MEA 2010 will be held in Melbourne, Vic from 17-20 April, 2010 at the Melbourne Convention Centre.  The theme for this year’s conference is, ‘Meetings Mean Business’; aimed at promoting the professionalism and significance of the meetings and events industry to the wider, corporate and government sectors.  As always, this year’s conference will provide a platform for networking and professional development and it is an important event on our industry’s calendar.

The Conference Program has now been released and can be view at MEA.  Highlights include the MEA Awards night on the Saturday evening and the inclusion of two international speakers; Rod Cameron (Canada) Director of AIPC and leading industry professional and futurist, Rohit Talwar (UK), CEO, Fast Future Research who has been named as one of the world’s ‘top ten global future thinkers’ by the UK’s Independent Newspaper (In my opinion the opportunity to hear Rohit speak could be the single most important reason to attend the conference). 

In addition to the Awards Night and Gala Dinner there is a round of social events to keep you busy, especially if you are keen to ‘work the room’ and get to know the ‘who’s who’ of the industry.  I am putting the casual night on the Monday evening into my diary.  The theme is High School Musical - Melbourne Style and it will be hosted at the Melbourne Museum.  There is also a varied professional development program with something for all levels of business.

To find out more, head to MEA and here to register.

To kick-start your lighting education take some time to research the shortlisted businesses in this year’s Lighting Design Awards, to be held at the London Hilton this week (March 11).  To be truly inspired check out some of the work of last year’s ‘designer of the year’ Lee Prince.

If you are based in Australia, a great lighting resource is IES which will also hold an Awards night for the industry this month on March, 19 in Melbourne.

To celebrate the launch of the Academy of Wedding and Event Planning ‘Podcast Library’ within our Virtual Campus Library, we would like to offer all new students a year’s membership (valued at $195) to our ‘Podcast Library’.

The Podcast Library features ‘sessions’ from the ‘Special Events Show’ which is the most up to date industry show in the world.  This ‘special collection’ section of our Open Library is an excellent resource for designers, stylists and planners and for students, the library will provide a wealth of information for you to learn from and use within your AAWEP course-work and into your professional life.

This very special offer is available for enrolments received in March only (Podcast Library Membership can be purchased at other times for $195 per year. Membership to the Article Library is free and included within all enrolments). Only students who enrol and pay for their course ‘up-front’, or those who choose the ‘4 month payment plan’ option, by midnight on Saturday 20th March, 2010 will be eligible for this offer.

For more information about the Podcast Library, a guest login so you take a look around the campus, or to enrol in one of our exciting courses, contact Christine Kerr on 1300 854 200 or 0419 010 637.

Along with the relaxed approach, Skellie breaks some traditional blog rules; posts are erratic and the blog is only updated when Skellie has something to say, and she writes long blogs (we do that here too!).  However her style is engaging and there is a certain charm about it, but along with that she has a lot of really useful information on her site for those of who look to use our blogs to express ourselves as a means of reaching out to customers and potential customers.  I love the images on the site too.

I have just discovered this one, but find myself really looking forward to her posts, take a look for yourself and let us know what you think of Skelliwag.

“I try to take one day at a time – but sometimes several days attack me at once”

Over the weekend I held an online ‘tutorial’ with several of our students who are part of our ‘Summer School’ group.  When we first met we discussed ‘Motivation’, and at this time, not surprisingly, motivation was high.  At this weekend’s tutorial, I was happy to hear that motivation was still high, with everyone remaining committed and focussed on achieving the goals they have set for themselves.  But for some of our students, ‘finding time to study’ is starting to effect how much they are getting done. 

Whether you are studying or working, this is pretty common. At the moment both Kylie and I have some side projects that we are working on (exciting things we are bringing to AAWEP and our industry) and I know that for myself, finding the time to dedicate to this additional work is incredibly difficult.  One of the reasons I find this is that the additional work is not part of my routine schedule, which means I have to actually set aside time, that I would use for something else, to tackle it. 

One way that you can find time for additional activities (regardless of whether that is study, business planning or exercise) is to write out a timetable of your week; noting the activities you are engaged in each day and roughly how much time they take.  An alternative approach is to keep a diary of your week and note down activities and time spent on them as you move through the week – this is something I did when I was in my last year at University and had my first baby to care for.  This is an extremely enlightening activity and I can almost guarantee you will find some blocks of time in your week that are not being used as well as they could be; although, in any week you must allow time for rest and relaxation - a timetable without those things is a bit like a diet which only allows you to consume soups and shakes; at some point you are going to break-out!  If you choose this approach your next step is to create a timetable that utilises those gaps you have found.  When you are creating your timetable also look for ways of streamlining activities.  If for example you shop or wash every day or second day, consider making this a weekly activity instead – yes it will make a bigger task of it for that one day, but by streamlining it you will save some time too. 

If you absolutely don’t have a minute to spare in your week you need to look at the entries in your timetable and think about how you can create more time.  Being able to create time is a good skill to have and will serve you extremely well in your career and in business.  How you create time will be different for everyone and don’t be above asking for help.  For example; if you are spending hours each week on housecleaning ask your mate to assist.  If you watch television every night, consider turning it off early at least once each week, or get up an hour earlier two days a week to give yourself some additional time for your chosen activity (this is what I do – but the flipside is you need a few early nights to carry it off!).  Carry a notebook with you and use those 15 minutes you have whilst waiting for the train/tram/bus to brainstorm your next assignment.  Cook meals ahead and freeze them so this chore is minimised on a daily basis.  Importantly, if you have created additional time for your goals – use it for that purpose!

Scheduling time for your goals is a key step in achieving them.  If you don’t have the time dedicate to these activities you will find that each week your motivation to complete them dwindles just a little more.  Here are some more tips from Pamela Allardice (‘Make Time’ – the survival guide for women with too much to do’):

• Focus on your real work – if this is the time you have set aside to study or do business planning don’t let other things like daily chores distract you.�
• Be clear on when you’ll be available – if you only have Saturday afternoons to study, let your friends and family know so that they can respect that this is time you have carved out for yourself
• Break tasks up and know your limits - if for example you are a Mum, studying or working from home, be realistic about what you can achieve.  By all means set goals but if completing one unit of study each week is just not realistic for you don’t set that goal – you are only setting yourself up for failure and that is deflating.
If you have some tips for staying motivated and ‘making time’ share them with us here.

David Tutera claims he was told not to come as the wedding funds had dried up and the couple are saying that isn’t the case. This could be an interesting one to watch, but it is a dilemma that could face any wedding planner whether they are a celebrity planner or not.

Here is the Tip I wrote about this very subject a couple of months ago:

Show me the money. Hopefully we all love what we do, but we don’t work for free just because we enjoy it. Getting paid can sometimes cause issues and it is certainly hard as you don’t have a product you can refuse to send when your clients don’t pay you. Even though contracts are important and you need to make sure they are water tight, is it really worth suing your client over $500 or even $1000? The chances are it will cost you more in legal fees and you don’t want to get yourself a reputation of being a nightmare planner. So how do you ensure you get paid for what you do? It’s really quite simple - no money no planner. I always got paid for what I did before I did the work. Normally I requested 50% of my fee up front and once that was received and cleared in my bank account then I started work. Once I had completed the work covered by the fee then I invoiced for another 25% and so on. If you are doing ‘On the Day Coordination’ only then make sure you are paid prior to the wedding and that it states that in your contract. You will be perfectly within your rights then to refuse to turn up to the wedding if they haven’t paid you. I know it sounds harsh but at the end of the day you are running a business the same as anyone else. I often found it helped to ask my client if they worked for free, and when they shook their head I would say well neither do I?

To read more about the story click here 

This venue is your choice if you are hosting a smaller style conference or Wedding (of up to 120 people). However as the venue features, accommodation, dining and private functions rooms for small groups (up to 50 people),  I consider it most suitable for team-building events/ weekends, particularly if your group is travelling to Tasmania from the mainland.  Its position makes it ideal for combining business with pleasure, as local activities are easily accessible from its central location and the venue itself has all the charm of a historic property, whilst sacrificing none of the modern conveniences we need in a corporate venue. 

To find out if Lenna would be suitable for your next function click here for a Conference Kit and Floor plan and to enquire about packages and availability contact Lenna.

Lenna of Hobart
Cnr Runnymede Street & Salamanca Place
Battery Point  7004
Tasmania
Australia

As a concept, Brainstorming was first introduced in the 1930’s, although like most ‘concepts’ I believe that this is really when a name was first given to the activity.  So what is Brainstorming?  Simply put, Brainstorming is an activity for generating ideas.  Generally it starts with a question or a problem to be solved and is based around generating ideas and discussion to get as much information to the table as possible.  There is then a process of filtering that information until eventually you have your answer, solution, or path to follow.

For me Brainstorming in the first instance should be very free.  I don’t like to put boundaries around the activity in the initial stages because when you do that, you tend to limit the imagination and that is where the good stuff is usually hiding.  However, for Brainstorming to be effective, and this is true whether you are Brainstorming with yourself or your team, there do need to be some guidelines in place.  What these are will vary depending on the personalities of those involved, the number of people you are working with and the project and its time constraints, however, so that you can start developing your own effective brainstorming habits, here are some things to keep in mind:

• Set a time limit – if you don’t do this it is possible for the session to just go on and on without ever reaching a conclusion and ultimately that is the purpose of the activity.
• Stay on track – you want to facilitate some ‘meandering’ through ideas, but remember to keep coming back to the purpose of the session.  This is where time limits are also helpful.
• Show respect – a lively discussion is one thing and they can be great breeding grounds for creativity, however everyone in the group should also have an opportunity to speak without being shouted over the top of.  In a team atmosphere there is always a mix of personalities and it is not always the most assertive members who have the best ideas.  If you are running the session, be aware of giving quieter members of the group the floor.
• Make it Manageable - If your team is larger than 5 people, consider breaking the group into two or more for the initial session, the groups can then come back to the table with some key ideas for everyone to explore.  Too many voices may mean lots of ideas but generally this means that the entire session is devoted to ‘ideas generating’ rather than ‘ideas exploring’.
• Have a leader – If you are the project head or ‘boss’ you may not be the best person to facilitate the session and in fact you may feel that you are better suited to participating than keeping the group on track, to time and reminding them of what the purpose of the session is.  Choose someone to manage the session who has a good understanding of the project and is able to take the lead and show authority where needed.

If you are working with a team (or even yourself) you need to create an atmosphere where creativity blooms.  Here are some ways of doing this and these can equally be applied to solo brainstorming as group brainstorming:
• Suspend judgement by encouraging people to give over to ideas.  Make sure everyone knows that this is a space where everything is open to discussion.
• Have markers, butcher’s paper and a whiteboard handy and give everyone a chance to work with these materials, this encourages free thinking.
• Set aside enough time.  Yes you want a time limit, but you also don’t want people watching the clock because they need to get back to other activities.  If possible give everyone involved as much advance notice of the session as possible and block out a good chunk of time.  Order lunch in if necessary so that you can take a break, but don’t have to leave the room.  This can often disrupt the flow of brainstorming.
• Piggyback ideas.   Be aware of the ideas being put out there.  Make note of them and encourage the team to work with the ideas, rather than the session becoming one big ideas ‘fest’.  At some point you need to follow an idea through to determine if it is worth taking to the next level.  By getting everyone involved in the idea you will find it expanding and moving to a new place.  Work towards getting as many ideas out there as possible within a set time frame and then filter them to achieve a manageable list of key ideas to work with.
• Encourage playfulness.  This may mean having some beanbags in the room, background music, stress balls and bowls of M&M’s on the table or crazy coloured markers for everyone to play with.  Whatever works for your team and lets them know that this is play-time.  If you are planning a full day, encourage everyone to dress casually, or set a fun theme such as asking everyone to wear a brightly coloured t-shirt.  These things may sound simple, but it is amazing what you get out of people when they feel relaxed and free to let their imagination run wild.

If you have your own brainstorming guidelines or ways of encouraging creativity amongst your team let us know.

However, not everyone is in that fortunate position of having one of the Gods of the industry invest in them, so need to look for their help in other forms. In the world of the internet it is easier now to find this type of help than it was when I started out nearly 15 years ago. As I was surfing the net earlier this week in my allocated surfing time, I came across a great website called the Business Bakery. What a little gem this is.

I have always liked putting a twist on things rather than keeping them dry and dull and that is exactly what the Business Bakery have done. They’ve taken what can be a very dry topic and turned it into something that is more fun, whilst still being extremely useful. The website is packed full of tips for Kitchen Table Tycoons (corporate women running a business from home). It is maintained by Julia Bickerstaff, the author of How to Bake a Business and is packed full of tips, ideas and advice that is all put together in a fun and interesting way.

On top of all the free advice there are mentoring sessions available which can be purchased in half hour slots. These sessions known as ‘Help Me’ sessions are one-on-one tailored sessions which give you the opportunity to work on parts of your business that may be areas of concern, or things you feel need a little tweaking.

Whilst the Business Bakery isn’t specifically geared towards the wedding and event planning industry, it is a great resource that can certainly offer something to all of us no matter whereabouts we are in our business life. Don’t forget to subscribe to the ‘Daily Juice’, which is the blog of daily inspiration.

There are dedicated channels on different subjects including a great channel on Weddings, forums for you to be a part of and share your views in such as I Hue the Wedding Forum, colour palette software - COPASO to help you create the perfect colour scheme and many other areas for you to explore.

I love this site and think it is the perfect place for aspiring wedding planners, stylists and designers to share their thoughts and be inspired in the great world of colour.