Event Planning & Marketing, Richmond, VA, Social & Corporate Events, Event Planners VA

Let’s Get Social

Administrator — Wed, 23 May 2012 14:10:00 +0000

Current Series

This Week’s Topic: Let’s Get Social

Happy Wednesday!

Hope all is well in your world!

After another successful week of events, team AAP took a victory lap on Saturday at Windy Hill! What a great time!

Currently, I am excited to greet you from the beautiful Grandover Resort in Greensboro, NC as I complete a site inspection with one of our clients.

In this edition of Presentation!, we share one of the best infographic pieces out there that provides great tactics on how social media can be included successfully into your events. Although the graphic highlights a trade show environment, the strategies share have crossover appeal for other events. If you’re wondering how to make the most of social media and events, check this out!

On behalf of the entire team, have a great rest of the week.

celebrating 5 years of helping our clients express joy [2007-2012]

Let’s Get Social

Below is one of the best graphics (from nwcidisplays.com) I’ve seen that outlines how to capitalize on social networking for events. Take a look and the picture below.

Join Us Next Week

We will continue in our series, Next Level!

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Contact Us: www.allaboutpresentation.com | 804-381-4002

All About Presentation, an event management company for corporate event and milestone celebrations. Based in Richmond, VA with nationwide event planning and design capabilities, All About Presentation has been featured in Wall Street Journal’s SmartMoney Magazine, Virginia Lawyer’s Weekly, Richmond Times-Dispatch, and a host of other blogs and websites!

Next Level Events – Series Intro

Administrator — Wed, 16 May 2012 14:05:58 +0000

Happy Wednesday to you!

What an exciting 30 days we’ve had at All About Presentation. It has been non-stop movement, travel, and all things events! From black tie gala events to golf tournaments — it’s almost all a blur.

In fact, we had an opportunity to participate and design our own trade show booth for the Virginia Business Opportunity Fair.

Our “sweet” booth inspired by a boutique bakery was themed “Creativity…Baked Fresh Daily”.

As we begin to swing into our summer event season, we thought this would be a terrific time to share some of the goings on in the event industry and how events are going to the next level in 2012 and into 2013. Crazy, right?! We’re already beginning to book for 2013!

During our short series, we’ll share awesome uses of new technology and what some of our envelope-pushing clients are doing with their events.

Very Cool Thing

We will be hosting our first webinar, in a series of webinars, geared towards all things event related. The first webinar will be Next Level – Using Technology and Social Media for Attention-Grabbing Events!

You can REGISTER NOW for this FREE webinar! However space is extremely limited (due to the number of licenses we own)…so sign up today!

On behalf of the rest of the team, have a great rest of the week!

- Joyfully,

Introduction Topic: “Next Level”

The Paradox of Excellence is that as we continue to get better, our clients continue to expect us to get even better. While this concept is beautifully outlined in the book by David Mosby and Michael Weissman, this paradox is something that we constantly struggle with in the events industry.

Like any great magician, there are a limited number of engagements that we can use the same tricks before our audience tires of the experience. So, in our constant search for techniques, here are just a few interesting products and processes that we’ve found will have an impact on events in the future.

Open Ways Check-In

Finally, how cool would it be if we could bypass the hotel check-in process and just show up at our room and have our iPhone or Android device open our hotel room door. As an event management company that handles travel for our groups, this is awesome!

In essence, we could book our guests room, text them their room number, and all they have to do is show up to their room. To view this future-oriented technology, check it out here: http://openways.com/

Live Streaming

Not just reserved for Oprah and other grand scale events, the cost of live streaming is so inexpensive, and in some cases it is free.

In terms of next level events, this is truly low-hanging fruit! From Facebook to Youtube, many popular sites already have live streaming integrated into its website capabilities. My guess, soon, all events than can be streamed live…will be streamed live.

Event Board Mobile

Forgive me, but it is so hard to move past the concept of an event mobile app. In a world of paper-free and green processes, it is so important that we take our events to the next level.

Another great site to turn an event catalog or journal into a mobile app is Event Board Mobile. From showcasing sponsors, conference schedules and sessions, and social media integration, the time is now for electronic message dissemination. Learn more here: http://www.eventboardmobile.com

Slidedog

Show of hands. Have you ever experienced that awkward transition that happens when speakers change on stage, the person responsible for “a/v” changes speaker presentations, and all of a sudden you see someones vacation pictures on his or her desktop?

Not smooth at all.

Well, Slidedog to the rescue. Slidedog lets you combine Powerpoints, PDFs, Prezi’s and more into a playlist of sorts. Again, this is more low hanging fruit where technology can give even the most novice of companies a more professional experience. Learn more about Slidedog here: http://slidedog.com/

Join Us Next Week

Be sure to check your inbox as we will continue in our “Next Level” series and be sure to join us on our webinar on Monday.

Paperless Events

Administrator — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 13:58:21 +0000

Current Series

This Week’s Topic: Paper-less

Happy Wednesday!

This week, we complete our current series, Organic. In this edition of Presentation!, we share some of the paperless tricks of the trade including online registration and event mobile apps.

On behalf of the entire team, have a great rest of the week.

celebrating 5 years of helping our clients express joy [2007-2012]

Paperless Event Management

Nowadays, there aren’t too many events that have paper registration. And, going into the future, we believe that paper programs, agendas, and guidebooks will be phased out to be replaced by event mobile apps.

But, with so many options — how does one choose what service is best?

Below we have listed several sites; however, here are three important considerations we define before choosing the best service for our clients.

First, you have to determine how many events you will have that require event registration. Some services become more cost effective based on the greater number of events that you have.

Second, you have to determine what information you are trying to capture. For straightforward information like name, date of birth, email address, telephone number, etc. this can be handled by all event registration services. For more complex scenarios or those that include skip-logic (if, then scenarios), you will want to confirm that your service can handle this type of registration. Other considerations include whether or not attendees will be paying and if the information be exported for later use.

Lastly, especially when it comes to mobile app development, it’s important to know what information you would like to share and getting that information early enough so that the app can be built to include the information.

In our experience, mobile apps do not take long to build. However, the workload for mobile event app designers can be heavy, thus putting you further back in the queue.

Take a look at some of the more popular services listed below. This is certainly not a comprehensive list, but it does give a nice cross-section as to the type of companies and what they have to offer for different event needs.

Event Registration

1. Cvent

2. Eventbrite

3. RegOnline

4. Etouches

5. Event Farm

Event and Conference Apps

1. Eventmobi

2. Grupio

3. MagtoGo

4. CrowdCompass

5. GenieMobil

6. MobiManage

Join Us Next Week

We begin a brand new series that we are really excited about! It’s all about what’s next in events? What’s next in event social media? What’s next in event awesome-ness? You will not want to miss out introduction of our next series: Next Level

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Contact Us: www.allaboutpresentation.com | 804-381-4002

Eco Friendly Event Decor

Administrator — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 13:14:30 +0000

Current Series

This Week’s Topic: Eco-Chic Decor

Happy Earth Day! …(on Sunday)

After a very exciting past seven days, the team is back in the office and back to work on the next event, the Virginia Business Opportunity Fair.

As we continue in our current series, Organic, I have to say that I am not the going green expert on event decor. In fact, just last week, we flew in flowers from Medellin Columbia because the regular floral farms that we use were closed for the Holiday. And yes, it was picked, packed, shipped on a plane, and cleared customs in just under 48 hours. In hindsight, had I known that so much would have gone into the process, I would have settled for roses and called it day.

But, even though I am not the guru on being green, I do believe that (when possible) we should try to incorporate some eco-friendly choices.

This week, we’ve featured some eco-friendly decor options that are still chic and fun!

On behalf of the entire team, have a great rest of the week.

Oh, by the way — All About Presentation is NOW HIRING. If you know of any experienced meeting or event planners (freelancers okay) please tell them to email a resume/coverletter/portfolio directly at:

andrea@ allaboutpresentation.com

celebrating 5 years of helping our clients express joy [2007-2012]

Three Eco-Chic Decor Resources

LED – Lanterns

More and more, we’re finding that most production companies that manage decorative lighting only use LED lighting.

Not only is it more flexible than traditional par can lighting, but it consumes a lot less energy.

Here is a really cool idea, presented on the Unique Venues blog about LED lanterns that are strung upside down, made from bio-degradable paper, and create and incredible WOW effect when hung properly.

Acme Party Box

One of the companies that I really like for at-home celebrations is Acme Party Box. Essentially, it is like buying a complete, eco-friendly, party in a box. From solar party lanterns to bamboo tableware, this company has you covered with eco chic decor.

Image Glow Candles

These unique all wax hurricane lanterns, consisting of a wax shade enclosing a recessed candle use a patented process where the artist designed patterns are actually embedded in the wax. Then the flame back-lights the pattern and glows when illuminated.

An imageglow lantern is SAFE as there is no exposed flame. It is deeply recessed inside the wax shade. It is REUSABLE – after the initial candle has been consumed, a tea light can be used.

Join Us Next Week

We’ll conclude our series next week by sharing how to green-up some standard event management processes such as registration and conference scheduling by using online tools and mobile apps. See you next week.

Contact Us: www.allaboutpresentation.com | 804-381-4002

The Green Scene

Administrator — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 13:03:01 +0000

Current Series

In case you missed it:

Part 1: No Pink Slime Here

This Week’s Topic: The Green Scene

Great morning to ya!

This week’s newsletter is coming directly from Atlanta, GA. where we are executing an event.

On my way to Atlanta, the Delta Airlines pilot provided an interesting fact on the fuel consumption that the plane used. Our plane, which was operating at capacity flying from Richmond to Atlanta, burned a little over 1000 gallons of gas.

However, if everyone on the plane carpooled with one other person on the plane, the amount of fuel used would have been 2800 gallons.

I thought this was a perfect fit as we continue in our series: Organic.

This week’s newsletter provides a few tips on how to green-up your events.

On behalf of the entire team, have a great rest of the week.

celebrating 5 years of helping our clients express joy [2007-2012]

“A Few Green Tactics”

Here are a few tactics to consider when planning events:

Natural Lighting — to avoid pulling power

This is something that we constantly mention, but the fact remains that many venues (such as hotels) have meeting rooms without natural light. As a result, it takes power to light the room — especially if your creating visual effects with lighting.

We love venue’s that have floor to ceiling windows with spectacular views. We make sure not to detract from the outside views, but really it doesn’t require as much effort for decor or production. After all, we can never compete with a gorgeous sunset over the ocean as an event backdrop.

Proximity to Venue

Another consideration is how far away people are from a particular venue. People often overlook trains for group travel. Ones initial thought might be that trains move slower than planes. However, if you take into consideration the time you drive to airport, going through security, waiting for boarding, baggage claim, etc., for destinations within 6 hours, a train might be an interesting alternative.

Food and Beverage

Local and Seasonal

When planning event menu’s, ask the caterer to use local foods and season foods. not only are these items typically less expensive, but they also reduce the cost and carbon footprint of transit.

Food Donations

Make arrangements before the event to have left-over food donated to a food bank or homeless shelter.

Join Us Next Week

Next week we will discuss some Green decor ideas that will save you some green. See you next week.

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Contact Us: www.allaboutpresentation.com | 804-381-4002