Low Budget High Class! Annual Dinner Event at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel

March has been a fantastic month for us and we are thrilled to post about our Low Budget High Class which really means a happier client with a higher Net! As always, the Millenium Biltmore was gorgeous so, just a splash of color and we were set. We had a bit larger than expected silent auction, but it was fantastic to present attendees with the items upon entrance into the ballroom. Since we wanted to give our guests more time in front of the silent auction in addition to a closer proximity to each other we combined the reception and ballroom space. We simply placed rope and stanchions and cleared once we were ready to invite guests to be seated. We went with all hotel linens to save on budget but spent a few hundred on purple napkins, along side the centerpieces and accent purple lighting. We were able to bring enough "polish" to the space to make it seem produced above your standard in house event (not that the Biltmore isn't already glam!)

It was also a pleasure working with all of our honorees, but it was fun working with the Good News Foundation! It's really nice seeing strong and successful women giving back to the community. This was the case with all of the event's honorees - Evon Gotlieb, Yolie Flores, and Wells Fargo for their corporate leadership.

We are very much looking forward to next year's event! Remember - Make sure to take part in civic leadership, register to vote, and make democracy work! Follow our client on Twitter at @LWVLosAngelesEF

MME at Castle Green in Pasadena!

One of our client's wanted a unique venue for their annual Tribute Dinner - and that's completely what we found with the Castle Green in Pasadena. This was not your everyday dinner event, we incorporated elements of the event and honoree into various aspects of the 200+ "intimate" dinner event.

The entrance to the beautiful Castle Green where the Tribute Dinner reception was held.

So, the fun giveaway.. Porsche thumbdrives were given out to attendees in honor of our honorees love of racing and cars. It was a fun touch that really made it unique and personable.

The Romanesque Room was a fun place to light! We used very little additional decor elements allowing the lighting to dictate the decor.

The President of the National Health Foundation, J. Eugene Grigsby, III (left), pictured with the honoree, Dr. Richard E. Yochum (right).

Our Mumtaz Marketing & Events team! Special Thanks go out to all of our vendors for making this event happen! We doubled in size and it was an overwhelming success for our client. Stay tuned for this weekend's post on the next event...  

Not your usual Board Meeting! It's FIDM Style

Unique Board Meetings at FIDM... Association members, Fashion Institute of Design Merchandising, also known as FIDM, hosted one of our client's March board meeting. It's always a great experience when FIDM hosts! This year in conjucntion with the meeting, FIDM is also hosting the 20th Annual Art of Motion Picture Costume Design Exhibition from Februrary 14th - April 28th, 2012. This year's exhibit featured costumes from movies such as J. Edgar, Water For Elephants, The Help, Super 8, and Captain America.

Members enjoyed exploring the exhibit and seeing the exceptional work of the award-winning costume designers, some of which are FIDM alumni and associates. This fashion school is always great about showcasing it's students and alumni, whose work is always top of the line. FIDM strives to stay ahead of current trends and innovation within the fashion industry. This exhibit for example, started with less than 40 costumes, and has grown to be a "critically acclaimed event featuring well over one hundred costumes per year-making it the largest annual curated exhibitation dedicated to the presentation of film costumes in the world." Below is a gallery of pictures featuring our members enjoying the exhibit, take a look!   

ISES LA's: Speed Pitching...

Hey everyone... I am becoming a regular now. It's Minzey reporting in for ISES LA. As the VP of Programs & Education, I was able to produce another education based event,  ISES LA’s Speed Pitching, last week at the Luxe Hotel on Sunset.  The real idea behind this education session came straight from The Special Event Conference Speed Pitching education session. I figured that people who didn’t make it out to Florida for TSE this year, could still have some part of TSE here in Los Angeles!   I was right!  We landed up selling out the room and everyone really enjoyed themselves. 

I was lucky enough to have Andrea Michaels, Extraordinary Events, to agree to be the Presenter for this education session.  She brought on Greg Christy, BriteIdeas, Inc., Liese Gardner, Event Solutions, Cheryl Fish, Someone’s in theKitchen, Greg Jenkins, Bravo Productions, Lisa Hurley, Special Events Magazine, Ian Seeberg, a Creative Director and Writer and Ruth Moyte, Red Dandelion Creative to judge the Speed Pitching. 

I was part of one of the winning tables and we were able to present our 2 minute speed pitch to the rest of the group.  One of our first time attendees, Ned Shapiro, At Any Event, said of his first time at an ISES LA event, “What a great introduction to a great organization for a First Timer like me. I'll be back again at Lawry's.”  I couldn’t have said it better myself! 

Hope to see you at our next event on March 28^th at Lawry’s where we are featuring John Klymshyn, The Art of Living: Connecting Your Life's Work to Work You Do Every Day"