Company: TransPerfect Translations, Inc., New York, NY
Company Description: TransPerfect is a family of companies providing global business services in over 100 languages. TransPerfect maintains over 50 offices on 4 continents. We provide a range of language and business services including translation, interpretation, website globalization, multicultural marketing, diversity and inclusion consulting, deposition services, and litigation support to multinational companies.
Nomination Category: Sales Achievement Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Sales Meeting of the Year

Nomination Title: Best Sales Meeting

1. Tell the story about your organization's sales meeting (up to 500 words). Include here links to photographs, videoclips, or other materials online that will help to paint a picture of your event for the judges. IMPORTANT: Begin each link with http://, and enclose each link in square brackets; for example, [http://www.youraddress.com]:

With a broad global network, a great deal of communication among employees at
TransPerfect is conducted electronically. However, Liz Elting and Phil Shawe,
the company's founding Co-CEOs have believed, since the inception of the
company, that it was worthwhile to invest in creating opportunities for staff
to spend time together-both in training and in more informal settings-face-to-
face. Thus, they have held series of meetings each year in which members of
the staff come together in one city for intensive training, brainstorming, and
interaction. Over time, the nature of these meetings has transformed: there
are European-group meetings, Asian-group meetings, Production meetings, etc.
Sub-groups have broken off and met in smaller groups but each year, without
fail, the entire team has come together for 4 days to get to know each other-
in person. On January, 2008, TransPerfect Inc, held its largest meeting ever.
The 15th Anniversary Leadership Summit was held in New York City and over 850
employees from four continents attended. In part, this was a celebration of
the company's 15th year; and in part, was an opportunity to present a series
of advanced training and professional development sessions. Conducted over a
period of four days, these sessions focused on the brand, meeting the emerging
needs of clients, and anticipating future trends and needs. In addition to the
daytime activities, TransPerfect hosted a series of evening events that
encourage employees to build relationships in more informal settings. These
included an 80's prom-themed bash at BB King's, an elegant cocktail reception
along the Hudson River, and a casual gathering at an Australian pub. Both
Elting and Shawe were committed to making this event a gathering that
reflected their continued commitment to quality and excellence as well as
their focus on the future. They thought long and hard about how to best
achieve this goal. And they came up with an idea. That idea has become the
undisputed highlight of the 2008 Winter Sales Meeting. When Former Secretary
of State, General Colin Powell (Ret.) walked into the meeting hall to deliver
the keynote address, each and every employee realized that being part of
TransPerfect was being part of something special. Those two defining qualities
that formed the foundation of the company: commitment to quality and the drive
toward excellence were, in a word, so consistent with what General Powell
represented to so many of us. Experiencing history up close and personal gave
us all a sense of our own personal responsibility and our connection to each
other. It was to all, a fitting tribute to those guiding principles that have
led the way for so many of us to achieve success in our own terms. General
Powell's encouraging and inspiring outlook appropriately served as a blueprint
to the TransPerfect employee; essentially, a new perspective in a typical 9-5
work day. Our network aims to not only provide language and business services
in the industry, but to provide solutions that reach past the initial request.
TransPerfect continues to exercise this spirit, as we continue to work towards
not only improvement, but perfection, in every sense of the word.

2. List hyperlinks to any online news stories, press releases, or other documents that support the claims made in the section above. IMPORTANT: Begin each link with http://, and enclose each link in square brackets; for example, [http://www.youraddress.com]:

http://www.transperfect.com/index.html

3. Provide a brief (up to 100 words) biography about the leader(s) of the nominated sales organization:

TransPerfect was founded by two individuals who were committed to providing a
higher quality product to meet the growing needs of businesses in an
increasingly global economy. Liz Elting and Phil Shawe placed a commitment to
quality and a drive to meet or exceed the expectations of their clients above
all else. In the ensuing 15 years, their early dream and modest start-up grew
to become the world's largest privately-held language service company with
offices in more than 55 cities worldwide. From the first employee, to the most
recent (in a roster than includes over 1,000 individuals) Elting and Shawe
hired people who met two criteria: they had some business experience and they
demonstrated a passion for excellence in their approach to work. Whether they
were selecting project managers or sales tem members the criteria were the
same: they sought out smart, committed individuals who were, much like
themselves, willing to go the extra mile, on every occasion to ensure they did
the best job possible.