Seizing the moment without public displays of gratuitous jollification

For most people, turning 50 is a good age. It's a landmark where you can reflect on all you have accomplished, while having many years ahead of you to plan for and make the most of. But what about when your business hits such a milestone? How do you celebrate a golden anniversary? This is the quandary we faced at Eric Robinson Solicitors last year because, somewhat surprisingly, the celebration of business success can be a difficult subject to tackle.

On the one hand, you realise you have fantastic marketing collateral and, especially at a time when some law firms are struggling to adapt to change, you want to promote your success and longevity as testament to your business' credibility and authority. On the other hand, you don't want your clients to think that the money they have invested in your guidance and support is being used for publicity stunts and public displays of gratuitous jollification.

First, we identified the key audiences that we wanted to acknowledge, share and celebrate in our golden anniversary. These were clients who have got us to where we are today, the local community where we work and a lot of us live, and, of course, our staff.

The first thing we did was put a call out across all branches of the firm for ideas for our celebrations; I was delighted with the response. People came up with great ideas (some rather impractical but, nevertheless, brilliant) and, when faced with so many inspired contributions, we decided to run a programme of events throughout 2014.

Firm celebrations

We started with a very visual launch last month by releasing 50 golden balloons from our city-centre offices (we had no problem, but do make sure you get the 'ok' from your local council). The local paper came to capture the moment.

We have now embarked on a programme of initiatives, a lot of which involve offering support and partnership with other organisations, such as a bike ride across all of our branches in aid of Wessex Heartbeat, a specially-created programme with the local Education Business Partnership, and sponsoring events as a champion of Business South, an organisation promoting business in the region.

We will be having a 1960s-themed party for staff, a 'golden party' for our clients and will be using a lot of images to support our venture into the world of social media. Of course we want people to know about the firm and draw attention to its success, but we also hope that our choice of activities give thanks and recognition to the community and individuals who have supported the business in different ways.

Looking ahead

In many ways, I suppose this is the same feeling for a lot of people when they turn 50 years of age. Life feels great. The children have usually left or are near to leaving home, any mortgages are much nearer to being paid off and thoughts inevitably turn to new adventures in the next stage of life. But then there are the grandchildren, and you realise that you need to think to the future and plan for changes in circumstance.

In my case, I know that I am managing partner of a firm that was started before I was born, and feel tremendous responsibility to keep the ship on course. You feel that you owe it to the people coming up behind you to pass on the opportunities that you have enjoyed.

Making the most of your firm’s special moments

• Work out your message. What is it that you want to say?

• Establish your audience. Who do you want to know?

• Ask you staff. There is nothing better than finding out how proud people are of where they work and the ways they want to express it.

• Bear in mind resources. At the end of the day, you have a business to run, so look at what time, money and manpower you realistically can devote to the success of a project.

• Think about perception. Will people outside your organisation see what you are doing in the same way as you do? Will they understand your intentions and motivations? If not, think of ways to make it clear.

•  Enjoy the moment. People can tell, even though staged photos, whether staff are enjoying or enduring what is taking place. Hopefully, if they had input into what is happening, you will avoid any pained expressions of dutiful people simply doing what they think is expected of them!