After a three-year hiatus, our entire team was finally able to come together again last month for our annual SOAR Week. Recall from a recent post that SOAR stands for “System of Awards and Recognition,” which applies to our monthly staff meetings as well as this annual all-company meeting that has been on hold since the pandemic. Jaffe Holden team members flew in from around the country and convened at our Norwalk, CT headquarters for this week-long intensive that included discussions on project developments, industry trends, marketing initiatives, financial health, and plenty of collective brainstorming.

Day one kicked off with a review of Jaffe Holden’s mission statement, “Inspiring Sensory Experiences: acoustic design and audio/video solutions for the spaces where people work, learn, live, and play,” and our company culture that is built on the core principles of passion and trust. Passion, because we love the spaces we are able to work in and the clients we have the pleasure of working with, and trust, because we support each other as a team rather than as a group of individuals. We all have unique skills and talents that form a cohesive group of innovative thinkers and designers, and we have fostered a culture of believing in one another as well as ourselves.

We then delved into our marketing strategy with discussions on thought leadership and our rainmaking process. We focused on the benefits we offer our clients, colleagues, and end-users, and how best to underscore the value we provide them through our work. Later, a presentation on lessons learned helped our next generation of consultants gain insight into the invaluable experience attained over the past several decades by our senior principals.

A lively presentation on industry trends in acoustics and AV kept our team engaged through till the very end of the day, and rather than feeling the urge to get out the door we were enthralled with the information we were learning about innovative technologies. This willingness to stay in our seats even after the clock struck five was a true testament to the indispensable knowledge we were all absorbing. The open format of these sessions encouraged participation from everyone, without hesitancy to chime in and offer feedback. With the freedom to express ourselves, creativity and new ideas were flowing. It was clearer than ever how passionate our team is about the projects and initiatives we are working on, and we look forward to sharing more in the coming months about the many project developments that are currently underway.

The week wrapped with a Summer Extravaganza at a waterfront venue on the beach, where our team and their families came together to enjoy each other’s company. Our house band, “The Holden Outs,” performed some classic hits with several of our own staff members contributing their musical abilities on guitar, drums, bass, and keyboard. It was a wonderful week all around that brought us together in person after working remotely for the past several years and energized us all to continue working so well together.