Senior Development Officer
Company: Victoria Symphony
Location: Victoria BC
Posted April 30
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The recently voted Board of Directors for the International Special Events Society (ISES) Middle East Chapter announced that formalities were complete with governmental departments and new members were being invited to sign-up.

The International Special Events Society (ISES) is comprised of over 7,200 professionals in over 40 countries and is dedicated to the education, advancement and promotion of the events and related industries. Members range from event planners and producers through to exhibition organisers, music and festival promoters, production houses, venues, suppliers, educators, government bodies and marketing and media agencies.

Adrian Bell, President of the Middle East Chapter remarked, “It’s been a long time coming but we’re finally through all the formalities. We’ve been keen from the start to properly incorporate a business group and this can take time. A properly registered business group gives members assurance that the Middle East Chapter is run transparently, professionally and recognised by the government as an official body representing the event industry.

ISES Middle East Deputy President, Katie Veira stated “With the growth of the Middle East Event Industry and recent economic conditions, now more so than ever, there is a need for an industry collaboration to share information and synergise resources throughout the region. I’m personally really excited about this initiative and relish the challenges ahead”.

Sam Katiela, ISES Middle East VP of Programs added “The excitement is building already as we’re getting lots of support and interest from the industry. In fact, we can confirm that Jumeirah Group have already jumped on board as our official Venue and Hospitality Partner and SourceME are our official media partner too.

As the ISES Middle East Chapter develops, networking opportunities and resources will prove vital to personal growth and company expansion. ISES Middle East aims to provide an effective platform through a series of social networking events, communication forums and inspirational educational programmes.
ISES Middle East is being developed by the industry for the industry and is planning a series of initial sessions where members will be invited to offer their suggestions for specific events and networking opportunities they would like to see developed, and topics they would like to learn more about.

About ISES Middle East

The Middle East Chapter of the International Special Events Society (ISES) is the region's primary association for the event industry.

It is the place for industry professionals that are passionate about networking, knowledge and event inspiration and dedicated to delivering creative excellence and professionalism in special events. ISES provides an inspiring platform for the best practitioners in the creative industry to connect.

ISES, originally founded in the USA in 1987, is an international association comprised of over 7,200 professionals in over 40 countries representing special event planners and producers, exhibition organizers, music and festival promoters, production houses, venues, suppliers, to educators, government bodies and various many more professional disciplines. The Mission of ISES is to educate, advance and promote the special events industry and its network of professionals along with related industries.

Contact:

Paul Berger, VP Marketing and Promotions
Mobile: +971 (50) 625 0896
paul@harlequinmarquees.com

Looking for an innovative way to set the scene, make a BIG impact and not blow the budget? Let us introduce you to Wordans Wall Art. It is so easy to apply a child can do it, it's super cost effective, make a huge statement and it is fully customizable. You can create any look you want, replicating scenes from just about anywhere. Pop a rhinoceros on the wall, bring the beetles to life, create a gardens scape or bring Paris to your dinner and let your guests dine under the lights of the Eiffel Tower… for around 50$ each. Add lighting and you have instant decor.

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Program Coordinator (Band 8)
Company: University of Toronto
Location: Toronto, ON
Date Posted: April 13, 2012
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Education Coordinator II Princess Margaret Hospital
Company: University Health Network
Location: Toronto, ON
Date Posted: April 13, 2012
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Marketing Co-ordinator
Company: Novartis Pharmaceuticals Canada
Location: Mississauga, ON
Date Posted: April 13, 2012
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Manager Events
Company: MTS Allstream
Location: Winnipeg, MB
Date Posted: April 12,2012
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Pinterest is a free website and application that allows you to bookmark images you find on the web and put them in your “pin boards”. You can follow other users, comment on their pins and repin their images to your boards. Like any social network, Pinterest does require an investment in time. When I first joined Pinterest, I wanted to look for and share wedding inspiration with my clients. I am still surprised at how much it has helped with other things in my life such as fashion boards (which have inspired more than a few new outfits), simple cooking techniques, home décor ideas, exercise tips, craft ideas and entertaining inspiration for the holidays.

Here are 5 ways Pinterest can help your business:

1. Client inspiration boards. You can create a different pin board for each of your clients to pin inspiration photos and ideas for their wedding or event. This is a really easy way to create inspiration boards online that you can share with the bride, the floral designer, cake designer and other wedding professionals who are working with you on the wedding or event. You can also encourage your clients to create their own inspiration boards on Pinterest.

2. Business branding ideas. You can save patterns, photos, websites, logos and icons that inspire you. Even if you aren’t looking to re-brand your business anytime soon, it is really helpful to save these for future reference.

3. Increase your current business brand. Pin photos of your office and your team to increase brand exposure. To get more visitors to your Pinterest page, use your Facebook page and Twitter to promote your design ideas and inspiration boards that are on Pinterest.

4. Pin your own work. Just like Twitter and Facebook, you will get the most benefit when you interact with other users and pin from other sites. You don’t want to use Pinterest solely for self promotion however it’s perfectly fine to occasionally pin content from your own wedding and blog. I am surprised at the amount of website traffic we get from people who have pinned photos from our event planning website and blog.

5. Office inspiration and organization. Event planners are such creative professionals. The environment we work in influences our design, our style and our productivity. Use Pinterest for inspiration ideas to create a clean, creative, organized and inspiring work environment. You may be surprised at how much better you work.

article courtesy of plannerslounge.com

Mark Martyre

Music, conversation and laughter filled the air on February 16^th as the tenth annual Winterfolk Festival kicked off its official launch party at the Delta Chelsea Hotel in Toronto, Ontario.  Presented by not-for-profit organization, The Association of Artist for a Better World, and running from February 17^th to the 19^th, volunteers, media and artists were treated to a night of music at the hotel’s Monarch Pub.   Attracting close to 7000 people per year, the event is free and is run solely by the support of volunteers, granting agencies, and a series of fundraising events throughout the year.

Since its inaugural year in 2002, founder Brian Gladstone, a musician himself and one who has a large passion for music and its power to change the world, has seen his Winterfolk Festival vision evolve from an event he begged musicians to join, to a festival that has musicians begging him to participate in.  With a mission to “entertain, educate, enlighten, engage, and encourage [the] community about various folk music styles”, Gladstone and his team set out to create a stage that could give emerging young artists the privilege and opportunity to use their words and music to change the world for the better. Deeming himself a child of the 60’s, when folk and roots music was more mainstream than it is today, Gladstone realized the power of music and how it was a catalyst for social justice around the world.

Although new challenges arise constantly, the process of organizing Winterfolk has become more streamlined as each year has passed. With a core team of six organizers (consisting of a festival director, publicist, volunteer coordinator and an artistic committee), organizing generally starts 6 months before the festival start date. After a venue and theme is established (this year being “Alumni”) the team starts to plan. For the past nine years, Winterfolk situated itself within certain areas of Toronto where several establishments were being used throughout the weekend. The festival was held around the Danforth and Broadview area for the last six years, and it was a win-win situation for both the businesses in the area and the festival itself. There was an increase in revenue for the restaurants and bars during the industries generally slow winter season, and it brought awareness to the event. However, with that said, Gladstone felt the festival was outgrowing this kind of set-up so organizers tried an entirely different route and set up a meeting with the Chelsea Hotel in Toronto for its tenth year. This particular choice in venue allowed the festival to stay in one spot for the weekend, and it provided a more credible, mainstream feel to the event. Around 65 volunteers helped to fuel the event this year, taking charge in such areas as monitoring the sound boards, stage managing, selling CD’s, collecting money, and running the instrument check-in.

After establishing a theme for the festival, organizers start to gather the talent. Auditions are held throughout the Greater Toronto Area where to date they have evaluated over 1500 artists in the ten years. There are four sets of live auditions that see only two people get selected per audition (with over 1000 people applying this year). Organizers look for people who create buzz, generate publicity and are established within the folk/roots music community. Artists from Australia, England, Yukon, BC, New Jersey and California have come to play at this event over the years, proving how successful this event has become. In addition to the live auditions, Gladstone gathers artists from his open stage nights at The Monarch Pub, and publicist Beverly Kreller gathers artists she deals with through her company, Speak Music. Jazz FM radio-host Laura Fernandez, who also helps organize the event, selects musicians from the hundreds of CD’s she receives throughout the year. 

Additionally, Gladstone receives and accepts over 500 online or email submissions, and MySpace music links from various artists around the city, and many music organizations and establishments that promote music around the GTA, such as the Seneca music program and The Moonshine Café in Oakville, ON, are offered stages at the festival to “increase their public visibility and membership, offer exposure for their events” and meet their musical goals. When the auditioning process is completed, 150 artists are selected and each musician gets paid. Funds to pay the artists and to run this event are raised through fundraising conducted throughout the year and grants and sponsorship provided by organizations such as SoCan Foundation, Long & McQuade, Canadian Heritage, Trillium Foundation and Toronto Arts Council.

As another fundraising activity, CD compilations are created through many song submissions organizers receive from various musicians and are sold throughout the world. Benefit concerts are held, and monetary contributions from artists around the globe are collected. As well, Gladstone receives close to 300 tracks each year from artists that pay to have their songs considered for the CD compilations.

To market this event and to increase exposure, many marketing tools are used.  Gladstone touched base with many roots and folk radio stations around the area, such as Jazz FM 91, and HOWL CIUT 89.9, and ensured the artists they chose for the event were featured on the radio programs through interviews conducted and songs played.  NOW Magazine did a big feature on the festival, and media outlets such as Eye Magazine, The Toronto Star, and Globe & Mail included Winterfolk in their publications. Close to 1000 posters and 5000 postcards were created and distributed around the GTA, and 50,000 festival programs were handed out prior to the festival and at the door. Direct emails were sent out to the contacts in their extensive database, and the utilization of Twitter, Facebook, and their website proved to be successful mediums to create buzz about the event.

To learn more about the Winterfolk Festival please visit http://www.abetterworld.ca/.

SPONSORS/VENUE:

Long & McQuade – http://www.long-mcquade.com/
Delta Chelsea – www.deltachelsea.com
Socan – http://www.socan.ca/
Toronto Arts Council – http://www.torontoartscouncil.org/
Trillium Foundation – http://www.trilliumfoundation.org/
Canadian Heritage – http://www.pch.gc.ca/
Jazz FM 91 – http://www.jazz.fm/
Seneca College – http://www.senecac.on.ca/

DATE: February 16-19, 2012
AUTHOR: Lianne Gravitis
PHOTO CREDITS: Victoria Ilgacs

Rick Zolkower (Mr. Rick and the Bicuits) - Noah Zacharin – Brian Gladstone

The Distillery is located in Toronto’s downtown core minutes away from Toronto’s financial district and has become the premiere site to hold an event in Toronto. There are many reasons, beginning with the truly magical setting. One of Ontario’s hottest tourist attractions, The Distillery District is an internationally acclaimed 13-acre village of brick-lined streets and dozens of vibrantly restored Victorian Industrial buildings. And pedestrian-only, means no cars to spoil the magic (but plenty of parking is nearby).

Within this enchanted village you can choose from a full range of unique event venues, from small intimate spaces to breathtaking industrial chic settings with 35 foot ceilings. Many clients come back year after year so that they can experience different venues to hold their events.

You can expect superior standards of quality throughout every aspect of your event, with no detail left to question. One aspect which stands out in particular at The Distillery is the food. If you have ever eaten at any of our award winning restaurants, you know that the food and service is extraordinary. You will enjoy the exceptional experience of our fine dining restaurants at any event.

Their goal is for you to enjoy 100% peace-of-mind from the beginning of the planning process right through to the moment when your final guest leaves your event. To ensure this, you’ll even have an on-site event manager to supervise your event from start to finish. And you will be pleasantly surprised by how affordable it will be to hold your event at The Distillery.
 

“Essential skills and competencies are critical for volunteer leaders serving on the international board of directors. In spite of unprecedented challenges to our industry, MPI’s membership community is stronger than ever."

"We are confident these gifted, diverse leaders appointed to the International Board of Directors will drive success for our members,” said Eric Rozenberg, CMP, CMM, chair of the MPI governance and nominating committee and president of Swantegy.

Pending membership approval, Board and Executive Committee member selections are effective July 1, 2012 for FY 2012-2013.

The Slate of Officers for the Executive Committee includes:

• Chairman Elect: Michael Dominguez, Vice President, Global Sales, Loews Hotels & Resorts, New York, NY, USA
• Vice Chairman of Finance:  Kevin Kirby, Senior Director-Worldwide Sales, Hard Rock International, Orlando, FL, USA
• Vice Chairman: Roel Frissen, CMM, Managing Director, Parthen, Amstelveen, Netherlands
• Vice Chairman: Carl Winston, Director, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, USA

Nominees for the Board of Directors (Three -year terms) include:

• Krzysztof Celuch, CMM, CITE, Vice-Dean, Vistula University and Manager, Poland Convention Bureau PTO, Warsaw, Poland
• Allison Kinsley, CMP, CMM, Chief Meeting Architect, Kinsley Meetings, Littleton, CO, USA
• Fiona Pelham, Managing Director, Sustainable Events Ltd, Manchester, United Kingdom
• Alisa Peters, CMP, CMM, National Account Manager, Experient Inc., Chicago, IL, USA

Nominees for the Board of Directors (One-year terms):

• Darren Temple, CTA, Senior Vice President of Sales and Services, Dallas Convention & Visitors Bureau, Dallas, TX, USA  (to fill unexpired portion of Roel Frissen’s Board term)
• Stephanie Windham, CMP, Vice President Sales and Marketing, ARIA Resort & Casino and Vdara Hotel & Spa, Las Vegas, NV, USA  (to fill unexpired portion of Michael Dominguez’s  Board term)

“The new slate of candidates joins a dynamic group of veteran board leaders to deliver success for the global meetings and events community. These industry professionals will continue to position MPI to deliver extraordinary value to our members,” said Kevin Hinton, 2011-2012 chairman-elect of MPI and Executive Vice President of Associated Luxury Hotels International.

This new slate of candidates will join returning Executive Committee and Board members for the 2012-2013 year:

• Chairman Kevin Hinton, Executive Vice President, Associated Luxury Hotels International, Chicago, IL, USA
• Immediate Past Chairman Sebastien Tondeur, CEO, MCI Group Holding SA, Geneva, Switzerland
• Jordan Clark, Vice President of Sales, Caesars Entertainment, Las Vegas, NV, USA
• Ricardo Ferreira, Senior Vice President, GRUPO ALATUR, São Paulo, Brazil
• Hattie Hill, CMM, CEO, Hattie Hill Enterprises, Inc., Dallas, TX, USA
• Cornelia Horner, CMP, Vice President, American Land Title Association, Washington, DC, USA
• Carol Muldoon, CMM, Executive Director-Events & Meetings, KPMG LLP, New York, NY, USA
• Erin Tench, CMP, CMM, Associate Director of Special Events, Penn State University, University Park, PA, USA

A Top UK wedding planner who has maintained a first-class wedding and event planning service for more than 25 years, Jane Dayus-Hinch has earned international recognition as a veritable wedding guru. Jane’s expertise is in high demand: she has been a featured guest on numerous international television and radio shows as well as the VIP speaker at various conventions.

Jane’s combined assets – including her vast experience in the field of wedding planning as well as a uniquely unforgettable personality – caught the attention of a top Canadian television company. She was offered a position as the host of a reality TV show called  “Wedding SOS”, which features overwhelmed – and sometimes outright clueless – couples in dire need of expert help.

Jane steps in as a fairy godmother and the consummate authority in event organization to help the poor brides and grooms realize their wedding dreams. Through disastrous scenarios and nightmare situations, Jane retains her British wit and composure and keeps the couples in check. With her superhuman ability to grant three wishes, Jane will let nothing – whether it be meddling mothers-in-law or bickering bridesmaids – stop her from organizing the perfect wedding.

Five seasons completed and with over 65 episodes completed, “Wedding SOS” airs on the  SLICE Network in Canada, United States and on SKY1, SKY3, SKY Real Life in the UK. 

www.janedayus-hinch.com

Jane will be speaking at CSE EXPO12 on March 28, 2012.