≡ Menu

Have you ever had one of those moments of complete mental clarity, where you know that what you’re doing is the right thing and that it is also safe?

My lastest blog posts have been about thinking differently in your corporate or association meeting and event planning. You know, not doing the same meeting or event year after year as though you had “phoned it in”.

Recently we were on vacation in Smuggler’s Notch, Vermont, one of the most beautiful places. Imagine, tree-laden mountains, views for miles, and the nicest people.

A few weeks prior to our trip, I was checking the Internet for things to see and do. There were some fascinating things to see, such as Ben & Jerry’s factory, Cabot Cheese Creamery, the Vermont Teddy Bear Factory. All of these were very interesting and each stressed its environmentally friendly mission.

Another thing that I saw while busily browsing the Internet was a Zip Line Tour**. Imagine zipping through the trees at 30 – 40 miles an hour! Boy, that sounded like fun. But wait! I’m no daredevil. I don’t like roller coasters, or fast cars. My kids tease me about that all the time.

I’m the kind of person that must be in control of what I’m doing, not let whatever it is take over.

Why would this even intrigue me?

It certainly sounded wonderful, though.

But wait a minute: I’ve piloted a glider, Pat Glide

I’ve skied Vail, I’ve been river rafting in Colorado, been on a helicopter ride over Mauna Kea volcano in Hawaii so why would I be afraid of zipping through the trees!

Good question. I thought about it and then thought differently. I began to imagine the exhilarating experience of flying through the trees. What a joyful image that was. It was time to suspend my fears, and add this to my list of adventures.

Well, we did all those touristy things that I read about. We saw the ice cream factory, the cheese factory and the teddy bear factory and found them all to be very interesting, and a lot of fun. Of course, we also did a bit of antiquing.

The day prior to our zip line tour, we did a site inspection to see their offices, layout and chat with personnel and were quite satisfied. I know: even on vacation, I’m an event planner.

The day came for our zip line tour. I made sure that I was dressed in long pants and sleeves like they suggested. We arrived for the pre-tour instructions before we went on a small test zip line that was very close to the ground. We each tried our hand at zipping, if that’s what you would call it! We all passed the basics, then piled into a van and were off to the real zip line tour.

There were a total of 8 different zip lines and 2 repels. The first platform was 30’ off the ground. Some of the zip lines were short, maybe 100 feet or so, but one was about 900 feet long. Four were 700 feet long! The total distance we went was about 4700 feet! I had the best time trying something new and different. I had confidence in the equipment and guides that enabled me to get past any nerves.

The repels? They were quite easy, once I decided that standing at the edge of the platform and leaning backwards into nothing – 40’ high – was safe, I literally suspended my fears and was ready to go.

The best thing about all of this is that after the first couple of ziplines, I wasn’t thinking about anything else except  simply enjoying the experience.

In your everyday life, and in your job, as a meeting or event planner, so that you don’t get caught in the doldrums of doing the same event over and over in the exact same way—

Suspend your fears so that you can Think differently