I’m working with the better half of Incentive Intelligence this week to put together our menu for Thanksgiving. And by extension, the grocery list. You would think after 33 years of doing Thanksgiving we’d have the list committed to memory and not have to put too many brain cells at risk setting this all up.

Yet we do.

Year after year.

We do it because it is part of the “tradition.” It is part of the process of getting ready for Thanksgiving. It allows us to get in the groove for the holiday.

And to be as cliché as every other blog writer this week who finds some connection between their topic and Thanksgiving, you should work to have some “traditions” in your program design.

Maybe it’s a gag award (biggest difference between forecast and actual account billing) or even an award named after some mythical figure in the company’s past or the greatest snatching victory from the jaws of defeat story. Something that lets your participants know there is history and personality to your program. Something uniquely you.

Sure, it might seem corny. But corny is what people connect to. Like me and that cylinder of gelatinous red cranberry sauce with the rings from the can embedded in it. It is gross to a lot of people. For me? It’s my mom’s Thanksgiving dinner table. It’s not food. It’s my cultural anchor. It is how I know I’m at the RIGHT Thanksgiving table.

I know everyone reading this has one thing that makes next Thursday unique to you. I hope so. If not – ping me – let’s see if I can help you out.

But for now… think about the one thing you can put in your program to make it yours and yours alone.

How can you put your own family seal on the program?

It’s those small touches that make your audience engage and remember your brand.

Be safe. Be happy. Be you.

Gobble, gobble.