Learn new strategies in the

Focusing on the back end of your business can be a challenge when you're immersed in the details of creating the perfect event. The sessions in the Business Track are created to inspire and strengthen all aspects of your company. From sales and marketing to ethics and negotiation, you'll walk away with helpful tips and strategies to bring your business to the next level.

This track represents only a portion of the 100+ sessions, demos, events and activities that are part of the 2013 Conference & Tradeshow. Attend any variety of sessions or events to create a custom educational program that's right for you.

Sunday

10:30am - 11:45am
Fearless Growth for Today’s Business
Chris Evans, Bridal Business Consultant, Trainer, Evans Sales Solutions, LLC, Moorpark, CA

This session will show you how to courageously jump-start and grow your sales by explaining tips and techniques against a backdrop of three case studies.  The result? You’ll be energized by discovering the latest sales methods, whether you’re an experienced business professional or new to the business. Chris Evans will share how he has coached companies to success and how to do the same with your own business—fearlessly. You will learn:
•    How to tap into unlimited resources by using key technologies while bringing your own talents into the equation
•    Practical examples of business success that will have you leaving the session feeling energized, uplifted and motivated
•    How to master the toughest prospects
•    How to use current technologies and sales techniques to advance your company’s sales goals and ROI
 

You Are Not Special…. But You Can Be!
Connie Riley, CSEP, CMP, Vice President, T. Skorman Productions, Inc., Orlando, FL

You are among thousands of eager professionals entering the event industry annually. How can you separate yourself and build a successful career in an over-saturated market? What steps will grow your business and gain your company recognition? This session is filled with practical information gathered from industry veterans and will explore steps to help you become a recognized professional and an industry star. You will learn:

•    Tips from professionals to separate you from the rest in an over-saturated industry
•    How to create your own personal style and life balance
•    How to remain relevant in a constantly changing industry
•    Bringing value to your employer / company

Noon - 1:15pm
Capturing Corporate Business in 2013
John Daly, CSEP, President, John Daly Inc. and The Key Class, Santa Barbara, CA

What will it take to get business in 2013? Proposals? Detailed renderings? What will it take to play the corporate game? For some time now, corporations have wanted more from you for less. How can you stay on top of the game and not give away your services? Using his month-long 2012 Porsche event as a case study, John Daly, the Guru of Event Design, will take you step-by-step through what it took to win the business, the challenges and how they were overcome and how to keep them coming back to you year after year. Through multimedia and his dynamic teaching style, be prepared to be fascinated by how this master has continued to work his magic for over 40 years. You will learn:
•    How to win corporate business
•    How to turn first-time corporate clients into long-term customers
•    How to make money instead of staying in break-even or losing propositions
•    The secrets of a master who has stayed on top for more than 40 years
 

Make It Happen:  How to Thrive in a Tough Economy
Filomena Felix, VP of Sales; Larry Green, CEO; David Price, VP of Product Development Rentals Unlimited, Stoughton MA

Whether you’re a one-person company or a one thousand-person company, we all deal with the same issues:  sales, operations and finances.  How do you make it happen? And at the same time, grow and have a financially successful company? Learn from three executives who make it happen everyday. Each will share their secrets of how and what they did to grow their company in a tough economy. You will learn:
•    How to restructure and repurpose using your staff as a solid foundation
•    Why networking is the best way to build new clients and sales
•    How to grow loyalty with your current client base
•    When to buy and when not to buy. When do you invest in new products and when do you reinvent yourself with current product?
 

Legal Issues in Social Media: The Event Professional’s Guide
Katy Carrier, Founding Attorney/Principal, Carrier & Associates, Los Angeles, CA

You can post, pin, tweet and blog, but are you opening yourself and your company to legal liability by not knowing your rights and responsibilities as a social media practitioner?
Find out at this information-packed seminar led by event industry attorney Katy Carrier. She’ll cover the many legal issues related to the use of social media in the event industry, including trademark infringement, copyright-protected images and graphics and how to respond to negative online reviews. Come with questions, and be prepared for a lively discussion. You will learn:
•    The proper practices for the use of copyright-protected photographs, graphics and text
•    How to remain in compliance with regulations regarding promotions, sponsorships, contests and giveaways
•    How to avoid trademark infringement in social media, and how to deal with infringers
•    How to limit potential liability through ‘terms of use’ and other contracts
•    How to deal with defamation of character in social media, including online reviews
 

1:30pm - 2:45pm
Boost Your Profitability: Tricks of the Trade
Matt Allen, President, MMD Events, Tampa, FL

Whether you’ve been in business for more than 50 years or you’re just starting out with your new company, your main goal is to make a profit. Through this interactive lecture you will learn not only how to retain a profit but how to understand your client better, therefore building trust and ultimately leading to more business for you. This session will explore why you need to offer the newest technology and products to out-do your competition and offer tips to boost your profitability. You will learn:
•    How to instinctively read your client before anything is said or done
•    The art of negotiating for a higher price in return for higher profit
•    How to diversify and stay relevant
•    How to create beneficial partnerships

4:30pm - 5:45pm

Growing Your Business Through Stronger Client Relationships
Howard Givner, Executive Director Event Leadership Institute, Scarsdale, NY

In the quest for increased sales, we often focus on finding new clients.  Are we getting the most from our existing clients, who already know our work?  Many high-end service businesses thrive under the 80/20 rule, where 80 percent of their revenue comes from just 20 percent of their clients, and in fact it’s much easier to grow a current client than to find a new one.  This program will focus on a variety of key strategies you’ll need to retain, and expand, your existing book of business.  You will learn:
•    How to demonstrate your company’s value in a way that makes price less relevant
•    Properly manage client expectations
•    Ask for referrals without feeling awkward
•    Defuse an upset client
•    Give yourself the best possible chance to rebook a client after the event is over

Monday

7:30am - 8:45am
Using Pinterest, LoveIt and Other Tools to Empower Your Community and Businesses
Lindsay Fultz, Marketing Manager, LoveIt, Hollywood, CA

The future of social media is curation. Everyone has topics in which they specialize; therefore everyone is a tastemaker in their own right. Millions of companies vie for the attention of one—you.  The web is noisy and people need ways to visually bookmark, collaborate, curate and share. After this session you will have knowledge and tech tools to help you creatively collaborate, curate and empower your community and events business.
You will learn:

• How to visually filter through all the content on the web

• How to use Pinterest, LoveIt and other tech tools to visually bookmark and curate the web 

• Fun and cool ways to collaborate with colleagues, clients and your community 

• How to organize interests by people, groups, topics, images and brands

• How to creatively share your content, with whom and when

 

9:00am - 10:30am
Inside-Out: A Corporate Planner’s Toolbox for Working With Outside Partners
Kelly Dolan, Event Manager, Avedro, Easton MA
Kristjan Gavin, CMP, President, In Good Company Events, Inc., San Ramon, CA

If you are an inside corporate planner, you understand that the success of your projects hinges on two key points: Managing all the internal stakeholder relationships and expectations, and building relationships with your key vendor partners who are outside keeping the project moving forward. This session will give valuable insight, perspective and tactics you can use immediately to create and keep a symbiotic relationship that will blossom. And vendors will learn how to get on the inside track with busy corporate planners and nurture the relationship to its fullest.
For every attendee at this session, In Good Company Meetings and Events will donate $2 to the SEARCH Foundation. We encourage each attendee to bring $1 to donate at the door.
You will learn: 

•    Questions internal corporate planners should and can use to vet new potential vendor partners
•    How vendor partners can ask questions to vet the internal planner for a good fit
•    What to watch and listen for that could spell impending disaster
•    How to work with procurement, purchasing and the internal planner  
•    Post mortem tactics for both planners and vendors

10:45am - Noon
Sales and Social Skills
John Daly, CSEP, President, John Daly Inc. and The Key Class, Santa Barbara, CA

Ever wonder why a meeting didn’t go so well or felt like you might have unknowingly “put off” a client? Get tips, tools and techniques—the do’s and don’ts of business etiquette. Not only for the novice, veterans might be surprised by some of the shifts in today’s social media world.

A leading event designer for more than 40 years, John Daly has traveled the globe with his Fortune 100 corporate clients. He attributes much of his success to his knowledge of business etiquette, something he studied for more than three decades, resulting in his corporate clients depending upon him to guide them in sales situations with their own customers and other vendors. In typical Daly fashion, this led John to found The Key Class, the go-to-course for business etiquette that he teaches in Santa Barbara County California’s high schools and colleges. You will learn: 

•    How to make a lasting first impression on potential customers
•    How to handle email, texting and social media in today’s business world
•    What red flags to look for with potential vendors, associates or customers and what they mean
•    What not to do during business meetings and lunches   
•    How to have a conversation with a prospective client

2:15pm - 3:30pm

What Is Your Perfect Egg? Pros and Cons of Starting a “Lite” Version of Your Creative Business
Sean Low, President, The Business of Being Creative, New York, NY

Many creative businesses extend their brand by creating a “Lite” version of their traditional offerings. In this seminar we will review the pros and cons of taking this step and how many of these ventures might actually hurt, rather than help a creative business.  We will then focus on new business lines that can actually reinforce the core creative business and vice-versa.  We call these new business lines “The Perfect Egg.” We will discuss several examples of Perfect Eggs and their specific challenges. You will learn:

•    The pros and cons of the “Lite” version of your creative business
•    The pros and cons of Perfect Egg business lines
•    How to launch a Perfect Egg business
•    How to scale or grow your creative business
 

Go Global! How to, When To and If
Andrea Michaels, President, Extraordinary Events, Sherman Oaks, CA; Dior Yarwood, General Manager, Staging Connections, North Queensland, Australia

So you’ve been thinking how much fun it would be to work in another country—the chance to travel, meet new people, try new cuisines, practice new etiquette. That’s the fantasy (not that some or all if it isn’t true) but it isn’t the entire reality. So come to this session filled with war stories, challenges, solutions and a realistic picture of what you need to know in order to be successful when you don’t speak the language, don’t have any suppliers, or have never experienced the culture or etiquette. Suddenly you’re left adrift in a “now what?” world where the fantasy and reality may not intersect in the way you’ve dreamed. This session will help you define if this is the road you really want to travel and if you do, get ready to update your passport, get your immunizations and apply for your visas, because when you leave the room, you’ll be ready to take off—or else you’ll be really satisfied with where you are. You will learn:

•    The pros and cons of working internationally
•    How to find resources
•    How to identify specific challenges with accompanying solutions
•    How to differentiate ‘work’ from ‘tour and travel’
 

The Social Referral Factor: How to Ignite a Sales Explosion
Jody Murphy, CEO/Founder, Expect Referrals, Orlando, FL; Michelle Bergstein Fontanez, Marketing Maven, Event Industry Marketing by BeatCreative, Orlando, FL

Listen. Do you hear it? It’s your customers and their friends and they are talking. Talking about you. How do you turn their chatter into an explosion of sales for your business?

Find out how to turn customer conversations into more leads and more customers. Learn how to integrate social media and the new phenomenon of online deals into a marketing strategy called ‘social sharing’ that your competition has not thought of doing yet. And the big secret? This strategy is incredibly inexpensive so you can easily add it into your existing budget. You will learn:

•    How to capture customer chatter and funnel it into improved ROI
•    What social incentive sharing is and why marketing experts are starting to talk about it everywhere
•    How to invent a campaign that works for your industry and your audience
•    If it is all worth it—will the effort actually pay off in your actual business?
 

Attraction Marketing: How to Double Your Wedding Business in 12 Months
Chris Evans, Bridal Business Consultant, Evans Sales Solutions, LLC, Moorpark, CA

Many of us spend far too much energy to convince the bride to ‘buy’ when it is much easier to motivate the bride to call you, resulting in a sale. This session will introduce you to a unique step-by-step process that can easily be followed to move your sales forward. You will learn:

• How to stop chasing the bride and have them chase you
• Steps to generate business for your bridal business
• Techniques for effective presentations
• Closes to use in your sales skills
• How to use technology to streamline the marketing process

5:15pm - 6:15pm
Balancing Analytical & Creative Solutions
Ami Cervin, Meeting & Event Planner, Aimia, Inc., Plymouth, MN

Have you ever wondered how some people can brainstorm the most creative ideas at the drop of a hat?  Or how others can legitimately roll-up every decision and know exactly how it affects X, Y & Z and the bottom line without blinking?  It takes a balance of analytical and creative thought to create successful events, although many planners and suppliers excel in one area over another. Learn how to stimulate both sides of your brain through case studies, interactive exercises, and an opportunity to put those lessons to work to create thoughtful event design and drive sales through customer engagement. You will learn:

•    The difference between your analytical brain and your creative brain, and how they can help and hinder each other in each step of the event process
•    How to identify both the creative and analytical view for each step in the event planning process
•    Simple exercises to stimulate both sides of your brain to keep the business and innovation top of mind at all times
•    How to apply the lessons to your next event or team
•    Resources to find creative and analytical inspiration
 

You are Worth It! Raising Your Prices Painlessly
Gretchen Culver, Owner & Lead Planner, Rocket Science Weddings & Events, Minneapolis, MN

No one enters the special events industry dreaming of riches; if money was the end goal you would’ve headed to Wall Street. Rather, we get into the industry because we love it, but that doesn’t mean we can’t or shouldn’t make money.

The goal of this session is simple: to help you make more money while doing what you love. Everyone deserves to be paid what they are worth and feel valued for the work that they do. Your dream client should be your only client. Your time and talent are worth money, so start charging for it! During this seminar, you will learn some of the key reasons special event professionals don’t raise their prices and how to put together a practical plan to evaluate your business and raise your prices accordingly. You will learn:

•    How to evaluate your business in your specific market to maximize what you are charging
•    Three key factors that hinder businesses from raising their prices
•    A simple plan for  raising your prices with as little financial pain as possible
•    Insight on how your price affects your brand, and how to align the two
 

Panel Discussion
“Altared” Marketing for Wedding Professionals: Custom Tailoring Your Campaign
Moderator : Liese Gardner, Mecca Communications
Panelists: Kylie Carlson, Rhonda Couchigian, Eddie Zaratsian

An online Pinterest contest based on the Hunger Games, a fashion show with linen as the star, an annual Mad Hatter-style tea party. These are all marketing campaigns that are custom tailored for a specific market with different goals and return on intention. Each speaker has repeated these campaigns at least twice, and will share their insight into how they altered the campaigns, tweaking them to be even more successful. Get information on how to partner with media and vendors to make unique marketing campaigns worth the time and effort they take. You will learn:

•    How to formulate a campaign based on something special you do, the message you want to impart or specific sales goals or markets
•    First hand information on what worked and what didn’t and how each of these speakers has altered their campaigns for the better
•    How to use different forms of media for invitations, spreading the word, getting publicity and reaching your target audience
•    What marketing campaigns really cost in terms of time and money, and how to get the most bang for your buck

Tuesday

8:00am - 9:00am
Panel Discussion
Fair Trade: Ethical Practices
Moderator: Rrivre Davies, Owner, Rrivre Works, Los Angeles, CA

Fair trade. We apply it to how our coffee is grown and sold, but what about our events and our own business and work ethics? In this time of cross-over between event designers and planners, it’s time for a discussion of how fair trade—the promotion of ethical trade and sustainable practices—can work to create a stronger, more sustainable industry, and in doing so, help your business grow.
In this spirited discussion that includes you, the audience, we will explore the pros and cons together of creating a fair trade practice for the industry. Should we implement it? How does it work? Can it mean better business for all? Or does it create limitations? No matter the answer, this exciting debate will make you think about where we are and where the industry is headed.  You will learn:

• How to use fair trade to get an edge on your competition
• How to educate clients in a positive way

• The meaning of commission versus mark up and the effect of each on the industry

• The five rules of fair trade


Bridging the Gap: Strengthening the Relationship Between Vendors and Venues

Kevin Dennis, Owner/Founder, Fantasy Sound Event Services, Livermore, CA

Vendors and venues are both invested in providing top notch services to their clients, yet the relationship between them seems to be one that is misunderstood on both sides. All relationships go through growing pains and after this seminar, led by Kevin M. Dennis, JWIC, you will be equipped with all the tools necessary to strengthen that relationship, whether you are a venue or a vendor. Venues will learn how to keep their vendors happy and vendors will learn the correct dteps to take to vecoming a distinguished vendor. You will learn:


• The correct way to get onto a venue’s preferred vendor list and how to keep that preferred list strong
• How to best communicate with each other in the days leading




10:45am - Noon

Cannonball Marketing Secrets: Four Powerful Ideas That will Catapult Your Business
Lara McCulloch-Carter, Chief Brand Storyteller, READY2SPARK, Burlington, Ontario, Canada

Welcome to the new age of marketing. It's becoming increasingly difficult to reach your customers. With upwards of 5,000 marketing messages hurled at them every single day and the thousands of pieces of shared content they're exposed to via email and social media, it's no wonder they tune most of it out. In a post-recession era, consumers are fickle—leaving brands in record numbers for cheaper alternatives. And add to that almost 50 percent of consumers don't trust what you say in your advertising. The cards are stacked against you. In this session, you’ll learn four astonishing new marketing concepts that your business needs to know and master in order to break through the noise, create desire, build sales and keep customers—even if your competition is cheaper. You will learn:

•    How to be discovered, even when you're not being looked for

•    How to become a strategic content 

•    How to build a killer brand experience

•    How to leverage social recommendations and influencer marketing
•    How to make a splash for your business in a crowded pool

Conversations That Close: Create a Signature Sales Conversation That Makes Brides Buy

Wendy Dahl, Wedding Coordinator, Business Strategist, Chic Productions, Huntington Beach, CA

What if you had a crafted sales conversation that had brides asking to book you before the end of your first meeting?  How different would your business be if you knew what to say to brides that urged them to buy quickly?  Today’s bride no longer responds to sales tactics that worked in the past.  Additionally, different techniques should be used for brides at different price points; the trick is knowing what to say and when to say it in the conversation. If you use traditional sales methods or are a serial soft-seller, a signature sales conversation will help you close the deal with confidence. You will learn:

•    Conversation techniques that sell your product or service without being “salesy”
•    How to craft a signature sales conversation that gets brides to buy

•    How to identify gaps in your current conversation that leave money on the table

•    How to leverage conversation techniques to use in marketing materials and social media

Wednesday

3:45pm - 4:45pm

4 Keys to a Successful Negotiation 

Lisa Gentilin, PhD, CMP, President, Fancy Shindigs, Inc., Castro Valley, CA

When negotiating with vendors and venues, are you getting what you need to meet the objectives of your specific group? This session will help you understand the value of your business and will help you to position yourself as a valuable customer. Find out how to identify your leverage points with vendors and venues, and achieve a successful negotiation using these four simple keys. You will learn:

•    Four keys to successful negotiations
•    The three stages of negotiating

•    Several tactics and avoidable mistakes

Events Risk Management

Bill Werner, Associate Professor, UNLV College of Hotel Administration, Las Vegas, NV
 

This seminar will review the fundamental concepts of risk assessment and control, provide up–to-date information about recent developments in events risk management, and briefly study two recent cases of risk management failures.  Attendees will learn the common methods of evaluating and managing common risks in the events industry and the most common risk management errors. You will learn:

•    How to identify and assess the various risks associated with events management

•    The most current risk issues facing the events industry

•    A methodological approach to protecting a company from risk

 

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