I had the privilege last week of presenting at the Wedding Biz conference in Atlanta. Donna Jakulski and Linda Surles did a great job arranging and producing not only the day of vendor education, but also a fantastic bridal show the day before.
The highlight of Wedding Biz, for me, was the first session where 5 real brides were invited to be on a panel. Donna asked them some great questions and here’s what stuck out for me.
Here’s my Top 10 list highlighting what these real brides had to say:
The brides said that very, very few of the wedding professional’s websites they went to were good. Some even implied that none of the ones they saw were any good. (ouch!) Read More
Join me again at the EPMEN conference in Allentown, PA. Come back for more details and the link.
Info from the EPMEN site:
The Eastern Pennsylvania Meeting & Events Network is dedicated to promoting unity and education among wedding and special event professionals in the Poconos and Lehigh Valley. Our goal is to bring all of the business’ that make up the Wedding industry together to network, learn, and raise the bar of professionalism for Pennsylvania and surrounding areas. While our name indicates our Pennsylvania roots, we encourage and invite Wedding & Event professionals from all over the country.
Our first EPMEN conference found attendees from New Jersey, New York and reached far out across the states. This year’s event we envision being even bigger and better than our inaugural event. As our website grows, we will continue to update information about our speakers, sponsors and more. Thank you in advance to all of those who continue to support EPMEN and a special Thank You to this year’s sponsor, Bride Live.
Join me in Toronto for the CanadianSpecialEventsExpo12 – A fresh approach to everything you know about events.
I’ll be joined by Marcy Blum, David Beahm, Diane Devitt, Jacalyn Bernstein and other industry greats for this event.
Are you ready to step outside the ordinary and jump into a fresh, innovative, two day conversation with hundreds of people who share your passion, your vision and your thirst for new innovative event ideas?
This year canadianspecialevents.com is throwing out the template, breaking down walls and creating WIDE open spaces for you to Learn, Engage, Connect and most of all Create! Get ready to be INSPIRED!
I attend a lot of conferences around the country, both local and national and one of the hottest topics is always social media. Too often I see attendees coming out of these sessions with that deer-in-headlights look. They’ve just heard someone pontificate about all of the things they need to be doing with social media or their businesses will wither and die. While I agree that social media is an undeniable piece of your marketing puzzle today, it’s not the be-all and end-all that some would have us believe.
So, what is social networking and how is it different from social media… or is it? When you attend Wedding Biz or any trade association meeting or event you’re doing social networking. You’re be surrounding yourself with like-minded businesses who are also there to jump-start their success. Social networking has been going on throughout the ages. Connecting with others who have a common interest is a basic human need. Whether it’s a trade association, a PTA group or the Girl Scouts, people have and will continue to get together around a common interest. Social media has just added a new dimension by eliminating the need to physically be together. Whether that’s a good or bad thing is a debate for another time. Read More
I’m delighted to be coming back again to the ADJA annual conference. I’ll be giving 2 presentations:
“How to be the experienced wedding professional, without sounding old”
“Is your website sucking the life out of your business?”
Here’s some info:
“The Current Audition Magazine will hold it’s annual education conference & DJ show September 10-12th 2011 in beautiful Las Vegas, Nevada. The intent is to give DJs at all levels the opportunity to hear from the best & the brightest, and bring our industry closer together under The las Vegas DJ Show.
The theme for this year is “Boost Your Spirits, Boost Your Business”. Every attendee will leave feeling rejuvenated, empowered & feeling infused with more fun ideas, knowledge & opportunity than they could have ever imagined.”
Personal Note about the APWPC Conference (Bali) Cancellation
I was saddened to hear about the cancellation of the APWPC conference in Bali. Like the other speakers, and attendees, we were looking forward to it. That said, I’m not totally surprised, given what I’ve seen at other conferences around the world. I first met Jonathan Goh in Phoenix Arizona at an Association of Bridal Consultants conference. He attended a session I did, “Your Attitude for Success”, and told me he was so moved by it that he wanted to find a way to bring this kind of education, and specifically this topic, to his area of the world. That was back in 2010 and Jonathan has been working very hard to bring that to fruition. He’s a consummate professional and a very accomplished event planner, but doing an event like this requires something else… an equal enthusiasm from potential attendees.
What I’ve seen at other conferences is that a core of attendees, those who are already successful and those with a success mindset, sign up early. Others mull it over and wait until the last minute to decide, if they even decide at all (some just let it pass without taking action). I don’t know if they’re waiting for a better offer, or whether they don’t understand that to achieve success you need to invest in your business and yourself. While a few conferences, such as Wedding MBA, have been able to draw large crowds, it took them years to build that up as well. So while APWPC was not able to draw enough attendees to make it work, this time, to me it’s not a reflection on Jonathan as he, and his team have been working tirelessly to make it happen, with the best of intentions and action.
So, while Bali is not in the cards for me this time, I have high hopes that there are enough like-minded wedding and event pros who will see the value in creating education opportunities in the future. I hope to be a part of it when it does happen. Successful people never give up, they learn from each experience and move forward. Thanks, Jonathan for trying to make this happen.
I’m honored to be invited to be a keynote speaker at the Asia Pacific Wedding Professionals Conference in Bali, Indonesia. This conference seeks to facilitate networking amongst Asia Pacific wedding professionals and associated parties, resulting in the exchange of ideas, business opportunities and exchange knowledge on the different wedding traditions and practices.
I’ll be presenting a keynote presentation based upon my new book: “Your Attitude for Success”
Here’s info from Jonathan Goh, Organising Chair:
“I warmly invite you to participate in the inaugural Asia Pacific Wedding Professionals Conference (APWPC) 2012; the region’s premier conference for professionals, merchants and friends of the wedding industry.
APWPC is proudly brought to you by the Association of Bridal Consultants (ABC) Singapore. We are supported by the Association of Bridal Consultants (ABC) USA with over 5,000 members worldwide. APWPC 2012 is the first Asian-edition of ABC USA’s highly successful annual conference.”
In addition to my keynote presentation, I’ll be presenting 2 breakout sessions:
• 10 Ways Your Website Is Killing Your Business • Bridal Black Belt
For more information and the register, visit www.apwpc.org.
I’m proud to be joining the Event Leadership Institute for a webinar on my “10 Ways Your Website is Killing Your Business”. I’ll discuss the many things that event pros do that actually hurts their website’s response and conversion and talk about easy and free ways to fix them. Time-permitting I’ll pull up some of the websites of attendees and show how these play out in real life. Are you brave enough to allow me to review your website live? Those that have always walk away with real, usable information on how to improve their sites.
Join me as I return to the Latin Events Network for another presentation:
We want action! Conversion is The Key to Your Success
For years everyone’s attention has been on the Clicks — to your ads; to your website; to your email. But now, finally, the smart marketers are focusing on Conversion — what happens after those clicks, because those are the actions that result in sales. This session will explain why Conversion is where you should be focusing and how to track how you’re really doing. We’ll also talk about why brides are using email so much more these days and using the phone less.
What we’ll cover:
Is this the end of the click?
What Conversion is and how you can track it, online and offline
Contact Alan about private sales training, speaking, a mastermind day, a website review or business consultation. Complete this short form or text or call Alan directly at 732 422 6362, international enquiries 001 732 422 6362
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