We’re hitting the road for the summer! Starfish Creative Events is running the “Grease” video game tour by 505 Games and Paramount Pictures, giving fans across the country a SNEAK PREVIEW at this hot game before it releases in the fall. Look for the big Grease video game truck in your city this summer! Play the game complete with wireless mics, steering wheels, Wii balance boards and a whole lot of groovin’ to the Pink Ladies and the T-Birds. Locations subject to change. Email info@starfish-events.com for more info. Enjoy these SUMMER NIGHTS!

Los Angeles:

6/25 “Grease The Musical” Opening Night at the Hermosa Beach Playhouse (Hermosa Beach, CA)

7/3  “Grease” Screening and Sing-A-Long at the Beach Club (Long Beach, CA)

7/9  “Grease” Sing-A-Long at the AMC Century City (Los Angeles, CA)

San Diego:

6/28  Youth Media and Tech Camp Opening Day (San Diego, CA)

Phoenix:

7/8  Castles N Coasters Theme Park (Phoenix, AZ)

7/9  Wet ‘N Wild Dive ‘N Movie (Phoenix, AZ)

Chicago:

7/14 Lincoln Park Zoo (Chicago, IL)

7/15  Vernon Hills Summer Celebration Opening Night   (Chicago, IL)

Philadelphia:

7/17  100.3 The Beat’s Global Fusion Festival (Philadelphia, PA)

7/18  Ocean County Fair (Township, NJ)

New York City:

7/21 RiverFlicks Outdoor Movie (New York City, NY)

7/24 Mountain Creek Water Park (Vernon, NJ)

Washington DC:

7/26  Maryland Sciencec Center (Baltimore, MD)

7/27 Kings Dominion Amusement Park (Doswell, VA)

Atlanta:

7/29 Atlantic Station Movies and The Market (Atlanta, GA)

8/1   Heritage Park Summer Concert Series (Atlanta, GA)

Orlando:

8/3 Nickelodeon Family Resort (Orlando, FL)

8/4 Busch Gardens (Orlando, FL)

Last year we brought you our tips for how to plan a successful business meeting (if you missed it, click here to read! 

Create customized music.  Hire a professional DJ to create music mixes just for your meeting.  Music inspires and excites crowds.  This is a great way to combine popular music that fits the mood of the meeting with personalized special effects in the music that pertain just to your company.  For example, for music that is played prior and immediately following the presentation as guests are mingling, mix top 40 hits with sound effects or taglines from company commercials or names of products creatively placed within the music.  Following the meeting email the mp3 (complimentary of course) to the company to add to their own iTunes lists.    

Design lighting schemes.  Treat your company meeting like how you would treat a special event.  The most important category to splurge on at any event is lighting design.  Lighting transforms a room from a standard beige or gray meeting room into a unique room that pops.  If your presentation alone doesn’t keep guests awake, this sure will!  Lighting design doesn’t mean giving the room a dance club feel (unless that’s what you are going for), it can be subtle while still giving the room a whole new look, such as using uplights in soft colors. 

Produce robust tables.  If using round or banquet tables at your meeting, fill them up.  Barren tables look depressing.   Make sure there’s bottled water on the tables and/or pitches of juice, pads and paper for note-taking (this usually can be supplied, complimentary, by the facility, especially if you’re hosting your meeting at a hotel), bowls of candy, etc. If you have the extra money, add centerpieces as well.      

Don’t forget the giveaways.  People love receiving stuff.  This is why at tradeshows when booths are giving away items, no matter how cheesy, they get the most foot traffic.  Impress guests by leaving them with a parting gift.  Save some money by asking corporate partners to give promotional items to add to your gift bags.  If you do have the money to spend, spend it on items that guests will keep and treasure, such as items that they can display on their office desks for years to come, or on more practical gifts, such as USB drives that contain the presentation documents.   

Leave that lasting impression.  There’s always room to leave a lasting impression after your meeting has ended.  As guests exit the doors, have an experience waiting for them.  Have a band in the lobby singing tunes or have costume characters cheering guests on and offering memorable photo ops.  Surprise them when they least expect it.  

This month’s delicious installment will discuss my personal take on adapting ala carte gourmet restaurant principals to independent catering, and how it affects food quality and service. When I was going through the motions of interning, studying and working for experience, I always looked at catering as a lost art.  

Catering has grown with the demand for exclusivity and necessity; on one hand there is the luxury of having a Chef cook a restaurant quality meal in the comfort of your own home or your office for lunch, and on the other hand you have the state of our economy and the shortage of disposable income to pay for luxuries such as these. Catering has far too long been a throw away expense, or requests to cut back on price meant cutting back on quality.  Every chef I know dreaded those calls!

However since working in California, my perspective on catering has changed entirely. The need for fresh, restaurant quality meals is abundant, attainable and affordable for the consumer. One large way we’ve made it possible is through what I’ve has come up with as the “Family Meal” catering model, to offer clients something better than what they’ll find by ordering through LA Bite or fast food catering services.  Serving numerous clients a day, I cross utilize products as much as possible among clients, therefore keeping cost to customers far below what they are used to seeing.  Plus this guarantees that I will use the freshest and most abundant ingredients available that day, because they are in-season and cost effective.

I am also constantly pushing the catering envelope with not only what, but how I serve. As an example, here is a menu served to 40 people family-style that I actually just served about an hour ago. Where else can you get this type of meal for a standard office-budget?  I’m proud of what I serve, always, and do what I can to take care of my customers.  Following the menu you will find feedback from the customer.

Seared Albacore and Tenders Fillet Steak Tips

Cilantro & Lime Steamed Rice

Peanut Homemade Corn Cakes

Three Black bean relish

Nappa, Romaine, and Kim Chee salad

“…Last few days the food has been quite great. I like the addition of great vegetarian options and leguminous salads etc. The vegetables used are fresh and excellent. I am quite satisfied with the quality….”  -Sid

If anyone would like to discuss a Family Meal, please feel free to email me. Healthy and productive = that is my goal with ALL my customers.

Eddie

fairweathercatering@gmail.com

Reds, whites, sparkling, and dessert, let’s be honest, wine is taking over!  Looking for a fun atmosphere with a variety of wine? Los Angeles is filled with trendy places for those of you who enjoy a good glass of wine or even for those looking to try something new.  Tired of crowded bars? Wine bars are great places for a cozier scene to where one can relax and enjoy good conversation. Whether it is dinner, wine classes, or wine pairing events,

When it comes to a local hangout, Bodega wine bar is a must! (http://www.bodegawinebar.com/)  With two locations – one in Santa Monica and one in Pasadena – this wine bar is nothing short of a good time! Bodega’s philosophy of “having fun, trying something new, sharing, and trusting your taste,” can make any wine enthusiast feel welcomed and ready to kick back and relax in this casual atmosphere. This place is great for private parties or even singles ready to mingle. The people who work at Bodega encourage and often insist on introducing people to make that atmosphere even friendlier.  To keep this scene even simpler, all wines are priced the same. Not sure what to choose? The bartenders are more than willing to explain the taste of each.  When “trusting your taste,” Bodega supports making up “your own mind” and “never worrying about what wine critics have to say.” They strongly believe that what tastes good to you, should always be considered a good glass of wine!

All this talk about wine making you hungry? Bodega also has well priced appetizers that pair very well with their selection.  From the traditional cheese plates to a warm chocolate brownie, Bodega makes wine and food a night to indulge and to let your taste buds explore what goes best with certain wines.   

Now for those of you who don’t know much about wine but are willing to learn, Ugo Wine Bar in Culver City is the place for you! (http://www.cafeugo.com/) Great for a fun night out, or an intimate date, Ugo’s Wine bar allows you to taste as many wines as you please without feeling overwhelmed. The way Ugo works is one is able to fill a debit card with as much money as they want.  The wines are separated into different categories and even have a brief synopsis of where they came from, how they are made, and the pairing that goes best with their specific taste.

The great idea about this is that ten dollars is plenty!  If one glass does not meet your needs, you can just as easy pour the glass out and move on to the next one. Also, the card never expires. If you are ready to call it a night, yet still have money on your card, you can come back any time to try more wines. Ugo’s Wine Bar is a great place for a date!  To ease the pressure, what makes this place perfect is the fact that if the conversation dies, the different synopsis of wines around you can pick it right back up.  The intimate setting also helps if you’re past that awkward stage and just enjoy the romantic ambiance.  Now that you feel more like a wine connoisseur, I hope you enjoy the diversity wine can bring.

Rita

Fundraising events can be incredibly valuable for nonprofit organizations – if planned well, a successful event creates opportunities to bring visibility to the organization’s mission, meet potential donors and volunteers, while raising money for the cause. With the time and effort invested in creating an event, nonprofit organizations should aim to keep these three goals in mind when considering an event.

Many premier benefits utilize a part of or the entire following format: a formal, high-ticket dinner in a premier location with a souvenir journal or auction to provide for additional fundraising opportunities.  The benefit typically honors an honoree to optimize revenue; someone who epitomizes a commitment to excellence to the organization’s cause or mission and willing to support the organization’s purpose by holding the event. 

How does a nonprofit organization with a tight budget put on a successful event where they make new friends and fundraise as well as get the most bang for their buck?  Recruiting volunteers and incorporating major sponsors into the planning process early on is key to meeting your fundraising goal.

To find potential underwriters and corporate sponsors, start with your board of trustees or volunteers who are invested in your organization – they can help identify major donors and corporate sponsors who may have a connection to the cause and can act as your liaison by making the “ask”. It is critical to know what type of audience your event will draw as well as the level of involvement and visibility the potential sponsor desires.

That said, it is also important to provide various recognition opportunities (e.g., title, food and beverage, gifting sponsorship); customizing these opportunities is essential to securing sponsorships that fit a corporation’s marketing strategy.  Keep in mind also, that while sponsors give out of good will, the additional benefits your event provides also include:

• Tax write-off
• Co-branding opportunity
• Industry/networking event to garner new contacts and develop new business
• Association with a good mission

Other key elements to consider:

Date

Before selecting a date, make sure to check event calendars in your area, such as BizBash Masterplanner or The Los Angeles Times’ calendar now known as The Guide, to prevent competition with other events.  It is also helpful to have an idea of when other nonprofits are having their signature fundraising events –BizBash also has a list of Southern California’s Top Benefits.

http://www.masterplanneronline.com/losangeles

http://theguide.latimes.com

http://www.bizbash.com/losangeles/content/editorial/14379_southern_californias_top_benefits_2009.php

Depending on the event’s target audience, make sure to look up dates on big industry events (e.g., if you’re planning a fundraising dinner or gala that is heavily supported by the entertainment industry — double check dates on the Grammys, Golden Globes, Emmys, etc.).

Event Team

Relationship management and communication are essential to event planning and   even more critical in planning fundraising events.  You not only work with vendors on event logistics but also collaborate with the organization’s staff, key volunteers and board members, the honoree, event chair and co-chairs, committee members and major donors and event underwriters.

Press and Publicity

Work with the organization’s communications contact to create a press release and fact sheet for your event.  If possible, try to garner media sponsorships or barter for an ad in local newspapers or trade magazines. If you expect a lot of celebrity attendees, it would be best to have a step and repeat banner to ensure that your organization or mission is recognized, because there’s a good chance that the photo may show up in a publication without a caption. If possible, utilize a photographer who has experience serving the press and who knows your audience (so he/she knows “who” to photograph).

Post Event

It takes a village to execute an event and, after it’s over, make sure to acknowledge and thank all involved, including donors, volunteers, committee members, etc. Share your event’s results with all parties involved — how much the event raised and if it reached its fundraising goal!

Olivia Wu is Director of Development at the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Southern California Chapter, where she produces events, including the annual Dinner of Champions, one of the most highly visible fundraising events in Los Angeles. The gala is heavily supported by the entertainment industry and raises nearly $2 million every year.  She is also founder and principal wedding consultant for Zoie Events, an innovative wedding consulting company that creates personal celebrations and events.  For more information on Olivia Wu, please visit www.zoieevents.com or email her at Olivia@zoieevents.com.

W Hollywood Hotel

This gigantic new luxury hotel and condominium complex in the heart of Hollywood has been long awaited and JUST opened up less than a week ago.  Located at Hollywood and Vine, the new W Hollywood brings another touch of modern luxury to LA.  With over 300 plush guest rooms, three gourmet restaurants and 25,000 square feet of state-of-the-art event space, the W Hollywood is an absolute treasure. 

Be one of the first to experience the W Hollywood:  http://www.starwoodhotels.com/whotels/property/overview/index.html?propertyID=1789

Pocket-Flops

The incredibly portable and eco-friendly boutique line of Pocketflops was designed by owner of FlocDesigns and SCE’s close personal friend, Maria Pantazes.  These flip-flop style sandals fold in half for easy storage, transportation and use.   Soft cloth straps and a thin yet very durable base make these ideal for pedicures, nights on the town, after sporting activities, or just everyday use.  Pocket-flops come in a variety of designs for individualized, responsible expression.  They are made out of 90% recycled materials and come with a carrying case made from 100% organic cotton.

Order yours at www.flocdesigns.com

Apple iPad

If you can believe it, Apple has done it again with their new, revolutionary electronic device, the iPad.  Halfway between an iPod and an iMac computer, the iPad features a high-resolution, 9.7-inch LED-backlit display, making it perfect for, well, just about everything.   It’s new IPS (in-plane switching) display technology allows the device a wide, 178° viewing angle. So you can hold it almost any way you want and still get a brilliant picture, with excellent color and contrast.  At 1.5 lbs in weight and ½ an inch thick it’s smaller than a Kindle and more powerful than any device its size to date.

Absolutely Awesome.  For more information, see http://www.apple.com/ipad/

From the kitchen of our Executive Chef, Edward Roszak: 

This blog posting will revolve around reducing our impact on the earth and improving sustainability in the kitchen, for our health and in our everyday lives. Here are some simple steps to improve our footprint on this amazing, irreplaceable planet.

• Use your mind.  If it feels wasteful try to find an alternative. 
• Eat less meat.  Production of meat can be more energy-intensive and resource-intensive than vegetable production. Just cutting meat consumption by one day a week would save more resources than what you recycle in a month. 
• Drive less.  Stock up on foods so that less trips to the grocery store are necessary.
• Choose less packaging.  It looks pretty, yes, but the money used on packaging is taken from the actual product. The alternative with the minimal recycled container will have far superior quality.  
• Use both sides of paper for copies at the office while printing recipes, documents, etc. 
• Choose non-toxic alternatives.   
• Buy and repair durable products, including your kitchen utensils. 
• Borrow, rent, or share items with fellow chefs, housemates, family members. 
• Sell or donate salvageable goods.  
• Use only what you need (planning helps!). 
• Take a break from shopping. If you buy, more will be made. 
• When you do shop, shop locally-owned businesses and farmers markets.

Until next time -

Edward Roszak

Executive Chef d’ Earth

WOW!!  From young children with their families, to teenagers hanging with friends, and 65 year old hip hop teachers, this event was a night devoted to celebrating not just an incredible performer and icon, but a hero.  Michael’s music was bumping all night - thanks to Power 106 FM - as fans took turns battling on stage, dueling to see who could perform Michael’s moves to perfection.  The energy and excitement at midnight was palpable as fans were let in to purchase their piece of history.  It’s safe to believe, those fans, and hundreds more, are watching “This Is It” right now, waiting for the next opportunity to bust out their dance move in honor of Michael Jackson.    

In loving memory of a true legend…

Online Invitations:  Save trees!  Use event sites such as www.Evite.com , or www.Eventbrite.com if you are incorporating ticket sales into your event, to manage the invitation and RSVP process.  You can choose template forms and artwork from a variety of galleries to create your message.  If you’d like to be even more customized, have a graphic designer create an online flier as the invitation and disseminate it by imbedding it into the email that you send to your guests. 

Consignment Shops:  Yes, customized décor is a way to really make your party stand out.  How about, instead of creating those customized items specifically made just for this event, go out and scour local consignment shops for used items that can be repurposed to create an amazing environment for your party? A perfect vase or antique mirror can be the centerpiece at the party that really makes it pop.  Local goodwill stores, craigslist ads and antique shops are great places to search for décor.  www.eventleftovers.com is another great site to search for items to reuse.  It’s an online marketplace offering opportunities to buy and sell gently used party supplies.

Replace Flowers:  Instead of filling the room with cut flowers, try filling glass vases with fruits (oranges, lemons or apples make a beautiful impression; pomegranates can be used for a “trendier” look) – these can be eaten later on.  Or grab some fallen branches or fallen pinecones and use those as centerpieces instead.

Farmers Markets:  While this particular tip doesn’t help to reduce trash, it does help to encourage healthier eating choices, while also supporting local farmers.  When deciding what your menu for your party will be, consider using non-processed foods.  Go to your local farmers market for inspiration.  Take in all of the beautiful vegetables, fruits, jams, fruit drinks, etc.  The healthiest food items are the ones that come from the ground.  For healthy recipes for your party, ask our Executive Chef!  Shoot us an email and we’ll be happy to put you in touch. 

Parting Gifts:   Giveaways are always nice surprises for your guests.  Either give your guests an item that they can really make use of over and over again (i.e. for your corporate guests, a USB drive or a plant for their office makes a nice present), or leave them with something edible – chocolates or mini-cakes perhaps?  If you’re looking for a smart way to package your giveaway while still reducing trash, why not package them in a reusable bag, much like a reusable grocery bag, but smaller?  Here’s great site to find smart packaging:  www.reusablebags.com/  .  The site is also a great resource with lists on other ways to do your part to save the planet. 

Have additional ideas that have worked for you, to share with our audience?  If so, write us back in the comment section below – we’d love to hear them!

I came across this posting on Mashable and I thought it was such a wonderful resource that I decided to post it here, for our audience to enjoy as well. It’s written by Jason Keath, founder of Social Fresh, a social media conference for marketers.  The original posting can be found here:   http://mashable.com/2009/12/13/event-planning-tools/ .  Thanks to Jason and Mashable for this great article!

Jason Keath is the founder of Social Fresh, a social media conference for marketers. He organizes social media events across the country, consults with companies on social media, and blogs at JasonKeath.com.

Free tools make planning events easier than ever. From the first stages of planning through post event followup, there are tools for every detail. The following list offers a taste of some of the best resources out there. You can think of it as a toolkit for planning events of all shapes and sizes. Let us know in the comments what your experience is with these tools and what others you’ve found helpful for organizing events in the past.

INVITATIONS

For most events, invitations are an important step. Whether it is an internal company meeting, a birthday happy hour, or your next city-wide tweetup, there are endless invitation platforms available. Each is unique and works best for different scenarios. In general I use these tools to set up planning sessions or small impromptu events.

1.    Doodle.com is a slick tool for finding common, free meeting times for a group of people. It allows you to easily overlap the different schedules of a group of people that needs to meet. Each person selects their availability and a simple color coded calendar shows everyone what the obvious meeting time should be. It works perfectly for small groups, but obviously, with the more people you add to the equation, the lower the chances you will find that perfect meeting time when everyone is available.

2.       www.twitvite.com  is an easy, simple, and quick invite tool based completely on Twitter. What it lacks in long term event planning resources, it makes up for in ease of use. It takes just seconds to set up an event, includes all the necessary details, and makes it incredibly easy for people to see who is attending, RSVP, and spread the word to their network through Twitter.

Additional Resources: www.evite.com , Google Calendar

ORGANIZATION TOOLS

Events can overload us with information and logistics, from planning the location to organizing information for attendees. Fortunately there is a tool out there for pretty much every organizational task you’ll come across. Whether you need to work with people around the world to plan your event or you just want to gather resources for your attendees in one, easy-to-find location, there is an online resource designed for the task.

3.    http://www.wikipedia.org/ – For events that are organized by multiple people or in multiple cities by volunteers, a wiki can provide an easy communication and organizational platform. Barcamps and Social Media Clubs have launched quite successfully using wikis for planning and organizing. They offer immediate engagement for people interested in your event and when someone is able to get involved right away, they become a champion of the event. Wikis are one of the best tools for this.

4.    http://www.google.com/maps – If your event involves multiple venues or a city that is away from home for your attendees, consider creating a custom Google map as a visual guide of useful places and addresses. For people that have concerns about the area, especially looking for the right hotel, this can be a great resource.

5.    http://Slideshare.net  is a must use site if your event utilizes presentations at all. Especially if you have multiples presentations. Create an account for your event and gather all the presenters’ presentations in one place. These are commonly featured on the front of SlideShare.net, which offers added promotion for you. Also consider creating marketing slide shows or FAQ slide shows to allow those who want to evangelize and promote the event to easily access and embed the information.

Additional Resources: Sched.org, Google Wave

ONLINE MARKETING

It is getting pretty easy to plan and market an event entirely online these days. Marketing your event to the masses is probably the most wide open category for online event planning tools. Almost any social network or community presents marketing opportunities. Find the one that fits your event and target audience the best and try to use the tools creatively.

6.    www.facebook.com Facebook events offers an “invite your friends” feature that is one of the easiest share opportunities online. Consider making your Facebook event stand out by marketing a chat or livestream of the event instead of the event itself. This allows people that may not be attending the physical event to participate in the invite process and promote for you.

7.       http://ustream.tv – Livestreaming of events is becoming more and more common, and streaming your content for free is a great marketing tool. But Ustream and other livestreaming services (Justin.tv, Livestream.com) are more than just video feeds. You can use them to do things like interview speakers beforehand to generate buzz, and emphasize the chat features that take advantage of Twitter and Facebook, sending their interactions with your content to their networks.

8.    Avartize.com allows attendees to champion your event with very valuable real estate: their avatars. The site lowers the barrier for people to be able to support your event in a very visible way. Send them to the site, they select the avatar they want and through Twitter OAuth they are given a new avatar in seconds. There are two main options: provide an overlay such as a logo in the corner or replace the avatar completely with a full image advertising your event.

Additional Resources: http://Wthashtag.com, http://Eventful.com , http://Upcoming.org 

COMMUNITIES, CONNECTING

If you have multiple or repeating events, you need to try and organize the community that will inevitably form around them. These resources range from loose affiliations that allow you to browse groups to more complete social networks. Many groups will start on the lower end of the scale, say a Facebook Group or Meetup.com, and evolve over time into more of a complete social network of their own.

9.    Meetup.com is built to help people form grassroots offline meetup groups. Groups are $72 a year and come with a nice set of community and invite tools. There is a large built-in community waiting for groups to form around niches in which they are interested. Email notifications are sent to Meetup.com users when a new group in their area is created around a niche that they have expressed interest in. If you want to form a niche group that meets monthly, this is an ideal tool-set.

10. Twitter lists – If a good portion of your attendees are on www.Twitter.com , consider forming a Twitter list as people register. Publicize the list and help attendees connect before and after the event. This is also an easy way for people to see what attendees are talking about the day of the event. 

Additional Resources: http://ning.com, http://buddypress.org

CONVERSATION TRACKING

Spotlighting and monitoring the ideas, discussions, and debates that take place at your event is very useful. Being able to show everyone the conversations others are having about the event makes introductions easier, broadens conversations, and generally opens people up to more of the content. Monitoring this conversation can also alert you to opportunities to improve an event.

11. VisibleTweets.com includes stylish animations, and takes two seconds to set up. It’s incredibly useful for live event keyword showcasing. They offer three different animation options, all of which are visually engaging and eye catching, while remaining very readable. That makes VisibleTweets.com ideal for projecting the Twitter backchannel during an event. 

12. TwitterFall.com is impressively robust for setting up a live search of your event keywords, and it allows several speed, animation, and sorting options. Especially useful are the exclusion options for keeping things clean and the geo-location option for keeping things local. A single column of several tweets are displayed with text size options to fit your needs.

Additional Resources: http://tweetgrid.com

FULL FEATURED EVENT PLANNING

If you know you need long term event planning management, you need to take a close look at some of the more robust, full-featured tools. These sites can even serve as your complete event home page if you wanted them to. From ticketing, to social tools, to managing attendee databases, these resources can be a life saver for any business or group looking to plan multiple events.

13. Eventbrite.com is the most popular event planning tool in this category, and for good reason. The web site is very intuitive and lists almost any resource you can think of on their main management page, keeping most tasks one click away. If you are managing multiple events with multiple invite lists, EventBrite is a very solid choice. They also allow very easy setup for affiliate marketing opportunities, letting others promote your event for you while earning money for themselves.

14. Amiando.com is the biggest international event management service with the most languages supported. If you need multiple languages for your event site, Amiando is the perfect fit, and it also has a better community feel than Eventbrite, its main competitor. There are modules for commenting, video, photos, polling and more.

Additional Resources: http://guestlistapp.com , http://eventsbot.com