KSS eKourier April 2022

FEATURE

THE ACHIEVEMENT DINNER THROUGH THE AGES Sam and the Team recognised a long time ago that a key element of achieving good culture was to celebrate the success of those within the business. The Awards Night has long been that celebration, as well as a great reunion and get-together for all of us in the Team.

Above Wayne Birch (left) Vic Operations Manager with Darryl Hodgson NSW Operations Manager at the 2006 Achievement Dinner and right, Statler and Waldorf from The Muppets.

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H aving joined the business in 2005 with many others in that period after the Miller's acquisition, I have fond memories of those early years. Looking back through some of the photos it’s hard to believe it’s been 17 years for me, and for some others, many more. There was a tradition in those early years for the Operations Team to MC the evening. In 2006 Wayne Birch and I hosted the evening to what we understood were raving reviews (sic). At the Holiday Inn, as it was at the time, we’d share a well-rehearsed repartee of perfectly timed jokes reminiscent of famous variety shows such as Hey Hey Its Saturday. Wayne and I are sure everybody else remembers it that way too…. Reviews from the Team depicting our performance as something akin to Statler and Waldorf from The Muppet Show were cruel and unfounded. And despite an outstanding rendition of Gangnam Style by a future GM and his ring-ins, so good, it was worthy of an entry in Australia’s Got Talent. We tell ourselves to this day that our performances could not be emulated and this is the reason the Team went with professional comedians and entertainers after that.

As the years progressed we outgrew the Holiday Inn and moved our way through several other near-airport hotels. There were one or two interrup- tions; the Awards Night took a pause through the GFC and more recently because of COVID lockdowns and restrictions. This meant for 2020 and 2021 that we had to improvise online via Yammer. The use of local visits to

PEOPLE MATTER. AS THIS BUSINESS GROWS, MODERNISES AND DIGITISES OUR TEAMS WILL MATTER MORE NOT LESS. NO ONE WRITES A GOOGLE REVIEW ABOUT HOW THE WEBSITE A.I. MADE THEM FEEL WELCOME

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Below: Tony Vuong GM of Operations, leading the way in the KSS rendition of Gangnam Style at the 2013 Achievement Dinner.

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6 Kennards Kourier April 2022