ready 2 spark - ideas and inspirations event blog

blogger meetup . toronto

proud2bee@gmail.com (Lara McCulloch-Carter) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:39:00 +0000

On a beautiful fall day in Toronto 4 bloggers met up for fun, frolic and a bit of gossip.

I had the pleasure of meeting up with Tracey Kumer-Moore of Las Vegas Wedding Concierge, Cindy Johnston of Platinum Events and Cynthia Martyn of Cynthia Martyn Events for a lunch at Brassaii in downtown Toronto.

As I breezed into the restaurant, which was full of lunch time revellers, I spotted these three ladies immediately. I had met Tracey very briefly at The Special Event Show in LA as we all shuffled out of the main ballroom after a keynote. A bit like Salmons swimming upstream, we tried to fight the rushing sea of people exiting the room...without much success. Prior to today, that was the first and last time I saw her.

I've spent more time with Cindy, having the honor of having a great lunch with her a few months ago. And this was my first time meeting Cynthia in person.

The amazing thing was it was like I've known these ladies forever. I guess that's the amazing thing about social media. You spend your time on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn building great relationships before you ever meet. Our face to face meeting served simply as an extension to the conversation we had already been having online. I look forward to continuing to nurture these relationships and many more!

Lara McCulloch-Carter
Author of the Special Event blog ready2spark
Director of Marketing - Regal Tent Productions
Past-President - ISES Toronto
. Follow me on Twitter
. Connect with me on LinkedIn
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art-world . it boy

proud2bee@gmail.com (Lara McCulloch-Carter) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 14:00:00 +0000

Art-world it boy, Que Houxo is taking the rest of the world by storm with his live performance black light and paint masterpieces.

Lara McCulloch-Carter
Author of the Special Event blog ready2spark
Director of Marketing - Regal Tent Productions
Past-President - ISES Toronto
. Follow me on Twitter
. Connect with me on LinkedIn
. Become my Peep at EventPeeps
. Befriend me at Events Network

shifting out of neutral . 3 tips to think for tomorrow

proud2bee@gmail.com (Lara McCulloch-Carter) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:00:00 +0000

In Monday's post I identified '5 ways to know you're stuck in neutral'. This week will be dedicated to working through those issues.

Issue number 1...you're caught in today thinking. In other words, you've stopped dedicating time to thinking about the future of your business. Instead, you're caught up on mundane day-to-day tasks.

This has to be one of the most common complaints I hear from SMBs (small / medium sized businesses)...and one of the most frustrating for business owners.

There's one thing that every one of us have in common. We all have 24 hours in the day. It's what we choose to do with that time that will set us and our businesses apart from the crowd. I have three tips that I share with my clients to make sure they stay on the path to success and use their time wisely.

1. Understand your Time
For 1 week, write down everything you do and how much time you spend doing it. If you own an iPhone, 2 applications that will help you do just this are HoursTracker and Eternity Time Log. The key here is to understand how much of your time is spent doing things that are meaningful to your business and how much time is spent on distractions. Divide the items as follows:
Strategic - time that is spent focused specifically on building your business
Necessary - time that is spent doing things necessary to the running of your business
Time consuming - things that are needed to run the business, but take up excessive time
Time wasting - time that is spent on unnecessary tasks

As a business owner and strategic thinker it's so important that you spend as much time as possible propelling your business forward. The more time you spend answering emails and sitting in unproductive meetings, the more time you take away from building your empire.

2. Consider Outsourcing
Focus in on the time spent doing 'necessary', 'time consuming' and 'time wasting' things. Ask yourself:

Does it cost me more money to do it myself than it would to outsource it?

Is it something I'm not very knowledgeable about?

Is it something that is not my business' core competency?

Could I be spending my time doing more important things if this wasn't on my plate?

If you answered yes to any of the questions above, you may want to consider outsourcing.

3. Dedicate a Day

Dedicate 1 day a week to building your business. That means no meetings, no emails, no excuses. This is usually when I hear groans and proclamations of disdain: "How can I live for a day without emails?!?" and "My staff need in meetings!". So, let's break this down.

Emails

According to a report published in October 2008 by the New York-based research firm Basex, interruptions such as spam, other unnecessary e-mail and instant-messages take up 28% of the average business person's day. On top of that is what Basex chief analyst Jonathan Spira refers to as recovery time — the time to get back to where you were before you were interrupted, which Spira says is 10 to 20 times the duration of the interruption.*

Meetings

When done well, meetings can be a fantastic resource for collaboration, brainstorming and decision making. But when was the last time you were in a productive meeting? Unfortunately, these have become as rare as unicorns and pots of gold.

Imagine replacing this time with thinking about your business goals, how to attract your dream clients, how to retain your star clients, how to differentiate your company, how to improve your products / services. Stop imagining and as our good friends at Nike say so well, "just do it".

Image via maldiviandude
*Source: Gawker

Lara McCulloch-Carter
Author of the Special Event blog ready2spark
Director of Marketing - Regal Tent Productions
Past-President - ISES Toronto
. Follow me on Twitter
. Connect with me on LinkedIn
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5 ways to know . you're stuck in neutral

proud2bee@gmail.com (Lara McCulloch-Carter) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 14:00:00 +0000

1. Today thinking
You've stopped dedicating time to thinking about the future of your business. Instead, you're caught up on the day to day tasks. If you're a junior administrator (which we know you're not) that's perfectly OK. But if you're a business owner, keeping your eye on constantly evolving business threats and opportunities and your long-term business goals is a necessity.

2. Likes-focused
We all have strengths and weaknesses. Things we love to do, which tend to be our strengths, and others that we hate. It's human nature to spend our time doing the things we like. The problem is that sometimes leaves the things we need to do in the dust.

3. The 'Word of Mouth' crutch
I can't tell you how many great companies I speak with who say that almost 100% of their business comes through word of mouth. Now this might sound like a very positive thing and in some respects it is. It may show that you've been able to turn a client, supplier or peer into an evangelist - someone who's willing to sing your praises to others. However, it also means that your business relies on others to be topline successful. It's imperative for any business to always keep the pipeline filled. That means proactive selling. Did I send ripples of fear throughout your body? If so, don't fret - I have a few tips for building business coming soon.

4. Loss of passion
Donald Trump once said, "With out passion you dont have energy, with out energy you have nothing.” He's absolutely right. The reason you started your business was (hopefully) because you felt passionate about it. If you've lost your passion it will make your job of running a successful business so much harder.

5. No Piggy Bank
Did you every have a piggy bank? You dropped in a penny here and a nickel there. One day you realize that you want a shiny red bike. You break open your piggy bank, count your change, and realize that over time you saved enough money! Investing in the future of your business is equally important. To be successful in the future, you have to invest today in: talent, building your corporate brand, improving your products and services, and retaining your good customers - to name a few. Small changes and improvements over time make a big difference. But if you don't have a piggy bank your business can't move forward.

Photo via Lee Nachtigal

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lxn271/ / CC BY 2.0

Lara McCulloch-Carter
Author of the Special Event blog ready2spark
Director of Marketing - Regal Tent Productions
Past-President - ISES Toronto
. Follow me on Twitter
. Connect with me on LinkedIn
. Become my Peep at EventPeeps
. Befriend me at Events Network

mustard christmas . etsy

proud2bee@gmail.com (Lara McCulloch-Carter) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 04:17:00 +0000

Albeit unconventional for Christmas, mustard looks perfectly fitting for the holidays with these 4 Etsy finds. I love the idea of moving away from the more expected red, white, icy blue, silver or gold.

mustard and blue yarn wreath
mustard stocking
mustard and white star ornament
Mustard deer heart card set

Lara McCulloch-Carter
Author of the Special Event blog ready2spark
Director of Marketing - Regal Tent Productions
Past-President - ISES Toronto
. Follow me on Twitter
. Connect with me on LinkedIn
. Become my Peep at EventPeeps
. Befriend me at Events Network

rent a . living Christmas tree

proud2bee@gmail.com (Lara McCulloch-Carter) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 22:35:00 +0000

We've all be challenged with thinking greener. And for those of you who celebrate Christmas (or have clients who do), you face a big conundrum. Do you cut down a perfectly healthy tree only to have it displayed in all its glory for a few short weeks or do you buy a reusable (aka fake) tree in hopes of making a better environmental choice. Now we have a 3rd option called The Living Christmas Co.. The idea behind The Living Christmas Co. is that you rent a living tree which is delivered to your home or event, picked up and then replanted. You can even adopt a particular tree and rent it year after year (how cute).

For more information:
Pricing
Delivery Zones (California only)

Story idea via Springwise
Image via Robert S. Donovan

Lara McCulloch-Carter
Author of the Special Event blog ready2spark
Director of Marketing - Regal Tent Productions
Past-President - ISES Toronto
. Follow me on Twitter
. Connect with me on LinkedIn
. Become my Peep at EventPeeps
. Befriend me at Events Network

going global

proud2bee@gmail.com (Lara McCulloch-Carter) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:00:00 +0000

Two interesting new sites that have passed by my desk are:

GLOBAL EVENT RESOURCES
A partnership of media leaders (one of which is BizBash Media) in the event planning industry from around the globe. Their aim is to share information and give their audiences easy access to the best news and resources from all over the world. So, if you're planning an event in a foreign country, it's never been easier to get caught up on the local industry news.

EVENT1001
An international directory of products and services that serve the events industry. Select a location, a product/service and find local suppliers. This tool would be a lot more useful, in my opinion, if it allowed user reviews and testimonials.

Lara McCulloch-Carter
Author of the Special Event blog ready2spark
Director of Marketing - Regal Tent Productions
Past-President - ISES Toronto
. Follow me on Twitter
. Connect with me on LinkedIn
. Become my Peep at EventPeeps
. Befriend me at Events Network

haute . fire extinguishers

proud2bee@gmail.com (Lara McCulloch-Carter) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:00:00 +0000

I la, la, love these gorgeous fire extinguishers by Fire Design. Next time you do a tented event, bring these babies in!

Lara McCulloch-Carter
Author of the Special Event blog ready2spark
Director of Marketing - Regal Tent Productions
Past-President - ISES Toronto
. Follow me on Twitter
. Connect with me on LinkedIn
. Become my Peep at EventPeeps
. Befriend me at Events Network

accomplice . the show

proud2bee@gmail.com (Lara McCulloch-Carter) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 05:18:00 +0000

I'm very curious to know if anyone has experienced this show and if it's any good.

I heard about Accomplice while half-listening to Conan O'Brien at the same time that I was frenetically researching future blog stories. In between strange turn-of-the century impressions, Neil Patrick Harris talked about the game / show / tour called Accomplice that he's promoting in Hollywood. It sounds very cool.

From what I gather you buy a ticket and a time for this (let's call it a) 'show'. You don't know where you're going when you order your ticket. Instead, you get a phone call the day before you leave and someone tells you where to go as well as the storyline. Then, you're tasked with following a set of clues (along with your group, which consists of about 10 people) and solving the mystery.

For more information, check out this video:

Lara McCulloch-Carter
Author of the Special Event blog ready2spark
Director of Marketing - Regal Tent Productions
Past-President - ISES Toronto
. Follow me on Twitter
. Connect with me on LinkedIn
. Become my Peep at EventPeeps
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monogrammed . vases

proud2bee@gmail.com (Lara McCulloch-Carter) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 04:42:00 +0000

I quite like the idea behind these thoughtful monogrammed vases by Etsy seller MaidOfClay. Perfect for personalized centerpieces, thank yous or gifts. Each 4-1/2" - 5 inch high vase is priced at $48 USD.

Lara McCulloch-Carter
Author of the Special Event blog ready2spark
Director of Marketing - Regal Tent Productions
Past-President - ISES Toronto
. Follow me on Twitter
. Connect with me on LinkedIn
. Become my Peep at EventPeeps
. Befriend me at Events Network

trend alert . flower pots

proud2bee@gmail.com (Lara McCulloch-Carter) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 01:32:00 +0000

I reported on this trend back in April and it's back again! Despite the fact that we're heading into Winter and everything around me is withering away, flower pots are popping up everywhere. But where they're really hot is on the table. Terracotta has been used for centuries for cooking, but these new takes are oh so cute.

Sources:
Image left
Image right via Tastespotting

Lara McCulloch-Carter
Author of the Special Event blog ready2spark
Director of Marketing - Regal Tent Productions
Past-President - ISES Toronto
. Follow me on Twitter
. Connect with me on LinkedIn
. Become my Peep at EventPeeps
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1024 . square cube

proud2bee@gmail.com (Lara McCulloch-Carter) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 13:30:00 +0000

SQUARE3 / E. De Crecy Tests from 1024 on Vimeo.

Another very cool Vimeo find! 1024 created this incredible installation for Etienne de Crecy's live show. According to flyfly.com, the content is projected via custom QC software, controlled by the musician MPC in real-time. Very interesting!

Check out more incredible installations from 1024 here.

Lara McCulloch-Carter
Author of the Special Event blog ready2spark
Director of Marketing - Regal Tent Productions
Past-President - ISES Toronto
. Follow me on Twitter
. Connect with me on LinkedIn
. Become my Peep at EventPeeps
. Befriend me at Events Network

soft . LED curtain

proud2bee@gmail.com (Lara McCulloch-Carter) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 13:00:00 +0000

I came across this flexible LED curtain and was amazed. I'm curious to know if any of you have seen something similar in North America?

you dare to test LED curtain like that??? Like crazy @! from vason on Vimeo.

1) It is flexible and can be folded into virtually any shape; variety of sizes are available
2) You can easily pack the curtain in a flight case for easy transportation;
3) Fast installation (total 1 Hour) , just hang indoor or outdoor (IP54);
4) All-in-one control system with PC, laptop, camera, DVD player and USB disk, (network card);
5) Waterproof, fireproof, antidust and durable quality (2-year warranty), allows built-up of large screen;
6) Maintainance without a professional engineer, 4 LEDs in one module, if one broken, just change the broken one!

Contact Information:
Contact/ vason
Beijing Huasun Optoelectronic Science Co., Ltd
Mobile/+86-13051400898
E-mail/ huasuntech@aol.com

UPDATE:
For a copy of their price list, please contact me

Lara McCulloch-Carter
Author of the Special Event blog ready2spark
Director of Marketing - Regal Tent Productions
Past-President - ISES Toronto
. Follow me on Twitter
. Connect with me on LinkedIn
. Become my Peep at EventPeeps
. Befriend me at Events Network

sweatshoppe . video painting

proud2bee@gmail.com (Lara McCulloch-Carter) — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 17:22:00 +0000

I thought this was fantstic...

"In an effort to establish new platforms for public art and performance, the multimedia duo SWEATSHOPPE has developed a new interactive technology that enables them to explore the relationship between video, mark making and architecture. Dubbed "video painting", this technology allows them to essentially "paint" video onto any surface. Shooting in Queens, Brooklyn, and Manhattan, the duo spent weeks documenting their work in urban settings to create "The Landing" the first in a series of episodes that showcases their work as artist, technologist and performers. This video shows 4 full uncut extra clips form the landing."

SWEATSHOPPE, 4spots, the landing extras from SWEATSHOPPE on Vimeo.

YokmoK - building buzz . one blogger at a time

proud2bee@gmail.com (Lara McCulloch-Carter) — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 17:58:00 +0000

So, who's heard about YokmoK? Alright, you may not have heard of them just yet, but chances are you will. I first came across their quirky name on, you guessed it, my favorite business inspiration site: Springwise.

Imagine traversing the greatest collection of 4,000 meter peaks in the Alps or camel trekking the Sahara desert...well this is exactly what you can sign up for through YokmoK. They offer guided adventure travel for small groups. Based in Spain, they have great brand awareness in home country and are looking to build their brand throughout the rest of Europe as well as North America. Here's the thing...YokmoK isn't selling travel, they're selling an experience that most people save up for years to . And that, my friends, is shareable.

So how does one take a shareable experience and spread awareness of it throughout new countries and a new continent at a very low cost? Why you create a social media strategy, of course. Their idea is a simple one. Connect with influential bloggers and offer them a chance to travel on one of YokmoK's adventure experiences for FREE! In exchange, they require bloggers to write about their trip. A smart way to take people already passionate about adventure travel and provide them with an experience and an outlet to share their passion.

How effective will this strategy be? I hope to tell you soon enough. Yours truly entered her blog and I'm delighted to say that I've been added to the list of bloggers that travel free - yay! Although I haven't yet figured out how to write a blog post on my mac while strapped to a camel, I'm up for the challenge.

Are you interested in being a YokmoK blogger?

Here's the criteria. Your blog must...
• be popular (typically a popularity higher than 10,000)
• relate to travel, adventure, adrenaline sports, adventure travel, or similar (or in my case, my blog target readers are those who plan incentive trips and luxury social events)
• have quality content and be updated it regularly

To apply, just send YokmoK an email (info@yokmok.com) with the following information:

1. your name;
2. URL of your blog;
3. which trip, date, or sport you're interested in (snowshoeing, hiking, bicycling, trips in August, all...);
4. a few sentences about yourself;
5. as subject line please put "I'm a blogger and I want to travel for free with YokmoK".

Check out YokmoK's site for rules and regulations.

Lara McCulloch-Carter
Author of the Special Event blog ready2spark
Director of Marketing - Regal Tent Productions
Past-President - ISES Toronto
. Follow me on Twitter
. Connect with me on LinkedIn
. Become my Peep at EventPeeps
. Befriend me at Events Network

what it means . to be meaningful

proud2bee@gmail.com (Lara McCulloch-Carter) — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 02:47:00 +0000

Yes, I'm Canadian. And, no, I don't know Bob from Vancouver. In fact, I didn't even know about Servus from Alberta until I read about it in Springwise today.

You see, Servus is a Credit Union and not a bank. And for years, Credit Unions have been telling us Canadians why they're so much better than their big, bad banking counterparts. The issues with this strategy? #1 Who believes b2c marketing messages anymore...even if they are from a Credit Union and #2 Who wants to be talked at? But alas, it seems that Servus has caught on to modern marketing - er, or should I say being meaningful.

Servus is handing out $10 bills to 20,000 of its customers. Simply asking them to continue the goodwill by passing it on to someone else...coining this process the Feel Good Ripple. They ask their customers to write about their experience at feelgoodripple.ca for a chance to win a $500 donation to their charity of choice. Since launching on September 26th, they've facilitated 384 ripples and hundreds (if not, thousands) of happy people...and counting. The beauty is that it reinforces what makes a credit union so unique. It CARES out its members, it's DIFFERENT, it's a part of the COMMUNITY. Hmmm, how about that? Communicating a message through an experience as opposed to marketing-speak.

This is actually the 2nd of such meaningful campaigns that I'm aware have been powered by Servus. Last year, after doing some research for a social media presentation I was giving, I found out about Young and Free Alberta, a free chequing account targeted to young people under 25 in Northern Alberta, Canada. Now if you know anything about marketing to Generation Y, you know that they've grown up with a mouse in their hand, bombarded with marketing-centric noise in a world overflowing with brands. The result is that they're indifferent to the same tactics that captivated the older generations. So, how did Young and Free Alberta get over 2MM impressions, almost 2,000 new accounts and more than $2.6MM in Y&F account funds in just 6 months? They got in the hearts and minds of their target and built a community.

What they did:
- They actively sought out a community leader (aka spokesperson) that their members could relate to. In fact, they created a contest around hiring the voice of Y&F. They promoted the contest by asking applicants to create a video via YouTube and getting their friends to vote for them on the Y&F website. Get it? Facilitate something that young people create themselves. Then, let them do the work to promote it to all of their friends (who are also the target). And, create a voice for the organization that prospective members can relate to.
- They actively used social media channels to extend the conversation. Twitter, YouTube, Flickr, Facebook, FriendFeed, 12 Seconds and Blogs, oh my!
- They created a Y&F Show, providing the community with tips, tricks and hacks on how to get the most out of their money. In other words, they created content that that was helpful to their audience while reinforcing a message relevant to their offering (saving).
- They made it really easy to sign up for an account. Period.
- Aaaand, they kept track of results. Brilliant.

For more information:

Young & Free: building relationships through social media.

View more documents from CurrencyTim.

illoom balloons . a party's best friend

proud2bee@gmail.com (Lara McCulloch-Carter) — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 13:00:00 +0000

My new love of the week is Illoom Balloons. They're not your regular ho-hum balloons. No, these balloons have a twist - they illuminate with the power of LED for a full 15 hours! Right now you can only buy in Tesco stores across the UK...but they will be coming soon to the US. And, as usual, us Canadians will have to wait a bit longer.

Lara McCulloch-Carter
Author of the Special Event blog ready2spark
Director of Marketing - Regal Tent Productions
Past-President - ISES Toronto
. Follow me on Twitter
. Connect with me on LinkedIn
. Become my Peep at EventPeeps
. Befriend me at Events Network

jing . video screen captures

proud2bee@gmail.com (Lara McCulloch-Carter) — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 12:55:00 +0000

Many of you have asked what software I use to do my video screen captures. Switching to a mac from a PC propelled me to search for the latest and greatest. After much research, I found jing. It's free, compatible with a pc or a mac and is simple to use. I made the following short video below to tell you a bit more about the tool, so feel free to watch.

I'd also highly recommend Screencast to store and share your videos. They have a free account option which gives you 2 GB of storage space. What I love is that it allows you to maintain the integrity of your upload - in other words, it doesn't compress the heck out of your videos.

Enjoy!

Lara McCulloch-Carter
Author of the Special Event blog ready2spark
Director of Marketing - Regal Tent Productions
Past-President - ISES Toronto
. Follow me on Twitter
. Connect with me on LinkedIn
. Become my Peep at EventPeeps
. Befriend me at Events Network

Yayoi . Kusama

proud2bee@gmail.com (Lara McCulloch-Carter) — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 14:37:00 +0000

Get inspired by the art of Yayoi Kusama. One word: "awe inspiring". Yes, yes, that was 2 words...

Lara McCulloch-Carter
Author of the Special Event blog ready2spark
Director of Marketing - Regal Tent Productions
Past-President - ISES Toronto
. Follow me on Twitter
. Connect with me on LinkedIn
. Become my Peep at EventPeeps
. Befriend me at Events Network

taste of the month . our kitchen

proud2bee@gmail.com (Lara McCulloch-Carter) — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 12:00:00 +0000

A decadent and delightful blog by Fisher & Paykel employees, OUR KITCHEN is a must have in your rss feed.

Lara McCulloch-Carter
Author of the Special Event blog ready2spark
Director of Marketing - Regal Tent Productions
Past-President - ISES Toronto
. Follow me on Twitter
. Connect with me on LinkedIn
. Become my Peep at EventPeeps
. Befriend me at Events Network

a world first . photoboothTM

proud2bee@gmail.com (Lara McCulloch-Carter) — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 15:20:00 +0000

You know, it must be something about standing upside down all day that makes Aussies so creative ;) I'm constantly amazed by the wonderful ideas that come out of this part of the world. One such wonder is PhotoboothTM - the world's first fully portable, high resolution, digital, architecturally designed, part inflatable photobooth. Although out of breath after I mention this product to others (it is, after all, a mouth full), it deserves to be talked about. For more info, contact via their site.

Lara McCulloch-Carter
Author of the Special Event blog ready2spark
Director of Marketing - Regal Tent Productions
Past-President - ISES Toronto
. Follow me on Twitter
. Connect with me on LinkedIn
. Become my Peep at EventPeeps
. Befriend me at Events Network

my shiny . new ride {part i}

proud2bee@gmail.com (Lara McCulloch-Carter) — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 12:15:00 +0000

A few weekends ago I drove out to the country with my husband to visit my grandparents. On a whim, we dropped into a kitschy little antique store and I picked up this shiny new ride. Teal blue, 1 speed, fat wheels and the most comfortable seat in the world. All it needs in a pretty wicker basket.

Perhaps it's symbolic. Right around the same time as our little adventure, Miss Rachel Globus the editor of the awesome event rag Event Solutions, asked me to be the contributing writer for their monthly It Report column.Oooh, how delightful! I get to report on trends, ideas, concepts, oh my. Make sure to read my first column in November's issue...and tell me what you think.

So a few little changes and more to report on. Let the journey begin. And stay tuned for part ii of my shiny new ride.

Lara McCulloch-Carter
Author of the Special Event blog ready2spark
Director of Marketing - Regal Tent Productions
Past-President - ISES Toronto
. Follow me on Twitter
. Connect with me on LinkedIn
. Become my Peep at EventPeeps
. Befriend me at Events Network

myPANTONE . must have

proud2bee@gmail.com (Lara McCulloch-Carter) — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 00:00:00 +0000

THE coolest new tool for the event designer...myPANTONE, for the iPhone or iPod Touch, lets you take your Pantone colors with you. But the best part, in my opinion, is the matching system. Let's say you walk by a Saks Fifth Avenue shop window and see a stunning display of haute colors. Take a picture and let myPANTONE tell you what the closest Pantone matches are. Oh, and if you like a specific color myPANTONE will automatically generate harmonious color combinations. Gasp. Get me an iPhone!

Lara McCulloch-Carter
Author of the Special Event blog ready2spark
Director of Marketing - Regal Tent Productions
Past-President - ISES Toronto
. Follow me on Twitter
. Connect with me on LinkedIn
. Become my Peep at EventPeeps
. Befriend me at Events Network

brother p-touch labeller . and the winner is

proud2bee@gmail.com (Lara McCulloch-Carter) — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 03:32:00 +0000

The winner of the Brother P-Touch labeller is Leika. Congratulations!

Leika, please contact me via my contact form so we can organize your shipment.

Lara McCulloch-Carter
Author of the Special Event blog ready2spark
Director of Marketing - Regal Tent Productions
Past-President - ISES Toronto
. Follow me on Twitter
. Connect with me on LinkedIn
. Become my Peep at EventPeeps
. Befriend me at Events Network

and . the winners are

proud2bee@gmail.com (Lara McCulloch-Carter) — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 17:53:00 +0000

Congratulations to everyone who was nominated for the 2009 EventProfs Blog Awards! As you know, all nominated blogs were announced and voting was opened to the public to vote on their favorite blog in each category.

Our goal with the awards was to create a platform to introduce new and not-so-new blogs to event professionals. Judging by the number of votes cast - over 1,200 in total, I'd say we were successful!

All votes have been counted and below is a list of the winning blogs:

BEST EDUCATION BLOG
Cvent Meetings & Events

BEST EYE CANDY BLOG
Design Dawgs

BEST INSPIRATION BLOG
Fuel: The Passion that Drives Us

BEST WEDDING BLOG
RockNRoll Bride

BEST NEW BLOG
Bridalease

BEST INDUSTRY ADVANCEMENT BLOG
PlusPoint

BEST FOOD BLOG
Food for Thought

Lara McCulloch-Carter
Author of the Special Event blog ready2spark
Director of Marketing - Regal Tent Productions
Past-President - ISES Toronto
. Follow me on Twitter
. Connect with me on LinkedIn
. Become my Peep at EventPeeps
. Befriend me at Events Network