THE NEWS from EventWorks, Inc.

Happy New Year! We Have A Big Announcement! Texas-Based Haute Companies to Acquire Los Angeles-based EventWorks, Inc.

2021-01-05T05:00:00.064-08:00

We have very positive news to share and we want you to be the first to know.

We have spent a lot of time researching how we can best address your needs in a post-pandemic world.

We have weathered a number of crises in the 32 years of EventWorks' existence and we decided to reinvent ourselves, yet again.

We are going big!

We are very happy and excited to join Austin, TX, based Haute Companies.

Haute Companies is a collection of five brands that embraces the unconventional to build human-to-human connections.

Please see attached press release for more information about Haute Companies.

We look forward to talking to you soon to share more about the exciting possibilities and how this adds to your toolbox.

Here's to many more exciting events!

Warm regards,

Alisa

P.S.: Alisa remains available at awalsh@eventworks.com

For Immediate Release

Media Contacts:

Moleary@hautecompanies.com

hautecompanies.com

Marion@renk-rosenthal.com

eventworks.com

Haute Companies—the Media, Advertising, Marketing, and Entertainment Powerhouse—
Acquires Los Angeles-based EventWorks

Acquisition offers a full suite of cutting-edge agency services to Fortune 500 clients under one roof.

Austin, TX, January 5, 2021–Jeff Haynes, founder and CEO of Haute Companies, announced the acquisition of EventWorks—adding to the award-winning group of companies including Haute Rock Creative, Haute Dokimazo, SwagHub, Haute Spot, and Haute Rock Entertainment. As part of the purchase, Alisa Walsh, president of EventWorks, will take over as CEO of Haute Rock Creative, the advertising agency serving Fortune 500 companies. Walsh will also step into the role of CEO at EventWorks with former head, Ted Bowers, serving as strategic and technical counsel until 2026.

“EventWorks is nationally recognized as one of the top firms in production, design, branding, event planning, and fabrication. In joining with Haute Companies, we have created one of the largest, top-tier agencies in the US for corporate, sports, and entertainment clients. Haute Rock Creative/EventWorks is a powerhouse, single source for all agency, event, and marketing needs. Together we bring ever-evolving possibilities to clients who seek to break far and away from competitors,” said Jeff Haynes, Haute Companies CEO.

Founded in Los Angeles by Ted Bowers and Janet Elkins in 1989, EventWorks has an established roster of blue-chip clients. Among them are Aston Martin, BMW North America, Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles, In-N-Out Burger, Marriott Hotels International, and MetLife.

“Becoming part of Haute Companies is a massive win for our clients and us. They will continue to benefit from the exceptional service of EventWorks and immediately assume added value by accessing the full suite of cutting-edge resources at Haute Rock Creative,” said Alisa Walsh, EventWorks and Haute Rock Creative CEO.

Haute Rock Creative and EventWorks will serve clients from their headquarters in Austin, Texas, and Los Angeles, California, with 50 employees. EventWorks will continue under its own identity within Haute Companies to increase their global footprint in the experiential, events, media, spontaneous think tanks, and marketing technology arenas.

About Haute Companies Haute Companies is the parent company of over five individual companies with expertise across all creative platforms. Haute Rock Creative specializes in experiential events, media, and marketing solutions. Haute Dokimazo is a spontaneous think tank for businesses that focus on human-to-human engagement. SwagHub is an online platform for small and medium businesses to build a powerful merchandise machine with little to no overhead. Haute Spot is a premier corporate, concert, and event venue. Haute Rock Entertainment is a talent booking company with clients including Adobe, Dell, Intel, Google, Alation, IBM Cloud, and Nutanix.

Founded in 2016 in Austin, Texas, Haute Companies has 50 employees. From concerts to campaigns, we approach each and every touchpoint with the end-user in mind to create genuine memories. No one remembers normal. People only remember the peaks and valleys of life–never the time in between. We aim to build those peaks.

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The Cares ACT for Independent Contractors and Sole Proprietors - by Trina Rozen, CPA and CFO

2020-04-16T11:01:00.000-07:00

We are happy to share our CFO Trina Rozen's easy-to-follow presentation for independent contractors and sole proprietors. Everything you need to know about stimulus packages and financial aid programs. Click the Arrow to access the PDF Presentation #InThisTogether

EW WEBINAR with Expert CPA TRINA ROZEN - Covid Relief for Event Professionals

2020-04-13T05:00:00.000-07:00

Covid-19: Travel and Meeting Industry losses could reach $233 Billion Dollars by summer. We, here at EventWorks, are committed to bringing you the latest information to assist all of us in weathering this crisis.

YOU ARE CORDIALLY INVITED!

The webinar will consist of a presentation and an extensive Q&A session.
The webinar audio and video will be recorded for online distribution.

Webinar Leader:

Trina Rozen, CPA and EW CFO, Small Business Financial Coach.

EDUCATION
Trina began her accounting career in corporate accounting over 20 years ago. She earned a Bachelor’s of Science in Accountancy from California State University Northridge and has been a licensed California CPA since 2010.

EXPERIENCE
Her corporate accounting and executive experience includes CBS Broadcasting, Cast & Crew Payroll, and Hearthstone Real Estate Investment. After years of developing her tax and accounting expertise in corporate entertainment and real estate industries. Trina launched her own private practice in 2013.

ABOUT
Part of Trina’s motivation to begin practicing privately stems from her strong belief that clients deserve to get more value and advice from their CPA relationships. She believes that accountants hold the cards, the knowledge and the ability to make an enormous difference in the financial lives of their clients. Trina is truly a holistic accountant because she knows first-hand what it is like to be in the clients’ shoes. Trina works with a variety of small businesses – not just to keep their books and prepare tax returns, but to help navigate life as a business owner.

Webinar Host:

Alisa Walsh, President, EventWorks. and 2020 SITE Southern California President.

IMPORTANT NOTICE: Please note that the webinar service allows audio, video and other information sent during the session to be recorded, which may be discoverable in a legal matter. By joining this webinar sessions, you automatically consent to such recordings. If you do not consent to being recorded, discuss your concerns with the host or do not join the session.

3-13-2020 IMPORTANT UPDATE REGARDING COVID-19 FROM PIA MACDONALD

2020-03-13T11:51:00.000-07:00

We are staying in constant contact with PIA MACDONALD, PhD, MPH, CPH, from RTI International for updates on the COVID-19 situation and we will provide updates as needed.

03-13-2020

The COVID-19 epidemic is quickly growing. Unfortunately, it has become clear that the limited domestic testing has created a situation where it is very difficult to understand the epidemic and where we are with regards to domestic transmission.

Pia MacDonald is following all guidance around minimizing social interactions and advising companies to closely follow their state and local health department’s guidance. This is about protecting those most at risk in our communities, the elderly and people with underlying health conditions and/or weakened immune systems. For her, this includes, avoiding travel and staying grounded. Staying grounded is more about reducing risk of moving the disease around the country and through our communities than minimizing her individual risk. Everyone’s individual risk is different. To protect herself, she is avoiding people who are sick and washing her hands frequently.

This article outlines why we do not have a handle on where we are in the US around understanding the magnitude of the outbreak or how geographically widespread it is.
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2020/03/how-many-americans-have-been-tested-coronavirus/607597/

Our thoughts go out to our clients, co-workers, friends and families in this challenging time.
We will weather this storm!

What You Really Need To Know About Covid-19. Advice From Pia MacDonald, MPH, PhD.

2020-03-09T05:00:00.000-07:00

The timing could not be any better! We had the chance to hear a presentation by Pia MacDonald, PhD, MPH, CPH, from RTI International last week. Pia has two decades of experience in domestic and international epidemiological research and public health. She has an extensive background in infectious disease epidemiology and surveillance, global health security, public health preparedness, and outbreak investigation and response. Please read her expert assessment of the COVID-19, also known as Coronavirus, situation.

IN A NUTSHELL:

"Looking closely at the data from China, the WHO-China Joint Mission COVID-19 report indicated that most transmission occurs within households, NOT within the health care settings, or in airports, planes, trains or on streets."

"In the US, to be clear, this is no longer a travel associated outbreak. There is community acquired infection, so the outbreak is domestic and global."

PRESENTATION IN 3 PARTS

COVID-19 in the context of other outbreaks
Why the outbreak now, and why Dr. MacDonald is not surprised
“The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly”

Let's jump right in!
Novel Coronavirus disease 2019, now known as COVID-19, is zoonotic.
Zoonotic diseases are those that normally exist in animals and can be transmitted from animals to humans.
Generally, they tend to be more lethal than other infectious diseases.
Examples of zoonotic diseases include: Ebola, Anthrax, Plague, Hantavirus, and some forms of Influenza.
Coronavirus diseases from a historical perspective were considered relatively inconsequential viruses.
They circulate globally and cause between 10-30% of the common colds.
Similarly, various coronaviruses circulate in mammals and birds.

Recently, we have seen three lethal zoonotic coronaviruses effecting humans.
In 2002-2003, there was an outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, or SARS, which started in China, spread to Hong Kong, Canada, and other countries. SARS had a case fatality rate of 9.5%.
Case fatality rate is the percentage of sick people who die.

Then in 2012, Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome or MERS emerged, in the Middle East. It has a case fatality rate of 34%.
MERS is still causing sporadic outbreaks, originating from the Middle East.
While SARS has disappeared since the first epidemic.
Now we have COVID-19, a 3rd deadly-to-humans coronavirus.
To see how COVID-19 compares to other diseases, let us take a close look at this graph.

The x axis has the transmission rate. This is the average number of people a sick person infects.
And the fatality rate is on the y axis.
So the higher up, the more deadly, and the further to the right, the faster an outbreak can spread.

Let's look at MERS:
38% of people with MERS die, and before they die, they infect less than one person, therefore its not very effective at growing into a large outbreak.
Keep in mind that MERS is spread mostly through people coughing and sneezing on others.

Measles falls on the far right, 1 sick person infects on average 15 other people, while only 1 out of 100 people will die from it.
This means that outbreaks can grow very fast.
Measles is unusual as far as infectious diseases go.
It's highly infectious because the virus can be airborne, meaning it can be suspended in the air for some time.

The data is showing that COVID 19 falls somewhere between the Spanish flu of 1918 and Polio.
The latest estimate is that 1 person with COVID 19 gives the disease to 2.3 people.
WHO announced this week that the current global estimate is that COVID-19 has a case fatality rate of 3.4%. However, this estimate, is just that, an estimate based on current understanding of the outbreak.
It is VERY important to recognize that this rate is different depending on age and health status.
We are seeing the elderly, immunocompromised, and people with underlying health conditions have higher fatality rates. While others have much lower rates.

How does COVID-19 spread and what is driving the outbreak?
So far, the limited data suggest that COVID-19 transmission is similar to seasonal influenza.
Close contact with sick people, who are coughing and sneezing, will put a person at the highest risk of infection.
It is spread mostly by droplets – so having a sick person wear a simple surgical face mask is a good idea.
Unlike measles, early data suggests that the virus does not stay suspended in air for long.

Looking closely at the data from China, the WHO-China Joint Mission COVID-19 report indicated that most transmission occurs within households, NOT within the health care settings, or in airports, planes, trains or on streets.
Again, household transmission is what was driving the outbreak expansion, similar to other colds and the seasonal influenza. Household transmission, generally, can occur with close and sustained contact with sick people.

For COVID-19, the most common symptoms seem to be fever and a dry cough, with some people experiencing shortness of breath or difficulty breathing. Generally, less than 20% of sick people experience severe disease.

Why now? Why as an infectious disease epidemiologist, Dr. MacDonald is not surprised about the recent outbreaks such as Ebola, Zika, and now COVID-19.
There are global changes amidst that are creating conditions that may be driving zoonotic disease emergence and increasing risk.

The world’s population doubled since 1960, and is slated to double again within the next 40 years. There has been major growth recently in Asia, and next the massive growth is expected in Africa.
Over 50 percent of the world population now live in cities.
There are 38 mega-cities, cities with over 10 million people.
By 2050, there will be many more mega-cities, and 2/3 of the world’s population will be living in one.
With such growth of populations in cities, the infrastructure development will likely not keep up, resulting in high density dwelling, crowding, and inadequate sanitation.

The massive population growth will accompany significant economic growth, and with that a growing demand for animal protein.
Already, the growth of pig and chicken farms has been exponential in areas of China and India.
Further globalization of goods, services, and people movement are also drivers.
With air travel, we are seeing annual growth rates within Asia of 6%, Africa 5%, and Middle East 7%.

What alarms Dr. MacDonald, is that we know where the risk of zoonotic disease emergence is greatest. We create great models generated with the best data available.

In this map, note the areas with YELLOW, these areas are where the risk is highest of zoonotic disease emergence.Wuhan lands right in the YELLOW. AND, It’s a mega-city with 11 million people, it’s also a transportation hub with 1 million people a month flying from there to other parts of China and the worldBy 2050, there will be many more mega-cities in China, India, Nigeria – areas already in YELLOW.
Back to the COVID-19 outbreak in ChinaThe good news is that the China outbreak seems to be waning, meaning that there are fewer cases each day.Of note, China’s response has been the most ambitious, agile, and aggressive disease containment effort in history.It restricted movement of people into and out of Wuhan and 12 other neighboring cities. People were instructed to stay at home for a month, they implemented social distancing measure like closing schools, public transportation, and suspended public gatherings. They had thousands of people tracking sick people and their close contacts to make certain they were isolated from other people. The Good NewsWe have all learned from China.We have insights of how best to treat the sick so they are less likely to die.We have a better understanding of who is at highest risk of severe disease.There are identified public health measures that work: Case detection, rapid diagnosis, isolation, early treatment, contact tracing, and limiting household transmission.

In the US, to be clear, this is no longer a travel associated outbreak. There is community acquired infection, so the outbreak is domestic and global.

We are gaining more capacity to test for the disease by the day. This week we finally have testing available in the state laboratories and not just in the CDC in Atlanta.Vaccine development is moving quickly. It could be available within a year, with additional time to scale. The BadSome bad news…Until a vaccine is available, we need to do everything to stall the spread and minimize risk. So far, in China they found that 1 person gives the infection to 2.3 people, so the outbreak can grow quickly, 1 to 2, to 4, to 8, to 16….With a 3.4% case fatality rate, the more people who get infected, the more deaths will occur.While it seems relatively contained within China, its spreading globally quickly.Meanwhile, we are seeing big disruptions with the global supply chain.Eighty percent of active pharmaceutical ingredients manufacturers are located outside of the U.S, the majority in China and India.This could impact on our ability to adequately treat patients.

The UglyThe public health measures that we know work will be difficult to achieve in most areas of the world, especially where health care and public health systems are weak.
Lower and middle income countries will be hit far worse than high income countries.
Beyond the COVID-19 outbreak, we are seeing a steady rise in outbreaks and global epidemics then ever before.
What keeps Dr. MacDonald up at night is that only 1/3 of the countries in the world currently have the capacity to quickly detect and report diseases that could pose an international threat.
We are not prepared, now or for the future. This is true at home here in the US and globally.
Prevention, detection, and response to disease outbreaks requires an all of society approach and support from all sectors.
We need to advocate fiercely for increasing and sustaining public health preparedness and global health security funding.
The time is now to decrease our present and future risk.
Similar to the adage, parents are only as happy as their least happy child, from a global health security perspective, “We are only as safe as our least safe country.”

To stay safe, minimize your risk in the same way you would for seasonal influenza.Wash your hands with soap and water frequently.Stay home if you are sick or if someone in your home is sick.Make plans with your family in case you do need to self-isolate at home.Make plans in your work place.Consult the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and state and local health departments for guidance.
Dr. MacDonald did not wear a mask en route to give the presentation. She will continue flying, though she will move if sitting next to someone coughing or sneezing. And, she will want to give them a face mask.

So do we - we continue traveling and working while taking precautions as recommended.

Pia MacDonald, MPH, PhD, is an infectious disease epidemiologist at RTI International and Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of North Carolina Gillings School of Global Public Health, Department of Epidemiology.

Dr. MacDonald has 25 years of experience in epidemiologic research and public health, both nationally and internationally. Her work has focused broadly on infectious disease epidemiology and surveillance, outbreak investigation, public health preparedness systems, and global health security. She has worked on outbreaks related to Ebola in West Africa, Zika, H1N1 Influenza, HIV, foodborne diseases, Hepatitis, anthrax, malaria, and many more. She has written more than 65 peer-reviewed publications and a book titled Methods in Field Epidemiology, which is used to train students and practitioners alike.

During her career, she has worked with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institutes of Health, Pan American Health Organization, Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists, the National Association of County and City Health Officials, North Carolina Division of Public Health, and many others. Her state- and federal-level public health experience started with her service as a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer. Her international work began as a Peace Corps volunteer in Thailand, and has since included other countries such as Guinea, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Turkey.

EventWorks, Inc. Announces Leadership Changes And A New Role For Alisa Walsh

2020-02-24T05:00:00.000-08:00

We are happy to announce that ALISA WALSH has joined Ted Bowers as Co-Owner of EventWorks, Inc.
Alisa steps into Janet Elkins' role of President, assuming the full responsibilities of this position.

Alisa joined EventWorks in January 2016 as Director of Business Development. She brings 4 years with the company and 14 years of professional experience in the event and hospitality industry to her new role.

Janet Elkins: "Many of you know that I had been looking for a perfect match to take on my part at EventWorks. We found that person with Alisa. I am proud of my achievements over 30+ years at the helm of the company but I am also very happy to scale back my work life and apply my skills in new personal adventures. Alisa and I have worked together closely over the last 4 years, with a seamless transition already in mind. I am absolutely confident in her readiness."

Janet was honored as the MPI Supplier of the Year, the Lifetime Achievement Award from The Special Event and Hall of Fame from Event Solutions.

Ted Bowers: "Alisa has been an integral part of EventWorks since 2016 and the move into her new role feels very organic now. We are a strong team and we know that our clients appreciate the stability we create in our work-flow. While her title is new this year, she has already been taking on increasing obligations and duties to prepare for her new role."

Alisa Walsh: "I am thrilled to work in this new, enhanced capacity with EventWorks and to make a long term commitment to the company. Having Ted and Janet both as my mentors in this process is a gift I am grateful for. Our great work relationship gives us the basis and mutual trust to forge ahead with all the exciting changes within EW as we evolve and refocus our work in the ever changing event industry at this time. We are looking forward to an exciting year of successful events for our clients."

Alisa can be reached at awalsh@eventworks.com

Happy Lunar New Year!

2020-01-27T05:00:00.000-08:00

Happy Chinese New Year!
Wishing You that the New Year be a Messenger of
Happiness, Joy, Peace and Prosperity,
Fun, Love and Luck.
May this New Year bring you Wealth, Longevity and Good Fortune!

While rats may not have the most outstanding reputation as animals in the West, the characteristics associated with the Chinese Zodiac sign are very positive. So should this be your Chinese zodiac sign, take heart. You are in good company.

Mozart, William Shakespeare, T.S. Eliot, Rosa Park, Milton Friedman and Mark Zuckerberg were all born in the Year of the Rat.

In Chinese culture, rats are used to symbolize wealth and surplus. Traditionally married couples would pray to these rodents hoping some of their reproductive success would rub off on them. Rats are found all over the world and regarded in the Chinese zodiac as being smart and nimble with plenty of vitality and enterprising spirit.

Personality

People born in Rat years are said to share some of these characteristics. Being optimistic and energetic they win over many friends. They are kind but can be poor communicators, which means they can inadvertently seem brash. They are not the reticent people they might seem, and although they are very excitable they can control their high spirits but will fight for their beliefs whatever the circumstances.

Financially they like saving and can be stingy. However, their love for hoarding will sometimes cause them to waste money on unnecessary things.

Lucky Things

Numbers 2 and 3.

Colors Green, Blue and Gold.

Unlucky Things

Numbers 5 and 9.

Colors Yellow and Brown

Source: South China Morning Post.

If you happen to be in the Los Angeles area you have many opportunities to celebrate in the coming days. All the shopping centers and public spaces will host events.

The 121st Official Golden Dragon Parade will take place in Chinatown on February 1st, from 12:00PM to 4:00PM.

Please see a complete list of events on DiscoverLosAngeles.com

Happy New Year!

Do It! Alisa Walsh Shares Her Plans As SITE SoCal Chapter 2020 President

2020-01-13T05:00:00.000-08:00

2019 President Brian Griffith with 2020 President Alisa Walsh

On December 9th the SITE SoCal tribe gathered in Palm Springs to install the 2020 SITE Southern California Chapter President, EW's very own Director of Business Development, Alisa Walsh.

Alisa Walsh: "In front of 700 of my closest industry colleagues, I had the honor of stepping into Brian Griffith's shoes as the SITE Southern California 2020 Chapter President! It was such an incredible evening raising money for our charities, and I can't wait to get this next decade of incentive travel professionals going! I am very grateful to my personal family and my EW family who all came out to support me!

We are very proud of Alisa's hard volunteer work for and dedication to SITE and we are looking forward to her year as Chapter President.
Alisa is a consummate event professional and brings her knowledge, skills and enthusiasm to every event assignment.
We asked Alisa to tell us more about her 2020 professional goals.

Alisa and her family, from left to right: Jeffrey Foskett, mom Diana Strannigan Foskett, Orion Hailu, Alisa, dad Dave Walsh, Linda Shepard Walsh, Janet Elkins and Ted Bowers.

EW: Alisa, how does combing your roles, Director of Business Development and SITE SoCal Chapter President, enhance what you do? How does it play together?

Alisa: "I am so fortunate to have the support of EventWorks. Their recognition of SITE Southern California's role in our industry and the value that being a part of this association brings to it makes this possible for me. As we know SITE is a volunteer organization. As president it will require a great deal of my time, as it already did last year in my role as president elect. I could not do this without the support of my leadership at EventWorks because of the amount of time it takes out of my day-to-day job. I m so grateful to my mentors, Janet and Ted, for encouraging me and allowing me to do this.

It takes a village. I have a fantastic 2020 board in place but as president of SITE a lot of the responsibilities fall on my shoulders. I could not do this without EW's blessing.

Of course, from my point of view as Director of Business Development it will open many doors for me to enhance my networking opportunities with clients from all around the globe. I will be attending the SITE Global Conference in Vancouver, BC, Canada, in a few weeks. It is a great opportunity to meet with international event planners from large companies and corporations, that are a great match for what we at EventWorks have to offer as global event producers.

It is a really synergistic match."

EW: Every SITE president brings his or her personality to the role. What are your goals as 2020 president? What would you like to continue and what new aspects would you like to implement?

Alisa: "The theme for 2019 was "Back to the Basics" and while thinking about what messaging I wanted to bring into 2020 I thought that I really want to jump start into this new decade. Back to the Basics gave us a solid foundation. Now let us take that foundation and let us take action and move forward. I am a sports enthusiast as you know and I really love the action oriented call to action of "Do It". That is the 2020 theme for our chapter: Do It! We are going to take some risks and think about holding events in unexpected locations, outside of hotel properties, get creative and showcase that the incentive industry can stretch their limits and think outside of the box. Often times we are afraid to make changes because of the extra work involved or fear of failure but we are going to do it. I encourage all of our members to think about that in their professional lives and also their personal lives, to push themselves during this decade ahead."

EW: What is your personal plan or motto for 2020?

Alisa: "In line with the motto "Do It" I want to embrace change. The event industry is undergoing a transition. A lot of different players are getting involved in experiental marketing and every one is looking at the value of holding special events and incentive programs these days. I am looking forward to partnering with my executive committee staff at EventWorks to really embrace that change and launch us into these next ten years of events and what that looks like. It is an ever changing industry that has continued to evolve over 30 years and we are excited to develop within the industry trends."

Click the image to get your tickets.

Join Alisa at the KICK-OFF 2020 EVENT.

"I can't wait to install this incredible Board of Directors and reveal our charity contributions after a fabulous Holiday Event. We can't wait to see you all there!"

We Wish YOU A Wonderful Christmas Season And Happy Holidays!

2019-12-16T05:00:00.000-08:00

What a year it has been! We are happy to share our favorite memories and to tell you about a wonderful opportunity to give back!

Ted Bowers:
"My favorite moment occurred just days ago at Todd and Kelly Roberts' Christmas party. Todd Roberts has been building stages and created lighting designs with EW for many, many years. For the holidays he relaxes by building the most beautiful private Christmas lights and decor around his house in Orange County, not just for his family to enjoy, but for the whole community. Todd and Kelly are passionate supporters of OC United and my wife Celeste and I are happy to assist. It is the Season of Giving and we are happy to participate and support THRIVE, a program that focuses on assisting foster youth as they get emancipated and have to transition into a life on their own. Please scroll to Todd and Kelly's favorite memory here below to learn more about this wonderful effort. Thank you for your consideration!"

Kristen Rensch:
"For us ever busy and stressed event professionals it is so important to decompress and recharge our batteries. I absolutely loved the sound bath at the Integratron in Joshua Tree, CA, a few months ago. It was an amazing experience. We see more and more of these at corporate events and conferences as well. I plan on doing it again soon! I wish everyone blissful moments and happiness!"

Alisa Walsh:
"I am grateful to have had the chance to see my all-time favorite musician and step dad Jeffrey Foskett on stage with The Beach Boys for one of our events this year. My step dad has been battling anaplastic thyroid cancer and he is fighting so courageously against the illness. We are so incredibly proud of him for so many reasons. He is currently recording an album before he may lose his voice. Rolling Stone and Billboard have written articles about his work and career recently. We love you! And our only wish is good health for everyone."

Janet Elkins:
"My favorite project will take place early next year. Ted, Greg Holford and I have already made several trips to an exotic location far far away. It is a real adventure and we are really happy to have this opportunity with a longtime friend and client. And I can't wait until we can tell you all about it! Meanwhile I wish everyone a wonderful holiday season. Joy and Happiness!"

Brynne Peña:
"Meeting John Legend at one of our events! Getting to see the performance was a huge ancillary work benefit. I wish everyone a Merry Christmas and may your dreams come true!"

Elizabeth Brazil:
"We conference all the time about our programs. I am usually calling on the phone from my office in Texas. But I do miss the real meetings. One of my favorite EW moments this past year was this trip to California where I got to sit around the EW conference table and brainstorm current and upcoming projects in person with some of my favorite people. I took the picture so obviously I’m not in it. I wish everyone Texas-sized Happy Holidays!"

Morgan Connacher:
"One of my favorite behind-the-scenes-moments this year was watching Natasha Bedingfield sound check during our IPW Press Brunch event in Anaheim. She sound checked with her small son watching, she brought him up on stage to sit on her shoulders, and then as they were leaving he played with the hundreds of beach balls in one of our nearby activations. It was such a sweet moment!
Wishing all of you a great time with your family!"

Todd and Kelly Roberts:
“After selling our business we have had more time to become involved in our community and causes we care about. Todd has always been passionate about decorating our home for the holidays. This year, we combined our time, resources and Todd’s Christmas Lights and Display into a fundraiser for OC United. We invited friends one evening and we hosted a community gathering for 300 of our neighbors this past Sunday. We are thrilled to take the spotlight off us and on to a cause that few people know about but is very important to us.
As you know homelessness is a big problem in California. We learned through our involvement with OC United that many foster youths who emancipate out of the system automatically on their 18th birthday never have a chance to start successful lives. Up to 46% of foster youth end up homeless by the time they turn 26. We have kids of the same age. Our kids have every opportunity in the world, but they would not be ready at this age to tackle life on their own. We decided to support a wonderful program called THRIVE that focuses on assisting former foster youth. Thank you for visiting their website to learn more and thank you for your consideration!"

We are happy to share Todd and Kelly's JINGLE AND MINGLE Event website with fundraising link. Please click the photo.
The THRIVE campaign fundraising continues until January 7, 2020.

Best Wishes - Happy Holidays -
Merry Christmas
from all your Friends at EventWorks!

EventWorks At Your Service: 5 Tips To Recover From Thanksgiving Right Now

2019-12-02T05:00:00.000-08:00

©Max-and-Moritz/Wilhelm Busch

Did your dryer also malfunction over the weekend? Clearly the best explanation for those tight fitting jeans today.

We feel your pain - the Post Thanksgiving Blues.

According to Health.com the average Thanksgiving dinner, without going back for second helpings and consuming just one glass of wine, contains 2400 whopping calories! And that's just dinner, folks!
Add to that the calming effects of l-tryptophan and red wine and we know why we feel so sluggish right now.

Fret not, we are happy to help you out.
We did the research and found 5 EASY WAYS to get back on track.

1) Go Back To Your Normal Routine.
All nutritionist and doctors will tell you that your body is not a trash can. Don't worry about those leftovers. Just quit eating Holiday foods and go back to your normal routine.
Need motivation: on average we gain 5 to 7 pounds between Thanksgiving and New Year's because we keep piling on the the holiday foods. So just stop.

2) Get Moving!

We found a great 13 minute short but very effective "yoga for when you overeat" practice with Adriene on YouTube. It is easy for all levels, even beginners and takes away the tummy troubles.

If yoga is not your style dance it off. Click the image link for the play list.

3) Detox

We found delicious, healthy recipes from a trusted source: Gaiam. Yes, we know, it's sooooo "California". Bring on the baby kale and beets. We promise it tastes good and makes you feel better quickly.

FIVE NATURAL DETOX DRINK RECIPES
in the link.

4) Play Outdoors With Your Kids Or Dogs

Depending on your body weight you can burn over 300 calories on a simple walk! The trustworthy writers at GOOD HOUSEKEEPING published a detailed list earlier this year.

And there are all those other health benefits:

increased cardiovascular and pulmonary (heart and lung) fitness.
reduced risk of heart disease and stroke.
improved management of conditions such as hypertension (high blood pressure), high cholesterol, joint and muscular pain or stiffness, and diabetes.
stronger bones and improved balance.

Source: www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au

Finally, last but not least:
5) Laugh It Off

Wishing you a wonderful week!

Event Report: Celebrating The 90th Anniversary of St. Joseph Hospital

2019-11-18T05:00:00.000-08:00

The EW Team, Dina Morales, Kristen Rensch and Ted Bowers with the amazing Pat Benatar.

The Event: St. Joseph Hospital Celebration 2019
Date: October 12, 2019
Guests: 650
Location: City National Grove of Anaheim
This annual event celebrated a special milestone.
The 90th Birthday of St. Joseph Hospital.
We are honored to have been invited to produce the annual fundraising gala for over a decade.

Ted Bowers: "St. Joseph Hospital was founded in the City of Orange, California, so that informed the color scheme. We focused on incorporating a sense of time and place in our design, based on the concept "Orange". We provided the decor for the reception and lobby, as well as all the ballroom decor, including chandeliers, table decor, floral and centerpieces featuring oranges and much more. Furthermore we provided full production service for the silent auction, the on-stage presentations, the headliner show and the after party."

Our step-and-repeat: the anniversary logo, enhanced with our beach cruiser bike with a basket full of oranges drew attendees in front of the camera.

"It's wonderful to work with long term clients, especially for a fundraising event. The onstage presentations and the silent auction are very fast moving and essential to the financial success. Since we have been involved for many years, we know and recognize the VIPs, major donors and staff members. This helps us respond very quickly during the event. The show is highly scripted and we do know where key event participants are seated and plan our show call with this in mind as required. We can respond with technical support - a camera swing, a microphone delivery - and thus ensure that the VIPs feel recognized and appreciated. We are very grateful that our client trusts us to work with their special guests."

"We assisted in hiring the headliners, Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo, and we provided full technical production service for the concert, including live video support for the show. The audience LOVED the show!"

The orange carpet was part of our overall event design - our favorite arrival came on four paws.
While we provided the technical support for the live auction which required extensive stage managing backstage as well as the front of the room and a lot of liaising with the client's staff, we had nothing to do with bringing the puppies, that received a lot of attention from high bidders who became loving dog parents that night

- but we love dogs and wish to leave you with this adorable face to wish you a wonderful Monday and a great week.

Thank you for reading!

THANK YOU To The Firefighters And First Responders! YOU Can Help!

2019-11-04T05:00:00.000-08:00

Thousands of firefighters have been working tirelessly since early October to save lives and structures in our home state.
While nearly 200,000 acres have burnt only 3 fatalities have been reported so far.
Here is a list of things we can do to help firefighters and relief organizations.

3 Ways To Donate To Firefighter Organizations

1) CAL FIRE BENEVOLENT FOUNDATION
We provide funds for immediate life-sustaining assistance to firefighters and their families who have suffered debilitating injury or loss of life.
The Foundation also provides financial assistance for the public good, by participating with burn centers and disaster relief throughout the state of California to relieve the burden on families.

2) LOS ANGELES FIRE DEPARTMENT FOUNDATION
The Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation (LAFD Foundation) is a non-profit organization that provides funding for the needs of our city’s firefighters. About 97% of the city’s budget for the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) covers salaries and benefits, this leaves just 3% to cover the cost of essential equipment, new technology and training to help firefighters do their job.
That’s where we step in.
Our goal is to raise money from businesses and individuals to provide our firefighters the best tools to serve Los Angeles.

3) CALIFORNIA FIRE FOUNDATION
The California Fire Foundation, a non-profit 501 (c)(3) organization, provides emotional and financial assistance to families of fallen firefighters, firefighters and the communities they protect.

5 Ways You Can Help California's Wildfire Victims

1. DONATE MONEY
Making a financial contribution to a nonprofit that’s helping wildfire victims is usually the best way of ensuring your donation will be utilized, according to the Center for International Disaster Information. The flexibility of a monetary donation lets disaster responders decide what’s most needed at any given moment. Listed below are a few of the charities and companies accepting donations on behalf of victims, according to The New York Times.

American Red Cross
California Community Foundation’s Wildlife Relief Fund
California Fire Foundation
Humane Society of Ventura County
North Valley Community Foundation
Salvation Army
United Way of Greater Los Angeles

2. DONATE FOOD
If you’re based in California and want to contribute something other than money, you have a few options. But first, make sure you’re choosing an organization that has the time and resources to coordinate these donations. You can donate non-perishable food items to the Salvation Army or local food banks. If you happen to see days-old requests for donated goods, just visit that organization's website or social media channels first to make sure they aren't at full capacity.

3. OPEN YOUR HOME
Up to 90 000 people had to evacuate their homes in Northern California at one time. AirBnB and VRBO hosts participate in large numbers by opening the doors free of charge to evacuees. Many California residents post on social media to offer guest rooms to help.

4. FOSTER OR ADOPT A PET
Just as humans are being displaced by California's wildfires, so too are their pets. Whether it's because they've been separated from their families or their pet parents are in a temporary living situation that does not allow for animals, hundreds of now-homeless pets are arriving at shelters around California every day. The ASPCA just issued an emergency fundraising drive to support the sudden surge.

LAST BUT NOT LEAST:

5. CHECK CALIFORNIA VOLUNTEERS
to learn about the current local needs and opportunities to help.

#CaliforniaStrong
Thank you for reading!

This Should Have Been An Easy One - But Then EVERYTHING Changed - TED BOWERS Reports From Vancouver

2019-10-21T05:00:00.000-07:00

This was The TRIPLE Whammy!
This international conference for a longtime client should have been a walk in the park. The program, 3 days and evenings, had been planned out in every detail months in advance. We are very familiar with the location, Vancouver, B.C., Canada.
But then hundreds of logging truckers, worried about the future of their industry and their livelihoods, blocked the streets with a demonstration.
Tens of thousands of activist youth, the Sustainabiliteens, followed Greta Thunberg's call and took to the streets in a Global Climate Strike.
Finally, our host hotel workers went on a still on-going labor strike after more than a year of Union and hotel owner negotiations over issues related to safety, workload and job security failed to yield results.

The good news: Ted and his team performed pure MAGIC and made it all happen anyway.

Ted: "The main part of the conference was planned to take place at the Westin Bayshore Hotel. A core group of the clients' event staff were already in town when a hotel worker labor strike started that affected our hotel. The labor strike included housekeeping and the banquet department. Service at the hotel came to a standstill. Negotiations were on-going but the decision was made to err on the side of caution and move the whole event to the nearby Convention Center. The CC was busy but had some space available to accommodate, just barely.
I got the call at home at 8am on Sunday morning. We immediately started planning for the new situation and locations. We traveled to Vancouver on Tuesday. Load-in was supposed to start on Wednesday. We actually finally started on Thursday when the space became available. The final new plan was eventually agreed on by all parties by 6pm on Wednesday night, just hours before the load-in had to start. The Convention Center had welcomed us but their procedures differ from the way things are done at most hotels. We could not turn the same room over from General Session to Banquet and back as we usually do. This changed everything as we had to set up two complete sets of audio-visual equipment where we usually work with just one for the whole program as it is the same requirements for General Session and Final Night Banquet."

Our lodging was affected.
"We still stayed at the hotel since our rooms where booked but it was like sleeping in a ghost town. We had no services. There were guests there but no employees. The hotel was very apologetic and agreed to pick up a lot of the extra cost we had to incur.
Besides the cost for the new locations and equipment we now had to hire a bus company to transport attendees back and forth multiple times every day."

But that wasn't all!

Due to two major demonstrations, Downtown Vancouver went into lock down. The City decided to block bridges to traffic for safety and clear the roads for the demonstrators.
Alas, this also meant that our local vendors and entertainers had to work miracles to get around the closures and make it to the locations.

Hundreds of logging trucks paraded into Vancouver all the way to the convention center to protest the cutbacks in their industry during the Union of British Columbia Municipalities conference on September 25.

Over 100,000 teens were allowed to skip school to walk during the Global Climate Strike on September 27th, again shutting down the inner city of Vancouver.

Vancouver's beauty and the wonderful cooperation we got from our Canadian partners made up for the obstacles.

Ted: "The Vancouver Convention Center is absolutely stunning. One of the main rooms looks more like a ballroom than a convention hall. It has an about 40' tall ceiling with a floor-to-ceiling panorama window overlooking the bay. Our client had already decided to hold his welcome night reception there during a site visit last year. Consequently we already had a year-long business relationship with the CC for this conference which definitely helped us get the space for the rest of the conference so very last minute. We used this room for the General Sessions as well and the second night banquet took place at the CC. We had hired local entertainment for both nights."

The Final Night event had been planned off site, at the Vancouver Aquarium, surrounded by sea life.

Ted: "It was crazy. As long as I have been in the industry I have never experienced anything like it. Sometimes weather affects an event and the venue has to be changed. But I have never had an entire conference changed due to a labor strike, a trucker strike and a Global Climate Demonstration all at once. We are thankful for every one's extra efforts and support - and grateful the conference turned out to be a success after all."

Thank you for reading.

EW's Creative Director Kate Brack Shares The Top 2020 Design Trends

2019-10-07T05:00:00.000-07:00

2020 is just 86 days away! Get ready!

Our Creative Director Kate Brack took a deep dive into 2020 event design trends and developed look books to inspire.

"We are definitely in a nostalgic period in this topsy-turvy time. People are yearning for face to face connectivity and community to frame their events. Zeitgeist is that driver. Fashion, too, continues to be at the forefront in these trends as it is a global identifier for all individuals.”

Kate: "Modern Deco is ticking at the forefront of design right now, from an interior standpoint and architecturally. We see a number of pieces continue from the Mid Century Modern vein, but now with a hints of bronze, gold and velvet to bring out the glam. An additional layer that modernizes the look, color. Deep sapphire blues, dusty pinks and yellow is now stepping into the spotlight in unexpected accent pieces

TERRAZZO + DECO GOLD

Kate: "Nature inspired elements are still at the forefront of design. We see them coming through as more refined architectural pieces for next year. Instead of reclaimed, raw wood pieces are being arranged in geometrical shapes, captured nicely here in the bar style. Terracotta’s are taking over table top and influencing select pieces of décor and textiles. Polished cement continues to be a driver, offering a bit of an industrial feel. Natural potted plants and botanicals soften this look giving us a sense of grounded-ness and connection.”

CLAY + AZURE

Kate: "Emerald continues to be a mainstay. It made its first appearance in the decor world about 4 years ago but continues to bring a fresh perspective to events. It awakens the senses and makes everything feel alive and fresh. What's great about it is that you can glam it up so that it doesn't feel pedestrian.

Overall, the great news is that all of the pieces showcased above are very accessible from the vendor pool that we have nationwide. Many of them are offering a large variety in these styles to capture the trends for 2020.”

MARBLE + EMERALD

Kate: "We see a creative trend in pop up meeting design to make breakout sessions at conferences more interesting. Typically attendees want to meet in smaller groups after general session to discuss the topics and ideas they want to bring to their internal teams. What better way to frame these discussions than in a creative space. Move aside ballroom chairs and airwall. Designers are getting creative with breakouts taking cues from the new trends in office space interiors. Additionally, we’re teaming up with hotels to think outside the box by utilizing interesting spaces and outlets within their property framework: restaurants, cafes, communal spaces, secret terraces and even parking garages. Sky’s the limit.”

POP UP MEETINGS

Thank you for reading!

Alisa Walsh Shares Her IMEX North America Highlights

2019-09-23T05:00:00.000-07:00

Alisa Walsh with Jackie Ash, Teresa Karcher and Briana Anderson.

Alisa: "In a world of global connectivity via technology IMEX shows us every year that Face-2-Face meetings still matter - and that they make all the difference in the world."
We are happy to share Alisa's impressions of IMEX America 2019 from Las Vegas, NV.

Alisa: "IMEX is still the most anticipated trade show of the year as it is truly the best opportunity to see every single person in our industry under one enormous roof.

I started off early, attending the SITE Young Leaders Conference for two days prior to the kickoff of IMEX. As the incoming 2020 president of the SITE Southern California Chapter the education opportunity was incredibly important to me. The conference was also a great chance to connect with the global board. We wrapped up the conference with the very fun, networking-on-steroids SITE Nite on Monday, September 9th as part of the IMEX events.

IMEX North America took place earlier than usual this year, right after Labor Day instead of in October. We all jumped right into the maelstrom of mad activity after the more laid back weeks of summer. During the trade show I went from appointment to meeting to seminar to event from 10am to midnight. I am glad I arrived with a lot of energy. Trust me, I needed it. It was an incredible week working and meeting with our amazing partners. I am always happy to get quality time with them."

SITE Nite with past, present and future SITE Southern California Chapter Presidents: Mandy Brown, Brian Griffith and EW's future SITE president Alisa Walsh.

The HIGHLIGHTS:

Alisa: "This is the biggest global event for event planners so you really get to experience the best of the best in the unique setting of Las Vegas.

I was very inspired by some of the brand activations.

Hilton Hotels built a very large LED waterfall in the middle of their booth and handed out engraved water bottles.

I very much love to see the growth and transformation of some of our partners. Three years ago I met the team from Top Golf as we discussed a possible business opportunity. They were new in the industry and had a very basic booth. This year Top Golf had a fully built out 2-story activation booth, witness to their fast growing business thanks to trade shows like IMEX. I felt really proud because we kind of "grew up" together in the industry as I started with EW at the beginning of that year."

The BEST:

EW has many international clients and partners and we usually communicate via email and conference calls over many time zones. At IMEX we had a chance to meet in person. We got to know each other better. We got more business and relationship building done over one lunch than over weeks of electronic communication. Real personal meetings cannot be replaced by telecommunications.

Thank you for reading and I look forward to spending quality time with all of you again soon.

Alisa

Event Report: New Event Technology And Unexpected Spaces - Our Backyard Pool Party in Florida.

2019-09-09T05:00:00.000-07:00

All hands on deck for this big event: Kristen Rensch, Alisa Walsh, Brynne Peña, Morgan Connacher, Mary Leist Vandergoot, Alora Wilde, Jessica Jazayeri, Sarah Diem, Dina Morales and Nastasha Allaire.

Orlando, FL, in summer, hot and humid. We turned a ballroom into a backyard pool deck and invited our guests indoors. Entertainment by the legendary Beach Boys. EW produced many aspects of this conference. We are happy to share the story of our most unique event.

The Backyard Pool Party.
Event Date: July 30th, 2019
Client: an international hotel chain invited their operations and IT department employees to a multi-day conference.
Guest Count: 1,500

THE EVENT:

Alisa: "This conference was a 'first' for our client, a conference for their operations and IT teams. Leaders from various properties in the front office area, in the IT area, and the food & beverage area were invited to gather in Orlando. It was a really fun and unique conference because it is not often that all these different operations teams get together.
It was also unique for EventWorks because we got to be very creative and think outside of the box to present the guests with ideas they can take back to their respective properties. We got to play with innovative food & beverage displays, novel ways to use the ballrooms and incorporate unexpected areas on the property. It was a challenge for us because we had to impress and surprise guests who get to work on creative events as part of their daily business lives as well.

For the final evening event we invited the 1,500 guests to a very different "Backyard Pool Party" - it took place indoors."

INNOVATIVE EVENT TECHNOLOGY

Alisa: "We created a really immersive environment inside of a ballroom with the help of incredibly fun decor and an interactive video dance floor "swimming pool". When guests stepped onto the dance floor the floaties would move and the water would ripple.

We created the 20'x40' seamless infinity pool with video tiles that we placed on top of the astro turf we used to cover the whole ballroom floor.
The "pool" was the focal point of the whole space, placed in the middle. Custom animation built into the video tiles was activated by an infra-red reading camera suspended overhead. The camera tracked movements and the tile animation responded accordingly. You could literally kick a beach ball across the whole surface. The big WOW is the fact that the tiles are reactive to movement. The technology has been used in permanent installations, for instance museums, and we are really proud that we were able to adapt this effect for a one-time corporate event for our client, including branded video content. It has become feasible to bring this to the event arena because some of our preferred vendors now own all technical elements that are necessary for this installation and it thus becomes financially feasible for a one-off.

Another custom element we built were "outdoor" decks on both sides of the pool that served as bar stations and were fully usable as real entertainment decks. We installed wood vinyl flooring on stage risers and then hired carpenters to build real solid wood frames in custom wood planking that were sturdy and large enough for guests to lean on and put their drinks down.

Colorful pool party furnishings and decor completed the space. We created different areas, defined by color that enhanced the visual excitement and gave guests an easy way to find each other as they could simply tell contacts to meet them in the red area or green area."

NOVEL USE OF SPACE

For the final part of the evening, the Beach Boys Concert, named theme-appropriately "Into The Deep End", we had another chance to surprise the guests with an unexpected element. We had laid out the room to have the meeting space back up to the loading dock that was hidden behind a large roll-up door. We created a Big Reveal to the sounds of "Wipe Out" - we lifted the door and the Beach Boys launched into their concert on a stage we had created in the loading dock. Everyone was surprised and rushed out and danced the night away. It was a really cool, unique way to use this space for the event.

CHALLENGES

"We were bringing in a lot of decor and furnishings, technology and many custom built elements. Furthermore our client also included 12 of their preferred food & beverage partners, who provided activations and displays, in this evening. And we needed six hours to build the concert stage in the loading dock area. All of this was happening in the hot, humid summer weather of Orlando.

Since the load-in had to be completed before we could build the stage we had many pre-production meetings to work out one of our most detailed setup timetables ever, taking into consideration
1) the amount of people involved and all the elements that had to come in before we had to shut off our own access to the ballroom.
2) the heat and humidity our crews had to work in.

Since the main concert was taking place outdoors, we scheduled it to take place during the coolest time of the evening.

Last but not least we made Plan A, Plan B and Plan C in case of rain or other risks to outdoor installations. We had everything down to the most minute detail in case the weather would turn bad and we would have to move the concert indoors.

And then the weather was perfect!"

THE REACTION

We had two reveals: the opening of the doors for the indoor pool party and the loading dock. Both worked.
When we revealed the concert space with the roll-up of the door all guests rushed out to experience the band. This was not a slow trickle and we did not notice any hesitation. The WOW moment had done the magic.
We also saw many phones up in the air, guests taking videos and photos, always a good way to judge the impact of our events.

PHOTOS EDITED FOR CLIENT AND GUEST PRIVACY.

Event Report: Alisa and Morgan report from the USS Midway

2019-08-26T05:00:00.000-07:00

Producer Morgan Connacher and Alisa Walsh

We love historic locations. Always memorable, imbued with ambiance - and many challenges that we are proud to master, as we did recently on the aircraft carrier museum USS Midway in San Diego.

We have done HISTORIC before, in the ancient Forum of Pompeii, Italy, on Ellis Island in New York, in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and on the USS Hornet in Alameda Bay, Northern California, to name a few. The results are always worth the extra effort - every guest will remember these very special occasions. The location provides the opportunity to create a lifetime memory.

The Event:
We produced an evening dinner event for nearly 1000 guests during the summer of 2019.

Added Challenges:

Alisa Walsh:
"This particular event was confirmed a very short period of time before it was to take place and to complicate things further, we had to deal with a major national holiday in the middle of production. The USS Midway was therefore in full season and all their staff already had a very packed calendar. We are very grateful that the in-house event staff went above and beyond to assist us in confirming all the details on short notice."

Our San Diego based producer Morgan Connacher:
"Another added challenge in this location are the many historic artifacts that are part of the museum and have to be safeguarded. The Midway also has more stringent fire marshal rules. We again had the great luck of partnering with the amazingly detail oriented and professional event staff that helped us work the existing objects into our design needs.

Logistics:

Morgan Connacher:
"Since the USS Midway was not originally created for events and is open to the public as a museum, the load in and load out can be challenging.
The USS Midway loads almost everything with a fork lift and semi closed 20’ x 8’ x 8’ container and runs on a tight schedule so the parking lot isn’t overloaded with trucks and deliveries.
We developed an extremely detailed load-in plan, providing minute information about how many trucks and how many people were going to come in and how long it would take to unload each vehicle to arrange the load-in with the museum. All of our activity had to be tightly coordinated with all the regular deliveries and removals coming to the ship, such as sanitary needs, trash management and more.
Once on board we used an aircraft elevator to load almost all needed equipment onto the flight deck. We staged a reception in the hangar bay which is mid-level on the ship and a dinner on the flight deck.

The USS Midway is open to the public during the load in times and vendors need to be cautious of the guests, size of the equipment they are bringing in as well as the surface of the hanger bay and flight deck. The historic tie downs for aircraft are still in place on both decks. Sailors call the staircases "knee knockers" for good reason. It is essential to watch your step at all times."

Design Challenges:

"We needed a specific design of chairs and tables for nearly 1000 guests and it turned out that not all of them were available in San Diego. We had to source some furnishings in different cities and ensure a timely arrival and include more vendors into our load-in plan. We needed a very large team of workers to set it all up on both decks, with the added complication of working around the visiting public during museum business hours. Event areas were cordoned off but tourists happily took seats anyway. We waited until the very last possible minute, right after the museum's closing, to place linens, florals and place settings.

One more complication we took into consideration: seagulls! They do not care about your pristine linens on the flight deck. We just got lucky that they missed the deck that night.

Lighting a former naval vessel means adhering to strict safety rules that take into consideration the height of the ship, its position in the bay, safety of air and harbor traffic in the area and possible wind exposure. We created 40"x40" lighting rigs that were 23 feet high that we used to light a very extensive concert the client had coordinated, as well as the backdrops for all entertainment segments."

Entertainment Ideas:

The Midway offers great opportunities to include historic aspects.

Former sailors volunteer as docent guides to take guests to see the ship.
Navy bands and large choirs work very well in such large spaces.
USO Style Revues and swing dancers blend well with the historic theme.
We brought
military fly-bys,
skydivers and
close proximity pyrotechnics to the USS Hornet and Pearl Harbor in the past.

More Entertainment Ideas: Cirque and Aerial Acts

We work with many international clients whose guests are often not English-speaking. Cirque shows are a great choice for entertainment on the USS Midway. Yes, the logistics are daunting but we love to work with our friends at Imagination Entertainment who are San Diego based and have 15 years experience producing and rigging shows at this site.

Steve Gale, President: "We have created various free standing aerial rigs that are in compliance with the strict standards of the USS Midway and are a quick easy solution to bring guests aerial acrobatics and cirque-style entertainment. Along with the aerial acrobatics we have many other forms of entertainment that are a perfect fit to the USS Midway and the historical nature of the museum. Because the USS Midway was not originally created for events, the load in and load out can be challenging, but understanding the procedural aspects put in place by the Midway, are key! Furthermore, the nature of the location poses specific conditions. There are padeyes (tie down points for aircraft) all over the ship which can be disastrous for small wheels on a vendors cart or a pair of heels but are great for tying down and securing the freestanding aerial rigs or truss structures created for an event. We are happy to share a video of our Midway work."

Event Report: With Aloha From Maui

2019-08-12T05:00:00.000-07:00

Ted Bowers, Kristen Rensch and Natasha Allaire

The Challenge:

Combining an authentic Hawaiian experience with an immersive element that met the needs and expectations of a non-English speaking group of guests in a luxury resort on the island of Maui.

The Event: a global company's reward program for 425 Asian High Achievers and their families.

Dates: June 22-25, 2019

Location: Grand Wailea Resort, Maui, Hawaii.

The Result: truly unforgettable memories!

Enhanced Entertainment:

Ted Bowers: "Typically when working for an international audience that doesn't speak the local language we focus on creating entertainment that means something to them. The beauty of Cirque acts and magic are understood universally. In this case one of the magicians we had spoke the group's native language fairly well and he wanted to make his performance as engaging as possible . We met with the MC/Interpreter for the client who wanted to make sure that the magician's linguistic skills were up to par. An impromptu enhanced act was born. Our magician incorporated the interpreter as his assistant. She explained the act step-by-step as the magician's sidekick and that added a lot of interest for the client's guests. The audience became truly engaged in the enhanced performance.

Our second magician had perfected a non-verbal performance, thus creating a flawless performance of universal appeal."

Authentic Experiences:

Kristen was born on Oahu and has strong ties to Hawaii.

"One complaint native Hawaiians had in the past was that their culture was frequently trivialized, distorted and exploited for show and tourism purposes. Nowadays the tourism and meeting industry thankfully pays more attention to getting it right. We included many Hawaiian cultural and culinary aspects in our event and we consulted with our Native Hawaiian contacts to ensure that we were executing the plans correctly.

One such example was our luau. Typically a luau lasts around 2 to 3 hours and it is held to celebrate a special event like a birthday, a wedding or a birth.

For our corporate event guests we negotiated an abbreviated, however authentic version that focused on Hawaiian traditions and imparted the history of the islands in a format that was most engaging to a non-English speaking audience."

Kristen: "Another traditional Hawaiian element were the hula lessons for our youngest guests. We had about 75 children under the age of 14 in the group. As in the past for this client we offered a gifting suite for the kids with a variety of gifts selected by age range. At the client's suggestion we paired the gifting with a hula lesson. The dancing lesson doubled as an English language lesson and the participating children performed their hula dance as part of the final night reception show. Talk about audience engagement, unforgettable memories for kids and their parents and great return on investment for the client!"

Mahalo for reading!

Event Report from IPW in Anaheim, CA

2019-07-29T05:00:00.000-07:00

The Event: The US Travel Association's IPW 2019 in Anaheim, CA.
The Dates: June 1 - 5, 2019
Number of Attendees: more than 6000 delegates from over 70 countries from around the globe.

The annual event takes place in a different city each year.
The U.S. Travel Association’s IPW is the leading international inbound travel trade show, driving $5.5 billion in future travel to the United States.

Alisa Walsh:
"We were very honored to be involved again as we have great previous experience with IPW productions for Visit California, Visit Anaheim and the Los Angeles Tourism and Convention Board.
EventWorks was invited to participate in the production of two programs.
The City of Anaheim trusted EventWorks and ACCESS Orange County to partner to produce the Sunday morning Press Brunch.
Visit Anaheim invited us both to create a unique, inviting and memorable activation area."
We are happy to share the story.

THE PRESS BRUNCH - SUNDAY, JUNE 2, 2019 FROM 9-11AM

LOCATION: DOWNTOWN ANAHEIM

“Characters are in Anaheim’s DNA,” said Jay Burress, president & CEO, Visit Anaheim. “We’re a city built on imagination, possibility and creativity, beginning with Walt Disney’s genius and vision. That spirit is inspiring a new cast of uncommon characters and unleashing a fresh wave of sights, sounds, flavors and fun across our landscape that we’re excited for you to experience during IPW 2019 in Anaheim.”

Based on Anaheim's 2019 theme "Uncommon Characters" we were tasked to come up with a design and activations that were just as fresh, never-before-seen as the reinvented City of Anaheim. The city last hosted IPW in 2007 and has since invested 6 billion dollars into its infrastructure and renewal, transforming itself into a completely refreshed, modern destination that has a lot more to offer than its most famous destination, Disneyland.

Alisa: "The Press Brunch was the opportunity to showcase the "new" Anaheim to hundreds of members of the global travel media. EVENTWORKS and ACCESS Orange County were thrilled to be invited to come up with fresh, creative, fun, immersive activations worthy of the high level of creativity Anaheim is a symbol of for the attendees.

Together we designed a zip line for guests to enjoy. Our joined team came up with innovative ideas to brand and theme the food and beverage stations with Uncommon Character.

We helped facilitate the stage design and performance of the headlining singer Natasha Bedingfield.

The challenge here for our joined team was the overnight load-in and installation in a public area that had never been used for this type of event before.

A big THANK YOU to our EVENTWORKS and ACCESS Orange County team for the long night and early morning hours to put together a flawless event!"

THE VISIT ANAHEIM CONTAINER BOOTH AND ACTIVATION AREA

JUNE 1-5, 2019

LOCATION: GRAND PLAZA AT THE ANAHEIM CONVENTION CENTER

Alisa: "Visit Anaheim invited EVENTWORKS and ACCESS Orange County to partner with them to install an activation area in the middle of Grand Plaza. The goal was to stand out from previous, recent IPW host cities. We loved having the Grand Plaza area outside the Convention Center and being able to turn it into a hub for all attendees to gather, socialize and network. Anaheim wanted to create a big presence. We assisted them in building a container booth by designing a custom container like it had never been seen before. We took out walls to create views. We included a refreshment bar, a lounge seating area and a roof top with a view that became a favorite for selfies and media recording. Catch it on YouTube!

The container booth's overall design had to be a striking visual to attract visitors and become a center of the hub.

Ted Bowers, our EVENTWORKS and ACCESS Orange County team and our partners were challenged to build a quasi wall-less container with a roof top that was stable and fortified enough to be used as an active top floor by attendees."

Thank you to our friends at Visit Anaheim and City of Anaheim.

We loved the opportunity to highlight all that the city has to offer visitors.

Thank you for reading.

Alisa's Top Takeaways from the MPI International WEC19

2019-07-15T05:00:00.000-07:00

EW's Alisa Walsh and Elizabeth Brazil represented MPI SoCal and MPI Houston respectively at MPI International's WEC19.

Alisa report from Toronto.

"WEC was really well done. The production was fantastic and the speakers' quality was exceptional. Both the general sessions and the breakout conferences content was truly relevant to our industry now.

I am happy to share my Top Takeaways with you."

It was really great to attend the conference in Toronto - because

A) it is a really beautiful city and it showcased itself fantastically. EventWorks has produced many events in Toronto so it was great to mingle with our friends in the city and to meet new possible collaborators. We have produced many events in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver as well as smaller cities and it was great for me to meet our Canadian partners in person.

B) In my role as incoming president for SITE Southern California I am excited to explore some of the speakers and hopefully bring them to the Southern California arena to provide continued education for our members. The speakers were so inspiring that I want to implement them myself. Obviously I am very excited about referring them to our clients as well.

It was great to see familiar faces in Toronto, like our friends from the LATCB and MPI SoCal of course. I love the opportunity to meet colleagues from all over the world from all the different chapters. I got to network a little bit with the global leadership team and I got a better understanding how MP changes the world from a meetings perspective. Their work shows how important it really is to get together for events and it helped reinvigorate the purpose of what we do."

Let's hear it for MPI Southern California. Congratulations on winning the 2018 RISE Award for Innovative Educational Programming for its (WE)Con Weekend Educational Conference.

Fresh off the plane from Cancun, Alisa celebrated with Natalie Fulton and Joe Marcy.

Alisa: "I am so excited for MPI SoCal for winning a Rise Award and being honored with this award for the outstanding event they produced right here. We are even more happy for our shining star, Joe Marcy who was honored as MPI MEMBER OF THE YEAR!"

Joe is the Regional Sales Executive at the Monterey County Convention & Visitors Bureau. In his work at the CVB, Marcy has been proud to promote an environmental and sustainability campaign called “Please Visit Responsibly.” The campaign encourages attendees to lessen their carbon footprint. In collaboration with the hotel partners and Monterey Bay Aquarium, the CVB has been distributing reusable bags, utensils and environmentally safe products.

Alisa: "It was very encouraging to see my fellow members and friends honored with a spotlight in front of thousands of people from all around the world. I feel proud to be a part of the SoCal chapter."

Feeling right at home with Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board's Darren K. Green, Senior Vice President, Sales, Los Angeles]and Anna Lee Kim, Destination Sales Director, Downtown/Hollywood

"From a personal as well as professional perspective it was ironic timing that the MPI conference coincided with the big celebration and victory parade for the Toronto Raptors. It was absolute chaos as hundreds of thousands of fans and the Raptors marched through Downtown Toronto. It was exciting for us as live event producers to see a last-minute live event like that put into place. But personally it was hard for me as they beat my Warriors in the finals. Well, I have had many of my own victory parades in my lifetime so I was happy to see someone else take it" Alisa grins mischievously, "I guess".

"It was fun and inspiring to be there, fun to experience the environment and to witness Toronto celebrate."

Add Fireworks To Your Event!

2019-07-01T05:00:00.000-07:00

Sure to create lasting memories and add excitement to any affair, we love to use pyrotechnics for spectacular effects.

Humans have tickled their nerves since the dawn of times. Depending on whom you ask fireworks date back 1000 to 2000 years. Fireworks are a global phenomenon.

The first time we celebrated Fourth of July with fireworks occurred in 1776!
Indoors or outdoors, we have added custom, branded, close proximity and surrounding pyrotechnics to many an event.

Why do humans all over the world love fireworks? There is a scientific answer.

Bright lightning and booming thunderous noises activate the amygdala, a little ball of nerves in the brain that detects fear. As a reaction our brain releases a surge of dopamine, a chemical that regulates pleasure.

Daniel Glaser, a neuroscientist and the director of Science Gallery London at King's College in the United Kingdom has studied the reaction: "People seem to be excited by the anticipation of a slightly scary experience. Fireworks repeatedly set up this expectation. Each flash generates the anticipation of a bang, and that satisfaction seems to be what’s exciting about the display.”

We just notice unscientifically but with many years of experience that events that climax in fireworks are sure to create a positive, lasting memory for our guests.

Example 1:

Location: New York Harbor, New York, NY
The Event: a Chinese client sent their top 1,600 sales representatives to New York City. Two waves of guests only came together for one Gala Night. We created "Follow Your Dream" -‐ an Immigrant's Journey to America that took place at the true historic venues: Liberty and Ellis Island. We turned the public museum space into a bi-‐level gala evening site, conscientious to ensure that everyone had the same experience by bringing in an A/V system capable of transmitting simultaneously as well as separately. We filled the night with interactive fun, special honors, American entertainment and a spectacular fireworks show over New York Harbor.

We had the pleasure of working with world-record holder Phil Grucci.

Phil Grucci: "Logistics on water locations are always the most difficult. We were working from five firing platforms on three barges in New York Harbor. While the location was gorgeous, it also came with a lot of requirements. We were in constant contact with the Coast Guard and the Captain of the Port. Safety is always our top concern for all involved. The weather conditions got rough as a late winter storm rolled in. It made it harder to control the barges and the platforms. Their placement is crucial! Thankfully we have a great, experienced crew. They kept all the platforms in perfect position to launch the fireworks and keep the waterways safe. The fireworks were customized for this client and his guests. We created a rainbow. It is symbolic of the spirit of worldliness. We also created a display that formed the company name."

Fireworks by Grucci has been a family-owned business for six generations. Angelo Lanzetta, the great-great-great grandfather to Phil Grucci, started the company in Southern Italy. In 1870 he brought the family and his business to Long Island, NY, via Ellis Island, our location for this event.

Phil: "We have persevered through good and bad times. It takes creativity, an understanding of business politics and plain business acumen to survive. There are lots of authorities to deal with for every single show! The performance is our lucky moment, the reward for lots of hard work. We love to see audience reaction. On that night in April the guests came outside despite the cold and rain to watch the fireworks and they cheered a lot! We were very honored by their enthusiastic reaction!"

The unexpected fireworks also drew the attention of many New Yorkers who were sharing the event on Twitter and Instagram.

Phil Grucci and his team are currently in the middle of their busiest week of the year, producing dozens of official Independence Day Celebrations ranging from New York to Florida to Hawaii.

Photo by Nadine Froger Photography

Example 2:

Location: The Pacific Ballroom, Long Beach, CA
The Event: The Unveiling of the newly renovated Long Beach Arena.

In order to demonstrate the ultra modern technical capabilities and adaptability of the ballroom for any size and style of event we created an evening that revealed the location in phases, growing from small and intimate to full arena size event.

The entertainment featured William Close and Earth Harp on the main stage. We added aerial acrobats and stage front pyrotechnics for the grand finale.

Example 3:

Location: USS Hornet, Alameda Bay, CA.
The Event: a series of six gala nights as closing culmination of a multiple day reward program for a Chinese client.

The USS Hornet production included

military fly-bys to honor the location.
iconic historic characters added to the entertainment.
the real USS Hornet Band welcoming the guests.
a Canada-based Chinese star and an American who sings in Mandarin!
a customized live choreography of the Chinese super dance hit "Little Apple".
900 Alaskan crabs sourced directly from the fleet of "The Deadliest Catch".
and last but not least we closed the night by surrounding the aircraft carrier with close proximity fireworks.

Thank you for reading.

Wishing everyone a Happy Fourth of July!

Happiness - Nothing Beats Puppies!

2019-06-24T05:00:00.000-07:00

And we are happy to include a Puppy Lounge in your event. Here is what you need to know.

Los Angeles based uber-restaurateur and television personality Lisa Vanderpump just opened her latest business hit, The Dog Cafe on ritzy 3rd Street in West Hollywood, a place to take your dog - or just meet cuddly customers when you feel the need for great cuteness.

Dogs are always in the top 50 hashtags on Twitter and Instagram and the list of medical and psychological benefits of canine company to humans is extensive.

We always break out in smiles when we encounter a Puppy Lounge at a conference or an event.
Puppies are the best remedy for stress and anxiety, a great social tool and a guaranteed HAPPINESS FACTOR.

We would be happy to bring puppies to events.

Longterm studies of the benefits of canine visits to hospital patients, senior citizens and children support the claims of every dog lover: dogs enhance well-being, generate smiles, and enhance human engagement.
No wonder large corporations like Comcast-NBCUniversal include puppy longes at the most important conferences, like SXSW.

Director of Business Development Alisa Walsh had the chance to snuggle a puppy at a recent SITE SoCal golf event.

Alisa:
"The best kind of golf tournaments involve puppies at every hole. Prove me wrong.
So glad we got to support one of our SITE Southern California charities, Compassionate Animal Rescue for Medical Aid (CARMA) while I took a quick break from the Masters. 😎
SITE SoCal has supported CARMA at other events by including the Orange County based non-profit as beneficiaries of fundraising activities at our events. We always meet our fundraising goal and anytime puppies are on site, the attendee engagement increases considerably."
Golfing with Alisa are Jackie Ash, Evan Lloyd Christman and Tony Buhr.

There are a number of things to consider before you bring puppies to your event.

1) Access: The event location has to be pet-friendly and allow dogs on the premises.

2) Allergies and Dog Phobia: a Puppy Lounge should be located in a space that allows people who do not wish to interact to participate without hindrance in the overall event.

3) The Right Partner: SITE SoCal has a longterm relationship with Orange County, CA, based CARMA. The Sundance Film Festival partners with Nuzzles & Co to give their staffers a much needed boost during the festival run. Comcast NBCUniversal built a relationship with Michelson Found Animals Foundation - give yourself enough time to find a reputable partner for your puppy lounge.
The animal organization will handle all the canine related logistics and should have access to trained animal interaction staffers.
A reputable non-profit will also safeguard the sponsors from fundraising embarrassments.

4) The Right Cause: not every event lends itself to on-the-spot adoptions. However, it is always possible to include a cause-related fundraising angle and an awareness campaign.

We have lots of ideas that will melt your guests' heart and create lasting memories!
And most of all: make them happy!

In Memoriam: Dee Cannella

2019-06-17T05:00:00.000-07:00

Dee Cannella

January 5, 1960 - June 13, 2019

Dee Cannella

Honoring with Lavender Oil

We honor Dee's hair that the wind has played with.

We honor Dee's brow that has been the birthplace of her thoughts.

We honor Dee's eyes that have looked upon us with love and viewed the beauty of the earth.

We honor Dee's nostrils, the gateway of her breath.

We honor Dee's ears that have listened for our voices.

We honor Dee's lips that have spoken truth.

We honor Dee's shoulders that have borne burdens and strength.

We honor Dee's heart that has loved us.

We honor Dee's arms that have embraced us.

We honor Dee's hands that have held our hands and that have done so many things in her life.

We honor Dee's legs that carried her into new places of new challenges.

We honor Dee's feet that walked her own path through life.

We give thanks for the gifts that she has given to us in her lifetime.

Thanks for her abilities, her love, her care and even her human struggles.

We give thanks for her memories that we created together.

We have been honored to be a part of her life.

Steve and Adam Cannella.

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our longtime

Director of Operations and great friend, Dee Cannella.

"Dee was the anchor at EventWorks for three decades. She was always on top of her game. Diligent, organized, hardworking, loyal, strong, kind and fun, she demanded high standards of herself and everyone around her. If a client had a seemingly impossible request Dee made it happen. Her memory and her resources were unparalleled. Her skills and work ethic made her so successful in her profession and earned her the respect of all her colleagues and peers. She will be greatly missed."

Janet

___________________________________

Our condolences go to Dee's husband Steve and son Adam Cannella.

Please visit our Facebook page where we will post information as soon as available about a mid-July Celebration of Life in the Los Angeles South Bay area.

Steve and Adam ask that In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation to Ojai CARES, a non-profit organization that supported Dee and her family in recent years.

DONATE IN MEMORY AND HONOR OF DEE

Address:
Steve Cannella c/o EventWorks, Inc.
340 West 131st Street, Los Angeles, CA 90061

Alisa Walsh: My "TOP 5" From C2 In Montreal.

2019-06-10T05:00:00.000-07:00

Alisa: "I was very much looking forward to this conference because I had heard so many great things about C2. It was truly a unique experience!"
Alisa flew from our event production in Cancun, Mexico, straight to Montreal, Canada, to attend the "most forward thinking business conference in the world".
Our Director of Business Development attends many conferences around the world so we couldn't wait to get her recap of C2 2019.
We know you are busy - so here in a nutshell and a quick read:

ALISA'S TOP 5 TAKEAWAYS FROM C2 2019.

Take-Away No 1: It is true what they say about C2. You attend not so much for professional growth but for your personal growth.

"It was a great opportunity to take some time and figure out what areas I personally wanted to learn in; what topics I was most interested in, and what different kind of people I would like to meet. It was at the same time a very individual as much as a together kind of conference. They very much encourage you to think of yourself and not concentrate only on meeting possible business contacts. This leads to meeting new people you wouldn't necessarily connect with otherwise and with whom you share ideas."

Take-Away No 2: It was an amazing opportunity to see creativity thrive.

"Each and every breakout session was a different experience. None of it was "sitting -at-a-computer" style staring at a LED screen. Each session offered a very unique environment to learn in. It really helped from a creative production standpoint. I got a lot of inspiration and it helped me verify the importance of what we do in the event design world. We constantly come up with creative design ideas and this is exactly the reason why. So it was a great source of inspiration."

Take-Away No 3: I love goats and they helped me recharge.

"Facebook hosted an area designed to relax and recharge that featured a goat petting pen and yoga. It was meant to help attendees decompress in between breakout sessions. it worked! It was one of the most popular engagements there."

Take-Away No 4: Fantastic speakers. My favorite: Spike Lee.

"Spike Lee closed out the conference with a concluding session. I was wondering what he would contribute. Obviously as a creative mind he has been insanely successful. He shared how he achieved this level. It was truly inspiring to hear that he started from the bottom. At the beginning he used to sell t-shirts on the side to survive when he made his first movies and worked on launching himself and he worked very hard to get where he is. It was a great reminder that even the most successful people started from the very bottom."

Take-Away No 5: What I loved the most was the great diversity of people who attended.

"I attend a lot of conferences, mostly in our industry and it is a great way of reconnecting with people. At C2 there were so many people from every walk of life, not exclusively event and hospitality industry but every type of work. Ages ranged from 17 and even younger to 80 years old. Every one had something equally interesting to bring to the table and was equally inspiring. I loved that I did not know anyone. It was a unique experience. On one hand I was very alone but on the other hand it allowed me to connect with people I would not have had the opportunity to meet in other circumstances. We met during breakout sessions and became friends and ended up going to the Cirque de Soleil show together."

Besides making new friends Alisa was thrilled to meet one good friend at C2: Cindy Lo from Red Velvet Events in Austin, Texas.

Thank you for reading!

We Are Happy To Announce That EW's Elizabeth Brazil Has Been Inducted To The MPI Houston Board 2019.

2019-06-03T05:00:00.000-07:00

Our Texas based Elizabeth Brazil, CMP and Producer, proudly represents EventWorks in the Lone Star State.

A few days ago Elizabeth Brazil was inducted into her second term on the Houston Area Chapter MPI Board of Directors.
Eventworks supports and encourages our team involvement in a variety of industry associations and we are pleased to be able to have one of our own contributing her talents to the Houston MPI Chapter.

EW: "Elizabeth, what does it means to you to get on the 2019 board?"

Elizabeth Brazil:
"It is so exciting to get to transition from Director of Member Care this past year into the 2019-20 VP of Membership not only for continuity and the opportunities for further progress it provides on initiatives put in place by the current board but also personally, for my own education about the meetings and events industry in the Houston area.
It was my great fortune to serve on the Board and volunteer with the Southern California Chapter for a number of years prior to our relocation to Houston nearly three years ago. Volunteering with MPISCC presented so many interesting professional and personal opportunities, including the introduction to Eventworks 9+ years ago and a valued career affiliation ever since. I have some amazing friends and professional resources garnered from participating in MPISCC that have translated into great partnerships for the benefit of our clients and our team. It was a no-brainer to get involved with the Houston Chapter to develop connections and relationships within the Houston area, and I did as quickly as I could, beginning to network even before my husband and I left Los Angeles.
Once moved, the plan was to jump right in, get involved and start to discover the Houston meeting and events community, make new friends, professional connections and possibly even find ways to create opportunities for SoCal and Houston area partnerships. Being invited to join the board a year ago was very rewarding and a choice that has led to developing great connections, personal growth and helping others realize their MPI goals – I am so excited to be able to continue down that path this second term."

EW: What do you hope to achieve during your time on the board?

EB: "To make a difference. Our Houston Chapter is in a great place and continues to evolve and grow in ways it can benefit and impact the meetings and events industry locally. I look forward to continuing to be a part of the group that shapes the direction we are going. Hopefully along the way I can inspire more to get involved while ultimately making a difference for our members, our local industry and for myself. I want to be fully up on Houston, and ultimately statewide, opportunities so that when our Eventworks clients decide that they are bringing their business to the 4th largest city in the country, Eventworks will have a resource on the ground that has the professional connections and knowledge to serve our clients to the best of our abilities."

EW: "What does our Houston Office add to EventWorks as a value for our clients, in terms of ideas, resources, knowledge and such?"

EB: "The Houston area has much to offer Eventworks clients who are constantly seeking new and different locations to host their conferences, etc. Houston is a happening place with recent successes including the Helms Briscoe Annual Business Conference, the HUGE annual Offshore Technology Conference and even the 2017 Super Bowl. Beyond facilities and locations that can suit both small and large groups, the Houston area is home to a culturally diverse population which opens up the possibilities to unique attendee experiences, creative entertainment opportunities (Art Car Parade anyone?), and a foodie paradise with diverse ethnic cuisine from across the world, James Beard award-winning chefs, and dishes so unique you’ll only find them here in Houston.
With boots on the ground, my ever-expanding Rolodex of Houstonian contacts allows me to broaden my contributions to our team and resources for our clients executing events in the Southeast, and throughout the world, by opening up new ideas experienced here in Texas that can be incorporated and inspire new opportunities produced elsewhere."

Thank you for reading!