DECATUR - About 100 Millikin students and faculty got a first-hand explanation of the word "fawtsy" from its creator Tuesday night, Arizona Diamondbacks President and CEO Derrick Hall.

The word is an acronym for a policy Hall has instituted at Chase Field to give their fans and customers a better experience.

It stands for, "Find a way to say yes."

"It's so important for us to be sure that we live 'fawtsy,'" Hall said.

The point was one of many Hall made to a full room at Pilling Chapel at Millikin University on Tuesday night.

Millikin Decatur Executive Association and Millikin's student leadership organization, Delta Epsilon Chi, came together to bring Hall to town to share his thoughts on business.

He spoke to students and faculty Tuesday and is to address association members this morning.

He shared with the audience the five areas within the "Circle of Success" he uses to lead the Diamondbacks.

The points focus on performance, community, culture, financial efficiency and fan experience. He even brought along the pocket-size copy of the mission plan his employees carry with them at all times.

Community, culture and fan experience were the areas he drove home the hardest. "Those that have should give," he said. "We're giving back $3 million to $4 million a year to the community."

Hall also encourages his employees to give, and has found a way to tie community in with one of the other points in his "Circle of Success," culture.

Each quarter Hall organizes a company outing and takes the 300 full-time employees he has out for a daylong activity. Those activities sometimes revolve around working in the community, like at a local food bank.

"I wanted people to be happy about going to work, and we're there now," he said. The last point he made was the importance of keeping the customers happy and coming back on a regular basis.

While Hall runs a major company with a huge employee number and customer base, he said the "Circle of Success" can be applied to any business model.

Audra Davis, sophomore international business and marketing major, said she has been to a handful of Diamondback baseball games, and it was interesting to hear about what goes on behind the scenes at the stadium.

She is vice president of marketing and public relations for Delta Epsilon Chi and she said Hall was a unique speaker for the business students.

"I felt like it is a nontraditional way to run a business," she said.

arueff@herald-review.com|421-6986