AT&T

"Fantastic", "Wonderful", "Hilarious", "Just what the Doctor Ordered", "Extremely Insightful". These were some of the many, very positive comments I received after your "Managing Change & Transition - Keeping Laughter in the Workplace" seminar at Loon Mountain last week. Our fearless leader is still doing the "Macarena".

Thank you so much for reminding us that we need to laugh and keep our sense of humor during these very difficult times of "Transformation". Your message helped us to understand the many emotions people experience during change & transition and that it is OK to feel them. Your seminar ended our "Branch Outing" on a very positive note and was time well spent.

I have already recommended your seminar to several of my colleges and would love to have you back again in the near future. Your positive attitude and wonderful spirit were sincerely appreciated. Now You....Go GirI!!!!!!

-- Jim Kircher
Human Asset & Learning Manager

University of Denver

Just wanted to send you an extra thank you for the wonderful session you did for the Women's History Month Celebration at the University of Denver.

I have had some wonderful feedback regarding the event and thought you might appreciate reading some of the comments we received. The comments were as follows:

• "Extraordinarily refreshing and rejuvenating."
• "The healing circle gave me the sense of self-worth and renewal that I really needed."
• "I haven't laughed that hard in a long, long time. It was good for my soul."
• "Thank you, thank you, thank you for bringing that refreshing and healing session to the University of Denver."

Again, thank you for making the Gathering of Women event so unique, special and memorable.

-- Yolanda K. Benintendi
Chair, Women's History Month

UNIPAC Service Corporation

UNIPAC has always been a very "serious" company. It is a hallmark of our corporate culture to have a worried crease between your brows. When Jerry, Gene, and I sat in on your seminar at the Health Center we felt the possibility that you could move our leaders to a new level of humaness and caring and therefore a "Iighter" presence in the workplace. You did just that. Each session of your seminar, while different in tone, gave uptight, intense people a chance to let go and be real for a few minutes. They will never be able to think that it is not possible to have real connections at work again, because they experienced it in the "The Light Manager" seminar.

I want to personally thank you for your warmth and tender touch in providing this training. You are willing to go to a space in front of the room that not everyone has the courage to do. I feel that in my twenty years as a trainer I have been in the room with some of the best. Your ability to be there and to move your participants to a more open and truthful level is as effective as anyone I have seen.

-- Susan Brodie
Training Department

Sarah Bush Lincoln Health System

I want to take this opportunity to thank you for speaking at our Management Team Retreat. I very much appreciate you "customizing" your program, "Laughter Matters," to meet our most recent needs because of our reengineering and right sizing efforts. You were extremely sensitive to our last-minute request.

Your presentation was extremely well received by both Administrative Team and Management Team employees. Beginning our Retreat on a positive note helped defuse some potentially volatile personal and professional issues. I cannot begin to describe the positive influence your presentation had on the individuals present. I heard many positive comments about your presentation, but the one I liked best was: "Can't we take her home (back to the hospital) with us?"

-- Gene Leblond, FACHE
President and Chief Executive Officer

Birmingham Baptist Medical Center

I wanted to thank you for the tremendous workshop you brought to our staff members during May. It was an honor having you as our guest to kick-off Nurses Week for the Baptist Health System hospitals.

The comments from those attending are attached. The one which keeps showing up time after time is "Outstanding." Everyone needs a stress reliever now and then and your workshop certainly elevated the morale and sense of well-being for our groups.

As for me, I feel that your ability to communicate in a relaxed and professional manner, together with the best therapy -- laughter, have made this workshop one of the highest rated we have ever had for this System.

-- Kathleen A. Ladner, R.N., Ph.D.
Senior Vice President, Patient Care Services

U S WEST Communications, Inc.

I am writing to thank you once again for the tremendous presentation you did for our PEIR facilitators at the Breckenridge Conference. They are all still talking about how valuable your message was for them. We also received the evaluation feedback forms which gave your presentation the highest marks for the entire conference. I think it speaks to the passion and enthusiasm that you bring to your "play." I hope that you are able to continue this wonderful work.....

-- Peggy Edington, LCSW
Health Services Coordinator

United States Postal Service

Thank you again for the presentation you gave to our Marketing & Communications group. "Laughter Matters" was a delightful, humorous and meaningful way to end our three day seminar. The feedback we received rated your portion of the program as excellent. You helped us all to remember the true priorities in life.

I have recommended you and your program to the Executive Board of the Greater Denver Postal Customer Council and I understand that you will be the featured speaker at the February general membership meeting. I look forward to hearing your message again.

-- Ross Kirby
Senior Account Representative

Hewlett-Packard

Thank you much for the excellent work that you have been providing to the development of our team. Your exceptional approach to very complex problems is outstanding and valuable. Over the past year you have worked the details of merging our present team building work into the DISC model, which has provided a common language for the team [notice I have started using the 'team' word without hesitation!]. At any mte, you have played a key role in helping the formation of our team and I get extremely positive feedback from all of our members. [I don't believe that I have heard even one negative comment! Coming from our rather critical organization, that says a lot!]

Our future plans for the coming year MUST include you. I feel that we should schedule one session per quarter to really catapult our team into the next phase of what I am terming "shared team leadership." This, I am convinced having worked with you, is the next paradigm that we need as a group. With your outstanding organizational skills, professionalism and keen insight to the team's development, I feel that we can move some mountains in the coming year.

I am excited and look forward to working with you on this and thank you for all of the work and leadership that you have provided to our team. Clearly, we could not have done it without your help.

-- Jim Heckel
Planning & Order Management/Logistics Manager
Storage Systems Division

This letter is to provide a whole-hearted reference for Donna Strickland. My production group utilized her as a consultant for our team building needs and found her to be quite capable, professional, and yet fun and flexible enough to meet the individual needs of the people and the overall group.

I have watched this group move from a collection of people doing their jobs, yet disjointed in their efforts, to a full-fledged team, struggling with their issues but continuing to move forward. The largest gains from the work with Donna was the transfer of tools we all use on a daily basis so that the days spent in team building were not a one shot effort, but instead provided the foundation upon which we build our team daily.

I heartily recommend Donna. I believe anyone who utilizes her skills will learn a great deal, have fun while doing it, and will find themselves growing in heart and spirit throughout the process.

-- Alice A. Murphy
Production Manager

I would like to take time to comment on our experiences and results since participating in several team building activities with Donna Strickland.

I found Donna to be very professional but not stuffy! She was organized and seemed to be methodical in the activities that were presented. However, she was willing to deviate from a set agenda to meet the needs of our team, (and did so on many occasions).

Donna is very good at recognizing when the momentum of the group has changed and helping the team identify, surface, and correct the issues before moving forward.

Some of the improvements our team has experienced since working with Donna are:

• Acknowledgment and acceptance of the different work styles within our team.
• Indicators within the team, when things are not right.
• More open communication (work in progress).
• Helping our team identify our strengths and weaknesses.

I would highly recommend team building activities with Donna and I believe you will not only see results but have fun doing it. It has been a true learning experience. Donna has given us many tools to help make our team healthy again.

-- Brian Wheatcraft
Process Supervisor
Home Imaging Division

Good Samaritan Health Systems

A simple "Thank-You" does not begin to express how grateful everyone is for having had the opportunity to attend one of your "Playshops". The participants were overwhelmingly positive about their experience. The material you presented in both sessions "How to Understand Yourself and Others in Times of Chaos, Change and Crisis" and "Laughter Matters: Coping with Change and Transition" was just what we needed as we go through this time of constant change.

The following are a few of the comments from participants:

• "A great experience"
• "Please, Please, Please have Donna again, I need this so much"
• "Fantastic"
• "A wonderful speaker! Good advice for work and life"
• "Loved every minute of it, wished it could be longer"
• "Donna, you were my angel today, Thanks"
• "Very dynamic speaker"

Donna, your method of presenting very serious information with just the right amount of humor is a very special gift that you share in a most effective manner. Using the "Healing Circle" at the end of the session left everyone with a very personal connection.

-- Kathleen S. Ortegren, RNC, BS
Educational Services

University of Kentucky

Sanders-Brown Summer Series on Aging Planning Board felt very fortunate to have had you as a plenary and workshop presenter at the Twelfth Annual Summer Series on Aging on July 19. The response to your workshops, The Worth of Mirth, Managing Change and Transition, and Humor and Healing have been spectacular!

We would love to share just a few of the many comments from participants:

• "I could attend a week of her workshops. Have her in Kentucky again soon."
• "Enjoyed this speaker immensely. Able to communicate with all audience members and keep everyone's attention. Just the Best!!"
• "I have never rated a workshop as excellent but this is an exception. Ms. Strickland would be good medicine for any organization."
• "Ms. Strickland definitely knows who she is and how to help others."
• "Amazing work with such a large audience."
• "Repeat this speaker, Please."
• "You have enriched my life and touched my soul. Thank you."

Donna, we look forward to your return to Kentucky. It was a pleasure for all of us that worked with you during the planning stages of the conference. As indicated by the very positive evaluations, it was indeed a pleasure for the many that attended your workshops.

-- Mattie Umscheied
Educational Services Coordinator