Happy Halloween & Dia de los Muertos!

Happy Halloween! But, since Simply Mumtaz President is Mexicana - she'd like to wish everyone in addition to pumpkins and ghouls... a happy celebration of Dia de los Muertos! Day of the Dead is a Mexican holiday. The holiday focuses on gatherings of family and friends to pray for and remember friends and family members who have died. It is particularly celebrated in Mexico, where it attains the quality of a National Holiday. The celebration takes place on November 1st and 2nd, in connection with the Catholic holidays of All Saints' Day (November 1) and All Souls' Day (November 2). Traditions connected with the holiday include building private altars honoring the deceased using sugar skulls, marigolds, and the favorite foods and beverages of the departed and visiting graves with these as gifts. Take care all! Safe holidays...

Lt. Governor Newsom Speaks At The Omni

Hi All! SME recently got the opportunity to host California’s Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom at our client’s event last week at the beautiful Omni Hotel in Downtown Los Angeles. Lieutenant Governor addressed over 150 guests in the Bunker Hill room at the Omni where he laid out his “Economic Growth and Competiveness Agenda for California.”  Guests left with a renewed sense and understanding of California’s future in creating jobs and growing as Newsom stayed for questions long after his speech. Plus, some of our team was able to sneak a pic - Christian, Jennifer, Lt. Gov. Newsom, and Jenny!

IMEX America 2011 - Las Vegas!

Hey everybody! We, your Simply Mumtaz gals - Joella, Jennifer Minzey, and Jennifer Kim, hope this post finds you well! We had a blast at IMEX America 2011! It was fantastic to visit with friends, meet new colleagues, and of course, play! Smart Monday sponsored by MPI was fantastic - great professional development sessions! But, the absolute highlight was the tradeshow!

I had to post about this booth! It was so inviting, fun, and sent the wonderful smell of coffee brewing and pastries just like you were walking past a coffee shop in Europe! You just had to stop...  

Then, I was so stoked to see fellow ISES peeps! Jennifer Minzey and I posed with Kevin Hacke, Executive Director of ISES. It was wonderful to see Kristin and touch base with Kevin about how ISES is promoting the special events industry as professional and strategic. 

We look forward to seeing everyone again next year!

Simply Mumtaz visits Albuquerque, New Mexico ~ Your Next Conference Site!

Hi All! Joella and I (Jennifer) landed in Albuquerque last week where it was at the highest 45 degrees!! Talk about a change from this week! What an experience we had in Albuquerque!

 

Both of us had never been, so we were pleasantly surprised by how much Albuquerque has to offer. From great golf courses, like the PAA-Ko Ridge Golf Club, ranked No. 29 of “America’s 100 Greatest Public Courses” to shopping in their Old Town, filled with Native American turquoise and silver jewelry to our favorite thing, hot air ballooning! Albuquerque is of course known as the ballooning capital of the world and we are excited to return soon and next time ride in a hot air balloon!

The Balloon Fiesta attracts more than 700,000 visitors over the course of 9 days from all over the world! The first day of our trip, we were up at 4:45am to check it out!! We definitely needed more coffee that morning! It had been raining, but we lucked out and the balloons were inflated long enough for us to take some great photos! Here we are with our wonderful Albuquerque CVB guy, KC Flores! Both KC and Jacob Quintana are fantastic and we would recommend them to anyone who is looking to take a conference to Albuquerque. They were not only hospitable and friendly, but really cool guys to be around. Thanks so much for making our trip a great success, KC!

Sandia Peak Tramway, North America’s longest single-span aerial tramway, is a ride the top of the 10,000 foot peak where for a breathtaking view! This year there was already snow atop the peak…who would have thought!

A perfect ending to the trip was the Dinner under the Sea. We were treated to a private dining experience for 20 at the Albuquerque BioPark Aquarium, where we dined with sharks, sea turtles, and stingrays.

Another great thing we were introduced to in Albuquerque was Paws And Stripes. The nonprofit organization provides rescue dogs to wounded United States Military Veterans. Every dog in the program is rescued from local shelters and foster homes and trained individually with veterans from day one, building an amazing and close man-service dog relationship as they both heal together. Check them out at PawAndStripes.org

It was a great trip and Joella and I are looking forward to returning for some more Albuquerque fun! 

Together As One at The Beyond Our Doors Dinner

Hey everyone! Our client recently celebrated their goal of providing back to the community and staying green with their annual Beyond Our Doors dinner this past September. Highlights of the night include organic dinner choices, eco-friendly table arrangements and a picture that literally brought the room together. Details below!

A light cocktail happy hour was followed by dinner choices of Grilled Free Range Airline Chicken Beast, Line Caught Halibut or a vegetarian Giant Ravioli. Mango Sorbet with fresh organic berries and mint garnished with petit four was served as desert during the night’s main presentation. 

Keeping in theme with the Kaiser’s goal of helping communities and staying eco–conscious, the night’s centerpieces transformed each table into a community garden of sorts as each centerpiece used organic fruits and vegetables which guests were encouraged to harvest from and take home at the end of the evening. Reusable bags where distributed in lieu of plastic bags.

Another take away item that guests were treated to at the end of the night was a poster spelling out the word “Together” with photos of guests taken earlier in the evening. With the help of Cotton Photography, Simply Mumtaz Events took snap shots of guests as they arrived and complied their faces into the collage and distributing copies after revealing a framed version to guests.

The quick turn around for “Together” posters couldn’t have been accomplished without our graphic designer Jahel! A big thank you to the rest of the Simply Mumtaz Events team and everyone involved!

Stay tuned for details from Joella Hopkins and Jennifer Minzey’s FAM trip to Albuquerque, New Mexico and IMEX America 2011 in Las Vegas, Neveda.

Jennifer highlights ISES LA's Annual JAM

This post brought to you by Jennifer Minzey, VP of Education & Programs for your local ISES LA Chapter. On September 20^th, ISES Greater Los Angeles was proud to produce the Annual ISES LA JAM (Joint Allied Mixer) at Santa Anita Parkway. 

This year's educational sessions were presented by two experts who addressed what our special events industry is looking towards in 2012. Beverly Oviedo, CMP addressed the crowd about the new ISO Standards being drafted for going Green and pending approval for 2012.  Our other expert, Robert Kempken, VP of IBIS World, discussed the grim outlook that our industry is still facing.  But, he said that being creative, marketing ourselves, and thinking outside of the box is the best approach for surviving this climate.  He was a popular speaker with our attendees and remained afterwards to answer everyone’s questions.  

The tradeshow that followed was fun because I got to see familiar faces and meet news ones.  J & M Entertainment Event Production, Plan It Interactive, Party Pals, and AFR Furnishings, just to name a few.

There was a cool new product from LA Photo Party that I particularly liked, which was their Photo Party Upload, they can take a photo of you at your event and then you post it to any social media site on the spot! It was very cool! We are hoping to use it for an upcoming event in the spring! 

The evening was filled with friends, food, and drinks…all of which turned into professional fun at another ISES LA event!  Hope to see you at the next ISES event, Meet the Masters on November 14^th at the Millennium Biltmore!   Special Thanks to Joelle Leder Photography!