WEDNESDAY MORNING MARCH 28, 2012
The Master of Ceremonies for the conference is Michael Coombs
8:00am-9:00am
The Inspiration Breakfast -Color Outside the Lines
Speakers: Lola Rasminsky, C.M. and Bob Presner, Beyond the Box Inc.
There’s nothing like starting your day with a little “burst” of inspiration. Come ready to release your inner artist, uncover the secrets to releasing your most creative and imaginative self. Learn how to take your everyday experiences and use them to create genius event experiences. Also featuring a live art performance by Jessica Gorlicky of JessGo.
presented by: 
Choose your morning track
9:15am-12:00pm
The Event Experience
This session is 2.5 hours long with a consecutive series of speakers and a brief break between each speaker.
Tired of talking heads and conference sessions that follow the "and look what we did for this event” format? Then grab a spot on the couch or settle into a sleek lounger and get ready to LEARN by EXPERIENCE. For the first time ever at CSE, the Experience Sessions feature an intimate conversation with three of the most successful event producers /entrepreneurs in the industry. Its 2.5 hours of event stories, lessons, ideas, philosophy and advice- live and unplugged!
- 9:15am – 10:00am: Experience Jordan Fogle, CEO, The Mint Agency
- 10:15am – 11:00am : Experience Ken Kristoffersen, CSEP, CEM, CEO POP Kollaborative
- 11:15am – 12:00pm: Experience Grail Noble, President, Yellow House Events
9:15am – 10:00am
Ground Breaking Design Trends for Weddings
Speaker: Paras Mehta, Creative Director Design2Decor.
In just a few short years Paras has elevated his company to incredible success and has become on the most sought after young designers in the industry today. His session, ground breaking design trends for weddings, Paras speaks candidly about his strategy for creating brilliant, one of a kind wedding designs and what it takes to make your passion into purpose.
10:15am – 11:00am
The Business of Brilliant Weddings
Speaker: Milena Santoro, President, MS Productions
Milena Santoro, President, MS Productions has done what only driven independent event and wedding planner sets out to do, she has created a phenomenally successful business. She has been in the industry for over 20 years, and today her company spans the globe with offices in Canada and Europe. Her weddings are uniquely fairy tale-esque and her corporate events, nothing less than spectacular. What really makes Milena a success story is the brilliant way she runs her business. Every wedding, every event…. every detail is by design, a business unto itself. Pull up a chair and get plugged in to her story. It will forever change the way you look at your events.
11:15am – 12:00pm
The Care & Feeding of BrideZilla
Speaker: Mary Swaffield, Lavish Event Design
It’s not something we talk about too often, at least not with our colleagues, but it’s a fact that we all have clients that challenge us. Today’s brides are savvy and sophisticated. They shop around, they do their homework and they know what they want…… or do they? How do you keep your sanity and your client happy? Join award winning Wedding Planner Mary Swaffield from Lavish – Wedding Planning & Design for an enlightening open discussion on the care of feeding of what we lovingly call BrideZilla.
12:15pm-1:30pm
Keynote Luncheon – Plan…to be a Brand
Speaker: Jane Dayus-Hinch
Martha Stewart, Preston Bailey, Nate Berkus….. What do these people have in common? They all began as independent business owners and they all became household names by building themselves into a brand. Jane Dayus-Hinch, host of Slice TVs Wedding SOS has done the same thing. This is what many wedding and event planners aspire to do… become a household name. Jane has created an incredibly successful business and has become known around the world with millions of fans tuning in every week. Join Jane Dayus-Hinch for this sure to be entertaining, inspiring lunch session as she shares her story, her strategy and her methods for elevating your event business or your event from well known to world renowned.
WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON MARCH 28, 2012
Choose from two different three hour intensive workshops or two consecutive breakouts
1:45pm-5:00pm -three hour workshop
Workshop 1: Project Venue: Strategic Event Design Workshop – Based on Dianne Devitt's NYU Design Course
Speaker: Dianne Budion Devitt
In this interactive and informative session, you will learn to deliberately design a live communication experience with a purpose. The importance of events to be effectively planned for Cause Marketing or live Strategic Communication experiences is critical to an organization’s business message whether corporate, association, non-profit or social. The role of the Event professional is not only to understand the function of design in relation to the business objective and goals but to style and create a live experience with emotional and branding impact – to tell a story and deliver a message. Like an effective print ad, creating the Visual Dynamic™ brings the message to life. How Event Stylists translate a business objective into a theme is synonymous with powerful copy in an Ad Campaign and delivers increased Return on Event. This session will teach event business theory and design concepts while the participants engage in team competitions to develop an event through storyboarding and model making.
1:45pm-5:00pm – three hour workshop
Workshop 2: The Wedding Business Summit – Skyrocket Your Business to Success with Marketing Guru Alan Berg
The 3 hour Summit Includes the following sessions
7 Mistakes Wedding Professionals Make When Marketing to Brides
Whether you consider yourself a marketing genius, a novice, or something in between you're bound to make some mistakes along the way. The first step in avoiding making mistakes is knowing what they are and becoming more aware of them. In this session we'll reveal 7 of the most common mistakes wedding professionals are making right now and how you can avoid them.
What You'll Hear:
• How to rev up your Internet advertising
• Ways to get brides (that your competitors aren’t using)
• Communicating with brides in a digital age
• How to speak the language of brides
• How your own website may be working against you
Am I really making any money from this? What’s your ROI (Return on Investment)?
When we have conversations with wedding pros around the country, the discussion inevitably turns to their ROI, or Return on Investment. They want a good ROI from their print ads, their online ads, their emails, their direct mail, their social media, their bridal show participation and really everything they do. However, when we ask how you're tracking your ROI the conversation gets really quiet, really fast. While there is a small group who really have a handle on it, most either don’t track it at all, or are using the wrong methods and metrics for calculating their ROI. Even if you do know your ROI you still have to decide if it’s good, or bad and make decisions based upon that.
What we'll cover:
• What is ROI?
• How to measure and track your results
• How to understand if your return is good
• How you can improve your ROI to achieve greater profitability
Bridal Black Belt, Fighting your way to the top!
Every day brings a new challenge. Are you prepared? Come hear Alan, a 2nd degree Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do, teach you the disciplines you need to perform at your peak every time. This isn’t about physical strength. It’s about the mental toughness and inner strength you need to succeed in life and work.
Come hear this inspirational session and you'll learn:
• How the disciplines needed to achieve a black belt relate to success in business
• How you can have better focus on your goals
• How you can determine what’s most important in your life and work
1:45pm-3:00pm
Disaster by Design: Creating & Implementing Your Emergency Management Plan
Speakers: Shannon M. Chow, Emergency Rescue EMS; Gino Latini, 3L Productions; Darren Armstrong, Modu-Loc; Lawrence J. Shryane, AEG Live Canada; Paul E. Kenyon, Absolute Tent & Event Services; M.D. Stevens, STAR Security
You hope never to encounter a bomb threat, a riot, or a structural collapse at your event but do you know what to do if the god forsaken happens? An expert panel of industry professionals from various backgrounds will discuss these and other emergency situations. The focus will be on how to create a realistic Emergency Action Plan and more importantly how to implement it during times of crisis.
3:15pm-4:45pm
The Art of the Deal – Strategies for Sponsorship & Raising Money
Speakers: Alexandra Moorshead, President & Anne-Marie Enns, Director of Events | Moorshead & Associates, Toronto
Are you getting the most out of the time you invest in developing partnerships with sponsors? If your answer is anything but yes, this session is for you. We will touch briefly on sponsorship fuel like where to start your research, soliciting cash vs gift-in-kind, writing effective proposals, etc., but then we’ll quickly delve much deeper. Join us to learn: where to find money in tight budgets, marketing dollars vs philanthropic dollars, tax credits vs tax receipts, and alternative methods of raising funds for your event.
THURSDAY | MARCH 29, 2012
8:00am-9:00am
Pop-Culture & Events – Trends, Topics and Truths
Speaker: Milena Santoro CMM, CMP, PIDP, MS Productions, Edmonton, AB
Pop Culture influences everything we do, including the way we design our events. Fashion, media, celebrity, art, food, all play a role in our imaginations and inspirations. Are you tapping in to Pop Culture – Trends, Topics and Truths that could take your events to the next level? Pop culture happens around us every day: use the latest trends and styles to make your event relevant and remarkable. Come and be inspired, motivated and excited as Milena shares industry secrets for success and lets you in on what’s to come in 2012:
• Trends – what’s ‘in’, what’s not, and what you need to know to stay up-to-date
• Topics – Top 10 ‘must haves’
• Truths – the ‘ins and outs’ of media, celebrity status, what’s happening in our society, and how these influences impact an event.
Learn how to leverage pop culture into next-level events from an industry expert. This is a session you don’t want to miss!
9:15am-10:15am
The 'J' Force
Speaker: Jaclyn Bernstein, Empire Force Productions, NYC
From the very first day working at the company she now co owns with her Partner Robert, Jaclyn Bernstein been an unstoppable force. Building an internationally recognized event and DMC firm from the ground up, she knows better than anyone the challenges today’s planners face from both the independent and corporate sides of the field. From the multi-national media events to the down and dirty, gotta pay the bills events, Jaclyn has created for herself and her team an internal culture that allows her to literally take on anything, at any time and make it work. Call it a never say die attitude, a winning formula or just call it chutzpah! This brash, no holds barred New Yorker can literally make anything happen. She hits the ground running and doesn’t stop until she crosses the finish line… usually in heels! Don’t miss this special dialogue with international event producer and meeting planner, Jaclyn Bernstein as she shares her secrets for dealing with everything from staffing to clients, vendors and venues and what her company name Empire Force really means. Come ready to talk, ask real questions and get some real answers.
10:30am-11:45am
The Masters Round Table Conversations
Speakers: Marcy Blum, David Beahm, Alan Berg, Dianne Budion-Devitt, Jaclyn Bernstein, Milena Santoro and Ken Kristoffersen
We're breaking down the walls & creating space for thought provoking conversations between you and the Iconic Industry Leaders presenting at CSE EXPO12. Join Marcy Blum, David Beahm, Alan Berg, Dianne Budion-Devitt, Jaclyn Bernstein and Ken Kristoffersen for a series of intimate, inspiring conversations. Get up close and personal as you listen, learn and share with the absolute best in the business.
The Masters Round Table Conversations sponsored by 
12:00pm -1:00pm
Lunch with Industry Icon David Beahm – Making A Living & Retaining Your Sanity In Special Events
Speaker: David Beahm, David Beahm Design New York
Join legendary industry icon David Beahm as he guides you through the philosophical processes of building and sustaining a creative business with both longevity and passion. Prepare for witty anecdotes, survival techniques, and stories from his growing up in the South and the society soirées he creates.
1:15pm-1:45pm
Mini Session: Top 10 Tools for the Modern Event Planner
Speakers: Alexandra Moorshead, President & Anne-Marie Enns, Director of Events | Moorshead & Associates, Toronto
This is not a social media session! There are so many amazing tools for planners to use to assist in the complex event planning process. This quick-fire session will explore tools such as Salesforce, SharePoint, the Google Suite, Issuu, Performedia, SlideShare, and other great products and how they are useful for planners of all types.
2:00pm-3:00pm
FEATURED KEYNOTE SPEAKER: C.S.I. (Celebration Scene Investigations) the 8 components of a great event
Speaker: Marcy Blum, Marcy Blum Associates, NYC
One of the most sought after wedding and event producers in North America, Marcy Blum, Marcy Blum Events, New York will be presenting at CSE EXPO12. Marcy's work has graced the pages of every major wedding and celebrity magazine and is renowned for her one of a kind celebrity weddings and celebrations. Marcy has created special events for Kyra Sedgwick and Kevin Bacon, Padma Lakshmi and Salman Rushdie, Colin Hanks and Samantha Bryant, Billy Joel and Tom Clancy, Regis and Joy Philbin, members of the Rockefeller family, and many, many, lovely brides, grooms, corporations and bar and bat mitzvahed kids. canadianspecialevents.com is thrilled to present Marcy Blum as the Feature Speaker at CSE EXPO12
3:30pm-4:00pm
Mini Session: Trendspotting – the hottest event trends of the year
Speaker: Stacy Wyatt, Editor canadianspecialevents.com
Join canadianspecialevents.com Founder & Editor Stacy Wyatt for this informative, 30 minute Fast Blast of over the top trends, ideas and event inspiration. Stacy will introduce you to some of her favorite finds of the year in event décor, gifting, catering, technology and FX. Expect fun samples and tasty giveaways and of course some special guests.
4:15pm
The Readers Choice Awards Ceremony
FRIDAY | MARCH 30, 2012
9:00am-3:00pm
Marketing Secrets to Winning Hearts and Capturing Wallets
The Ultimate Workshop for Event Pros to Stand Out, Build Raving Fans & Sell More…even when the competition is cheaper.
Speaker: Lara McCulloch-Carter, READY2SPARK, Toronto
We, in the event industry, are in the midst of an epidemic. The enormous financial challenges of the last few years have left in their wake increased competition, amplified marketing noise and lower prices. More people are fighting harder today than ever before to get to your attendees and prospects. So what are you going to do about it? In this workshop, we’ll go well beyond tactics to understand why people buy and how you can use this knowledge to build resilient bonds with your ideal customers. I’ll share with you my secret tools for building a brand that breaks through the noise – tools that I’ve honed over 16 years of working with some of the most well known brands in the world. You’ll be given the key to becoming a marketing powerhouse, learning the most powerful communication channels today and how to hone in on strategies that will generate sales and allow you to charge a premium, all while building a community of raving fans.
Find out more about this session
evening
15th Anniversary Star Awards Gala
