I absolutely love throwing in a splash of color wherever possible!  If you are BRAVO obsessed like me you will recognize Brad Goreski’s coined term POC – pop of color.  He encourages people to incorporate vibrant color into their outfits.  I encourage you to dabble a bright color or two throughout your next event!

For any company or organization, planning ahead and outlining goals and next steps are essential to the growth of any business or group. As a non-profit organization, ISES-NCC has worked hard on developing what our goals should be from now through 2014. Below is the document that outlines the annual goals of ISES-NCC that out chapter strives to achieve as a means to ensure the highest quality of programming and education, membership retention and growth and standardized best business practices necessary for our continued success.

STRATEGIC PLAN: FY 2012-2014
Education- Create relevant and innovation educational programs that align with the goals of ISES International and provide our members with the tools necessary for continued professional development.
A. By June 30, 2012:
1. Develop at least two educational programs that align directly with HQ’s Education Council objectives.
2. Ensure that 75% of the ISES NCC Board attends leadership training at either EventWorld or TSE.
3. Establish a CSEP Chapter Advocate, the goal of which is to actively promote the CSEP to our chapter.

B. By June 30, 2013:
1. Develop at least two educational programs that align directly with HQ’s Education Council objectives.
2. Expand our support of leadership training opportunities and ensure that 75% of the board attends annual leadership training.
3. Host 2 CSEP focused educational sessions.

C. By June 30, 2014:
1. Expand our presence and activation with other industry associations by conducting high-level educational programming thereby establishing our chapter as a valuable resource for our industry peers.
2. Provide the financial means for 2 key members outside of the board of directors to participate in leadership training opportunities.
3. Have 6 CSEPs on our chapter roster and 5 additional members in the certification pipeline.
4.
Membership- Strategically position our chapter as the premier local event association through media, strong membership and increased exposure to a wider variety of disciplines within the industry.
A. By June 30, 2012:
1. Retain 72% of our membership.
2. Strategically recruit and target members in disciplines with minimal representation as identified by our chapter profile and the educational disciplines identified by ISES HQs and the Education Council.
3. Continue to drive critical Chapter and HQs information to our members by using our current technology and expand our reach by 10% through embracing emerging media tools and technologies.
B. By June 30, 2013:
1. Retain 75% of our membership and add 5 new members to the chapter roster.
2. Conduct a chapter survey that reaches 100% of our membership to ensure we are addressing the needs of our members and look for a 50% return rate.
3. Expand our committee structure to include at least 3 non-board members on each VP’s committee.

C. By June 30, 2014:
1. Retain 75% of our membership and add 10 new members to the chapter roster.
2. Establish a mentorship program for new members that is comprised of at least 5 established ISES members that have served on the local board or in an international committee.
3. Conduct an evaluation of our membership communications plan utilizing a 5 member task force to ensure the plan creates an exceptional member experience.

Standardization- Promote a secure foundation for our chapter by practicing sound business strategy.
A. By June 30, 2012:
1. Have our strategic plan through 2014 outlined, presented, and available to our membership by June 30, 2012 .
2. File all paperwork (chapter reports, tax returns, etc) in a timely and complete manner in accordance with ISES HQs established deadlines.
3. Using a 5 member task force (2 board members and 2 members at large-along with the Executive Director as a non-voting member) conduct a risk assessment of where our important financial and operational materials are stored and institute a plan that leaves us fiscally and strategically sound.
B. By June 30, 2013:
1. Evaluate our registration systems, tools and administration procedures to ensure we are meeting our members needs by using a focused evaluation at every meeting with a prize drawing opportunity to members that turn it in.
2. Conduct a 100% audit of chapter finances using a Task Force (2 board members and 2 members at large-along with the Executive Director as a non-voting member) and have them present to the board an investment strategy for our chapter, if funding is deemed available.
3. Have the membership committee re-evaluate our current member benefits plans and tools and make recommendations to the board on how we can enhance our member experience.

C. By June 30, 2014:
1. Establish a strategic plan through 2017 that closely aligns with the objectives of HQ.
2. Re-evaluate investment portfolio to determine if our financial strategy is sound and if we want to diversify, invest more, etc.
3. Create a campaign to increase ISES branding/exposure throughout Northern California via strategic partnerships, media presence, etc.

A couple of weeks ago, I was given the opportunity to shadow Jenna, at Paula LeDuc Fine Catering and I had a great experience.  I learned so much about the catering business and planning special events.  Right from the start I felt welcomed by Jenna and team/coworkers.  My biggest concern was to not get in their way or mar the evening’s festivities in anyway all the while trying to get the most out of the evening.  Jenna was amazing.   She made the event come together seamlessly and still found the time to answer all the questions I had her for her.
Paula LeDuc Fine Catering is an impressive company.  I love their slogan, PERFECT WILL BE JUST FINE.  From what I saw that evening, it’s the truth.  The employees work hard to achieve greatness and perfection.  I hadn’t realized how much planning and work goes into catering and planning an event.  Shadowing Jenna and watching the evening unfold really opened my eyes to what it would be like to work as a Special Events Manager.
I can’t thank Jenna and everyone at Paula LeDuc enough.  The experience was invaluable.

It was a humbling and gratifying experience to win the Gala Award for Best Décor at The Special Event Show in Tampa this past January.  The nomination itself was a thrill, but I was even more surprised by how good it felt to actually win.  It’s a rush!

I’d like to share some tips on how to win, because I would love to see more members win awards in recognition of the great work members of our chapter consistently deliver.

I’m not going to lie – it’s A LOT of work submitting an award entry.  We hired someone to do the writing for our entry.  Fortunately, I’ve judged award entries in the past, so I was able to work with our Marketing Manager to help guide our writer as what to say and how to say it.

You not only want to paint the picture of your event in words, but you have to “answer the questions.”  When they ask you what the event obstacles were, what the challenges were, and how you overcame the obstacles and challenges – specifically address those points.

Example:

The obstacles for this event were: ___________

We overcame those obstacles by: ___________

The challenges for this event were: __________

We overcame those challenges by: __________

Also, great pictures of your events are a must!  Invest in a great photographer!  We are very encouraged by our owners to get as many décor shots from events that we design internally.  It’s how we sell our work. However, should we have an event that we’re especially proud of, and we decide it’s worth the time, money and effort to compete for an award – lousy pictures aren’t going to help one bit.

It’s also a great idea to have someone who knows nothing about your event read your entry before you submit it.  Having a pair of fresh eyes tell you they don’t understand something can make all the difference in your submission.  The judges aren’t going to know one thing about your entry, so take the precaution to make sure it’s clear to an outsider.

Lastly, and this is going to sound rudimentary (but you’d be surprised), make sure everything is spelled correctly, and you’re using proper grammar.  Judges will deduct points for implied illiteracy.

So should you decide to compete for an award, I hope these tips will help you edge out your competition.  Feel the rush, people!!