Day 1 - Event Solutions Conference & Tradeshow 2010

Today was the first day of the Event Solutions Conference & Tradeshow (8-10 March 2010), very excited to meet up with people in the industry and learn from them. Of course not forgetting the new ideas that could be learned from the seminars, tabletop competition, setup of buffet counter and tradeshow.

Attended a few seminar, the first one started at 7:30am on "CELE-BRANDING: FROM "FINE" TO FABULOUS IN 75 MINUTES" by Shari & Eddie. They Started their talk by saying branding is about CONFIDENT, which is very true. Everyone will have a compelling story, tell people what it is. It could be why you switched your career. Tell people why you are so special & unique. Sent out newsletter, it does not need to be monthly, it could even be quarterly, printout is what they do.

9am was a wonderful talk given by Sasha Souza (the well-known destination wedding planner in Napa, Ca) on "Wedding Design From Concept to Completion". She explained to us the importance of the Inspiration Board, which is similar to photos shown to my client and also the collection of photos that I asked students to do for Project B. So that is what I should call it . She had several pages of questions to ask the bride & groom separately to know what they like for their wedding, I will discuss in more details on the questions shared by Sasha in 1 of my 1/2 Day Seminar soon. She also explained to us the importance of the linen swatch books. She signed on the book that I bought entitled “Magnificant Weddings by Design” that I bought, I like the book very much as it was so colorful & comprises all the photos of the weddings that she organized, of course those that she think is worth putting in. The photo below was taken after she signed on my book. :)

10:30am was the Featured Session – "STATE OF THE INDUSTRY: WHERE WE ARE NOW AND WHERE WE'RE HEADED". Oscar Goodman, the mayor of Las Vegas, gave an opening speech at the Featured Session, Laura Schwartz (brief introductory of her is shown below) was the moderator for the session, she introduced the speakers

1. Craig Bullock –Kuoni Destination Management Inc
   
2. Kevin Dana - CORT
   
3. Lara McCulloch - Branding & Social Media Change Agent ready2spark,
4. Branden Chapman – The Recording Academy & GRAMMY Awards
5. Steve Kemble – Steve Kemble Design

Its nice to hear what the experts said about the situation now.

Bought Laura Schwartz’s book entitled “Eat, Drink & Succeed”, she signed on the book that I bought, and was happy that I took a photo with her. She was very friendly and she said she enjoyed the conference by Event Solutions very much; everyone here was so friendly, although they were so high profile in the industry. That is also the reason why I came back again this year.
Laura Schwartz - She was 19 when she arrived at the White House in 1993, she was promoted to Director of events after years of hard works (7am - 10pm), where she produced the president’s event on the world stage.

The talk at 3pm was really interesting, was given by Diane Butner, Director of Events & Design, MGM Mirage Events,Las Vegas, biggest event company in Las Vegas on "DESIGN WORKSHOP: GET YOUR HANDS DIRTY". It was a great opportunity to see what they do, they could just mix & match the prop that they have to build different centerpiece. They explained where they purchased the items, I am quite surprised. The economy was very bad, all the company cut down on their budget, so the event Company has to know where to get cheaper item and how to mix & match the prop. Their ideas in table linen, table runner, chair cover was brilliant.
That night we had the Opening Night Las Vegas at the Eve the Nightclub – City Center. Eva Longoria’s signature club offers a luxurious design atmosphere, filled with the latest in video and lighting technology.It was great fun, the live band was just good. We danced till about midnight before catching the shuttle back to the hotel. This was a free event for all the conference attendee.
See how many of them were queuing at the entrance. This photo was taken before we went in.

From left was Amy, Ludah, Luna, Phil (the owner of the Hannibals Catering & Events in Sacramento-biggest) and of coz me. :)