EXPERT ADVICE

EXPERT ADVICE»

HAPPINESS FOR SALE

Take the opportunity to weave more happiness into clients’ lives and your every day.

BY ANTHONY POPONI

HAPPINESS IS WHAT WE SELL IN THE EVENT PLANNING REALM. Yes, you read it right, happiness! I describe happiness as something that starts with your head and goes down to your toes.

Laughter

Let’s start with your head—these crazy brains of ours—and the simplest form of happiness: laughter. If you hire on-stage talent with a comedic touch, you’re dosing people with endorphins. Though laughter is simple, don’t undervalue it. When laughing, your brain releases endorphins and it makes us feel good. Laughter is healing, and studies document reductions in stress, blood pressure and improved recovery rates when injured or ill. Make time for laughter and reap the benefits!

Recognition & Connection

Event planners help clients achieve their professional and often financial goals, and our brains love accomplishing tasks and reaching goals. When we reach a goal, we’re rewarded by a positive neurochemical called dopamine that makes us feel good. Set realistic goals and celebrate accomplishments to feel the dopamine flow.

Most of us appreciate being recognized by colleagues or clients for a job well done. When organizing a gathering to hand out awards, accolades, bonuses and recognition, our brains release another positive chemical called serotonin. Improving our status makes us happy, and serotonin gets the credit for the positive feeling we get from recognition.

My favorite neurochemical is oxytocin, which you may know as the “love drug” or even “hug drug.” Connection is something most humans deeply crave and connecting makes us happy. Real and authentic bonding around a shared cause or value makes our brains release oxytocin, and we feel good. The good news with all of these neurochemicals is that we are in control and have the ability to change our habits to release more happy chemicals in our lives. Check out the book “Habits of a Happy Brain” by Dr. Loretta Breuning for more tools.

Gratitude & Community

Dr. James Doty, who I adoringly call the crying neurosurgeon, is the founder of Stanford’s Center for Compassion Altruism Research and Education. Doty has compiled the incredible scientific findings backing the significant health benefits received when we are kind, compassionate and grateful. Lead with your heart and everyone wins, including you. If you don’t have a daily gratitude exercise check out the sidebar for a simple tool. Also look up Doty’s podcast at JamesRDotymd.com.

Our journey from head to heart ends with your toes, which we’ll refer to as our community. Research by Dan Buettner (“Blue Zones of Happiness”) and Richard Florida (“Who’s Your City?”) dive into the results of studies on happiness, and your community is a huge source of happiness. The right community offers you access to people who become an inner circle of trusted confidants, allows you to find your partner, and provides the freedom to live out your values and have pride in your life. All of these play into living a measurably happier life.

If you’re involved in events, you have the extraordinary opportunity to engage clients and their audiences in so many of these elements of head-to-toe happiness. Event spaces and gathering places play a huge role in creating happiness, and the opportunity for you to start the cascading effect of happiness is huge. Never forget what you’re selling is more than just a space or a service.

Tips to Improve Your Happiness

ACCOLADES – Celebrate your accomplishments big or small each day for a boost of serotonin.

CONNECT – Happier people gather socially, and oxytocin makes us feel good in groups we trust.

TO DO – Break bigger tasks into chunks and check off completed items on your to-do list for a dopamine boost.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5 – Be grateful for life’s gifts. Set an alarm each day at 12:34 and express gratitude for 5 things in your life from the simple to the large.

LAUGH – Have your favorite comedian or funny movie clip, comic book (Calvin and Hobbes is my personal favorite) or blog around for a spurt of endorphins.

ANTHONY POPONI IS THE OWNER OF HUMORE.US (HUMOROUS) EVENTS IN CRESTED BUTTE AND COUPLES HIS COMEDIC CREATIVITY ON STAGE AS AN EMCEE, KEYNOTE, MODERATOR AND AUCTIONEER. HUMORE.US

Vista Verde Guest Ranch

EXPERIENCES»

TASTE OF THE WEST

Spend a day or a week in settings inspired by the true American West with one of these four ranches in the Steamboat Springs area.

Located at the base of the Mt. Zirkel Wilderness and the Continental Divide on 38 acres, Elk River Guest Ranch hosts up to 15 guests in the summer, fall and winter. Horses are the heart and soul of the ranch, while other ranch activities take advantage of the natural surroundings such as hiking, mountain biking, fishing, kayaking and rafting right out the back door. Rates are all-inclusive in summer and can be lodging only during other seasons. elkrivergr.com

Vista Verde Guest Ranch blends AAA Four Diamond amenities and authentic western hospitality. Authentic log cabins with master suites are a highlight along with activities such as a horse program, fly fishing, mountain biking, hiking, rock climbing, stand-up paddleboarding, photography, yoga, rafting, kayaking, and culinary adventures. Rates are allinclusive. vistaverde.com The Home Ranch, a Relais & Chateauxaffiliated guest ranch, offers multi-sport adventures, horseback riding vacations and Orvis-endorsed fly fishing. The property also features well-appointed cabins, swimming, hiking and yoga during summer months and cross-country skiing, tubing, sleigh rides and backcountry skiing in the winter. Pork, herbs, flowers and much more are raised onsite and used extensively in the ranch’s culinary program. homeranch.com

Only 14 miles from downtown Steamboat Springs, Saddleback Ranch is a fourth generation, 8,000-acre working cattle ranch that is perfect for a day trip. Choose from horseback riding, sleigh rides, snowmobiling, ATV tours, hunting, tubing and cattle drives. saddlebackranch.net

Madeleine K. Albright Pavilion

VENUE SPOTLIGHT»

Aspen Meadows Resort - Walter Isaacson Center

The Reception Center at Aspen Meadows Resort on the Aspen Institute campus not only has a new look, the iconic Bauhaus-style structure has a new name. The Walter Isaacson Center was unveiled in June 2018 after a 10-month, $13 million renovation. The original Reception Center, designed by Herbert Bayer and opened in 1958, is now dedicated to Walter Isaacson, who served as president and CEO of the Aspen Institute from 2003 to 2018.

Deemed a historic structure Aspen’s Historic Preservation Commission, the original structure still stands intact, but the interior was completely updated and expanded to include the Madeleine K. Albright Pavilion that opens on three sides to the natural surroundings and the elevated Bren and Mel Simon Terrace above. The Walter Isaacson Center is home to the hotel’s front desk, three dining outlets and several outdoor patios. Throughout the building, an abundance of art by Herbert Bayer is now featured, and a large marble outdoor sculpture was acquired from the Denver Art Museum in 2018. aspenmeadows.com

CELEBRATION» ASPEN SALUTES BAUHAUS CENTENNIAL

Several organizations are collaborating on events from January through August 2019 for “celebrate bauhaus100: aspen,” which commemorates the impact of the Bauhaus art movement on Aspen. The theme “Our Legacy, Our Future/WorkPlay-Create” reflects Aspen’s Bauhaus heritage, primarily as it relates to Herbert Bayer, who was a student and a teacher at the Bauhaus, relocated to Aspen in 1946 to design the Aspen Institute and lived in the community until 1976. Photographer Ferenc Berko also was a Bauhaus student and key in the transformation, photographing for the Aspen Institute, Aspen Music Festival, Aspen Skiing Company and others during the renaissance of modern Aspen.

A few highlights include the Bauhaus Ball on June 6 at the Wheeler Opera House with a Bauhaus-inspired costume contest, Bauhaus films and more; the Aspen Institute Bauhaus Program Seminar on Aug. 4-7; and regularly scheduled tours of the Aspen Institute/ Aspen Meadows Resort campus. bauhaus100aspen.org

ANNIVERSARY»

NACE DENVER CELEBRATES 10 YEARS

The National Association of Catering & Events gathered on Sept. 11 at the Denver Botanic Gardens to commemorate the NACE’s 10th anniversary and provide a glimpse into the future. A panel of several founding members—Monica Cheeks of Hyatt Hotels, Cal Cheney of All Digital Photo & Video, Amanda Michalek of AORN and Brandi Pressgrove of Reckon Creative—discussed how the chapter got started, favorite programs from the past and how networking through NACE has helped grow their businesses and more.

Taco Beast

ACTIVITIES» WHAT’S NEW FOR SKI SEASON

Ski areas around Colorado are introducing several new amenities and events to elevate the guest and group experience. Here are a few highlights from Ski Country USA.

The new Moonlight Mountaintop Yurt dinner series in Ridgeview Café at Cooper near Leadville features a ride to the mountaintop after hours in a warm, cozy snowcat. Seven dates are available. skicooper.com

Copper Mountain is debuting a new base area restaurant, Downhill Duke’s, a prime spot to take in some sun and enjoy lunch or après cocktails on the south-facing patio. coppercolorado.com

Echo Mountain Resort has a new tubing hill with a covered conveyor lift for those who love to play in the snow. echomountainresort.com

Groups can rent East Mountain at Granby Ranch and have full access to the night skiing terrain from 5-9 p.m. granbyranch.com

The new Inferno Mountain Coaster at Purgatory Resort is available yearround and traverses nearly a mile. purgatoryresort.com

Steamboat Resort has added two dining experiences: Timber & Torch, a new base area restaurant and bar experience, and the Taco Beast, an on-mountain, roaming snowcat food “truck.” steamboat.com