
Planning is planning – on so many levels, I have no doubt that my event colleagues across North America would agree. Yet there are some distinct advantages to working with a local event planner that can make a significant difference in the success of your event.
The Hometown Advantage
There is a wealth of knowledge that comes when you work with a local event planner. When discussing the “why” for your event and considering
I have been fortunate enough in my career as a professional event planner to plan corporate events, as well as over a dozen large scale trade shows including the Career Show, the Calgary Baby & Tot show and the Bump, Baby & Beyond Shows.
Over the years I have helped create brands and sponsorship packages that ensure the success of both myself - as a trade show owner - and my clients. And I can tell you, without hesitation

In 2016, the market in Calgary was terrible. The recession was affecting many industries and as a result, many people. Given I am a self employed event planner, I realized that many events I had worked on in previous years were being cancelled or handled in-house. There had also been some transition in my life both professionally and personally. Around April 2016, for no real reason other than I knew I wanted to concentrate on the

Corporate holiday events have officially started and with less than one month until Christmas, I wanted to share some ideas regarding how to incorporate your brand, while at the same time, ensuring your attendees enjoy a festive night!
We have talked about the importance of a theme. However, in some cases, you can add

Recently, I took a long-term client to meet with the event coordinator and chef at the venue for their upcoming corporate holiday event. We began the process of building their menu, which then inspired me to write this post.
When a menu is done well, it’s easy to take it for granted that it was an easy process to put it together. What initially sounds good by description doesn’t always translate well in both taste and presentation.

Site plans are one of those tools that have become an invaluable resource that you may want to consider and develop for your next event.
It’s great to be able to map out how you are going to fit the allotted number of guests into your venue space. This applies to stand up or sit down receptions also meetings, trade shows, conferences and social occasion.
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Site plans at first glance:

On July 1st , Canada will celebrate its 150th birthday. Celebrations will be happening across our country in major cities and small towns alike, you too can bring some Canadiana flare to your next Stampede, corporate or holiday event!
Perhaps you’ll incorporate a community giveback or charitable component like “150 thanks yous”, “150 meals donated”, “150 x $150 for Canadians in need”, “150 reason’s we’re

In our last blog we talked about Entertainment for Corporate Events and the different areas within a contract that you can negotiate. We can now look at all the places where these costs might not appear - as dollars and what you can be prepared to spend to have notable entertainment at your next event.
So you’re happy with the negotiated costs for your headlining act. Let’s say you book a name brand band to play at your Stampede

All corporate event planners wear a number of hats when it comes to planning. Project managers, accountants, designers, and so much more and while we are not lawyers we deal with a lot contracts.
I have been so very fortunate to work on events that have included some big name entertainment acts over the years. While I love this aspect of planning, there are things I always share with my corporate clients to keep in mind, when

As you might imagine when working in the arena of live experiences for a living, event professionals run into all sorts of opportunities to Creative Problem Solve.
Last month, Stacy Harwood of One West Events and I spoke at the