Benefiting at work from Brain Based Insights

Today I interviewed Gaven Hurley from the Pittsford Rotary, about the Taste of Pittsford Celebration, described in the last post. I was interested to see how Gaven used his strengths in leadership and business management to pull off this popular annual event:
How did you make the Taste of Pittsford a win-win event? I asked. Gaven responded: The model I used was Rotary’s four way test.  It is the truth? ... we promised just what we gave.... Is it fair? ... everybody buys a ticket for $45.00… Nobody gets a free ride... everybody benefits.... That was the design. The four way test was designed by Herb Taylor, a business leader with a passion for relationships. The idea was to get the business community members involved in what goes on. A lot of business people don’t work and play well together, and that limitation costs both business and community. The cost of the ticket was priced for the consumer – not the corporate to buy.
What one key makes the Taste of Pittsford such a large success?  The time of year – there is not much going on in mid-March. We’re just coming out of winter and into spring. This event is also classy – there’s fine food and good music. We don’t have a silent auction – we have silent auction in the form of door prizes … and so people like to come and check it out. We did not maximize the amount of money to be made – we maximized the fun for people and exposure of good restaurants in the interest of building better relationships in Pittsford.
What’s the biggest hurdle you faced? Initially, when I borrowed this idea from somebody else and then tried to improve it – I had to locate a place to hold the event. The high school gym was out because we serve wine, and 500 is a big number. At first, Nazareth hosted The Taste of Pittsford simply to help us out, and yet it brought many people into their campus. After that they could not wait to help and saw this as an event they, too, benefited from.
How did you overcome that hurdle? I tried to figure out who were likely candidates to hold so many people for a social gathering. Then I went directly to Daan Braveman, the president of the college and made my request. He took the idea to his development people and they got to be beneficiaries because people came and they got to showcase all they have at Nazareth College site.

All pictures courtesy of Duncan Studios, Inc., Pittsford, NY .