PARTNERSHIP COLLABORATIONS ENGAGE NEW AUDIENCES
This month the Clipper Race has collaborated with its Race Partners to promote its story to new audiences, in varied environments. From inspirational speakers exploring the complexities of leadership to research and development conversations demonstrating how tech is used in the harshest of environments.
Working with Learning and Development Partner, Grahame Robb Associates (GRA), the Clipper Race provided an inspirational speaker for two key GRA client events.
Budweiser Brewing Group UK&I approached GRA to provide meaningful discussion around the dynamics of teamwork for their "Match Ready" sales kick-off conference. GRA delivered a series of experiential outdoor training sessions for 350 people followed by a motivational talk from Clipper Race’s Head of Training, Ben Bowley, on the merits of effective teamwork to help the audience fully embrace the concept that 'teamwork does work'.
As Skipper for team Singapore in the 2011-12 edition, Ben spoke about how he managed an ever-changing crew, ran a successful campaign for its Team Partner and strove for strong race results from a collaborative, happy team. Emphasising how embracing diversity, encouraging tenacity and having good communication are vital components to a successful team. Now firmly established in his role as Head of Training, Ben continues to witness when people come together with a shared ambition to achieve something remarkable, anything is possible. This message had brilliant synergy to the core values Budweiser’s employees adhere to on a day-to-day basis.
Grahame Robb, the founder of GRA, connects with industry experts as part of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), the leading professional body for HR and People Development. Providing qualification opportunities, networking sessions and numerous focused events, professionals from across the country attend to learn from each other’s expertise. At a recent CIPD event in Bournemouth GRA teamed up with the Clipper Race and Ben Bowley for a combined presentation centred around the ‘Ultimate Team and Leadership Challenge’
The extreme challenge of leading a non-professional team around the world is what initially drew GRA to the Clipper Race, and Grahame used the CIPD event to highlight the collaborative work achieved from the partnership so far. GRA’s leadership training sessions run for the Race Skippers demonstrated to attendees how such key business traits can apply whether in the boardroom or out in the middle of the ocean.
Speaking after these events, Grahame Robb said: “We chose the Clipper Race for our Inspirational Speaker slots because it has some of the best stories of human endeavor in truly challenging situations. With eleven identical yachts and equipment racing around the world the only difference is the people. The Clipper Race has a range of inspiring stories supported by amazing footage to engage audiences on a variety of people topics including leadership, teamwork, team development and building a winning culture.”
Head of Partnerships for the Clipper Race, Laura Ayres, was a guest speaker at a recent Dell Technologies summit. The exclusive event gave attendees the chance to learn about the future of Rugged technology and how it can positively impact their business. The day focused on customer feedback to enable direct influence over Dell Technologies long-term products and services vision for its future generation of Rugged notebooks/tablets. Dell used the Clipper Race as a live case study to demonstrate the performance of its Rugged technology in some of the world's most extreme environments. With a fully integrated Rugged technology offering on board each of the Clipper 70 ocean racing yachts being tested to its limits with temperature, water, salt and impacts during the 40,000nm circumnavigation.
In addition to this, Laura spoke about the shared commitment between the Clipper Race and Dell of raising awareness of the importance of ocean health. Highlighting Dell’s circular approach to ocean-bound plastics; intercepting plastics before they reach the ocean by addressing mismanaged waste, then converting it into packaging for its technology. Watch its progress here.