Saturday Briefing

By Ka‘ipo Ho

It’s befitting that we end this year by recognizing and honoring the team of creative minds behind our Ke ‘Ano Wa‘a celebrations and the true navigators of our Ke ‘Ano Wa‘a Voyage of Discovery, Renewal, and Inspiration. I’m speaking of our team of Alaka‘i, or Ke ‘Ano Wa‘a leaders.

Celebrating Who Our Alaka‘i Are: Our Alaka‘i walk amongst us, keenly disguised as ordinary Outrigger

Robert Dutcher and Debbie Murakami described their team’s practical ideas for coping with challenging economic times

employees. Our Alaka‘i are managers, supervisors, and line-employees from our hotels, condominiums, and Company-Services areas. During our recruitment drive more than a year ago, over 30 individuals volunteered or were nominated by their manager or a coworker to participate as an Alaka‘i and take a lead role in re-engineering and re-energizing Ke ‘Ano Wa‘a in their respective areas. Today, that number has increased to more than fifty across the company.

Celebrating Where Our Alaka‘i Come From: They come from Hawai‘i, Denver, Guam, Australia, Fiji, Bali, and Thailand. Only a small percentage of our current Alaka‘i team experienced the excitement of our 1994 launch of  Ke ‘Ano Wa‘a, but this new team brings fresh insight and an exciting approach to evolving Ke ‘Ano Wa‘a for the times. Two things have not changed over time — the diversity of talents and experiences these individuals contribute to the team’s efforts, and the commitment of this team to create a unique Outrigger experience for our employees and guests.

Celebrating What Our Alaka‘i Do: In addition to their daily job responsibilities, Alaka‘i have one mission — to

Alaka‘i Napualei Saunders explains the significance of Glenn Nagasako’s attire

support our company values and promote a culture of hospitality both in the workplace and the guest experience. The 6-Paddles process we’ve featured throughout the year is the basic framework behind those experiences, but the innovation and excitement at each event is purely the ingenuity of our Alaka‘i and their property and department teams. Back in January, the Alaka‘i brainstormed more than 50 different ideas to celebrate Ke ‘Ano Wa‘a, largely emphasizing the importance of taking care of our larger Outrigger family of employees.

Celebrating How Our Alaka‘i Achieve Their Mission: The short answer is, with love, compassion, and dignity, and doing the right thing in the right way at the right time. Did I happen to mention that our Alaka‘i are also navigators of change? The team met this past week to explore opportunities to energize the workplace and lead our Outrigger family through these tough economic times. We’re excited about putting their ideas to work.

Our Alaka‘i may be ordinary individuals, but their efforts to re-energize Ke ‘Ano Wa‘a have been extraordinary by every means. Please join me in extending thanks to Outrigger Enterprises’ Alaka‘i: Abby Navarro, Amante Castro, Amy Honey, Angela Brown, Chad Teramae, Char Luning, Christine Kok, David Nishi, Diana Lene, Donna King, Eddie Vierra, Edwin Martinez, Elman Pagaduan, Fernando Constantino, Florida

Outrigger Enterprises Alaka‘i Team

Antonio, Fran Basuel, Fred Ford, Gary Sirman, Gary Correia, Gavan Conway, Jacob Pau‘u, Kalae Chang, Karen Gonzaga, Kathy Sylvester, Kathy Hansberry, Keali‘i Parker, Kim Phung Xiao, Lea Panes, Leona Sa-McDermott, Lina Taufa, Lono Padilla, Luana Maitland, Maile Okuma, Marianne Thesken, Mary Ann Andrade, Mercedes Lanza, Michelle Dubach, Naomi Maitinnara, Napua Ho, Napualei Lyons, Natalie Caceres, Nida Constantino, Peggy Napaepae, Primie Marzan, Ray Kanemori, Robert Uchida, Robert Dutcher, Shannon, Ka‘ahanui, Shantel Burns, So’otaga Tana, Tanya Scanlan, Terri-Ann Chew, and Tiana Augustin.

We would also like to acknowledge the immediate supervisors of our Alaka‘i for their support and commitment, and to Darren Edmonstone, Pieter van der Hoeven, and our teams in Thailand and Bali for their successful endeavors to introduce Ke ‘Ano Wa‘a to our Outrigger Asia family.

There is a Hawaiian proverb, “No task is too big when done together by all.” These words hold a powerful message that by pulling together, we can accomplish anything we set our minds to. After all, we are a family working together joyfully to attain our goals and aspirations — Our value of ‘ohana, family.