It’s 5:15 AM here. The birds are chattering and dawn’s early light reveals my 7th-floor mountain view at the beautiful Andaz Maui Resort. The sun will be blaring into my room in a short while – so much so that I’ll be forced to close the sliding glass doors, lower the remote-control window shade and turn on the air-conditioning. I’ve got a few hours before I need to go downstairs and supervise the set-up for the farewell dinner that I’ve got planned for tonight.  If it goes according to plan, this is the dinner party that will have everyone saying by the end of the night, “Marilyn, how are you ever going to top this next year?”

In last week’s post, I wrote about the joy of collaborating with a jovial Irish DMC to ensure a perfect program for my group from the National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA) back in the early 90s. Two nights ago, at a dinner event here in Maui for that same group, I was in conversation with Marlene, one of my favorite people and one of the most well-traveled women I’ve ever met. I asked her about her favorite trips with NECA.  First place she mentioned was Ireland and she recounted – in vivid detail – her memory of the magical sunny day when the group left Dublin on a charter train, disembarking in Mallow – where buses transported us to Kate Kearney’s Cottage, near Macgillycuddy’s Reeks in Country Kerry, where we climbed aboard 4-person pony carts for a journey through the Gap of Dunloe, where the aptly-named Purple Mountains were ablaze with rhododendron.  Next we boarded small fishing boats for a scenic cruise across the Lakes of Killarney to our amazing hotel . . . .

Marlene then said, “Oh, and the trip to Rio was absolutely unforgettable, too.”

That stimulated my own vivid memory about behind-the-scenes planning, politics and crisis management – and one of MY favorite success stories of my career.  As part of my company’s 25th anniversary celebration, I wrote a memoir in which the Brazil finale to NECA’s trip was the final chapter.  Hope you enjoy it:

Whew . . . re-reading this story gives me goosebumps.  I’ve come a long way since then.  Put on a few miles, a few laugh lines and more than a few great events for this and many other groups in some of the world’s most extraordinary places.

Tonight’s event, here in Maui, will be another in a long line of memory-making experiences.  Can’t wait to tell you all about the surprises I’ve planned for the group’s finale – but you’ll have to wait till next week’s post to read about it!  If I’ve done it right, there will be an echo in the room: “Marilyn, how are you gonna top this one?”

As always, mahalo for reading my post.  I love to get your comments and feedback!