Chicago, Illinois, January 30th-31st, 2018 — Twelve Consulting Group (Twelve) hosted the 2nd annual Twelve Kickoff event. “Growth Mindset,” the theme of this year’s event, encouraged our team to maximize results for customers, employees, and the communities we serve. On day one, we met with one of our favorite organizations, Playworks, at Ovation Chicago, to learn some of the games they teach to “help kids stay active and build valuable social and emotional skills through play.” Although the games were geared for children, our team had so much fun that it set the tone and it boosted our energy levels for the entire day.

Armed with newfound enthusiasm and gaming skills, we boarded a shuttle and went to an elementary school on the north side of Chicago. We taught the Playworks’ games to kindergarten through eighth grade students at recess. The games were a big hit! It was awesome to hear the students ask if we would be coming back the next day. Truth be told, the Twelve team got just as much out of this volunteer experience as the students. When asked to reflect on the day, it was clear that the experience was educational and inspirational for our team.

During the afternoon session, we attended a series of “Growth Mindset — Thought Leadership” presentations. First, we heard from Dave Tharp, vice president global alliances at Anaplan. He explained the positive impacts of our current partnership with Anaplan and discussed ways to grow our customer base within the Anaplan ecosystem. Next, we heard from Tyler Quinn, coach and co-founder of Alchemy. He challenged us to grow individually and as leaders, by guiding us through an interactive activity. The exercise had us identify opportunities to develop and polish our skills while continuing to leverage our strengths.

That presentation was followed by Ashley Lawson and Nicholas Engbloom from the University of Minnesota Masonic Children’s Hospital, and our own Haley Tansom, announcing an exciting new partnership launching in 2018! Twelve is teaming up with Jason Zucker of the Minnesota Wild, and his wife, Carly Zucker, to support the Zucker Family Suite and Broadcast Studio at the University of Minnesota Masonic Children’s Hospital. Children will be able to produce and host their own shows in the broadcast station, broadcasting through channel 12! The innovative space also offers many new volunteer opportunities for Twelve and community members.

Capping off this eventful day, Twelve hosted a lively cocktail party at Ovation Chicago for our team, many of our local clients, and Anaplan employees. Josh and Jill King surprised everyone with a special live performance by Forest Sun and Ingrid Serban. If you haven’t heard their music, they are talented and definitely worth checking out!

On day two, Twelve sponsored several thought-provoking training and development programs. Morning sessions were geared towards soft-skills, such as effective communication. Afternoon sessions addressed more technical aspects of our careers, such as systems and design thinking, and deeper dives into specific use-cases to broaden our knowledge base.

In the words of Josh King, Twelve’s managing partner, “The 2018 Twelve Kickoff events [were] intended to help us get to know each other better, to gain inspiration from other thought leaders, and to celebrate the past year, while looking forward to new growth in the next.” We are well on our way!

So many people helped make the 2018 Kickoff a success! A huge thank you goes out to the following groups and individuals:

Twelve Consulting Group: Leigh Ann Wiener, Jill King, Josh King, Jon Howard, Katie Johnson, Haley Tansom

Playworks: Cairá Conner, Louis Marquis, Colleen Harvey, Kenny Foster, Rachel Lindy, Lee Ann Eiland

Helen Peirce Elementary School: Julia Dornbusch

Anaplan: Dave Tharp

Alchemy: Tyler Quinn

University of Minnesota Masonic Children’s Hospital: Ashley Lawson, Nicholas Engbloom

Live Performance: Forest Sun, Ingrid Serban

Videographers from UW-Madison: Chase Devens, Sam Li

Monkey In A DryerKismet Weddings and Events: Beth Anderson