SHOW SPEAK

An Ongoing Education

Event Solutions 2012 Idea Factory

Four days and nights in Vegas. Movies have been made about the power of what can happen in that time frame and in this city. It can change lives for the better, especially if those days and nights were spent at the Event Solutions 2012 Idea Factory. The very air in Caesars Palace, the venue of this year’s Idea Factory, was charged. Along with those legendary positive ions of Vegas, one could feel change, fresh ideas, innovation and excitement in the air.

“The education sessions this year were solid,” says Branden Chapman. Chapman, as executive in charge of production and chief business development officer for the Grammys, is indicative of the caliber of attendee, and speaker, that took part in this year’s conference.
His session on producing large-scale events with Carleen Cappelletti of Bounce AEG and Gary Leavitt from Sequoia Productions is just one of many that generated a collective buzz. Other popular speakers included Preston Bailey, David Tutera, Sean Low from The Business of Being Creative, Hillary Harris from Warner Brothers Studios Special Events and Raymond Thompson from Images by Lighting.

Learning from top professionals, sharing ideas with peers from around the world and putting that knowledge to work is the hallmark of a strong community and sustainable profession. It’s why the organizers of the Idea Factory spend so much time researching and securing the best of the best.

What was the biggest “idea” this year? Too many to single out just one, which is why we’ve brought you highlights of just a few of those big ideas in this issue.

SIX THINGS WE LEARNED

1 "You want to make your point instantly. When people sit down, they want to understand where they are right now.” 
— Erin Patrick, Events Fashioned

2"You want to make your point instantly. When people sit down, they want to understand where they are right now.”  Trust increases more with predictability than it does with an increase in self-disclosure. Show up often. Be real. Set boundaries.”
— Liene Stevens, Splendid Communications

3 "You want to make your point instantly. When people sit down, they want to understand where they are right now.”  What you do as a creative business is sell trust to earn the right to deliver and get paid for your artistry.” 
— Sean Low, The Business of Being Creative

4 "You want to make your point instantly. When people sit down, they want to understand where they are right now.”  There has been an 84 percent growth from 2006 to 2011 in the destination wedding market. In 2011, an estimated 540,000 destination weddings took place.”
— Ali Phillips, Engaging Events

5 "You want to make your point instantly. When people sit down, they want to understand where they are right now.”  The new corporate event normal is not about themed décor, props or flowers. It’s about planning the vehicle from which a message is executed.” 
— David Merrell, AOO Events

6 "You want to make your point instantly. When people sit down, they want to understand where they are right now.”  Social media is drastically affecting the ethics of our industry, and companies really need to take a look at developing a code of ethics to deal with this. At the same time, you can make a lot of rules, but there is no substitute for common sense, and common sense will take you a long way when you’re dealing with ethics.”  
— Robert Sivek, The Meetinghouse Companies

SAY WHAT?

Sound bites from our attendees.

The business-related classes gave me tangible knowledge that I could use right away. As an event producer, I don’t specialize in the numbers end. Even though we pay someone to do the books, you need to have that basic understanding and not leave it all to someone else. These kinds of refresher courses are great for new or long-time event producers.
Also, the sponsorship and small business owner sessions gave me new ideas of how to approach prospective sponsors, and I’m actually using some of these ideas for proposals.
— Krista Taldorf, Black Tie Red Sneakers Event Planning, Calgary, Alberta

The speakers who really stood out for me were Hillary Harris (my absolute favorite), the Design 360 presentation, Sasha Souza and, of course, Preston Bailey and David Tutera.
— Aimee Wendell, 2Chic Events, Sacramento, CA

The ethics presentation was very interesting and informative.
—Wayne Gurnick, Moments by Wayne, Tarzana, CA

I enjoyed the informative lectures on LGBT weddings, as we have nothing like this in Australia yet.
—Alanna Blundo, Decorit, Australia

Preston Bailey’s floral design demo was excellent.
—Daniele Gordon, The Occasion Palace, Miramar, FL

I learned about the do’s and don’ts when working the LGBT market. Some it may seem common sense but I was not aware of more sensitive issues like using the rainbow logo and how to market to this community.
— Adam Portnoff, Glen Cove Mansion, Glen Cove, NY 

Event Solutions magazine
June/July 2012