JOIN OUR LIST
Keep your party fresh with some ideas for personalizing your event space!
Create your very own batch of M&Ms! You can choose to print words or pictures on the chocolate candies here.
We couldn’t help but fall in love with all the traditional decorations of the Diwali festival! One of these decorations, Rangoli Art, can be seen on streets, walkways, and floors in India during Diwali in order to welcome Lakshmi Mata (Goddess of Wealth). Rangoli is traditionally made from products of nature such as rice and flour. Decorating with Rangoli Art helps capture the essence of Indian culture with its vibrant colors and brings the festival of Diwali to life both in the streets and at home. Try adding some Rangoli Art to your home this week!
For me it’s about helping each other out, calming down, staying focused, moving forward and building from the inside out.
The economy is in a downturn but it’s just a temporary setback. History has shown us that the economy will always fluctuate. The important thing to remember is that we have a choice whether to go with it or not. I choose to take advantage of the opportunities it offers rather than limit myself to it’s restrictions.
Fear and anxiety are not barriers, they’re learning tools. This always helps motivate me to remain strong and forces me to create a larger context within myself. One that‘s always larger than the challenges I face. It’s actually a survival mechanism that we all have that has allowed man to survive these many eons. If we can create these problems we can survive them, and in fact we can flourish because of them.
Instead of hunkering down and weathering the storm why not take advantage of the strong winds and expand. That’s right it’s only a storm, and when the rain pours down, what do we do…we go inside and find something else to do till it ends. So what can we do till this one ends.
Here’s a few suggestions that might help:
• How about working out twice as much, simply because you have the time now. Get stronger, leaner, lose a few pounds and feel better at the same time. Costs nothing but your time and effort right? Take advantage of the break and relieve stress.
• Spend more time with your family and friends because you probably owe it to them anyway. Don’t forget that life goes on with or without the job. When was the last time you called someone up and said, “let’s have a coffee and catch up”?
• Clean out and organize everything, everywhere, and prepare yourself for the work that’s going to come. Clean it out and it will come… tons of psychic energy lies stored in that disorganized desk or office or closet or tool shed. Throw some awareness into it, clean it up and suddenly new opportunities abound.
• Team up with your vendors and visit your regular clients. Offer a 15% discount across the board. This makes your events more affordable and helps accommodate the rough times. Some profit is better then none.
• Read every special event magazine and update your thinking with the newest and coolest trends and techniques that per tain to your business. Strive to catch up on what’s needed and wanted. You’d be surprised how much it rejuvenates the excitement and imagination and gets those entrepreneurial juices flowing.
I’m fortunate to have stumbled onto some great business magazines recently.They reminded me that my instincts are still intact, and that I still have a compass. Sometimes it’s lead me to some very challenging shores but always I’ve returned a different person and always the better for it.
I feel like we’re all in school again, and the recession has forced us back to the books. So I’m learning and growing and preparing…and when the winds of fortune change once again, (and they will), then this girl’s sails will be ready, and so will yours.
• Give your website a face-lift, (I’m doing this right now). Prepare to send out new products.Think of it as designing a new storefront window for your customers; give them something they haven’t seen before.
• Think about a five minute video presentation. Brainstorm about ways to bring your product and your company to life. It’s like a living, breathing business card. Expensive maybe, but energy ‘in’ equals energy ‘out.’ Make it entertaining and fun.
• Meet with new vendors, possible new clients or regular associates. Build up your relationships.
• Pay attention to your next possible clients. What markets are launching new brands, new products, who are they, do they know about your company, and what it has to offer? They are your next clients.
• What new ideas are you bringing to repeat clients? Time to take chances and expand your reach. What are your new products, new ‘green’ ideas, new bands, entertainment etc., what ever it is, bring it to the table. Everyone gets excited about something you’re excited about so get excited! Nothing breeds participation like enthusiasm. You are the best commercial for your company.
• Who are your associates and who rocks the crowd? Promote your team. Are you excited about who you know and can you sell them as well as yourself? Remember what comes around goes around. As Andrew Carnegie said “You can get anything you want in life if you help enough people get what they want.”
• You have heard it all before but getting a group together whether for business or pleasure is a powerful experience. Meeting them face to face in celebration is a great way to drum up business, cultivate new relationships, and bond with old ones. Simply throwing a party is more powerful than any other marketing technique. Remember why we do what we do!
• Give some time towards fundraisers, charities, or other philanthropic cause. Give of yourself, your time and your resources. Find places where you can be of service for nothing more than the feeling of giving. A nursing home, a children’s hospital; you’ll be surprised how much more expanded you will feel and how much more capable you seem to become.
It’s like a forest fire that purges the landscape to make way for a new more vibrant foliage. These difficult times are not a curse but an opportunity to regroup and re-plant. Time for new seeds, time to change. And change is what we do best. That’s why we’re called Ameri“cans”, not Ameri“cant’s”… or in my case “Can”ada not “Can’t”nada.
In closing, my advice to myself and anyone else who cares to listen is to learn from these times, learn patience by being patient, learn compassion by showing compassion, and most important, learn trust by trusting.
We as successful business men and women haven’t come this far by backing away from the challenges… but by stepping up. When the going gets tough the tough get going.
Stay healthy and happy and keep your eyes on the prize, and I’ll see you all at the top.
Warmest Regards,
Cheryl
Sequoia Productions believes that good food and service is almost as important as the event itself. Pairing food and beverages with your theme will help create a consistent and enjoyable atmosphere for all your guests. Kensington Caterers is a specialized catering service that designs their menu to meet the needs of their client and the tone of the event. Among their wide variety of services, spanning from specialized staff to valet parking, Kensington Caterers also boasts a Kosher division for traditional celebrations.
In keeping with our “Non-Traditional Fall Wedding” theme this week, Kensington Caterers has provided a Fall Wedding menu for our readers.
The Hallmark Channel is one of the many successful branches of Hallmark Cards Inc, a 4.1 billion dollar company. To celebrate 10 years of the network and production company’s achievements, including 80 Emmys®, Hallmark requested the services of Sequoia Productions to create a centerpiece for their anniversary celebration.
The challenge for Sequoia Productions was to honor the client’s style guide and branding, while providing a unique concept for the specific occasion. In this case study, you can see the process that lead from the initial idea to the final result above.
When creating any aspect of an event, a skilled event planner knows how to respond to a client’s needs and create an end product they will be thrilled with. Sequoia Productions began by drafting an initial mockup (pictured at left).
Early concept images help the client clarify what they desire for their event. Sequoia Productions works with the philosophy that excellent event planning involves active listening so that the client’s dream transforms into the perfect final product. After further consultation with Hallmark, Sequoia Productions developed the following new rendering(pictured below):
It was this option that Hallmark decided to proceed with. You can see how it came to life in a full display for the event in the photograph at the beginning of this post.
With over 100 years in the business it is no wonder that Hallmark has, and will continue to be, one of the most recognizable brands in the world. Sequoia Productions’ concept was able to utilize the familiar Hallmark branding and add a fun twist, which made the event all the more memorable. When working with brands, remember that it is essential both to uphold brand consistency as well as offer a new angle that is memorable for guests, such as the delicious cupcakes that filled the purple “10″ here.
Make your Pan Am viewing party as authentic as possible by integrated 1960s fashion into the night! We loved this video on the 1963 London Fashion Awards for inspiration. If you want to channel Mary Quant, try a sleek turtleneck, plaid skirt and bright tights. You can even throw on a pillbox hat for fun!
To style your night closer to what the Pan Am stewardesses will be wearing, pair a colorful knee high skirt with a fitted jacket and white gloves. For the men in your party, a black suit with a white shirt matched with a gray tie and a top hat will portray the clean-cut stylings of the Pan Am pilots.
Dinair Airbrush Makeup created twelve fantastic designs, which were sprayed on the waiters, bartenders and aerialists at the 63rd Primetime Emmys Governors Ball. Founded by Dina Ousley, award winning professional makeup artist and cosmetologist, Dinair is the originator of the airbrush makeup which revolutionized the cosmetics industry. Unlike traditional makeup (where you rub makeup into your skin), airbrushing sprays a fine mist, so the makeup ”sits evenly” on your skin. Dinair was the obvious choice when Sequoia’s concept for the Primetime Emmys Ball included makeup designs on the faces of waiters, aerialist performers and bartenders. Dinair’s makeup artists bring spirit and joy to their work and the airbrush makeup area is sure to be tremendous fun as everyone prepares to open the doors for the Ball!
This week, Sequoia was delighted to discover that Sam Zien, The Cooking Guy, has a new book out called Just Grill This! Given our desire to support you in creating a fun and original gathering for Labor Day, spotlighting Sam, a twelve-time local Emmy Award winner, was an easy choice.
As his fans know, grilling is one of Sam’s favorite ways to cook, and he’s not afraid to use a grill pan when the weather is less than ideal. Whether it’s inside or outside, anyone with the most basic ingredients and equipment can be a star—and a well-fed one at that. Sam starts off Just Grill This with a few grilling do’s and don’ts (take meat out of the fridge 30 minutes before you plan on cooking it; sweet sauces should be applied in the last five minutes; always keep a spare propane tank on-hand), as well as a section on simple rubs and sauces that will make a huge flavor difference.
If you’d like to add even more options to Carol Cecchetto’s fantastic menu for this week, Check out Just Grill This! for inspiration. (Sam was generous enough to allow us to use his Mexican Grilled Corn recipe on the blog!)
