Company: Citrix Systems, Inc

Programs: Catered/cooking event

Program Types: Sales

Program Details: Sunbelt Motivation & Travel, Inc. was faced with the challenge of creating a dining experience that would capture the uniqueness in sales vs. MVP accomplishments and provide an opportunity for regional recognition. Traditionally, the trip included a dine-around evening that allowed individuals to select a preferred restaurant to dine with their friends, which usually consisted of people from the same region, and an awards dinner that was rated as too long and not interactive. Sunbelt needed to come up with an activity that addressed all of these factors and encouraged participation from guests from around the world. The solution – regional cook-offs. Working with Citrix to meet their teambuilding and entertainment objectives, Sunbelt created a dining experience that was carefully crafted to ensure that all attendees had fun, worked together as teams, and enjoyed great cuisine. With the help of 35 food and beverage staff members at the Hilton Waikoloa in Hawaii, each geographical region had its own cook-off. Categorized by the color and pattern of their aprons, guests were randomly broken into approximately 20-person teams that worked with hotel chefs and judges to compete for the highest scores in food preparation, presentation, and team spirit and enthusiasm. Upon arrival at the cooking areas, regional executives recognized the special achievements of the MVPs. This was accomplished with the most appropriate audience and allowed sufficient time to speak of each individual’s accomplishments while allowing peers to add comments on a casual basis. It was a more personal experience that the big awards dinner that was previously held. Once the ceremony was complete, the cook-off began. Team captains were selected to help encourage creativity and help motivate their team to victory. Food was made ready by the kitchen to save time and was brought to the President’s Club 2001 participants for final cooking, preparation and serving under the guidance of their team chef. With a DJ helping to build excitement — karoke, dancing, and team cheers were encouraged as each team prepared and dined on fabulous appetizers, entrees and desserts. Winners were awarded based on a point system. Team captains received trophies and team members were given ribbons.

Objective: Each year the Citrix President’s Club gathers for an incentive trip designed to encourage mingling, networking and recognition while providing free time. President’s Club 2001 was made up of 286 sales winners and their guests from three geographic regions: Americans, Europe Middle East Africa (EMEA) and Pacific (Australia and Japan) that included 19 countries with a myriad of cultural and language differences. Also included were MVPs, 10 from each region, who were elected by the sales community for outstanding contribution to Citrix.

Supplier: Sunbelt Travel & Motivation, Inc. (Dallas, TX)

Sponsor Assocication: SITE

Results: The regional cook-off was a rousing success. Attendees learned how to cook local specialties while experiencing creative and artistic ways of presentation and "creative cheating" maximized networking among competing teams. The DJ kept everyone involved and reported various successes and failures. Teamwork was at its peak during the creativity portion as even the spouses were actively involved. Citrix President Mark Templeton said, "The cook-off was a total success. You combined networking and team building in a fashion I have never experienced before – it was wonderful." Sunbelt recognized that cooking is a universal activity where language barriers disappear. The event exceeded Citrix’s expectations, got rave reviews from participants, and definitely broke the mold of traditional dining that inhibits networking.

Award Type: CRYSTAL AWARDS

Award Date: 2002