Vancouver-based junk removal service company 1-800-GOT-JUNK? found a way to keep attendees talking about its annual meeting long after it ended. Company founder and CEO Brian Scudamore rode into the hotel on a camel in preparation for his speech on how the company had gotten over the “humps” of the business.

The annual three-day conference in Vancouver, aptly themed “The Pursuit of Wow,” emphasized the importance of going above and beyond to serve customers. “Having the CEO ride in on a camel was a great way to tie the theme of the meeting into our fun culture,” says David Christopher, the company's organizational learning manager and conference chairman. “It really broke the ice and fostered a sense of unity between attendees.”

Bringing a camel into The Westin Bayshore was a logistical challenge, but things went more smoothly than expected, says Christopher: “We had to accept responsibility for any potential damages the camel might do to the property, but the hotel staff was very accommodating.”

Attendees are still talking about it around the water cooler. “I was pretty shocked, to say the least,” says attendee Cameron Neufeld, a franchise partner based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. “You don't see camels very often where I'm from.”

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