Walmart Shareholder’s Meeting 2012 Recap

Just like the last two years, Walmart invited me to the Walmart Shareholders Meeting.  The misconception is that it’s tons of fun because of the entertainment parts of the actual meeting but in truth, there’s a lot more to it.

Upon our first day of arrival, we tour layout centers to see the new and hot items for Fall and 2013.  We provide our feedback and do a lot of walking.  This lasts several hours and then have dinner.  Next day is more meetings, tours, brain picking, feedback, etc. We end the evening with a ‘steak-over’ dinner at Horton Farms.  The setting was beautiful and the meal was fantastic.  We had gorgeous, tasty beef cooked to our specifications and it was delicious!  The steak is a premium cut of beef found at Walmart in the black packaging.  The marbling was perfect while I’m sure the chef hated to cook mine ‘well done’, it was still VERY juicy and flavorful.  There was a HUGE American flag and beautiful wooden cross that I just had to get my picture taken by.

Fast forward to Friday, the day of the shareholders meeting.  We wake up at an early 4am, meetup at 5:15am and head to the meeting.  If you aren’t pumped up at 5:15am, you will be soon after.  The crowd is amazing at the meeting and the band gets everyone going!  The meeting is filled with business of course but also inspirational stories of associates and awesome entertainment.   We get to hear how much the company has grown, stories and principal quotes made by Sam Walton, and the future of Walmart.  As in years past, the celebrity guests that perform are pretty great.  This year we had Justin Timberlake hosting. Because we had access to the VIP tunnel and Heather had to pee, I was able to get within 2 feet of the Timberman himself.  While his guards kept me from jumping him, I did manage to give and get a super cool head nod.  We tight yo!  And then got to hear Lionel Ritchie, Taylor Swift, Zac Brown Band and more…..just awesome.  Below is Christine, me, Heather, and Renee.

After the meeting, we have lunch and more meetings.  Towards the end of the day, we get some pampering – mani/pedi style and then dinner.

The Saturday morning meeting is always one of my faves.  It’s all about the associates and i just love every bit of it. The stories make you laugh, make you cry, and inspire you to be a better person and associate.  It’s nice to see folks who take pride in their job and do everything possible to be successful at it and advance.  We also got to see the director of Act of Valor and one of the Navy Seals in the movie.  None of the Navy Seals in the movie were actors and you could tell that Lieutenant Rourke is filled with pride for his country.    They keep this meeting very casual and personable.  I love it.

Since Saturday was our departing day, we had the chance to tour the newly built Crystal Bridges.  It’s a beautiful place with lovely trails, gorgeous flowers, and an amazing museum.  We shared some last Walmart Mom moments before we all split up to airports.  It was very nice and fun to just get to browse around.

It’s always great to see the future of Walmart, hear the stories, listen to the business aspects of it, and see my fellow Walmart Moms.  It was a productive and fun event.

Disclosure: I am an official Walmart Mom. Follow me and my fellow Walmart Moms as we share our experiences and ideas! Walmart has provided me with compensation and gift card in return for my time & efforts to create this post. My participation in this program is voluntary and my opinions are my own, always have been, always will be.