REPORT: 2012 The Special Event Show Conference (TSE)

Hey everybody! Minzey reporting in...

My trip out to Florida for The Special Event was nothing short of FANTASTIC! I had a great time meeting with colleagues from all over the world and seeing familiar faces that I get to see once a year!

My trip started this year with ISES Leadership Meetings, where I felt energized and inspired to bring home tools for both my job here at Mumtaz Marketing & Events and back to my ISES LA Board and my Programs Committee.

The highlight of the conference has always been the wedding gallery and the wedding lunch. This year wasn’t any different. My favorite wedding gallery was none other than Youngsong Martin’s of Wildflower Linen. Her design of “The Seasons” were impeccable! My favorite tabletop was the “Spring” Twilight inspired table.  It was absolutely gorgeous! 

The wedding lunch this year, was actually a Wedding Dinner and was a presentation of the design behind this massive space of the size of an airplane hangar!  It was great to see how much effort was had to put it all together. Check out these amazing photos!

Here are some tips from The Special Event Education:

·       Pay your interns!  You will get a more productive intern and they will take pride in their work.   They are creative and you can mold them into you!   

·      Don’t judge a book by its cover.  Finding the right person for the job is hard in our industry, you never know what might walk through your door! 

The relationships that you build at TSE, can carry you through for the next 10-20 years. You never know when you might need.  You might have to call up someone in London, Chicago or Canada.  So get to know your industry colleagues The Special Event and throughout the Special Events industry, cause you never know when they will need your help or vice-versa.

We also had the opportunity to play hookie for an afternoon and went to see the Manatees! So, here's one saying Hi!

Guest Blog - Eddie Zarastian from Tic-Tock Couture Florals

We (Your Simply Mumtaz team) are very excietd to present our next Guest Blogger - Eddie Zarastian from Tic-Tock Couture Florals! He's a fabulous florist and an amazing colleague. Please enjoy the photos and his Top Tips for Planners Working with Florists... But, first a little about Eddie and a special congrats on being named Event Solution's 2011 Creative Director of the Year!

Eddie Zarastian has come a long way in the years since he took his place as one of the youngest ever inductees to the American Institute of Floral Designers. And 2010 was a year of unprecendented growth and fun! Between gorgeous weddings and events, shoots for Ceremony Magazine and Grace Ormonde's Wedding Style, not only has the Creative Director for tic-tock Couture Florals somehow managed to work with some of the industry's best, and do not one, but *two* episodes of David Tutera's My Fair Wedding. He was also a contestant on the inaugural season of the Logo Networks' hot new show, The Arrangement. For several weeks, Eddie spent his days going toe-to-toe with nine other floral designers in fierce rounds of competition and elimination battles that would make other designers wilt. And, though he may not have said it at the time (what with all of those late, late nights shooting and early, early mornings at the flower market?) he loved every minute of it and from the moment it wrapped could not *wait* for it to air! He started 2011 off with a bang, working with one of his personal heroes Oprah Winfrey and spending New Year's Day doing the launch of OWN, the Oprah Winfrey Network.

Top Tips directly from Eddie...

Planners, you want the very best from your floral designers and we want to give it to you. Here are a few tips from the "help us help you" category:

1. Communication: Yes, please. Share the details, the look, the feel, the smell. the taste, the color pallet, the texture. Have photos from previous events? Inspiration? Are we looking for something understated for the board of directors or something over the top and celebratory for the top sales people? Sharing all the details from the beginning means we're going to have everything we need to "knock it out of the park". 2. Let's get to know each other. You, your client and I. Let's all take a look at each other's websites, check out past events, portfolios, get a feel for who each other are, what we do and what we love. 3. Please understand that we can not just do "less" of a particular design to bring down the budget. We can create something for you within your budget but asking for a $200 version of a $600 design just doesn't really work. 4. Speaking of budget, what is it? It shouldn't be a secret. A talented designer can create the look and feel the client wants in a range of budgets. We've all had those moments where we tell the client about something, or show it to them and then watch them nearly keel over when they find out how much it costs. Now, they're disappointed and feel like they can't have the very best, which simply isn't true. That's why we generally work this way: tell us about the look, the feel, the overall vision...tell us about the dream. Then tell us what we have to work with. Then let us do what we do. We will create something that says just the right thing with just the right budget.

Thank you for reading Eddie's Guest Blog... Hope you enjoyed it! Stay tuned for Molly Ann from Luminaire Images as next month's Guest Blogger.