Hooks Book Events often has the opportunity to mention awards received by one of the many authors it works with. Today, we are pleased to note some well deserved recognition received by one of our longtime clients – Noblis, Inc. Noblis has been named one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies 2012 by Ethisphere, and one of the top 25 Great Places to Work by Entrepreneur.
We are also thrilled to note that, in detailing why Noblis is “a great employer,” Entrepreneur cites Noblis’ Technology Tuesdays, an employee development program that Hooks Book Events has been managing for Noblis for the past four years.
Hooks Book Events CEO Perry Pidgeon Hooks recently had a chance to talk with Gil Miller, Noblis’ chief technology officer (and himself the recipient of a 2011 Government Contractor CTO Award) about Noblis’ relationship with Hooks Book Events.
PERRY: Gil, thank you for taking the time today to discuss our business relationship. Do you remember the first time you heard about about Hooks Book Events?
GIL: You and Loretta visited the Noblis CEO and CTO four years ago, and the rest is history! In the last four years, HBE has run 76 programs for Noblis.
PERRY: Yes! That was our first “sale” and we were so excited that you all immediately understood our business model and benefits. How would you describe the employee development programs for which you are using Hooks Book Events.
GIL: Noblis Technology Tuesdays is a lunchtime speaker series to constantly update our staff on new ideas and activities in science and technology. We feature a new speaker every two weeks. Noblis, and our client organizations, succeed based on the quality and innovativeness of our ideas and knowledge. Clearly, professional development is a critical component.
PERRY: How effective has Hooks Books Events been in meeting the needs of your organization?
GIL: Consider the number of events and duration of HBE’s participation at Noblis. We have turned over each year’s Tech Tuesdays budget to HBE – they manage all aspects of the program – selection of speakers, tracking of budget – we look to HBE to use their knowledge of Noblis – our needs, strategic interests, and staff culture – to help us run the Tech Tuesdays program. HBE is a strategic partner to Noblis.
PERRY: What is different about the programs we produce for you vs. other professional development programs?
GIL: The HBE programs are substantive, fresh, and novel – they cause our staff to think in new directions.
PERRY: Are there any findings or next steps that were discovered as a result of the Hooks Book Events’ programs? In other words.. a great AHA ??
GIL: As only one example, with HBE and as a part of Tech Tuesdays, we have an ongoing series of innovation-related speakers. Here are some of the transformations in our innovation culture at Noblis as a result of exposure to the HBE speakers:
Our mindset
- Experiment persistently
- Explore roads not taken
- Create solution-centered mindset
- Avoid the routine
Our approaches
- Exploit ‘front-loaded’ innovation processes
- Effective prototyping is our most valuable ‘core competence’
- Weave together multiple disciplines
- Reach beyond the simply achievable
Our outcomes
- Anticipate change, feature evolution, seek radical change
- Spiral up, as innovation is never done
Our people and working relationships
- Align goals with passions
- Staff for results
- Inspire open exchange
- Embrace transformation
- Build collaborative webs
- Organize for rapid experimentation
PERRY: you also do client events as well.. How do our programs help you with those?
GIL: While our Tech Tuesdays program is open to clients, the primary client push is at the General Edward C. Meyer Innovative Leadership Lecture Series. This annual event promotes and encourages thoughtful, creative, and novel approaches to and examples of leadership. The HBE customer here is not the Noblis CTO – who sponsors the Tech Tuesdays program – but rather the Noblis Board of Trustees. Hooks Books Events has been a major force in shaping this event and guiding the selection of the speakers, who have demonstrated substantive thought leadership. Here, again, the HBE programs are substantive, fresh, and novel.
PERRY: Gil, thank you again for taking the time to chat with me today. Your team at Noblis has been such a support to Hooks Book Events; our partnership has been a real win win for both of us. We look forward to many more great events with Noblis.
