Great Show under the Big Top!
 By Kristin Wienold
PR Chair, ISES DC
Director
of Sales &Marketing,
Event Digital Photography
WOW!!
What an event… this
year’s ISES DC EXPO was unbelievable.
With over 600 attendees, any and all
members and guests had the chance to
mingle with old friends, meet new friends,
and just enjoy their evening.
Each guest entered the Big Top via a
glorious sponsor/partnership walkway
where some of our chapter’s partners
were featured and available to chat.
Then guests were ushered through the
entry tent draped in white, black and
pink panels. Once in the main event,
they were blown away by the wealth of
color, entertainment, and energy. Complete
with strolling Cirque themed characters,
aerial acrobatics, an array of vendor
booths to explore and gather information
from, photos printed onsite with the
guests super imposed on the Cirque artwork
as the background, amazing food tastings,
door prizes and giveaways, and our featured
educational panel sessions (see below
for details). This event was second to
none!
This event could not have been possible
without the incredibly creative minds
and hard work of Jeffrey Fox and Charlie
Tucker. Many, many pats on the back go
out to Dave Markowitz and Kelley Gillespie
for creating our chapter relationships
with our industry partners. We would
also like to recognize LeKhessa Doctor
and Denise Thorne for running, once again,
a very organized and well-staffed registration
operation. Felicia Owens-Smith, Susan
Fuller and Keisha Richardson were in
charge of coordinating and leading the
wonderful event volunteers.
According to Kelley Gillespie, Immediate
Past ISES DC Chapter President, “I
was so impressed with the caliber of
the attendees. I saw lots new faces,
entrepreneurs starting their own businesses
and networking, and planners who had
never attended an ISES event but were
definitely coming back again. It was
great to have the help of our nine industry
partners to promote the event. I met
people from AMPs, NACE, HSMAI and Destination
DC among many others. I loved seeing
how serious the exhibitors were about
using ISES Expo as the playing field
they needed to develop their marketing
strategies for 2009. It’s the most
cost effective way for vendors to promote
their products to more than 500 event
professionals in the area, especially
now that the industry is experiencing
a bit of a downturn.
As one of the vendors, I can happily
mention… this was the BEST Expo
we have ever been a part of. We had the
opportunity to chat with several hundred
old and new industry members and to display
our business proudly. Count us in for
2009!
Thanks to all of our sponsors, vendors
and panelists… this event could
not have happened without you!
Click
here for a list of Expo exhibitors.
Click
here for the Expo photo gallery.
New this year, industry
experts shared their years of experience
during several educational seminars at
the 2008 Expo. Heard at the Expo …
What's Haute/What's Not: Exciting Food
For Trendy Events … cupcakes
have made a second come-back so be
sure to put them on your plate says
Leslie Povourow of Fancy Cakes by
Leslie. And yes, restaurants are
using sustainable foods – ask
Brian McBride, Executive Chef of
Blue Duck Tavern at the Park Hyatt.
Let There Be Light: Today's Magical
Advances In Lighting...Eric Hertsch
of Frost Lighting Co. of DC Inc. said
collaboration, i.e., understanding
the entire event picture, is the way
to a successful event. And, the more
flexibility you have on the timing
of the installation and removal, the
more flexibility you can have on pricing.
Alysha DiGiorgio of Digital Lightning
suggests asking your lighting company
to handle power distribution for your
event, so you can determine if the
building has enough power or if you
need a generator. It will save a lot
of headaches!
Current Trends in Entertainment: How
To Customize Your Event … be
prepared to show the WOW factor because
that’s
what clients are asking for along with
authentic ethnic acts for themed events,
offered Kevin Olivera, Olivera Music
Entertainment. Above all, listen to
the client!
Working From Home is a hot-hot topic
and we heard cool tips from three enthusiastic
home office profs. Both Carol Nissenson
of NOW THIS! and Dave Edwards of Dave
Edwards Events, Inc. reminded us to
keep the Life/balance aspect. Carol’s
tip: locate your office in an area
of your home dedicated to that purpose
and shut the door at the end of the day.
Dave’s tip: get out of the house
once in a while - go for a walk, meet
a friend for lunch, or go to the gym.
Ashleigh Dorfman, CSEP of posh parties,
LLC chimed in with two office tips:
purchase a phone with a mute button
and secure a dedicated phone line with
personalized greeting.
Check out the
full handout for info on these and other tips.
Making The Team: How Planners Select
Vendors ... panelists underscored
the commonsense rules like if you
want to become a regular, be sure
to be dependable, reliable and consistently
perform jobs above the level of expectation.
Tracy Bloom Schwartz, CSEP, Creative
Parties, Ltd shared these additional
points from the session: Be sure
you understand and respect the organization,
and to get in the door for the first
time remember new vendors are considered
based on uniqueness of product or
service offering, reputation and
professionalism – add a dash
of creativity to get their attention.
Thanks to all the speakers who gave freely
of their expertise! To get a full description
and speaker list, click
here.
Thanks to our many hospitality industry
partners who support the show:
Association
of Meeting Professionals
ASAE & The Center for Leadership
BizBash
Destination DC
George Washington University Event Management
Program
Hospitality Sales and Marketing
Association International
Conference & Visitors Bureau of
Montgomery County, MD
National Association of
Catering Executives
Society of Government Meeting Professionals National Capital Chapter
Washington
Area Concierge Association
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