Zev at Mumtaz' DTLA March Association Meeting

Mumtaz Marketing & Events started March contributing to the development of transportation in Downtown L.A. by organizing a very interesting presentation by Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky on March 7 at the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising (FIDM). It is amazing to see the relentless business growth of Downtown L.A. throughout the past 15 years and continue to be part of this bloom while observing the impact it has powering our economy, specifically in Arts & Culture.  The number of people attracted to Downtown LA by large venues such as LA Live and Staples Center between many others has a strong impact on restaurant, hotels and other types businesses for which the development of transportation is necessary. New projects were presented and discussed during this meeting in order to facilitate the flow of people coming in and increase the business success even more during the next years to come.

We will have more Mumtaz news for you coming up, stay tuned!

Will we see you at CalSae?

Will we see you at the California Society of Association Executives Annual Elevate Conference? Mumtaz President Joella Hopkins, CSEP, CMP will be participating as a speaker. The Elevate Conference is being held in San Francisco on April 17-19. 

Joella will be presenting alongside some amazing leaders in the industry as part of Ignite! The Ignite format features quick nuggets of knowledge presented in 20 slides that auto-advance every 15 seconds! It's fast! It's exciting! It's educational! Each presentation will be followed by Q&A with the presenter. Joella will be presenting "What Message Are Your Events Sending?" The brief description reads...Tired of the same old monthly member meetings? Make those necessary meetings count towards building member retention by bringing your members one very important message… Their membership dollars are vital to their success. Ensure your brand is developed and distinguished; that you deliver a message in the form of an experience that allows members to remember why they continue to be a part of your organization. This is what they buy – your brand and what is says you can deliver!

Whether you start from the top down or from the down up your overall marketing plan must fall in line with your association’s business goals. This means that as part of each reception, meeting, conference, or special event that your touch points are delivering a carefully and thought out message. Your event departments are constantly in touch with your members – shouldn’t that be strategic department?

We look forward to seeing you there!

Yup, ASAE12 Dallas - Reporting In #1

It's very exciting - we are closing down ASAE2012 as we speak in Dallas! What a wonderful few days... So here's our first report. Joella will be posting one more to close out the highlights and top take home tips... But, first we need to give mad props to Debbie Meyers of Bravo Entertainment because without her generosity we wouldn't have been able to make it out. Thank you!

Day #1 - Arrival & Opening Night at Cowboy Stadium!
ASAE 2012 was held at the Dallas Convention Center. This was our third time in Dallas in recent years and the Dallas CVB did a great job ensuring the 12,000 attendees were happily welcomed!

Once checked in we all got geared up for the Opening Night Reception being held at Cowboy Stadium. Wow, what an experience! Again, big kudos go out to the team producing the event especially Bravo Entertainment! You can also follow them on Twitter at @BravoforU. Here are a few photos...  Upon arriving we were greeted by the famous Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, Gorgeous Living Carpet Gals, Live Music, DJs, and a ton of food and open bars! Then, as you got closer to peer down on the field you realized there was this ginormous LED screen that was streaming live interviews of attendees. Then, you realized at some point they were going to get us down onto the field because as you can see below it was ready! Lounges, Bars, Activities, and a Stage!

Below is the newest & coolest thing in the DJ world. Touch Screen DJ! www.touchscreendjs.com

OK, just about to get on the field...

Yup, that's some of our attendees being kids running around and posing on the 50 yard line's Cowboy Star! LOL!

Ran into the Master of Sass - Steve Kemble!

OK, so now all attention is on center stage... Loved Cowboy Troy plus... Big and Rich. They did a phenomenal job!

OK, so the following morning was Opening General Session plus Education Sessions - Here's our top take homes!

1. If recording your act - Record the full rehearsal! Just in case, you never know...
2. Create schedule for comprehensive integrated marketing including social media outlets
3. Customers expect a 2 hour response off Face Book & 30 minutes off Twitter. Make sure someone monitoring your outlets
4. Super simple Sponsored give away - Branded cleaning cloths! Make it practical
5. Check out http://www.socialmediagovernance.com for a guideline for your org
6.  Click thru rate of emails that contain video are 3 times higher. Video is the next thing... 

That's REPORT #1 - See you within the next 48 for our follow up post!                  

Loving Us Takami & Elevate Lounge in Downtown LA!

Hey local Angelenos! If you haven't been down to see this space it's a must! We recently produced a reception for just over 350 and you just couldn't keep your eyes off the gorgeous view plus the inviting open design of the space.

 This event recognized our City's Elected Officials and their Chiefs of Staff. We all know it takes a village, but those that lead also couldn't do it without their Number Two's!

 And, here's part of our Mumtaz Team taking a quick shot during the event! We also need to give a shot out to Cara and Mike from the site for their tremendous support! Thank you!

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!   

Can't Beat A Meeting On Stage at The Orpheum

This past week it was a blast producing an association's monthly board meeting on the stage at The Orpheum Theatre in Downtown Los Angeles. The historic theatre was and always has been gorgeous. There is nothing like just standing in awe of the theatre. LA. County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky took time from his schedule to serve as our guest speaker.

 Special thanks to Steve Needleman for hosting yet another fantastic afternoon.

2011's Best Events at Simply Mumtaz!

Hey everyone! So, we are thrilled and excited to post the most memorable, fun, thought-provoking events of 2011... So, here goes

Our first event that was more challenging and fun than anything else... It was at the super cool Natural History Museum in Los Angeles and we had a 4pm load in for a 6pm start... For technical production, dropping tables, chairs, linens, florals - you name it! It was really cool though as guests walked in the main entrance and were able to do an abbreviated tour of the museum - the bone skeletons were striking!

Our annual signature event was awash in purple and Farmers Field... We are excited about producing this coming year's event... more purple? We'll see... It was also fun to coordinate the opening act with three mayoral candidates. It really was an awesome act and there has been no better rendition of Downtown!

Next up was one of those events that happens to just run as smooth as possible... At least that's how we want to remember it...  LOL, so I never recommend client's to have someone sing the national anthem since it's not a sporting event type of thing, but with this audience and client it seemed like an interesting idea... It was a smash hit! Alex bolted it out and you couldn't stop your jaw from hitting the ground. Miscommunication with florist and we ended up 3 centerpieces short - literally found 3 on the fly (like 1 1/2 hours), and then the technical production worked like a charm and it all came together fantastically!

This summer was fun because we got to work with our clients again from last year's Centennial Aviation Day event. It was a fun, down-to-earth family reunion. So, our client and I have had some words over the last few years and we put $200 on the line for 3 balls to get him on the Dunk Tank! Needless to say, it was all in good fun but boy did it feel good taking this photo!



Next to last was this event where we internally like to brag as our logistical accomplishment! We had everyone that was attending stop before they got to registration by being greeted by hosts, take headshots, then those headshots were quickly edited with a graphic designer on-site into this program where we put them (everyone's headshots) into the above image... The whole theme of the event is individually we can come together and make a difference... So, together there is an image. Over the course of dinner we scrambled to get the artwork done, off to an off-site printer to print 11X17 posters for 250 attendees, back, rolled, ribboned and handed out as their departing gift! This image was also presented in a framed image and the on screens by the last speaker! It was a feel good event that really made you proud to be a part of an organization that truly cared about being a true corporate citizen.

Finally, in 10 days we produced an outdoor event with the makings to take your breath away... High pressure gourmet meals that spoke to the excellence of high class, weather that caused the temperatures to drop, last minute details, and everything else... LOL, this was an accomplishment for all of us at SME and our partners.

And, with that... Those are our favorite events for this year...  Here's to an outstanding 2012 for all of us personally and professionally! May the best be yet to come...  Happy New Year!

Sneak Peaks of Farmers Field and FIGat7TH

Also recently, SME had the opportunity of having some of the finest architects in one room discussing their plans to revitalize downtown LA at our client’s event!

More than 150 guests got sneak peaks at LA’s soon be football field, Farmers Field, the reinvention of 7th & Fig to FIGat7TH, and many more projects in and around downtown LA. There was definitely lots of excitement in the room when plans for a Target in downtown were brought up! Commercial interior design firms and other businesses were able to get face time with guests as well before lunch was served.

Below Michael Maltzan, FAIA of Michael Maltzan Architecture presents at the luncheon. We were also excited to work with him because he designed the Carver Apartments for Skid Row Housing Trust and which we managed the Grand Opening for... It is a small world.  

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!

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!