HOW TO MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR INCENTIVE EVENTS

In this episode, we’re talking with Talia Tinao, owner of HD Premier - one of Hawaii’s top Destination Management Companies, and Sam Port, Senior Creative Director at Proscenium Events about making the most of incentive events. This conversation is so authentic, it will make you feel like you’re sitting on a beach in Hawaii.

You can read the transcript below or listen to Episode 9 on the episode page, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

Episode 9 Transcript

JEREMY: Alright, so I am here with Talia Tinao, the owner of Hawaii Destinations Premier, and Sam Port, senior creative director at Proscenium Events. Sam & Talia, welcome to the Pro Cast.

Sam, you're not in Hawaii now but you were recently. Is that correct?

SAM: No, I'm here in New York. My mind is still in Hawaii on Maui. That takes a little while to readjust to being back in New York.

JEREMY: Talia, you are in Hawaii, is that correct?

TALIA: Yes, I'm on the island of Maui. I’m born and raised here in Hawaii.

JEREMY: We're here today to talk about incentive events. What is an incentive event? How do I know that my event is or is not an incentive event?

TALIA: At the core of it, I think an incentive is just a reward of some kind of recognition for an employee's exceptional performance that year. Incentive travel has tons of data and facts about how it does help to motivate those people that are there in the company and get them excited to perform at the top level to eventually be a part of these wild incentives.

JEREMY: Sam, if I'm doing a show in Las Vegas, which is a destination that lot of people want to go to, and we have awards where we're recognizing people for their achievements throughout the year, is that an incentive?

SAM: Absolutely, that is an incentive event. The way I think of it is that a lot of the events that I've done that have been incentives have this idea of once you win it, you have these bragging rights. You can also not only have the experience of a lifetime while you're there but also go back and show it off to everyone back at home or your coworkers. Because of the blood, sweat, and tears that I put into this role, my day-to-day job, and how I interact with my coworkers, you get this out of it.

I think a big part of it is just being able to enjoy the experience on its own, and also being able to talk about it and share it with everyone else after the fact. It really is an experience that you couldn't do on your own. It's easier to go to Vegas and have a great time at great dinners, but how do you really make this?

I want to go to Vegas because it's part of this bigger program, and I'm going to have these talked-about moments for the rest of my life because I got to do it through this lens.

JEREMY: Interesting and as we were talking about events, one of the words that kept coming up was authenticity. It's really important that incentive events are authentic. First of all, what do we mean by the word authentic?

TALIA: I think being authentic really speaks to your destination, like as a full-service destination management consultant. For us, it is all about Hawaii. You are coming for Hawaii and the culture that it is, along with the raw beauty that it has. Being able to show that destination at its truest, I think, is the authenticity of it.

JEREMY: Sam, what makes an event inauthentic and why would that be a problem?

SAM: I think it'll be helpful to look at this through the way that Talia and I have worked together, specifically. It has been a number of years now that the two of us have been a part of a team to produce a large event for T-Mobile, specifically a big incentive program called Peak Achievement.

Every year it's in Maui. One of the best parts of getting to work with Talia and her team is that we're able to also look at everything that we do and every single touch point. To the question of, is this authentic to where we are? Is it authentic to T-Mobile? Is it authentic to the area where we're at and also the culture that we're also getting to enjoy?

I'm using this purely anecdotally, but for example, when you said Maui Nō Ka ʻOi there's a difference. Correct me if I'm wrong, but what they're called, like Odell Keena a little demarcation on the word itself that is important to have. And if you don't have it it's, it's, sort of a sign of respect, really.

BETHANY: This is behind the scenes, Bethany breaking in with a fact-check. Maui Nō Ka ʻOi is Hawaiian for Maui is the best, and it comes from ancient, Hawaiian chanting tradition.

SAM: When we're giving leadership speaking points to make sure we know the right pronunciation, that's one part. The other piece would be something like if we're going to show the use of a Tiki. You could pull something off Google search or whatever have you, but we want to make sure that they are the right one.

There are different deities that are represented within these different carvings and different structures. Is this the right one? Is this doing justice to what we're trying to say here? That's just taking it a little step further. I think it is very important and a sign of respect. Authenticity, for me, is about being respectful to the attendees as well as to the culture.

TALIA: Sam, can I just say though, you guys and Proscenium as a whole, are really amazing when it comes to wanting to do to dial into even the smallest of details like the Keena and different inflections on the Hawaiian language. It's not our planners that have that level of respect and thoughtfulness.

I've thoroughly enjoyed getting to have that exchange with you each and every year. I even learned things about my culture because I'm having to make sure this is right before I say anything. You guys really are exceptional at that.

SAM: It's nice to hear. Thank you.

JEREMY: I love that. You talked about this a little bit and I'm curious, but what sort of steps can event producers take to make incentive events more authentic?

TALIA: Oh, that's a good question. I think finding a service destination management consultant has a real tie to it and what the destination is going to be paramount. The way I look at it, I feel a responsibility to be able to share our home in a way that you wouldn't get to see, like Sam's point.

These incentives are in destinations that people typically want to go to and maybe have gone to before, but to be able to show them something that they haven't seen takes someone that can make the inaccessible, accessible to them. I think of it like when you have a friend in a cool city and you've never been there before, but you know someone that lives there to show you the cool spots, not the tourist traps.

They show you the hole in the wall that has the best shave ice or go to this beach between these times because the turtles come right up on the shore every day. You now have a friend there that is going to show you things that you just wouldn't have known before. I think that's maybe step one in trying to be authentic with your planning.

SAM: Everything that she's saying is why we wanted to partner with her and her team specifically when we had other options. I think you said it right there, that piece of having a friend there. That's what it felt like.

JEREMY: Sam, can you think of a specific example from the attendees' perspective where that sort of partnership, authenticity, or having that friend really made a difference?

SAM: The trophy designs. These award winners are the combination of their week of events and this beautiful award ceremony under the stars by the ocean. It's just a stunning evening, as well as part of the event. Each of them goes up on stage and has their moment with the leadership team to receive a trophy and a photo op. That trophy over the years has been a very beautiful piece, but in the last couple of years, they want to do something.

We collectively want to do something a little bit more special and substantive. What we ended up doing is making these custom monkeypod wood trophies that are sourced from the islands. Each one's hand-carved and has their name on it. Each one is unique. The process of working with your team to make sure that it was doable and that it was supporting the economy on the islands was very important. There were just so many components that made it feel authentic.

You are getting this piece that is more than a souvenir, it's like a piece of the island. I think that was one of many examples of how we've been able to work with Talia and her destination management consultant. Because of her connections, you were like a one-stop shop in that respect and it's all people can talk about.

TALIA: They are stunning trophies and a gorgeous kind of compliment to the whole program.

JEREMY: They sound amazing. Tanya, do you have any times when people did it wrong? What is it that people are trying to cut a corner on or something they don't think about that really makes a difference? This would be in the opposite direction and where they don't get to take full advantage of the kind of things that you and Hawaii have to offer for their attendees.

TALIA: I wouldn't say it's wrong, but there are planners that are not as thoughtful about the guest experience and really show their attendees something that they wouldn't be able to get on their own. I think some people have a preconceived notion of what Hawaii is. I would be lying to say that there are no aspects of our culture that have been canned and homogenized into something that it really is not.

I think they miss the truest sense of why you're coming to Hawaii. There are other islands in the world that are equally beautiful on their own. Right? The weather and the raw beauty of the islands are not just why you would come here. I think tapping into the culture, I always go back to that because I think it's something that could not be replicated anywhere else in the world.

Sorry that I get all proud about it, but it really is something that is visceral, and you feel it when you really experience it. When you hear that one of our kupunas is our elders and they are doing a traditional prayer or a blessing, you feel that. You feel it inside and it's just something that can't be replicated in other places.

I think planners that are not tapping into that miss the real reason why you actually came to Hawaii and it's sad.

JEREMY: Wow, I love it. I just want to go right now. I want to be there. You just bring it to life so incredibly. It sounds amazing. What about challenges? What are things that clients have asked for or wanted that you thought you can pull off?

TALIA: After 17 years of doing destination management, I feel like there's just nothing we haven't really seen. I think this kind of post-pandemic COVID climate that we're in has had a lot of effect on labor, supply, and demand. Everything here has been a little bit more challenging and a little slower to get answers. When you say challenge, I think that's been a big one for us locally. As far as requests coming in, I like the outlandish ones, and thinking about what we can do that we've never done seems pretty impossible. It gets me kind of excited. I liked that aspect, but I think when we are given a very tight time parameter or no budget to back it up, that's when it becomes really laborious and grueling.

JEREMY: If you want an experience that is going to be particularly incredible, it comes at a cost. Can you think of any of these incredible experiences that somebody wanted or that you fashioned for someone and thought it is above and beyond?

TALIA: We had a small auto company that comes to Hawaii all the time, and they wanted to do what you cannot do. That was the request. It was, what can we not do? How can you make that happen for us? What we ended up doing was taking 40 of their top executives and flying them over to the island of Molokai.

The island of Molokai is one of the least inhabited islands. It's known to be the birthplace of Hula. Hula is the heartbeat of our culture and how stories and legends were passed down. That's how you told stories and how they came from generation to generation through death. It's believed that they have a place called the Hula Pical and Pical is your belly button. Think of it like an umbilical cord. It is where Hula was born. It's up on the highest sea cliffs in the world. Molokai has the highest sea cliffs in the world. I'm getting goosebumps because I had never been there before, and I'm born and raised there.

I had never been there before, but we had to go and cite it. My husband is from the island of Molokai, and they have no care in the world for tourism. They're kind of self-contained as an island. They're not like Maui. They're not like an Oahu. We call that part of the island Kapil, meaning that's a no-no. It's not allowed. It's banned. If you don't have granted permission to go, you don't go there. It was about whom we knew to get permission to go and not just us local people bringing visitors up there and thinking of how they were going to be respectful of the land and experience it.

I'm being very long-winded, but I apologize. It was a moment that will forever stick out in my mind because we brought them up and there was a ridiculously gorgeous vantage point. It's up on a mound up on a cliff side and we brought in Moana’s Hula hello, which is local to the island.

My husband's family has danced in this Hula Hello for all their lives. We brought them up and they performed Hula in the most ancient Kahiko style. It was like I was crying and there were other people there that were moved to tears, as well. For me, that was just one of the moments that I thought that no matter how challenging or how crazy, this is what it's all about.

JEREMY: That is an incredible story. I mean, talk about giving people a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. That's beyond that. Sam, I don't know how you could possibly top that story.

[EVERYONE LAUGHS]

Do you have any experience with clients asking for incredibly, challenging things?

SAM: I got chills from that. There are a couple, on a very different scale and actually not referring to the islands at the moment, but we did another event in Puerto Rico. After Hurricane Maria when San Juan was still rebuilding, there were a lot of the areas that were in bad shape, but we chose to have our event there knowing that as part of the recovery efforts and to bring some economy back or to bring some business back to the island in every respect.

Overall, the event was very successful, but of course, there were a lot of challenges where the event was supposed to be at one venue but had to be done in five venues that were all across town. Again, the challenges were having a very high profile in San Juan shortly after the hurricane and some power issues at X, Y, and Z. It still became this very special event because of the situation and the circumstances surrounding it.

I think that knowing the effort it took to get there, the meaning that it had to everyone who attended, and the impact that it had on the community was a good example of overcoming those challenges and producing a beautiful, unforgettable event.

JEREMY: Wow. Now what about the future? What is the future of incentive events or where do you see incentive events going in five years? Sam, do you want to start that?

SAM: I don't necessarily see them changing dramatically. I actually think as long as you're making people feel valued, special, and giving them an opportunity, they wouldn't normally experience, then that's the core of it. Sure, there'll be some technological advances in maybe some of the screens we're using, some of our dance party equipment, or whatever it is. I think that those will certainly adapt. Yes, in five years, I hope that we're fully functional as far as getting everything up and running smoothly with post-COVID and whatever that looks like.

I think the core of it is that people want to be together. If you're putting people together in an environment, making them feel special, and getting to the other big pieces like quality time with the leadership, I think, at least from the clients that I've worked with on these events, is a big part of it.

These winners and these attendees want that special time with a level of leadership they wouldn't normally get. If you're providing those opportunities, continually, and meaningful encounters beyond just a handshake, I think that's an important piece. It's not going anywhere.

JEREMY: Because of the way you've been talking about it, you're looking to have an experience that is steeped in tradition and that offers you access, a glimpse, or a moment in time into a culture that you're not so familiar with. That's actually what you want to be enveloped in rather than anything that's more forward-looking.

TALIA: I think you're right.

JEREMY: Yeah, so technology doesn't necessarily help in that regard.

TALIA: Yeah.

SAM: There’s obviously the event itself and going to it. Perhaps, as you keep seeing these articles about planes, the cabins of the future, or what have you potentially, there are ways to really enhance that travel to the program, as well. Those are touchpoints along the way. I know that we work with our clients to do the best we can, so there’s a pre-event.

I think we could maybe find ways to improve that world by making the journey there even more impactful, as well, or giving more and more backgrounds so that once you arrive you already have a frame of mind instead of having to teach that when you get there.

JEREMY: Yeah, that's great. Well, I'd love to move on to our Lightning Round if that's all right. This is just three questions we ask all our guests.

The first question is who's your biggest get? A speaker, entertainer, or subject matter expert that you would either love to see at a live event or someone who you would love to coach. Talia, what do you think?

TALIA: Someone that meant a lot to me was an entertainer. His name is Kelly Rochelle, and I grew up with his music. He is a locally famous performer and a Kumu Hula, a hula teacher. I want to say he really revolutionized how we thought of Hawaiian music and gave it a contemporary voice, in the early 90s. It was moving away from that kind of 60s Don Tiki type of stuff that we saw, and then it morphed into something else. I think Kelly really brought a completely different take to the music and it was something that I grew up with.

When I got to book him for the first time, hear him, and talk to him, that to me was a big deal for us. In Hawaii, we are blessed that we have tons of celebrities that come here all the time. We see them all the time, but it's like the local celebrities that are a kind of a bigger deal for me, at least for us. Recently we booked a big local band called Ekolu.

Again, growing up with their music, we get to book them and experience it from this aspect and actually support them and their families. It feels full circle to me.

JEREMY: Wow. We'll have to link to some of that music in the show notes. That sounds really cool and probably music that a lot of people haven't heard but would really enjoy. Sam, how about you?

SAM: Well, I would love to be able to bring in an artist called Dua Lipa. I think about artists or performers that make me just happy every time I hear them and make me want to dance. I think we need that. I would love to bring her and her talent to any number of our events.

JEREMY: Oh, she's great. I agree. I would love to see her. The second question is, what is one thing you wish presenters did more of or less of? This could be something when you see presenters onstage not being their best. What's a tip or some advice you could give them that they could do better?

SAM: It's a little bit of a personal pet peeve but starting off with how's everybody doing today? If we could get rid of that and then just jump into the meat of it, I think that would be a great start. I know that's often a tactic to rile the audience, but personally, I'd like to just dive in.

JEREMY: That's good advice. The third question what is something, could be a book, a movie, a song, whatever you like, that was a big influence on you and particularly, if possible, influenced your professional career?

TALIA: I do a lot of audiobooks. I would say that one book that I have listened to several times now is The Power of Moments, and it's so applicable to what we do in events and creating moments, as small as they are. They really connect somebody, and we talk all the time about making memories and this particular book really unpacks how we remember things, how it is so tied to emotion, how we feel about an experience, and not about what we're seeing.

It's not about a tangible factoid or something that you've picked up, it's how you feel and how that experience made you feel. I loved getting to understand that more and then how we can build out and create a space for these moments. I personally love the fact that they don't have to be grand. They're usually something very small and intimate and personal to somebody. That book was a big one for me.

JEREMY: I love that. I don't know that book, so that sounds great. I'm going to definitely look into that. That's very cool. Alright, Sam, what have you come up with?

SAM: I do go back to the Broadway musical, Miss Saigon, because it's a show that I saw when it toured through Tampa when I grew up. When I was 12, I remember that when I saw that show, I knew that somehow, I was going to be involved, professionally for the rest of my life in the creative field. Long story short, that kind of inspired me to pursue a career in performance, which I did for a while.

Then this actually led me to Proscenium, which I've now been at for almost nine years. We provide a theatrical mentality, point of view, and production to events and I think it has been a great fit. One step led to another and so here we are.

JEREMY: It's a really magical moment. Isn't it? I think a lot of theater people have experienced that show. They saw it and for whatever reason made them say, “I have to do this.” It just sets them on a new path in their life. That's wonderful. Thank you. Thank you both. This has been so delightful talking to the two of you.

Sam tells me sometimes about his adventures in T-Mobile, but getting to really sit down and unpack it, along with the way Talia talks about these experiences, makes me feel what it must be like for the attendees to be there in this journey that your partnership takes them on. It really gets them to have these wonderful experiences. The moments that they're never going to forget and that their company has given them in recognition of whatever it is that they did. That's just unbelievable. The fact that you're bringing that to them and providing that for them is really incredible. Thank you so much for sharing those stories. I really appreciate you both taking the time.

TALIA: Thank you, Jeremy. This was awesome.

SAM: Our pleasure.

JEREMY: Well, getting to talk with Talia and Sam about how to make the most of incentive events and how to make them more authentic was so great. For me, there were four top takeaways, and these are the four tops.

                   • Number four, when your event involves a different culture, you want to get the details right. Make sure you're being respectful of that.

                   • Number three, using a destination management consultant is the best way to ensure you get those details right.

                   • Number two, when you go to an incredible destination, you want to show your attendees something beyond the stereotype of what they've seen before or                                something that they would never be able to get on their own.

                   • Number one, having a good destination management consultant is like having a friend in a cool city who can show you the best spots to go to get the best                                food to eat. They can create incredible, once-in-a-lifetime experiences.

Look, I could talk about this stuff all day. If you want to talk to us about today's topic or anything about live events, check out our episode notes for more information or just go to proscenium.com to drop us a line. Send us a guest suggestion or tell us why you would make a good guest. We would love to hear from you because at Proscenium, we help presenters do their best in front of their most important audiences. As we like to say, we help brands perform. I have a sneaking suspicion that we can help your brand perform.