Posts Tagged Eventprofs
Monday, February 4th, 2013
Eventprofs turns 4 years old this coming Saturday. In 4 years it has seen a mention in Tim O’Reilly’s The Twitter Book, awards ceremonies for the industry’s best blogs, and a 24/7 stream of industry-related chatter…and then there’s the weekly chats. Have you missed those chats? I have. And so comes an announcement.
Our thanks…
For over 2 years, Adrian Segar (@ASegar) has filled the spot of #eventprofs Community Manager. He has been instrumental in keeping the chats going – and, more importantly, being a champion for the community. On a personal note, I am immensely thankful to Adrian as he’s dedicated incredible time, effort and expertise into growing #eventprofs. It’s with great sadness that we see him step down from the position and leave a giant crater to fill.
After a call out to the community we saw a great number of wonderful members throw their hat in the ring for the title of Community Manager. And one person really shone.
A New Era
This person has been with #eventprofs since Day 1. In fact, he was our very first chat moderator. He is a stalwart in the events industry. He holds 5, count ‘em, 5 professional industry certifications (CMP, CEM, CASE, CMM and CTA). Successful Meetings magazine bestowed him with their Convention Services Manager of the Year award and The International Association of Exhibitions and Events (IAEE) proclaimed him a Future Leader of the Industry. We are honored to have Mr. Greg Ruby (@GregRuby) as our #eventprofs Community Manager for 2013.
We’re also thrilled to share that Carolyn Ray (@carolyn_ray) will be supporting Greg as #eventprofs Community Advocate. Carolyn brings great enthusiasm to the role…I guess that’s why she’s been touted as “The Enthusiastic Planner”. When she was a little girl, her mother bought her a copy of Meredith Brokaw’s Penny Whistle Party Planner. Little did she know that this book would be the beginning of an ever-growing passion for all things event related. Twenty-some years later, she was named one of Event Solutions Magazine’s Rising Stars. And over the past 8 years, Carolyn has been working on a wide range of events from parties to fundraisers, conferences to weddings and everything in between.
Join Us
This Thursday, February 7th @ 12pm EST, Greg will chair our first #eventprofs chat of the year. The topic will be “Eventprofs – looking forward while honoring the past 4 years of community.” We hope that you’ll join us and help to shape a community whose single-minded goal is to grow and nurture the industry and those who serve it.
Also, if you haven’t already, please join:
Eventprofsjobs – a place to post and apply to event jobs
Event Market – a place to buy and sell used event goods
Eventprofs – a Facebook group for the community
More info on #eventprofs:
What is #eventprofs (and everything else you wanted to know)
How to participate in an #eventprofs chat (video)
Hire Lara to Build Your Business
Hire Lara to Speak
Subscribe to our Newsletter
The best way to get in touch with me is hello@ready2spark.com
Yes, it’s been 2 weeks since my last post. I feel it would only be fitting if I was in a confessional right now. But, alas, I’m not – I’m sitting at my desk desperately trying to catch up on all of my work. So, instead of my normal post, I thought I’d share some ideas and news with you until I get back on track next week. Not to worry, dear reader, I promise to give you some interesting content to nosh on until we meet here again.
My favorite new task management tool:
Like me, maybe you’ve been looking for a great task management system. Until recently, I was using Basecamp and hated it. Then, my client introduced Asana to me. It’s easy to create collaborative tasks, sync with your calendar, assign task responsibilities, even create followers…and the best part is that it’s 100% free. Perhaps I could schedule some blog writing time ;)
Build an Event Website
My friend, Julius Solaris of Event Manager Blog, has recently launched a WordPress template for called WordPress Event Theme and I’ve partnered with him to help promote this new tool.
It has everything an event manager would need: the ability to manage speakers, sessions, registrations, customize the design and it also works across devices (smart phones, tablets and PCs).
The cost is just $99 to use for unlimited events (or $149 with support). Purchase here.
Eventprofs Chat
This Thursday, I will be hosting an EventProfs chat at 12pm EST on How to get PR for your event/business. I will have some guest experts (including BizBash, Event Marketer Magazine and Plan Your Meetings) with me on the chat to answer your burning questions. Click the link to find out more about how to participate in an eventprofs chat.
I’m coming to Chi-town:
I’m happy to share that I’ll be back in Chicago. This time, I’ll be speaking at Smart Mart in partnership with Smart Meetings magazine on May 24th at The Drake. Click here to register and find out more about the event.
Hire Lara to Build Your Business
Hire Lara to Speak
Subscribe to our Newsletter
The best way to get in touch with me is hello@ready2spark.com
Social Influence Marketing
Tuesday, January 25, 2011 4:00PM - 5:30PM, Room 227ABC
I’m very excited about this presentation; it’s the culmination of months of research, interviews and reading on the topic of Social Influence Marketing.
Learn:
- how businesses today are monitoring your social credit score and how your experiences with brands may vary as a result
- the true definitions of influence and social influence marketing
- the downfalls of popular ‘influence’ measurement tools like Klout
- how to identify and assess influencers online
- effective methods to market to, through and with influencers
- how to build value and meaning to ignite a voluntary sales force
- the ethical considerations of social influence marketing
Stories from the Bleeding Edge: REAL Event Companies that are seeing REAL Results from Social Media
Tuesday, January 25,2011 2:00PM - 3:30PM, Room 232ABC
I’ve compiled an incredible panel to share their journey to social media success. In this honest and interactive session, they’ll share their failures, lessons learned and recommendations. Come prepared to ask questions.
Sally is the co-founder of Page.ly which has been dubbed the fastest and easiest way to WordPress website creation by tech industry experts. Page.ly was written up as one of the top 20 companies of 2010 in the industry and has been featured in ReadWriteWeb, Mashable, TheNextWeb, FastCompany, SEOMoz, etc… Some notable clients include GetSatisfaction, SimpleGeo, Viddler, Texas A&M, and various radio station personalities. Before Page.ly, Sally focused on her other company BestPartyEver.com which is a social network/ directory for vendors and their potential clients.
Rick Turner has spent the past 12 years working in various roles within the Hospitality, Culinary and Special Events industries. He is currently the Director of Business Development for Event Source. In addition, he is co-founder and executive producer of Event Expo, a regional showcase of the products, services and ideas related to the special events industry. He has recently taken on a role as Partner in Cleveland’s newest culinary venture, “Emerging Chefs”, producing culinary themed events, social media and marketing efforts for Chefs. Rick is very involved with a number of civic and industry associations including ISES and is currently serving an unprecedented second consecutive two-year term as President of the Cleveland Chapter of HSMAI. Rick is the current PR Chair for SEARCH.
Elizabeth Beskin is a 20-plus year veteran in the event industry. She is now running three businesses, so she uses social media as her main means of advertising for all three. Her core business, Fifth Avenue Digital, is a photography agency providing talented, experienced photographers for corporate and social events. The Album Boutique is an e-commerce site used to create high-end wedding and special occasion photo albums for people who own their images and want an heirloom-quality album to pass on to future generations. The Ultimate Engagement is a new type of bridal show that is much like speed dating, bringing high-end vendors together with pre-screened luxury brides. Elizabeth graduated Harvard Business School this year with an executive MBA.
Lindsay Fultz is the obsessive compulsive Manager of Sales and New Media Marketing at Grosh Backdrops and Drapery, located in Hollywood, CA, Lindsay has successfully transitioned the marketing department from 100% traditional to the world of new media. Her social media campaigns and call to action email marketing style have brought in over $300k in revenue, raised $24k for charity and decreased the marketing budget by $70k .
An incredible opportunity to network
If you haven’t already signed up, there will be a tweetup at The Special Event on January 27, 2011 at 7:00pm. I’ve signed up and hope to see you there!
Hire Lara to Build Your Business
Hire Lara to Speak
Subscribe to our Newsletter
The best way to get in touch with me is hello@ready2spark.com
I would like to thank everyone who provided their thoughts and opinions about the future of the #eventprofs chats. I heard from about 35 of you and the feedback was definitive:
- All of you want the return of the chats (although many of you would like to reduce the chats to 1x / week)
- All of you (except one) agreed that having a Community Manager is a necessity to keep the chats going
Given your feedback, I have pulled together a Job Description for the Community Manager based on my year and a half of experience retaining this role.
- The position will be a 3 month term. And, the outgoing CM will select the incoming CM to ensure a seamless transition. All past-CMs will retain an Advisory role for a year to participate in annual or bi-annual community discussions.
- I am committed to being an advisor to the CM (to ensure continuity) and will also maintain my role overseeing the annual #eventprofs Blog Awards.
- The chats will be changed to 1x / week. (This is how #eventprofs started and we moved to twice a week to ensure that our friends oversees could participate. We will actively monitor this to ensure we are serving the needs of the larger community).
Do you want to be a Community Manager?
If you said yes, you’re awesome!!
Please see the Eventprofs Community Manager Job Description
Submit your application before November 18, 2010 to hello {at} ready2spark {dot} com and answer the following:
- Name & twitter handle
- Why you think you’d be a great #eventprofs Community Manager
- Confirm that you have read the job description and understand the requirements & qualifications
- If your name is not selected for the first CM, would you be open to the incoming CM role
Thank you in advance to everyone who submits. The announcement of the selected candidate will be made shortly after submissions and the role will be active December 1, 2010. Depending upon the number of entries I may not be able to respond to everyone – please don’t take this as rudeness (I’m on a plane to Asia for 4 weeks).
Thank you to everyone in advance!
Hire Lara to Build Your Business
Hire Lara to Speak
Subscribe to our Newsletter
The best way to get in touch with me is hello@ready2spark.com
When I first started #eventprofs the intent was to facilitate a thriving community of event professionals from all around the world who would share ideas, build relationships and challenge one another. Over a year and a half later, I do believe that we’re achieving this goal. However, I feel as if I’ve let the community down. One critical component missing right now is the twice weekly chats that really were the impetus that got us connecting in the first place. I used to organize these chats but with my hectic business and travel schedules, I have let this slip.
The ideal scenario would be for the community drive the community. I created a wiki that allowed anyone to sign up to moderate the chats and also created video instructions. Unfortunately though, without someone to mange this process, the chats aren’t happening. I’ve come to realize that what #eventprofs really needs is a Community Manager. Someone who can ensure the chat slots are full, provide instruction to new #eventprofs and ensure the archives go out to the community.
But I want to know how you feel…Do you think we should resume the chats? If so, do you think we should have a Community Manager? Do you have any other comments? Please take a minute to answer these 3 short questions. Your feedback will drive how #eventprofs will operate, so please make your voice heard.
Hire Lara to Build Your Business
Hire Lara to Speak
Subscribe to our Newsletter
The best way to get in touch with me is hello@ready2spark.com
It’s Thanksgiving weekend here in Canada – and for those of you, like me, who had no idea why we celebrate Thanksgiving on a different day than our friends to the South, here’s a little explanation. Now, what is consistent is that our goal for the day is to give thanks for our blessings.
1000 Awesome Things
A few weeks ago I was honored to be selected by the TedxToronto team to attend their conference. I feel blessed to have shared a room with so many smart, progressive, young people. But one of the experiences that impacted me the most was an honest story from the creator of 1000 Awesome Things, Neil Pasricha. If his blog sounds familiar, you might be familiar with The Book of Awesome which has been sitting on Amazon’s bestsellers list for (I think) about 20+ weeks now.
When Neil started his blog, though, things were not so awesome. His wife had just left him, his best friend had just committed suicide and he felt utterly alone and sad. During this time, he was searching for something to be happy about. His mind kept going back to his father who, as a young adult, immigrated to Canada from Africa. His father spent this time in his new country like a child experiencing things for the first time. This appreciation of the little things was the impetus of Neil’s blog: 1000 Awesome Things. Each day Neil shares small things that makes us happy. From putting your own shoes on after going bowling to living with someone who doesn’t mind killing spiders, each anecdote is guaranteed to put a little smile on your face and retrain you to love the little things in life.
Friends
As I write this post, I’m preparing to celebrate my birthday with my closest friends. Friends, along with family, are the most important things to me. But I also cherish the friends that I’ve made throughout my career. People like Richard Foulkes, who even if I don’t get the opportunity to see him often, has the wonderful ability to always put a smile on my face. Or, Carol Moxam who is one of the brightest lights I think I’ve ever met. Samuel J Smith and Ray Hanson who have totally inspired me to take more risks – and Ray’s beautiful wife Nicole, an amazing lady who just had a baby boy. All of the #eventprofs who challenge me with new ideas. And, my incredible clients – I can’t believe that READY2SPARK will be celebrating our 1 year anniversary in just a few months.
You
I’m extremely thankful to you for sticking with me. For reading my thoughts and for challenging me with great ideas, hearty questions and amazing comments.
I’m truly thankful.
Hire Lara to Build Your Business
Hire Lara to Speak
Subscribe to our Newsletter
The best way to get in touch with me is hello@ready2spark.com
What a fantastic day today at Event Camp Twin Cities. We celebrated the nominees of the Eventprofs Blog Awards and announced the winners in each of the 8 categories. It was a tight race and we saw a total of 686 votes! I would like to personally thank everyone who voted as well as the incredibly talented bloggers behind the nominations.
The winners are:
BEST INDUSTRY ADVANCEMENT BLOG
Velvet Chainsaw’s Midcourse Corrections
BEST EYE CANDY BLOG
BEST INSPIRATION BLOG
BEST THOUGHT PROVOKING BLOG
Liz King Events
NEW KID ON THE BLOG
BEST CORPORATE BLOG
BEST WEDDING BLOG
PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARDS
Liz King Events
Congratulations to all!
Also, if you missed the Blog Awards video, check it out and share it!
Hire Lara to Build Your Business
Hire Lara to Speak
Subscribe to our Newsletter
The best way to get in touch with me is hello@ready2spark.com
