Passionate about giving back...

One thing that One Smooth Stone is passionate about is giving back. Whether its helping clients incorporate philanthropy into their events, participating in charitable activities as a company, or making financial contributions through our affiliate foundation...One Smooth Stone enjoys using its resources to impact a world in need.

Recently, Associate Producer Bethany Johnson shared her thoughts on Corporate Social Responsibility and incorporating philanthropic elements into events with Prevue, a publication for meeting and incentive planners. Take a look at the article here!

One Smooth Stone employee serves in Zambia

After his experience producing the Opportunity International Leadership Conference in Uganda this past March, One Smooth Stone Executive VP Gary Vlk decided he needed to venture back to Africa. During his experience in Uganda, he was touched by the need he saw and felt compelled to return with his family to make an impact. The Vlk family traveled to Zambia in July for 10 days with the non-profit Spark Ventures, an organization started by former One Smooth Stone employee Rich Johnson. The Vlks spent time playing with orphan children, helping kids with English reading, participating in a building project, and learning more about the impact Spark Ventures' is making in Zambia.

The Vlk's trip was recently featured in the newspaper in their hometown of Naperville, IL. Take a look! http://tinyurl.com/OSSZambia

The Vlk Family in Zambia

Gary with his reading buddy, John

CAbi Event Goes HD

Last month, One Smooth Stone partnered with long time client CAbi to produce its biannual “Scoop” event at the Minneapolis Convention Center. The event gathered 2,400 women’s clothing sales consultants in a new, condensed format to minimize attendee expense and time away from home, while maximizing their time at the event. The new fall clothing line was launched in a general session featuring a 170’ runway flanked by stadium seating, creating an intimate feel for such a large audience.

The big change for CAbi at the July 2009 event was the decision to integrate a fully high-definition video projection and record system. The advantages to taking the “HD plunge” were many…

• Consultants saw the latest fashion on screen in GREAT DETAIL


• Footage from the fashion show was ready to be POSTED TO THE WEB immediately after the event…no converting, re-shooting or editing necessary
  
• Fashion show footage posted to the CAbi website allows customers to also see the latest trends in CRYSTAL CLEAR RESOLUTION
  
• Consultants who were unable to attend the event can view the fashion show and feel as if they are ACTUALLY THERE

Wanna see the footage? Check out http://cabionline.com/Fall2009/on_the_runway.html and judge the quality for yourself!

Fashion show runway with two high definition screens.

A model struts the runway, with her image in HD behind her.

Two HD screens were flown above the audience on each side of the runway. Attendees were seated in tiered bleachers to give the show a more intimate feel.

Incorporating Peer-to-Peer Learning into Your Events…

An interview with One Smooth Stone Founding Principal and President, Kevin Olsen, recently appeared in the on-site edition of One+ Magazine at MPI’s WEC conference in Salt Lake City. The article, highlighting the importance and relevance of Peer-to-Peer Learning, appeared the day before Kevin taught an interactive knowledge session on the topic. Kevin’s session defined Peer-to-Peer Learning, highlighted its benefits, and provided hands-on experience of how it is executed successfully.




Take a look at the article and learn more about Peer-to-Peer! Click here and navigate to page 8 to read the entire article.

Virtual Events!

Progressive technology and challenging economic times have led the events industry to develop new event models and innovative solutions. The result? Virtual events. Hosting a virtual component to your event, or creating a stand-alone virtual meeting, can be a great way to…

• Generate new sponsorship revenue
• Extend the life of your event
• Make attendance possible for those who cannot travel to a live meeting
• Provide ongoing educational content and updates to your attendees
• Execute a large event with extensive content for a fraction of the cost of a live meeting

One Smooth Stone has an exciting, dynamic and reliable virtual event platform to bring to the table. Take a look at this overview to learn more about our virtual event offering:

http://www.balancedesign.com/clients/OSS/VirtualEvents/071109/player.html

Interested in hosting a virtual event? Give Gary a call at 630.427.4222.

The One Smooth Stone family is growing!

On June 9, 2009, Steve Koppel (Vice President) and his wife, Allison, met their new daughter for the first time. They had flown to Korea just days before and were thrilled to leave the country with Genevieve Yoonjung Koppel, the newest addition to their family! Genevieve was born on August 21, 2008, and joins a brother, Adam, who the Koppels adopted from Korea in 2005.

Steve and Allison say that their favorite things about Genevieve are her adorable smile, happy disposition, and ability to sleep through the night. Congratulations to the Koppel family!

Steve takes Genevieve for a walk...

Brother-sister bonding time!

Allison, Adam and Genevieve

One+ Article about One Smooth Stone

One+, Meeting Professionals International's US-based magazine, published an article about One Smooth Stone's March event in Uganda for Opportunity International in their June 2009 issue. The article was highlighted in their "Connections" section, which appears in each issue and tells the story of a successful connection or partnership. Take a look at the images below or visit http://viewer.zmags.com/showmag.php?mid=wfpgdq&spid=-2#/page42/ to read the full article.