If you’re like me, you’ve been glued to your television for the past two weeks watching Nathan Chen, Chloe Kim, and other athletes battle it out to try and bring home Gold for the USA. Every two years, I cry happy tears listening to athletes’ stories of dedication, losses, and triumphs. While sitting and watching bobsled the other night, I thought about how Champions recreates just a little bit of this here at home. Here’s my case.
1. It Has the Anticipation
While we don’t make you wait quite as long as they do for the Olympics, Champions is an annual program that runs February through November. Once it ends, many clients are already thinking about and setting goals in anticipation of the next year. Whether the goal be to increase levels or to implement a new program, people are already getting excited about what they want to accomplish next.
2. It Takes Dedication
Being a Champion, just like being Olympian, takes dedication. You have to work hard to achieve higher levels of recognition. Whether it’s implementing a formal telework policy, adding onsite carsharing at your property, or adding a transit benefit, these things take time and dedication to see through.
3. It Gets Competitive
Over the years, as more businesses and properties have gotten involved, we’ve seen some friendly competition come into play. When you’ve got friends or sister properties racing to achieve a higher level than you do, it adds to the fun and may end up giving you bragging rights for a whole year.
4. You Have a Coach along the Way
Your ATP representative is there cheering you on every step of the way and making sure you get the award you’ve worked so hard for. We bring the skills, knowledge, and expertise to ensure the programs you implement at your workplace or property are top notch. If you achieve your goal, we’ll be there smiling, if you don’t quite make it, we’ll have some recommendations for what you can do to get there next time.
5. You Can Bring Home the Gold
...Or Bronze, Silver, or Platinum. Just like the Olympics, Champions try hard to attain the highest medal possible to gain recognition and bring home an award they can proudly show off to their colleagues and friends. The main difference is you don’t have to know how to do a triple axel or 1080 to achieve it.
6. It Brings Us All Together
Champions is an effort taken on by the business community to make our County better. Each year at the Champions banquet, these businesses and Arlington County officials come together to celebrate all that we’ve achieved. Whether you’re an employer, multi-family residential property, commercial property, hotel, or school, you can join in on the excitement and be seen as part of the community working towards a greener, cleaner Arlington.
Keep the Excitement Going
While closing ceremonies are coming soon, you can keep the excitement of the Olympics going all year long with Arlington’s own little Olympics of sustainable transportation. Champions 2018 is finally here and we’re excited to cheer you on throughout your journey. Schedule some time with us to talk over your goals and see where you can take your transportation programs this year. We’re looking forward to seeing you on the podium!
Photo Credit: Reema Desai/ReemaDesai.com for Arlington Transportation Partners