It’s officially a wrap on Blueprint! For those that missed it, two weeks ago we hosted our first-ever summit designed to bring together Strategy and Operations from around the globe. The event focused on sharing best practices, networking, and honing our skills as leaders responsible for aligning long-term vision with tactical execution.
With customers, prospects, and friends of Elate flying in from Germany, Canada, the UK, and across the United States, it was a special moment for our entire team as we saw our vision for building a community of Strategy and Operations Leaders brought to life here in Indianapolis.
From start to finish, Blueprint was a moment in Elate’s history I won’t forget.
As I reflect on the week itself, one of the most memorable parts of the summit was seeing the engagement in the breakout sessions we held before the main event.
We had sent out a survey in advance asking attendees which topics they wanted to discuss with other Strategy and Operations Leaders. While there were a number of requested sessions, two topics stood out amongst the rest:
- Strategic Planning Framework Best Practices
- Measuring Business Impact vs. Activity
I had the privilege of leading the Strategic Planning Framework session with my colleague, Jacey Liechty, and the conversations were electric—so much so that we ran out of time.
Following the sessions and at the closing reception of Blueprint, multiple guests approached me to express their wish for more time to discuss this topic.
Similarly, my co-founder, Abby Parker, received positive feedback regarding her session on Measuring Business Impact vs. Activity.
This led to an idea: What if these conversations didn't end at Blueprint?
That brings us to this week’s edition of The Pulse, where I am elated to announce that we will be bringing the energy of Blueprint to life in a four-part virtual series.
This series is designed to build on the discussions from Blueprint and to further develop the community of Strategy and Operations Leaders we are building at Elate.
And this series isn’t going to be limited to those who attended Blueprint.
From the emails I received before the event, it was clear that there was a strong desire for us to livestream the summit. While that wasn't in the cards this year, we now have the opportunity to make the content from Blueprint available to a broader audience. Which is why I’m so excited about this series.
We’re calling it Blueprint Live.
The aim is to drive conversations relevant to Strategy and Operations Leaders while introducing them to other like-minded individuals to share best practices, challenges, and learnings to elevate the way we all go about strategic planning and execution.
Each session will have a unique format and structure, designed to engage the community and encourage participation. And while we can’t fully replicate the in-person experience that often leads to unique conversations, we want to ensure each session provides attendees with pre-session prompts to drive conversation, as well as practical takeaways applicable to any organization.
After witnessing the energy and momentum from Blueprint, it’s clear that there is a strong desire among Strategy and Operations Leaders to continue advancing their strategic planning processes and delivering key initiatives driving their organizations forward.
Elate was built by Strategy and Operations Leaders, for Strategy and Operations Leaders. At our core, we view our company as purpose-built to address the challenge of bringing a strategic plan to life. We want to carry this purpose into our upcoming series and hope you can join us for at least one of the sessions.
That's all for today... but I do have one request. If you attended Blueprint, would you mind replying and sharing your thoughts?
-Brooks
P.S. - Here is a brand new product video our marketing team put together a few weeks back. Check it out if you're interested in seeing the ins and outs of what we are building for Strategy and Operations Leaders here at Elate.
Session Details
Session 1 - Q&A: Strategic Planning Framework and Best Practices
September 10th at 12:00 PM EST
Where do we begin? Strategic planning and the process of connecting vision to execution is a dynamic, complex challenge for every Strategy and Operations Leader. In today's fast-paced environment, building a plan with conviction that aligns your organization’s operating plan with its strategy is more crucial than ever.
But where do we start? If the planning frameworks you've relied on in recent years haven't delivered the results you need, it's time to get back to basics.
Join Elate co-founder and CEO Brooks Busch and Sr. Director of Customer Solutions Jacey Liechty for a deep dive into Strategic Planning Framework Best Practices. Drawing from successful implementations across hundreds of organizations, we’ll explore the frameworks that effectively bridge vision and execution, as well as the operating rhythms that ensure ongoing success.
This session includes a real-time Q&A, giving you the opportunity to ask your burning questions and get your framework ready for 2025 planning.
If you want to refine your Strategic Planning Framework or just need a gut-check before heading into 2025, you won’t want to miss this session!
Things to Think about Prior:
- What have you seen work well with your framework?
- What is not going well with your framework?
- What is one area of focus for next fiscal year?
Session 2 - Live Session: Measuring Business Impact vs Activity
September 19th at 1:00 PM ET
One of the most common pitfalls organizations face when aligning around a strategic plan is structuring a strategy that drives outcomes, not just outputs. While tracking initiatives and understanding progress is important, the real key to alignment is shifting from a task-oriented approach to one focused on business impact.
In this live session led by Abby Parker and April McDonald, we’ll explore how organizations can enhance strategy execution by fostering a culture centered on impact rather than mere activity. We'll also dive into the role of Project Management and how it ties into the strategic plans crafted by Strategy and Operations Leaders.
Session 3 - Product Demo: Elate Insights Feature
October 15th at 2:00 PM ET
Strategic plans are complicated, and running a strategy is hard. Elate is purpose-built to eliminate the mundane tasks that bog down Strategy and Operations Leaders—like assembling reports, parsing through information, and reconciling countless one-off conversations. Our solution creates a unified view of your entire strategic plan, streamlining the process and amplifying the impact of your strategy.
Which is why we are excited to announce Insights.
After working with hundreds of companies to amplify the impact of their strategic plan, we're thrilled to introduce Insights—a powerful new feature designed to empower Strategy and Operations Leaders to maximize their plan’s potential by automatically surfacing risks and key indicators, enabling timely adjustments to stay on track and achieve goals.
Insights enhances your strategic planning framework by enabling leaders to build a healthy, connected plan, increase the success rate of your execution, and move faster.
Join Ross Lubbers and Rob Wagner for an exclusive sneak peek of this exciting new feature set to roll out in November.
Session 4: Customer Use Case: How FormAssembly Maximizes their Leadership Meetings with Elate
October 22 @ 2:00 PM ET
After exploring Strategic Planning Framework Best Practices, discussing how to Measure Business Impact vs. Activity, and seeing these concepts brought to life through Elate’s Insights, the grand finale of Blueprint Live is all about putting it into action. And what better way to do that than by learning how top teams maximize their Leadership Meetings?
Leading this conversation are Karlie Briggs, Senior Customer Experience Manager at Elate, and Lou Desiderio, Strategic Advisor and former COO of FormAssembly . With extensive experience working with hundreds of Strategy and Operations Leaders, Karlie has a unique perspective on how the best teams rally around Leadership Meetings with a bias for action. Lou has guided FormAssembly in shifting from a reactive approach to strategy discussions to proactively driving conversations about what’s working, what’s not, and—most importantly—what to do about it.
Join us for the ultimate conversation on leveling up your team’s Leadership Meetings as we head into the new year.
