There's More to EO Global Than You Think

The rich tapestry of EO is woven from thousands of incredible stories; stories of triumph, perseverance, success and failure. Each story is the juice that powers the megawatts of our membership. A few weeks ago, I experienced a new story, and felt compelled to share it with my EO family.

Like the majority of members, I had little experience and lots of preconceived notions of working with the Global staff. On the few occasions I had to interact with Global, they were good people, but they never really blew up my skirt up, if you know what I mean. Like most people, I rolled my eyes when someone mentioned them. Well, I couldn’t have been more wrong.

A short while ago, I visited EO’s headquarters to help with the organization’s translation efforts. In order to increase the global value for members, the organization is looking into providing translated materials for non-English speaking members. Having been in the translation business for more than a decade, the Global Communications Committee invited me to participate and provide direction. I went into the meeting anticipating death by committee.

The actual agenda for the day centered on unifying the messaging and communications delivered from Global, with a little talk of language translation thrown in for seasoning. The meeting was attended by the majority of the EO’s communications staff, as well as volunteer EO committee members. I had the opportunity to sit through an entire day’s worth of intense strategizing and planning.

Every single person in that room—staff and EO members alike—burned with a passion for EO that is hard to describe. My limited experience with the Global staff in the past left me with a taste of how much they cared, but it wasn’t until I got to see them sit in that room all day, passionately working toward increasing membership value, that I really understood. Their commitment, enthusiasm and rock star qualities shone brightly.

More than once throughout the day I thought to myself, “Man, I wish they worked for me.” And in a cool sort of way, they do. The committee and EO board members I met are our true leaders. The time and experience they bring to the organization is very impressive. I can only hope to follow in their footsteps one day.

Being a member of EO, you’ve probably heard the phrase “drink the Kool-Aid.” Well, it wasn’t until I visited Global that I realized how deep my thirst was and how great that Kool-Aid is. Come on, take a sip. If you haven’t worked with, talked to or shared anything with anyone at Global, I would encourage you to do so. Share your EO story. The good and the bad. They really, really want to hear it, and they do care very much. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.