Cultural Concierge: Spread the word

Share the benefits of BCA membership with employees and encourage leadership skills through our Cultural Concierge program. Member companies can designate an employee to communicate information about BCA programs and discounted ticket offers to other employees.

This silver-level-and-above member benefit program will help BCA member companies take full advantage of their benefits. And the designated concierge will be invited to two special arts events and receptions per year to learn more about BCA programs and network with concierges from other companies. To learn more, contact Jessica Stern, BCA membership manager.

Meet A Concierge

Our Concierges are a key component of connecting business and the arts. Meet Shannon Hiller-Webb, Cultural Concierge for New Seasons Market. Jessica Stern interviewed Shannon for BCA’s newsletter.

Jessica: What does being the BCA Cultural Concierge for your company mean to you?

Shannon: It means being the person that supports access to opportunities our staff normally wouldn’t have, which supports our overall company culture. BCA gives our staff exposure to arts and culture in our city. Once I became affiliated as the go-to person in the company, I became the point person for other kinds of opportunities, like sporting events, and now I have a better understanding of how to appeal to the broad range of interests in the company. I also like being the person who provides the opportunities.

Jessica: What do you find are the most effective ways to communicate BCA opportunities to New Seasons employees?

Shannon: Email and posters in the stores have been thus far the most effective. We’re shifting though because only 30% of our 2500 employees have company emails and we aren’t able to reach down far enough to everyone in the company. This summer we are implementing a company intranet to reach everyone. I’ll be able to get more staff members involved with BCA as a result.

Jessica: What would you like to see more of?

Shannon: More opportunities for more of our staff. It’s really difficult to figure out how to choose sometimes. For the Behind the Scenes events, when there’s a limited amount, I do raffles at each of the stores, that way it’s not me choosing who gets to go and who doesn’t, but people have the chance to win something, and it creates a buzz about the opportunity.

With regards to the Art Museum Behind the Scenes, our staff that went loved it. We all felt really special to be able to go, and it brought a lot of buzz and awareness back to the company the next day. People that didn’t get to go went to the Art Museum to see the exhibits because there was so much energy about what we had seen.

Jessica: Any suggestions for other Concierges?

Shannon: One thing we’re doing is we’ve created a “culture club” at each of our stores, it’s a small group of people or even one person who’s a leader at the store and I send them info, and then they pass it on within their company. It’s like having another set of Cultural Concierges within our own company and is great for such a large amount of employees.

Photo: Shannon with fellow New Seasons employees at BCA’s Behind the Scenes at the Portland Art Museum