
Berlin, but it is the second biggest and “most beautiful” city in                                   He’s also loved by the desk clerk as all of his post and
                                                                                                    packages arrive to the office (as he has not rented a
Germany (at least we gotta say it is, both born and raised here).
                                                                                                    flat yet). I am thinking to start a new career now as a
                                                                                                    postman,with all that experience earned during the
Our office is located in the middle of the city, and is a highlight by itself! We don’t actually    last month… (kidding!)
have an our own office, as we’re working in a co-working space and sharing it with other
startups, bigger companies like Redbull and Spotify (my wife works there as a Sales Director)       Our office is close to Old Town, the harbour,
and big booze brands (which comes in handy, as they often throw TGIF after work drink               the famous Red light district and Party Mile
events). We can work from the open spaces on all 4 floors with different vibes, 1on1 rooms          “Reeperbahn” where the Beatles started of.
and chill areas. You can also book massage sessions, workshops, so a lot is going on here.          The coolest thing about Hamburg is that although
                                                                                                    it is quite a big city, it does not feel like that at all,
I work from the office nearly every day, as I like to be around people. When Jan isn’t in his van   you can get to the best places in about 10 minutes.
lost somewhere in Europe, he parks the van in the city and comes to the office as well. This
happens more often than people might think! I am hoping that I am one of the main reasons           We truly love working for Verve from our office and
why he comes in, but it might as well be the good wifi. When Jan and I are both in town, we         that the company gives us the freedom to do so.

30      Verve Magazine | Issue 13 | October 2018                                                                                                                 Verve Magazine | Issue 13 | October 2018   31
7.
Charles                                                                        Charles has just re
                                                                               from 6 weeks of tr
                                                                                                   turned
                                                                                                  avel,                        6.
                                                                                                                                                                             And in London to
                                                                                                                                                                           launch Pollen Travel

whirlwind
                                                                                                                       Got back in Europe,                                    with the team!
                                                                                                   and
                                                                               both for pleasure                        quick Paris stop
                                                                                                   ted
                                                                               work, and we wan
adventure                                                                       to hear all about it
                                                                                                     !

                               1.
                      All started in
                     Brighton for the
                       tech retreat

                                                                                                           2.
                                                                                                 Two of my favourite
                                                                                                   things: Gatwick
                                                                                                      Express...

                                                                                                                                                  8.
                                                                                                                                             Cultural visit
                                                                                                                               9.             of Ukraine
                                                               3.                                                        And flew back
                                                     ... and airplane food!!                                             to the land of
     4.                                                                                                                     the free!
 Swung by
beautiful ...

                                                                                                                                                                                      10.
                                                                                                                                                                              Checked in for
                                                                                                                                                                                Fall Break
                                                                                                    5.
                                                                                              ... and busy LA

32        Verve Magazine | Issue 13 | October 2018                                                                                                Verve Magazine | Issue 13 | October 2018   33
17.
                                                                                                                                                                    Participated in
                                                                                                                                                                  the design thinking
                                                11.                                                  16.                                                         workshop organised by
                                    Got an all-access                                            But also did
                                                                                                                                                                   my dance partner,
                                  thanks to travel team!                                         some work!
                                                                                                                                                                      namely Viv

                                                                                      12.                                       18.
                                                                                  And rushed                            And came up with
                                                                                   to party!                            an app for Zach!
     13.
Owned the
dance floor
 with Viv

                                                                                                                                                                                 19.
                                                                                                                                                                       Picked up useful
                                                                                                                                                                    reading at the airport
                                                                                                                                                                       on the way back

                                                                 14.
                                                           Crazy turnout for
                                                             travel teams
                                                                event 1

                                                                                    15.                                   20.
                                                                               And for event 2                    And started using all
                                                                                                                the new information with
                                                                                                                   Barbara in London!

34         Verve Magazine | Issue 13 | October 2018                                                                                        Verve Magazine | Issue 13 | October 2018    35
THE SPORTS SQUAD
 The Sports Squad assembled in January this year. Their opposition:
 the challenge of building a sports product while contending with
 moving goalposts and opposition tough to break down.

                                                                          the intervals. Following user
               GEORGE POWELL                                              research, though,
               Community Manager                                          it was clear that an answer had
                                                                          to be found for the question of

A
                                                                          how to sit people together if
           team of fourteen               pushback from partners, and     tickets are bought separately.
           huddled for their              signing up the first team.
           warm-up: a design                                              FIELD GOAL 3-3
           sprint to figure out           0-3 - FIELD GOAL
                                                                                                            JACK SHELDO N                                                 JASON GERALI
what this product may look                                                The squad hit back quickly                          JAMES SPRY-LEVERTON
like and how it would work.               The initial designs didn’t      with a solution to allow
After coming up with the initial          cater for group seating, the    ambassadors and their
                                                                                                            STRAT EGY          ENGIN EERIN G                                  SALES
designs, the squad was ready              assumption being that people    customers to sit together.
to kick off. It was time to face          would happily sit apart for     Things looked briefly shaky
a long process of gathering               the match, but catch up         when it was clear the product
feedback, design iterations,              over a beer and hot-dog in      had to be built around an

                                                                                    BONNIE VIVATNAMONGKON
                                                                                                                                JORDAN OYENUSI                           ANTONI O SORBO
       DANIEL PAVITT                                MAR CIN JAWA DZSK I                                     JERETH CORMA CK
                                                                                      ENGINEERING                                                                             DESIG N
     ENGIN EERIN G                                   ENG INEE RIN G                                         ENGIN EERIN G      ENGINEERING

36       Verve Magazine | Issue 13 | October 2018                                                                                                   Verve Magazine | Issue 13 | October 2018   37
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