ISES Eventworld 2008 in St. Petersburg Florida

2008 ISES Eventworld in St. Petersburg Florida

When Jung and I moved our company headquarters to SF from DC, I was intent on finding an organization to which I could contribute and help grow and in turn, teach me to become a better leader within my own company.

I attended the meetings of several different organizations throughout our first year in California, but the ISES events lured me back time after time.  The events were designed and presented professionally, included an educational segment and I could see how much energy and attention the team dedicated to making each event spectacular.

The combination of educational content and networking were exactly what we needed in our lives.  But a strong professional fit wasn’t our only driving factor—we also needed to be able to connect sincerely on a personal level.

The ISES Northern California Chapter welcomed us with open arms professionally and personally and since I joined in the winter of 2007, I have forged a solid professional network and have made friends that I know will support me in whatever capacity they can.

I believe that ISES is my key to professional development and so, I have whole-heartedly dedicated myself to my chapter.  And thus, I am proud to announce that I am now a Director at Large on the Board and have been awarded a full-paid scholarship to the annual ISES convention, known as Eventworld, held in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Here I am, still spinning with excitement, as I sit here on this humid, rainy afternoon in the Tampa airport awaiting my flight back to California from Eventworld.  I feel empowered with knowledge and a concrete support system.

I flew the red-eye out of SF Wednesday night, the 20th of August and arrived in Florida the morning of the 21st.  As soon as I checked into the Renaissance Vinoy Resort & Golf Club in St. Petersburg,  I joined the rest of the board in a round table leadership discussion, during which we connected with the leaders of other chapters and shared and exchanged suggestions of what has or has not been successful for each of our chapters.

The roundtable wrapped up around lunchtime and we rock-n-rolled into the general session with a stellar presentation on the importance of team work by Col Mike Mullane, a NASA Space Shuttle astronaut aboard Discovery and Atlantis.

The general sessions were officially open and attendees could choose to participate in seminars that were separated into three distinct tracts:  Topics for Business Owners/Executive Track; Corporate/Non-Profit Track and the Interactive Tract.

The first day of sessions concluded with the ISES Eventworld Welcome Reception, which was held on the sugar sand Gulf of Mexico beach of the Hilton Clearwater Beach Resort.   We attended the reception as a chapter and had a ball taking pictures of each other on the beach, before a glowing pink and gray sunset.

On Friday, attendees had the option of participating in a behind-the-scenes tour of Walt Disney World or attending workshops throughout the day.

I began the day by attending the session titled Unlock the Potential Hiding in the Rental Company Next Door, which was presented by our very own Gwen Helbush of Where to Start, Inc., Kathy Newby of Classic Party Rentals and Kristjan Gavin of In Good Company.  Gwen, Kathy and Kristijan artfully illustrated the importance of communication and teamwork.  And although the course was directed specifically towards planners and rental companies, the principals could be applied to any professional relationship:  In order to create a successful team, communication, respect and courtesy are integral.

Amongst the other courses I attended on Friday, Business Owners:  Tips, Trick and Shop Talk was another of my favorites.  Here we listed several issues facing us as small business owners and then listened to the strategies and techniques that 4 prominent ISES professionals employed to successfully run and grow each of their own companies.

After another intense day of learning, we all came together at Fresco’s Waterfront Bistro for a delicious seafood dinner.  Afterwards, we attended a benefit for the SEARCH Foundation, which was co-founded by planner, Sasha Sousa.  The SEARCH Foundations mission is to support event professionals confronted with a catastrophic occurrence and fosters, develops and promotes educational initiatives for the advancement of the industry.

The last day of seminars began with general educational sessions, which were followed by a delicious luncheon and awards ceremony, during which several Northern California members were acknowledged for their dedication and professionalism.

After the lunchtime award ceremony, we split for the last leg of seminars.  On Saturday, I chose to participate in the Interactive Track and joined the workshop titled How to Stop Letting Your Marketing Dollars Needlessly Fly Out the Window.  During this session, we separated ourselves into groups and developed a Positioning Statement, identified our Customer’s Profile and completed a Competitive Analysis.  I was fortunate because my company was chosen as the sample and it was extremely interesting to hear other perspectives on a proposed marketing strategy.

Eventworld concluded with the ISES Esprit Awards Celebration during which the success of several of our members was celebrated and recognized as 2008 Esprit Award Nominees.

I feel inspired and motivated by the determination and professionalism of the members by which I was surrounded this weekend.    I can hardly wait to start applying the knowledge I gained and the principles of leadership I learned.  I bonded with my chapter members and feel a special connection to each one of them.  I feel incredibly fortunate to be a part of such an amazing group.

I await the arrival of Eventworld 2009 August 5-8 in San Francisco with rapt anticipation.