>> business news from the capital region. this is "washington business rert"ith abc 7 nation correspondent rebecca cooperer. rebecca: thanks r joining us for this weeks look at what iss making news in whos makiking news. on the show, a former wallll street analyst a and exexecutive. she is here tteach h a new way to listen, lead, or simply do well in the workplace. plus, we will talk about that magic train ridlarry hogan took in tokyo this week. it could be a big boost for business. but will it cost of ththis region the pupurple line?

we will have more on that w with the washinon post's robert mccartney. but first, the executive w who describes himself as a bitt of an oddity. the forormer field engineer is the o of one of washington's faest-growing companies, e event farm.. this company has made e even congressional get-togethersrs seem cool. you know how hard that is to d do. with renue dbling it was the party we wanted an excsive inteiew . jojoining me now, brennan mc reynynolds chief opeperating exutive of event farm. thks for joini us. i got t to know you add t the correspondent's dinner and i i have to say, count me and essed.d. i did n not make it to o yourarty and om wt i saw, it seemed like a big deal. you alall are the cocompany that tries s to take partieses from the beginning to t middle, to the

end and add new layers, elements, technology. tell us about event farm. brennan: sure, event farm is a software company, check-in press, a a very basic business tool to reread at the core what we do was about bra and expeence. rebecca: that part seemso be more central to your success then simply the software. you definitely have it down for how peoplean check intnto events , rsvp to events, but what is addeis that disco ball element . talk a little bit abousome of the paies yoyou have done. we've got some video of the congressional new members party that you all hosted area that had a lot of difrentlements. talk a little bit about that party. brennan: absolutely.

at the core of o company, we areventt procers. the technology is toelp guests to understand one ananother and intect wh the event, engage with difrent experiences where they can collect information about the event, about sponsors, about one another.r. at the same time, ty are getting information about how guests are interacting att the event. it's an enririching enviroronmen but it's also useful from a data standpdpoint as well. collecting data points about your guests, what t they did, who they talk to. rebecccca: wheyou are looking an event androviding tt kind of cesso data- ishat mean you have more corpoporate s sponsors or what do you get as the host the pararty gain fr that kind of information about your guests? brenennan: our goal to help our clients think about interesting wayso i interact. instead of giving out a gift bag

-- rebecca: let's take a look at that video. this is the new media party you roasted at the correspondents dinner. this -- you hosted at the correspondents dinner. this is the content, a new way to interact from t the dance flfloor. an audio bar. and this -- thehe gifting wall. this is really interesesting to meme. lk about the cards that the guests are given when n they arrid at an evenent and how they use something g like that at something like t gifting wall. brennan:n: sure, it is not uncommon to get a credential like a badge or a wristband when you get to the eventnt, but this is a form of f commication just like-zpass. rerebecc so, you are emitting dadata as you walk around the paparty. brennan: i if i see rebecca doing this at an event, i want to do that, too. curious people will want to intect and engagage. we want to see it.t. but then --

rebecca: let's back up though. the gifting wall, in lieu of gift bags, people magazine i one of the greatat parties to rid they have a gift bag with all these e things, even new brands of peanut butter. you hold it up to the wall in it gives a gifift directly to your card. explain that to me. brenn: it triggers an e-mail or a text that can be sent to yoyou as a a gue. lyft was our title sponsor, so everyone got a coupon code for a a ride home. a s safe night afafter night of thinking and fun. in some cases it was a playlist. it was really any contenent a sponsored rtnewas to share with the guest. it is this r reciprorocal giving. rebecca: andnd it's n all corporate branding. it is also branding of the event. contengrowth. pele would do o what wh the --

brennan: it would draw your interest b because you would see this glo and when you tap that, it actually sends you the track of the band playing on the stage right now. yoyou are enjoying the music, the experience, you want to learn more it gives you anan interactive way to do that. some people can do that with their phones. but you u do not know if i''m a myy phone if am texting my gigirlfriend are learning about the event. it is high energy. rebecca: we are talking about all of these party tricks that i love, that i want to talk abou but let's talk aut theompany self. where e are you in termsf your grth plan? ennan:n: sure, we were founded here in d.c.c. we are a public company. the ftwarere pdates the companany. our cofouers are georgetown computer science grads. th were also producicing events. they started creating or software for their own event they we producing.g.

rebecca: i know w that event. brennan: the sofare was built for that event and the sponss starteasking hey, what ftware did you guys use to plan your evenent? at we use that? and they said, hold on, we might have something here. we turned into a pubc facing an event. rebecc where are you positioned in the market? brennan: we have edence around the e globe. we are in seven languages. rebecca: i will tell youou the one that impmpressed my family. brennan:ure. the one we are mosost proud of, facebook is onone of our lgest time clients through t years. rebecca:a: but you have oldchool clients. you hahave jpmorga brennan: j jpmorgagan, salalesforce, yayahoo!, google. we have e a very good client list. and they are partners. en facebook called, thehey have

a beon t system, all kinds of money a and developers come a ile would a a want t to use us? ththe platform was built out of our own papain points and we grew a lutionon for the industry and peoplele appreciatour proach. reinke cello is our c coo -- ryan cocostellolo is ouour ceo. rebecca: it is a gre s story t to keepep track of. you ll he toome back and tell me how you booked chelsea cl, one of england's greatest soccer teams. thank you foror showing us how it is done. brenn: thank you. becca: when we returned, she coaches executives how to be more efficient.

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get custom tv, including internet and phone. price guaranteed for two years. or from now until june 8th get a $400 visa prepaid card when you sign a two-year agreement. go to getfios.com. cable just gives you c channels. fios gives you choicice. call the verizon center for customers with disabilities at 800.974.6006 tty/v rebecca: welcome back.

in our spots willl l light -- observing, inquiuiringlistening, responding -- things that business leadeders may not be doing enough. we are with a former wall stree analyst and governmenent economist who teaches executives to transform their workplace. shhas a new book out, "anytime coaching." ndy, w welcome. i like tha you come from a a background where you k know what analysts are looooking f for a you say some of the e things you teach are not just for fortune 500 companies, but even more so small businesses. why? wendy: small businesses face the same types of problems corporations do, but they have limited resources, not a lot of time, often started by entrepreneur and theare so focused strategy -- rebecca: and they may not have management skills. wendy: they are not having

conversationwith her employeeses and how to bring the best out of the work force. it's really important they y do that. rebecca: letet's go through for main points viewers canead about and dig deeper. let's start with observing. you say y right now we are i in what you cl "potive capacity overload." our brains are so stressed out. we do not just sit b back and watch and learn. talk about obsbserving. wendy: in today's world, our cognitive capacity overload, we are workiking, so many inputs comiming at us and busy managers not have the time to quiet theieir brain and really observe not only how they are doing, but what is going on with eir emplees. in the book we have a phrase lled the fast results gene. in washington, we note that looks like. it's really important to be present and aware and foced with your employees.s. rebecca: you say inquire --

question, asking. can you talk about that? wendy: yes and one of the easiest tips is, are you more of an asker or a teller as a manager in the workplace? thinknk about being more of an asker. ask this powerful questions. you will get more informati more engagement fromom your employee rebecca: when yotalk about listening, you say people need to do a better j job of doing what you call extreme listening. what is extreme listening? wendy: i really like that phrase. it's onone of my favorites from the book. so much input is cominat people. there is t the iphone. there are distractions. listen to employees, listen to peoplele in your office. you really have to make it extreme. you have to y attention. rebecca: you have to be very focused anand the other thing i lolove you teach here. start at looking at the biases

when you're listening. people come to you. the whato figure o out why something happened the way it didid, but instead of truly listening, they are coming at it with -- i ink you guys screwed up. andd they jump in, interrupt, prove theiroint they are not surabout what happened, how it can be done better next time. wendy: if you can know what you're listening biases are, do yohave to have the answer, do you have to be the one telling the storory or the joke -- then itit can help you bome a better extreme listener. rebecca: and then finally listening --his is where you stress throughout the ok -- if you respond in the gative you're going to see a negative result in the workplplace. wendy: absolutely. how you respse is critical. we know two thirds of workers are disengaged. managers are talkingng to them. they are n respondin

appropriately. it's critical to responand not only tell people what to do, but make sure you are listening hearing, and responding. rebecca: you are not he to give people a golden sticker. yoyou are just saying g if you are trying to solve aa problblem, itit can be fixed in a positive way and do not assume that there is a problem. rebecca: -- wend our b brains are wired to always be lookoking fofor the nenegative, so small busins managers andorporate executes need to w wire their brains to look for positive possibilities. rebecca: it's a great book. and i'm going to use it at home as well as think you f joing us. when we come back, robert mccartney is here to take on the big stories this week. rilyn's governor making the case -- marilyn's governor

puerto rico's healthcare system is on life support... putting three and a half million puerto ricans at risk. it's an outrage.

puerto ricans are us citizens and pay the same medicare taxes, but receive only half the federal healthcare funding as the other 50 states. the headlines tell the story.... "unfair treatment from washington"... "thousands without medications"... "it's a crisis that could imperil the whole economy." president obama must act now w to protect care for three and a half million u.s. citizens. before it's too late...

rebecca: welcome bk. it is e roundtablele and preens,s, -- planes, trains, and automobiles are the talk of business news this week. governorarry hogan got a f fast trip on a tokyo train. and the commonwealth is making an even biggerlay for d.c.'s spor team. we are snding extra time talking tohe guy with his nger on theulsese of the hot topics in our reonrobert mcrtney senior washgton

correspopondentor "thee washingt post." we have lot going onon. you hahave lar han. do this brinthe purple line in the dust? hehe has nevereen excited about the purple line. rorobert: he was certainly worried about the cause of the purple line, which is why i was surprised to see him get excited about this magnetic levitation train -- rebecca: japan said we will pay for half of that if you will take our highest read train, but $10 billion? robert: $10 billion, it woulde incredibly fast. it would transform the region. you could commute easily from baltimore to downtown n deese the -- d downtown d.c. and ve veversa ---- rebecca: i am all for it but we'veve got problems here. robert: he is worried about $2.5

billion for the purple line and $3 billion for the red line in baltimore. it is hard to undersrstand why he would want to spend $10 billion for one train when the project is very far in the future and as opposed to be purple line which is right here, ght n. he's got to make a decision in the next few weeks. rebecca: what do you think is behind it? i think there are a couple things. one, it g goes back to the power se for marylyland is not in this region. it imore of a focus on n what uld be good for baltltimore and not so much virgininia and the washingtonon suburbs. maybe i am wrong about at, but that is how oftften seems with these issues. and second, the high-spe rail -- he seems to be owning it. it seems to be h his proroject. robert: thacould be. i would not get too far ahead of the cucurve here on this. i think he is trying to be nice toto his hosts in japan -- rebecca: i don't know. i think he is ready.y.

robert: where is he g going t find $10 b billion? rebecca: hmight ask the federal governnt robert: hmight, but the federal gornment has not been generousanding outoney these daysys. rebebecc the.c. city cncil was pretty generous to d.c. united to rebuild a stadium i in the cityty and they return the ve by trading and thehey are saying hey, we can makake you a better deaeal there. should the business community care? rort: the business community shld c certainly care, especicially anyone interested in promoting the development of southwest ec this was supposed to go into southwest. that is a big part of the redevelopment of the anacostia waterfront -- rebecca: and sports events has always been a big part of d.c. sports events. robert: but t terry mcauliffe has

been insatiable. he wants to pull the redskins to northern or genia and now -- rebecca: can you blame him? i would, too, if i was g goverernor. is t district doing enough to keep their team? robert: we will see.e. i think there's a ptty good chance that d.c. united is basicall playing footsie with terry mcauliffe in ord to keep essure on d.c.overnment to give them m a bett deal. rebecca: i worry about that. mayor bowser started pushing back. that is when things stard to heatp with the game of footsie with virgininia. i do not think any of the jurisdiction should be willing to offer too much. robert: t that t is not the way terry mcauliffe sees it. he is willing to o offer an awful lot have a feather in his cap and he would love -- he only gets oneerm in virnia, so if he could bring one or two sports tes to northern virginia during his ture, he woululd bebe

bragging about that for decades. rebecc he would coinue to support the e redskins. let's talk about the speaker of the use of virginia, william now, 72 years old, was one of thos leaders who would h havee been untouchabable yrs ago. he has 1party chalngerer, a former protege. he made big mistakeke votinforr the mcdonald transportion -- mcdonnell transportation package. robert: she's got a lot of support. grover norquist, the anti-tax crusader and guru, if you will for the republican party and other conservative staarts and ey feel thatat howe and bob mcdonnell, for that matter, the trade -- thebetrayed republican p principles with that package. heid n not just vote for that package. rebecc andnd now they y are

backing up in frededericksbuburg a and they a not too hapappy about that but your paper has done a goodod job detaing all the ways is s trying to ke sure he does not pulull and eric cantor and take those voters for granted. robe: exactctly. becccca: he has a get out the vote campaign. you go to his website, and shows you all of these different ways that he has sad taxpayer money. robert: he is pulling out a all the sto to o not suffer t the same fate as ericantor whwho losost a year ago to a t party challenger -- recca: he ok the voters for grante i think. robert: totally took them foror granted. rebecca: he is a lobbyist out in washington and he should' been ou sealing t deal. we will be back after the break.

there are a lot of channels on your tv but only so many you wa to watch what if you could pay for the types of channels you want and nothe ones you don't w, fios brings you a totally new way to customize your tv.

starting at $74.99 per month with no annual contract. get custom tv, including internet and phone. price guaranteed for two years. or from now until june 8th get a $400 visa prepaid card when you sign a two-year agreement. go to getfios.com. cable just gives you channels. fios gives you choice. call the verizon center for customers with disabilities at 800.974.6006 tty/v

rebecca:a: it is his first t time, so it't's s a doububle popop quiz. will speaker howeet reelected and d the purple line? robe: h howe will get reelelected and based what governor hogan id, it's toexpensnsive. rebecccca: w

morris: this week on him "government matters" -- click the tsa is failing. grace -- morris: it is judgment day for the tsa. two years after explosive revelations by edward snowden congress approves s sweeping anges to u. surveillance laws. chairman willard will say -- ways in. >> they have in the burden. morris: the transaction data reporting rule will give the market intelligence. but is there proposal all stick and no carrot? "government matters" starts right now. [captioning performed d by the national captioning initute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] >> from abc 7 and news channel 8, this is "government matters." morris: to our viewers around the world on the american forces network and here in e nation's capital, thanks for joining us. government is the engine that runs this city