had seen his fair share of team-bonding activities during corporate retreats. He appreciated CEOs who rewarded their employees and pushed them to grow, but a lot of it came down to the people themselves and how willing they were to work.
On day one, he’d had his doubts about this group. Over the past couple of days, though, they’d cemented themselves as one of his favorites. Sure, it helped that he was becoming more and more taken with their CMO, but overall, they were a solid group of people.
Even Mark, as much as it bothered him to admit it.
If Josh had worked with a team like theirs, he might not have hated his cubicle days quite so much—not that he’d return to that life for all the money in the world.
Still, as he sat in the center of hubbub, creating boats out of what most people would consider garbage, he thought it’d been a while since he’d had this much fun on any of his chartered journeys.
Chapter Sixteen
Paige fiddled with the lens of the projector until the image on the wall opposite the kitchen table sharpened. Blurred letters and images took shape, including the bolded title: Five-Year Marketing Plan for Barton Boating Company. Not just a boat, but a lifestyle.
“As you can see, I’ve kept a lot of Danae’s original structure and goals in place.” Yesterday afternoon, Paige had asked Danae if she would be comfortable emailing her the five-year plan so she could fiddle with it. “The main thing I changed up was padding each item for more flexibility. Leaving us free to jump on an opportunity, regardless of whether it’s one we’ve planned on for a year, a couple of months, or last minute.”
The screen briefly went dark as Paige crossed in front of the projector. She walked over to the document on the wall, pointing as she continued explaining the edits she’d made. “I also created a category for each department, so that once every quarter, everyone can try something new. Whether it’s an event, a new ad placement, or a social media push. That way, each department gets a chance to experiment, grow, and improve.”
Pride bubbled up inside of Danae, along with a fervency she hadn’t experienced when she’d been creating the original version. Paige’s changes came from a viewpoint Danae never would’ve tapped into. “Wow. It’s super impressive.”
“Well, you provided the very detailed framework, and that made it much easier to work with. I’ve always been better at spinning and tweaking stories than creating them. Thus, the career in PR.” A modest yet gleeful giggle escaped Paige, a new side of her emerging.
Mark added that he liked the flexibility, along with the idea of experimenting here and there. “Gives everyone some freedom within the structure.”
Paige turned to Vanessa. Danae automatically flinched, hoping the progress they’d made building a miniature sailboat wasn’t about to be undone. “As we were traveling around Martha’s Vineyard, I spent a lot of time on Trendster and Quest Obsessed. The way the apps are set up is brilliant. I found myself rushing to check in at each place and upload videos so I could earn stickers.”
Dang it, I totally forgot. Although I still prefer physical stickers.
Paige asked Franco if he would press the button to advance to the next slide, which showed a side-by-side comparison of the two apps and their lists of suggested activities. “Both apps have running bucket lists for places you just have to go and things you have to see. And I realized we could work that into our own marketing tactics.”
At her signal, Franco moved to the next slide. A bucket list appeared on the wall, one that included family vacations, riding the oldest carousel in America, and deep-sea fishing. The very last bullet point said “own a Barton Boat.”
“Then, we flip it.” Another click, and the list onscreen changed so that “Own a Barton Boat” was the first bullet point. “Purchasing one of our boats is what will allow you to travel to these destinations and do these things.”
“I love that,” Vanessa said, and judging from the dropped jaws and raised eyebrows, Danae wasn’t the only one surprised by her approval of something Paige had presented. “It’ll also give more purpose to the images and videos I’ve been capturing to post online. A target, so to speak. Along with a call to action.”
Franco chimed in to say he could set up a VIP membership on the website. “We can have running lists to send to those