We have received quite a few responses to the Avo Connection, in which Jules wrote about Avo in it’s 10th year (”On the Shoulders of Giants”, published May 4th in General).

I’m not sure about you but I was definitely trying to hold back the tears while reading it!

We’d like to share some of the responses with you, as they are quite special.

Maymoona Ismail from Outlearning: Congratulations. May you continue to grow and plant seeds of inspiration in whomever you encounter.

Sharon Jansen from Cultures & Values at Nedbank: Congratulations on the milestone you have reached and the success that you have achieved. I also experience a sense of pride at having a tiny bit to do with it. You have done a fabulous job!

Eileen Herreilers from Passion Fruit & Soda: Reading this newsletter of yours gave me such a sense of pride. Pride at what you have done, and for knowing you. When I met you Dec 1994, I had no idea just what you would be up to one day, but a year down the line I knew you were destined for your own greatness, just growing and growing all the time!!!!

You have inspired many people professionally and have made a difference to even more on a personal level as well. I think I fall into both categories. You gave me the strength to be a better person, an opportunity to spread my own wings and low and behold, whenever I really feel I need somebody that will really understand me and challenge my own comfort zones you have always been there!! Thank you for that!

All I want to say my friend is - you are a work of art!! I have seen glimpses of the work in progress and it gets better and better!! Or is it that you are a fine bottle of wine?

Pierre van Rensburg from Stouf.com: Congrats to Jules and Team!

Lee-Anne Traverso from Nedbank: What a lovely message!

Jenny Thanarayen from Faritec: Congratulations.

Lorna Phipps from Skills Studio: Congratulations! I can really understand what I a milestone this is for you and the business! Well done and here’s to the next 10 years!

Dr. Renate Volpe from HIRS: Congratulations!

Mark Pencharz from TC Design Architects: Congratulations. A speech in the true Oscar tradition. May you go from strength to strength and hoping that we are able to keep our paths crossing during the process. Our sincerest best wishes.

Tamzin Lovell from SAB: Nice one!

Susheila Moodley from Outlearning: Congratulations and may the next ten years be the best yet!!

Janet Askew: Congratulations – that truly is a milestone!

Irene Valentine from Audio Word: We are richer for having known you - and we continue to promote you on every occasion, deliberately - having visited your venue. And from our experiencing your presentations at our Audio Word events, and a couple of schools - and sharing your life stories - like your eldest child’s comments, when you announced the expected arrival of his second sibling!

May we all continue to plant the seeds for trees in whose shade we may never sit, and whose fruit we may never eat.

Cherel Shepherd from Discovery: Congratulations!

On a personal note; sincerest, deepest heartfelt thanks at the journey I have been able to take at Avo. I cannot imagine my life having gone any other way than through the Avo space.

This Sunday I spent some time taking some senior folk at the Jewish Women’s Guild through the ‘Mind the Gap’ talk I do (in collaboration with TomorrowToday.biz). We had such fun playing with the concepts and ‘Understanding why we don’t Understand’.

I left that session feeling so sad, though.  After my talk, so many of the older folk came to chat to me with tears in their eyes - stories of families overseas, grandchildren that never visit, conversations that never took place. 

How sad that the global economy has had such a devastating fragmenting effect on the family institution! Here were so many folk with really valuable wisdom and life experiences, completely isolated from the people who could benefit from their conversation and insight. 

When I think of the lifetime that the silent Generation have lived, and the wisdom many will have gained from that journey, I feel sad that their voices have become so silent, long before they breathe their last breath.

It has to be said that I’m not generally the kind of person who likes to blow my own horn.

But:

I am soooo chuffed with my absolutely brilliant (that’s right, Brilliant) presentation that I created for an SAB HR showcase that Avo attended.

The brief was to create a revolving Powerpoint presentation that would prompt ‘viewers’ to ask questions about Avo programmees, products and Talks.

Having been very generously guided by Carrie, the in-house design Goddess, I have to say that I knocked my own socks off! Carrie and I came up with the main slide design together and I took it from there. I asked Carrie to have a squizz through the presentation before I sent it off (can’t send possibly disastrous presentation without having it screened by the Eagle-Eye-Of-Design chick first!!).

To my utter (almost) speechlessness, Carrie hadn’t changed anything on the slides but had added a few extra’s to spice it up a bit.

Wow. What a compliment.

So - if you have a burning desire to now see the gorgeous presentation (which you should do by the way!), you’ll have to ask me really nicely!.

This is a photo of the ’smoking section’ in the Keg, Johannesburg International Airport. I think it’s a stroke of genius. In most restaurants, tucked away in some corner, smoking sections often resemble neglected herpetological exhibits. I’m not a smoker, but I often feel sorry for our oxygenically-challenged brethren.

The Keg has turned this perception on it’s head by enclosing the busiest area of the restaurant off and calling it a Cigar Lounge instead of a smoking section. Ironically enough, it was the busiest section of the pub when I visited this evening, and my guesstimation was that less than 50% of the people inside where smoking anything at all. It appears that it is quite cool to sit in the Cigar Lounge and leaf through the morning’s paper, regardless of whether you smoke or not.

Sometimes the difference between brilliance and a missed opportunity is just a little thought. Another great example is an ancient old lady that works a till at our local Pick ‘n Pay. She always greets me when I arrive at her station by looking me in the eyes and smiling. She scans my groceries as though they are ming vases. If I pay by credit card, she glances at my name and says, “thanks for your business, Mr. Stopforth. Enjoy the rest of your day”.

Mr. Stopforth.

I’m one-eighth her age, for crying out loud.

Small acts of brilliance, huge impacts.

Ladies, you’re going through a rough patch right now, each having lost someone incredibly dear to them. I am not even going to begin to understand your individual sense of loss or pain but I do want to share with you my thoughts around having spent some time with you and your families this weekend.

Noms: It was wonderful to see you stand so firm and proud, honouring your great grandfather, not through words, but through the life you have chosen to lead and the example you are setting. What a privilidge to to be able to be there with your family who, even at a difficult time, made Jules and I feel special, welcome and such a part of your family. Jules and I are incredibly proud of you .

Trace: Loss is never easy but it’s hard to accept in one so young. It was wonderful to see and meet with your family and to feel the care and love they had for John and for each other. The lives today are not exactly characterised by a sense of servanthood. For me as an outsider it was phenomenal to see how your family not only serves each other but served John and his mum. I had such a sense of warmth, care and self-sacrifice.

Jen: The loss of a young one is hard in itself but when it is a result of despair and loneliness or depression, one almost wonders: What could I have done to help? How could I have made it better? The hardest part lays ahead for you, to support you friend: allow us Jen, to provide you with the strength you need.

Descanos -a resting place of pain, maybe this blogg could be your personal resting place

For me being a mother means far more than having given birth to a child, or adopting a child. Being a mother for me means nurturing, supporting, believing in and encouraging those who are important to you. By now you would begin to understand that Avovision operates very differently from most companies and has the pleasure of having a truly unique team.

So this blogg is me simply acknowledging all the MUM’s in Avo.

Nomsie: For the way you have stepped up to look after your brother. For the example you set, for the home you provide and the dreams you dare to dream for Nqobi. For your strength of character, your wisdom and insight. I am so very proud of you.

Meryl: As I watch you interact with your daughters, as I struggle to understand your relationship with them, I marvel at the ease with which they share their dreams and experiences with you. The delight they take in talking to you. I hope that  one day I will have the same relationship with my children.

Thenjie: A mum so far away from her daughter, how you must miss your daughter. Thank you for the way you take care of all the Pips. Your sms’s that you send through telling us how much you miss us, the notes we find asking us how we are, the calls asking us where we are. Thank you for the care you show.

Jen: What remarkable wisdom you have, that quietness that draws me to share what I feel with you. The comfort of knowing that in sharing with you, I am surrounded in understanding and trust. How remarkable to be able to trust someone enough to simply just be. So your children too have inherited your ability to accept and love unreservedly, what a legacy to leave behind

Tracy and Jeanette: For the love that you two so willingly share with all the children whose lives you touch. You two have such an amazing ability to give, to share and to draw within yourselves. It is easy to love your own, but you two give so much to others who have no relation to you. Thank you for all the lives you touch. Know that it makes a difference. This love that comes without asking is perhaps the most difficult to sustain.

Carrie: How easy it is to talk to you, to gather insights and to use you as a sounding board. How clear you are in what is important to you. Thank you for the wisdom you bring to my life. The offsite Avo mum

Hanli: A single mum whose daughters bear testimony to the love and care you show. It isn’t easy being a single mum, carrying the burden of responsibility, providing for your children and still delivering dynamite work while still speed dating. Well done!

Dinah: How difficult your life has been, I can’t even begin to imagine all you have been through. Yet every day, despite your struggles, you keep going, providing the best life you can for your children.

Jules: If you could, wouldn’t you try to save the world? Always nestling the Avos close, trying to serve them with all you are. For your unfailing belief in our team, for your passion for every person, for the sincerity you show in your interactions. You big old mother hen! I wonder if your boys understand how lucky they are to have you as a mum, in a world that needs to prepare it’s children to take up the reins of leadership and entrepeneurship, you live what we are just begining to understand. I thank you.

Thanks to one of my new favourite magazines, Real Simple, I have come across a fabulous website that I think is just what we need!

The website allows you to book who you would like to sit next to when you book your plane ticket. Hey presto - future love interest, potential sale, new neighbour, who knows!

Elaine wrote a beautiful article in ‘The Workplace’ for The Star titled “For women, it’s about negotiation”.

It focuses on women speaking up and getting themselves noticed within business organisations without comprimising who they are or what their beliefs and values are.

The new way to do things, she says, is to work smarter and not harder.

On the 11th May 2006 the tadpoles ’shone’ in an article in The Star newspaper!! (The STAR!!)

Never mind the fact that Jules and Elaine are practically in the newspapers once a week… .

The article was about Avo’s Internship Programme which allows students to earn some money while gaining work experience in their preferred fields. It also mentioned the dynamic energy we bring to the company and also that flexibility and adaptability are a must! (We know - what would you do without us?)

Look out ladies and gents - we’re going to be in lights for many years to come me thinks!

When Avo clients challenged the team to come up with something really creative and fun for teams to do together, we certainly rose to the challenge. The result of our collective thinking is this mad-cap adventure: a truly diverse, REAL South African, Jozi-joll, with lots of that special corporate responsibility ‘Zing’ thrown in!
What Avo set out to create was a fun, meaningful, innovative way to facilitate team cohesion, encourage participation and expose team members to experiences that they will find magical, amusing, enriching and rewarding!!
                                       
The reason why we are so excited about this race, is that it speaks to what Avocado Vision is all about. We are all about creating conversations, helping people understand and communicate with each other a little better so that teams will be better equipped to listen to each other, care for each other and have good, clean fun together.
At Avo, we encourage creativity, innovation and discovery because we know how valuable it is for people to be open to new experiences.
We hope you find the idea of the ‘Ama Zing-Zing’ race just as inspiring as we found it to be when we created it. We look forward to seeing your team in the starting blocks!
The half-day challenge is loosely based on the popular television programme called ‘The Amazing Race’; however, this race is a race of an altogether different nature!

You and your team will be  taking place in activities such as:
Taxi-code’ training, an orphanage visit, word-collecting and you will be ‘zinging’ around places like the Oriental Plaza, Secret Garden, Mandela Bridge, Diagonal Street, The Rand Club and a vibey Shebeen! 

And guess what…we can do it in Cape Town too!!  Glen and Hanli are off to Cape Town on the weekend, to facilitate the race for one of our banking clients……..sooo, watch this space to read all about it and see all the pics, when they get back!!