Shownotes
Business Inspiration
The party that brought to light Mindy’s interest in the hospitality industry [17:10]Candle Flickering Moments
An event that could have been disaterous and how Mindy came to the rescue [19:15]Business Building Insights
Why take the time, money, and energy to host an event? [4:34] Client Appreciation Event advice [7:26] The first steps to take when planning your event [9:17] Who’s on “The Team?” [10:10] How to work best with an event planner [12:01] Your goal for the event [15:20] Advice and timing on the formal welcome and closing activities [22:53] Technology is hot! [24:41] Let’s talk details [25:10] How Mindy stays up on the current trends [30:29] Considering a career in hospitality? Mindy has a twist for you to consider [34:22]Success Trait
Mindy describes herself as a “go with the flow kinda gal.” She’s also warm, hospitable, organized, and a great listener [26:56]Productivity/Lifestyle Tool
Keeping up with each event works best with Mindy’s physical schedule book where she creates a timeline and links it all to outlook [29:49]
Contact Links
Website Facebook Instagram Twitter LinkedInIf you found value in this podcast, make sure to subscribe and leave a review in Apple Podcasts or Google Podcasts. That helps us spread the word to more makers just like you. Thanks! Sue
Transcripts
Gift biz unwrapped episode 82.
Speaker:If you're having a good time,
Speaker:your guests are having a good time.
Speaker:Hi, this is John Lee,
Speaker:Dumas of entrepreneur on fire,
Speaker:and you're listening to give to biz unwrapped,
Speaker:and now it's time to light it.
Speaker:Welcome to gift bears on wrapped your source for industry specific
Speaker:insights and advice to develop and grow your business.
Speaker:And now here's your host,
Speaker:Sue Monheit.
Speaker:Hi there.
Speaker:I'm Sue and welcome to the gift biz unwrapped podcast.
Speaker:Whether you own a brick and mortar shop sell online or
Speaker:are just getting started,
Speaker:you'll discover new insight to gain traction and to grow your
Speaker:business. And today I am thrilled to have joining us Mindy
Speaker:Moore over vignette festival.
Speaker:Mindy is the director of events and dining services at Revinia,
Speaker:which is the largest outdoor music festival in North America.
Speaker:Revinia presents over 140 different events throughout the summer.
Speaker:These concerts run the gamut from yo-yo ma to John legend,
Speaker:and is also the annual summer residency of the nation's finest
Speaker:orchestra. The Chicago symphony orchestra and undergraduate student at the university
Speaker:of Miami Mindy graduated with a degree in speech communication and
Speaker:has been talking ever since 40 of those years have been
Speaker:within the hospitality business.
Speaker:Mindy has worked for basketball,
Speaker:legend Michael Jordan,
Speaker:as director of catering and events at his restaurant and has
Speaker:opened many restaurants,
Speaker:including the legendary pump room in downtown Chicago.
Speaker:Mindy is proud to say that she's worked with some of
Speaker:the finest hospitality professionals in the business.
Speaker:And today she is here to share with us how to
Speaker:work with events and special high profile clients.
Speaker:Mindy, thank you for joining me and welcome to the Thank
Speaker:you Sue.
Speaker:It's my pleasure.
Speaker:I love it.
Speaker:To start off all of our shows by getting to know
Speaker:you in a little bit of a different way.
Speaker:And that is by having you describe your ideal motivational candle.
Speaker:So light this up for us,
Speaker:Mindy, what would the color of your candle be?
Speaker:And the quote be on your motivational candle?
Speaker:My motivational candle would be the color of lavender and red.
Speaker:They compliment each other.
Speaker:They're calm and they pop as I like all my events
Speaker:to pop and have a great time,
Speaker:but not add anxiety or stress to anyone's plate.
Speaker:My bottle would be just have fun and be free.
Speaker:Or what do you mean by the be free part?
Speaker:We have a tendency to hold so much stress and so
Speaker:much planning on our shoulders.
Speaker:I certainly do when I'm planning an event or planning anything
Speaker:really, should I have done it this way?
Speaker:Should I do it that way?
Speaker:Once you make a decision to do something,
Speaker:just be free and accept,
Speaker:don't Go back and rethink over and over again.
Speaker:Absolutely. You don't want to rethink it.
Speaker:You don't want it make a decision and then change it
Speaker:because typically your first decision and your first feeling is what's
Speaker:going to be most successful.
Speaker:Oh, interesting.
Speaker:So you're saying,
Speaker:just make your decisions own them and move forward.
Speaker:Right? Okay.
Speaker:I like that.
Speaker:Be free.
Speaker:Be free.
Speaker:Right. Then that's going to be the motto.
Speaker:I think of our whole talk here.
Speaker:Maybe we'll see how that works.
Speaker:As I was mentioning to you,
Speaker:Mindy in the beginning,
Speaker:we've done a couple of shows now talking about events and
Speaker:doing some type of thing to bring in other people.
Speaker:And it's great to get exposure to businesses,
Speaker:et cetera.
Speaker:You work with very large events and high profile people.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:I know all of the artists that come to Revinia and
Speaker:they are all the best names,
Speaker:gift biz listeners you would ever want to know.
Speaker:And so I'm sure there's some intricacies with working with that
Speaker:clientele that our audience might not necessarily have yet.
Speaker:I think we should all be presenting the very best and
Speaker:the top level to anybody that we're working with,
Speaker:whether they're clients putting on events,
Speaker:et cetera.
Speaker:So that's one of the reasons I wanted to just get
Speaker:a different feel from you of how these things work.
Speaker:Let's start off by talking about why should a business consider
Speaker:doing an event?
Speaker:What are you seeing with your clients?
Speaker:What's their major business purpose behind putting on an event?
Speaker:Well, you have to have a goal.
Speaker:You have to have objectives.
Speaker:You have to have a reason why to put on an
Speaker:event. It can be a celebration.
Speaker:It could be an organization.
Speaker:You might need to decipher information to your team.
Speaker:You might need to introduce a new product.
Speaker:You might just want to have a family reunion.
Speaker:So there's a lot of different reasons.
Speaker:I've had the privilege of doing events for two to 22,000
Speaker:people. And it's the same formula.
Speaker:It's the same objective.
Speaker:Everyone really wants to have a good time.
Speaker:They want to give their message out and they want to
Speaker:do it within a budget.
Speaker:And it's an awareness of the information that they want to
Speaker:disseminate. And it's how you do it.
Speaker:And the world is so creative and so colorful.
Speaker:Now that you really want your message to stand out.
Speaker:Whether you're seeing happy birthday in a multitude of languages,
Speaker:or you're doing a fundraiser or you're teaching the pharmaceutical company,
Speaker:how to sell the next big medicine events are big now,
Speaker:right? Mindy events are big.
Speaker:Have you seen it changing over the years?
Speaker:Is it more important now than it was say even five
Speaker:years ago,
Speaker:That's in five years ago,
Speaker:the rage has been slow and steady.
Speaker:More corporations are,
Speaker:instead of doing the big events that they used to do
Speaker:for hundreds are doing smaller,
Speaker:intimate events.
Speaker:They're doing dinners for 20 to 30,
Speaker:because really what you want to do is build your relationship.
Speaker:And we need to do it large event for so many.
Speaker:It's very difficult to have a one-on-one relationship and conversation to
Speaker:really see what your guests needs and wants are.
Speaker:I think event planning right now is hot because it's romantic
Speaker:and it's sexy and it's fun.
Speaker:And you can use your creative juices.
Speaker:What people forget is all the hard work and the hours
Speaker:of putting it together.
Speaker:We're all going to get into that.
Speaker:But first I want to just underline this events equal relationships.
Speaker:And this really ties into our audience because as smaller businesses,
Speaker:we probably wouldn't be doing events for a couple hundred people.
Speaker:If it's specifically directed to our businesses,
Speaker:maybe you would,
Speaker:but I'm going to suggest that at this point we wouldn't.
Speaker:Yeah. So the point is events equal relationships,
Speaker:which is really where you start looking at your goals too.
Speaker:Like, what is your goal?
Speaker:Are you doing something with your employees?
Speaker:Because you want to show appreciation for all the hard work
Speaker:they put in,
Speaker:or you're going to be talking with them about a new
Speaker:directive, or are you doing something for your top tier customers
Speaker:or all customers to get visibility into your store or something
Speaker:like that.
Speaker:But I think again,
Speaker:the overlying thing is events equal relationships.
Speaker:Yeah. I do a lot of client appreciation events lately,
Speaker:and that could be anywhere from 10 to even 50 people.
Speaker:And the biggest struggle the hosts are having is how many
Speaker:employees do I bring in and how many clients do I
Speaker:bring in because it's expensive to entertain.
Speaker:Do I want to entertain with my employees?
Speaker:Is that going to bring any money in or do I
Speaker:want to show my clients how amazing we are?
Speaker:And the solution lately has been to bring a little bit
Speaker:of both because you as the president or me as the
Speaker:president of my company,
Speaker:I can't really build that deep relationship with all 50 clients,
Speaker:but my six salespeople can,
Speaker:and then we can have a nice relationship and build from
Speaker:there. So it's really not just entertaining clients and not just
Speaker:entertaining staff,
Speaker:but it's the two together Bringing them both in for the
Speaker:same event.
Speaker:Yeah. So if you're a retail shop and let's say you're
Speaker:doing an event,
Speaker:not even in your shop,
Speaker:you're doing an outside event,
Speaker:such as I know Mindy at Revinia,
Speaker:there's the lawn area.
Speaker:A lot of people will bring in people in block off
Speaker:spaces, but wherever it is,
Speaker:whether it's in your store or not,
Speaker:you're saying bring employees or a sales team,
Speaker:if that's what you have and your customers,
Speaker:because you can actually do more in terms of relationship building,
Speaker:if it's just not you with a large number of customers,
Speaker:Correct? Correct.
Speaker:You really need to have a lot of relationships to build
Speaker:a good relationship.
Speaker:Got it.
Speaker:You were starting to get into the fact that there's a
Speaker:lot of planning for an event to make it go off,
Speaker:right? What are the first couple things that you need to
Speaker:start doing?
Speaker:If you've gotten to the point where you decide,
Speaker:okay, I'm going to do an event and you've identified the
Speaker:reason why you're doing it,
Speaker:what happens next?
Speaker:So once you develop your event,
Speaker:goal and your objectives,
Speaker:the very first step then is to organize a team and
Speaker:set a budget.
Speaker:A budget is key because I certainly have champagne taste and
Speaker:typically a beer budget.
Speaker:So you want to make sure that what you want to
Speaker:succeed in is attainable.
Speaker:Then you want to organize your team and decide who's going
Speaker:to be involved with this and what their roles are going
Speaker:to be.
Speaker:And then you want to set a date,
Speaker:give yourself a couple options for days,
Speaker:because you might have a key three people that you want
Speaker:to make sure they're there.
Speaker:So you have to be a little bit flexible to make
Speaker:sure that they can show and the venue works and all
Speaker:the stars align The team,
Speaker:give us examples of the types of people that you would
Speaker:need on your team.
Speaker:So you want to have your host of the party and
Speaker:how many people are going to host the party.
Speaker:And once you know what your goals and objectives are,
Speaker:you're going to know who is going to help you attain
Speaker:that. So your team can be within your own company.
Speaker:And then you want to pick your venue.
Speaker:That's your team.
Speaker:Then you want to get your catering.
Speaker:That's part of your team and your decor and your invitation.
Speaker:So all the different pieces of an event typically represent another
Speaker:person. Okay.
Speaker:So the team is not just within your own company,
Speaker:it's all the different elements that you bring together to the
Speaker:success of the event.
Speaker:Correct? Okay.
Speaker:So you organize your team,
Speaker:you set a budget,
Speaker:you set a date with some flexibility in terms of probably
Speaker:a couple of different dates.
Speaker:Do you think Mindy that you want to have like an
Speaker:overall theme,
Speaker:like a Hawaiian theme or I think same parties are a
Speaker:lot of fun.
Speaker:It can be your food.
Speaker:It can be your invitations.
Speaker:It can be your decorations.
Speaker:It can be your messaging.
Speaker:So it is kind of fun to do a thing.
Speaker:And do you need to carry the theme throughout everything?
Speaker:Yes. I believe you.
Speaker:Do you want to do that?
Speaker:Because Alva said her guests are going to say,
Speaker:Oh, I never thought of that at all.
Speaker:They are so creative and thinking of everything.
Speaker:So let's just take a Hawaiian theme and you send your
Speaker:invitation with some hula skirt,
Speaker:then your guests leave and you have a swag bag and
Speaker:you put a little macadamia nuts.
Speaker:And then your thank you note also has a little touch
Speaker:of the Hawaiian theme tying the whole entire party together.
Speaker:Okay. Do you have any advice on how to work with
Speaker:an event planner?
Speaker:If people haven't ever done that before,
Speaker:what types of things make your job easier?
Speaker:Let's say I'm a business and I'm coming to you and
Speaker:saying, okay,
Speaker:I want to start an,
Speaker:what should I have already figured out before I come to
Speaker:you? And then walk us through the process of what you
Speaker:do with your clients.
Speaker:What I do as an event planner is I interview the
Speaker:client as much as I possibly can.
Speaker:They're coming in with an idea of what they want to
Speaker:do already.
Speaker:I don't want to change their idea.
Speaker:I don't want to change your focus.
Speaker:I just want to massage it to fit the venue that
Speaker:they're going to do,
Speaker:the event,
Speaker:the budget that they have and the messaging that they're going
Speaker:to give I as an event planner really want my client
Speaker:to be as honest as possible.
Speaker:If she doesn't want to serve hamburgers,
Speaker:then she has to say,
Speaker:I don't want to serve hamburgers.
Speaker:And I want to have a vegetarian field.
Speaker:Cause I'm going to go ahead and say,
Speaker:my best thing is a hamburger,
Speaker:but it doesn't fit what she wants or the feeling of
Speaker:what the event is.
Speaker:You want to also surrender to the event planner.
Speaker:You want to be open.
Speaker:You want to be able to bring in new ideas that
Speaker:is as the guests,
Speaker:as the event planner,
Speaker:I have to say,
Speaker:what is the most important thing?
Speaker:So if I'm doing,
Speaker:let's say a wedding,
Speaker:some clients have said to me,
Speaker:the most important thing at this wedding is parking.
Speaker:And that is the farthest thing from my brain.
Speaker:And I'm like,
Speaker:okay, well then parking,
Speaker:we're going to take care of it.
Speaker:However, we take care of it.
Speaker:Whether we call a valet company,
Speaker:whether we have them park,
Speaker:fire away and have a party bus,
Speaker:we make sure that parking is taken care of.
Speaker:And then what's your next objective?
Speaker:And what's your next objective?
Speaker:My objective might be the service and the officiator of the
Speaker:wedding. Well,
Speaker:if it doesn't matter to the client,
Speaker:then it certainly should not matter to me.
Speaker:So I have to surrender to whatever they want and what
Speaker:their needs are as well.
Speaker:I heard you talking about something that I think is really
Speaker:important too,
Speaker:and correct me if I'm wrong,
Speaker:Mindy, but it's hard to work with someone who wants to
Speaker:keep control of the whole event.
Speaker:The reason that they are hiring you is so that you
Speaker:can take care of a lot of that because you know,
Speaker:it's your business,
Speaker:right? So I would imagine it's challenging if there is someone
Speaker:who comes in and although you have to customize it to
Speaker:their event after they've shared with you,
Speaker:everything, they need to listen to you and you have,
Speaker:you perform your magic because you know what you're doing,
Speaker:especially in your own venues,
Speaker:Right? And then they can have fun.
Speaker:You know what I mean?
Speaker:You really want to have a good time from the start,
Speaker:from the thinking about doing an event to planning the event,
Speaker:to being at the event,
Speaker:to ending the event,
Speaker:to saying thank you notes to the next day,
Speaker:when you're talking about who did what and what did,
Speaker:who and what tasted great.
Speaker:And what worked and what did that is the whole fun
Speaker:of it.
Speaker:It's a complete process.
Speaker:It's not just the day of those three hours,
Speaker:where everybody is in your face and you're hobnobbing and you're
Speaker:happy and you're gracious.
Speaker:And you're saying,
Speaker:hello, but it's the planning.
Speaker:It takes hours and hours and days and days of planning
Speaker:and working with all your different vendors to make it successful.
Speaker:And to me,
Speaker:that is the most joyful part I'm going to get married.
Speaker:Okay? So from the minute you get engaged to the minute
Speaker:you say I do to the minute you go on your
Speaker:honeymoon and send your thank you notes,
Speaker:that's all part of the joyful plant.
Speaker:Would you say that working with you,
Speaker:getting everything prepared,
Speaker:then the day of the event,
Speaker:they should just be enjoying everything and then you are there
Speaker:or you have somebody there who's taking care of all the
Speaker:background. Stuff Want to go and have a good time.
Speaker:You don't want to talk to anybody.
Speaker:You just want to talk to your guests.
Speaker:And that's the goal.
Speaker:You hire an event planner,
Speaker:so you can have a great time.
Speaker:So you can focus on your guests.
Speaker:You can focus on your mission.
Speaker:You can focus on everybody who is there and the reason
Speaker:why you're doing it,
Speaker:because if you don't have an event planner,
Speaker:and it's such a detailed kind of event,
Speaker:whether it's a meeting,
Speaker:whether it's a birthday party,
Speaker:any kind of activity that has a lot of different moving
Speaker:parts to it.
Speaker:You want someone else to handle?
Speaker:I'll know when to like the cake,
Speaker:I'll know when to sing happy birthday.
Speaker:I'll know when to bring out the big presentation.
Speaker:I'll know when it's time to move from cocktails to dinner.
Speaker:And when you're at dinner,
Speaker:I'm getting ready for dessert.
Speaker:So your event planners always two or three steps ahead of
Speaker:the actual event.
Speaker:So you're enjoying it and we're planning for the next movement.
Speaker:And it's a streamlined evening.
Speaker:I think that all circles back to events equals relationships because
Speaker:when you're at your event,
Speaker:have you ever been to a party where the like it's
Speaker:fits in someone's house and the host or hostess is so
Speaker:stressed out because they're getting the dinner on the table,
Speaker:they're making sure everyone has drinks.
Speaker:And at the end of the day,
Speaker:you never even have talked to them at the end of
Speaker:the party,
Speaker:because they've been so busy,
Speaker:orchestrating everything,
Speaker:especially if you're in business and you're doing a business event,
Speaker:the whole point is for you to be able to interact
Speaker:with your employees,
Speaker:with your customers outside of the normal day-to-day business that you
Speaker:conduct. So I think that,
Speaker:and tell me if you agree,
Speaker:Mindy is the major reason why you'd have an event planner
Speaker:because they can be taking care of everything.
Speaker:You can be adding value to the event through relationship.
Speaker:Absolutely. A hundred percent.
Speaker:When I was younger,
Speaker:one of my girlfriends,
Speaker:who's now a movie star was putting together a dinner at
Speaker:her home.
Speaker:And there was like eight different people.
Speaker:All from different walks of life.
Speaker:One was a movie agent.
Speaker:One was a singer.
Speaker:Then there was me who didn't know anything at the time.
Speaker:And she spent the whole time in the kitchen and we
Speaker:were struggling to find a commonality to talk about.
Speaker:And finally,
Speaker:I'm like,
Speaker:I went in there and I said,
Speaker:listen, how you get out of here?
Speaker:I might not be able to cook,
Speaker:but I'm going to learn how to cook.
Speaker:And I think that was the start of me working in
Speaker:this industry because I saw all her guests were struggling,
Speaker:have a good time.
Speaker:And they actually just came to see her.
Speaker:So I think that that the opportunity to have someone be
Speaker:of service and help you,
Speaker:and it doesn't have to be a huge,
Speaker:big professional event planner like myself,
Speaker:you can have a chef,
Speaker:you can have someone helping in the kitchen.
Speaker:You can hire a bartender,
Speaker:you can hire a server,
Speaker:you can hire just one or two extra people to be
Speaker:of service that will free your hands and your time up
Speaker:to enjoy your company.
Speaker:And when you're enjoying your company,
Speaker:you're building your relationships.
Speaker:That's really great advice.
Speaker:One more thing about an event.
Speaker:I have the feeling that no matter how much you plan,
Speaker:no matter what you do,
Speaker:something is not going to work out as planned.
Speaker:There's always one thing.
Speaker:And then once that one thing is over,
Speaker:then it's like,
Speaker:okay, we're done.
Speaker:We had our one thing let's move on.
Speaker:Right? What do you say about thinking that everything's going to
Speaker:go off without a hitch or any advice just to calm
Speaker:the host down about the day of the event?
Speaker:Well, You just keep moving forward.
Speaker:You've done all of your work.
Speaker:You've done work for days and weeks and months from planning
Speaker:and planning.
Speaker:And the day of something does go wrong.
Speaker:But as a professional,
Speaker:you just smile and you let your guests go and have
Speaker:a good time.
Speaker:Remember we're not curing cancer,
Speaker:we're having a good time.
Speaker:So nothing that bad can ever happen.
Speaker:One time actually,
Speaker:we had a,
Speaker:it was a bar mitzvah at one of the restaurants that
Speaker:I was working at and their theme was gaming.
Speaker:So they put the little girl's head on fake money and
Speaker:they had some kind of rillette thing that said,
Speaker:okay, you win a manicure and you win,
Speaker:or you don't win this.
Speaker:And somehow that gaming commission found out about this and came
Speaker:in an hour before the guests were coming and wanted me
Speaker:to close the whole entire party down.
Speaker:And I'm like,
Speaker:Oh my stars.
Speaker:I can't do that.
Speaker:And the host was right there already.
Speaker:And they're like,
Speaker:how in the world would the gaming commission come to this
Speaker:little itty bitty restaurant and think that we're doing gambling.
Speaker:So It took a roulette wheel,
Speaker:cause it Was a roulette wheel and she had fake money.
Speaker:And her invitation was something about gambling to have a great
Speaker:time with.
Speaker:So what did you do?
Speaker:It couldn't be hours,
Speaker:but I just,
Speaker:I had to move them from the situation I had to
Speaker:let the servers take care of the host who was there
Speaker:and really beginning to panic.
Speaker:And they were the nicest family in the whole entire world.
Speaker:So I moved them from the situation.
Speaker:I brought them to another area.
Speaker:I brought my director and my manager at the time and
Speaker:we all just talked to them.
Speaker:And at the end we had a great laugh.
Speaker:I ended up buying him dinner in the restaurant,
Speaker:so I would be calm and fine.
Speaker:And they let me do that,
Speaker:which I was a little surprised.
Speaker:So they let you stick with eight,
Speaker:let us Stick with the plan.
Speaker:Originally, we going to have him take all the fake money
Speaker:Away, I mean,
Speaker:on and on and on.
Speaker:And it ended up being,
Speaker:they saw the innocence of the whole entire event.
Speaker:So I don't know how that ever happened,
Speaker:but it lives with me every single day.
Speaker:Like, Oh my stars,
Speaker:I had to close that whole party down that these people
Speaker:spent so much time and effort and money and detailing.
Speaker:It would have been horrible,
Speaker:but it ended up being okay.
Speaker:But the key was to get the client out of harm's
Speaker:way. They didn't have to react or be all upset before
Speaker:all their guests arrived.
Speaker:That was the biggest successful key was getting them out of
Speaker:the way.
Speaker:So they didn't have to deal with it.
Speaker:Oh my gosh.
Speaker:I can own that really funny today,
Speaker:today. It's well,
Speaker:now that it worked out okay,
Speaker:you must have,
Speaker:when you finally came to a resolution,
Speaker:you must've been breathing such a upside.
Speaker:Oh my stars.
Speaker:And in the meantime,
Speaker:The kids were coming by bus.
Speaker:So I had to make sure all the other staff,
Speaker:whereas the party was still running as usual.
Speaker:And I could manage the whole thing.
Speaker:Everyone had a really step up and do their part because
Speaker:me as the lead had to take care of something that
Speaker:was a lot bigger than any of us.
Speaker:So you really want to surround yourself with good people all
Speaker:the time,
Speaker:because they can take over for you.
Speaker:So I couldn't be there,
Speaker:but I had the staff to take care of it.
Speaker:Well, that must have been a heart-stopping moment.
Speaker:And It was a learning experience for me to realize I
Speaker:can't do it all myself.
Speaker:You really have to surround yourself with great trusting people.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:Well, any final thoughts on event planning and let's drive it
Speaker:back into more business.
Speaker:I'm imagining if you're bringing some people together for business,
Speaker:the host or hostess would want to address the group.
Speaker:But at some point you've been to events before where you
Speaker:walk in and all you do is party and then you
Speaker:leave and it's like,
Speaker:okay, that was a great party and really fun.
Speaker:But did it really serve a business purpose,
Speaker:right? Any suggestions in terms of how you would do that
Speaker:when in the event and how much time is appropriate?
Speaker:I think that is,
Speaker:It's always important to address your guests.
Speaker:If you call it from five to seven or even five
Speaker:to eight,
Speaker:I personally recommend having your welcome speech.
Speaker:You always want to have a,
Speaker:have a welcome toast within the first 25 minutes,
Speaker:even though it might not be critical mass,
Speaker:those people cared enough to come early and on time that
Speaker:your messaging is really important.
Speaker:So to raise a toast and raise a glass and welcome
Speaker:everybody is a wonderful thing.
Speaker:I also believe that leaving an event with something is really
Speaker:important, a little swag that you can tie your gorgeous ribbons
Speaker:around. You know,
Speaker:even if it's a bag of popcorn,
Speaker:whatever you're selling at the time and when they leave,
Speaker:they have something in their hand.
Speaker:I think that's a really big key.
Speaker:So two touch points would be right in the beginning,
Speaker:an introduction within the first 20,
Speaker:25 minutes.
Speaker:Thank you for coming,
Speaker:whatever other kind of message.
Speaker:But would you say,
Speaker:keep it short and sweet,
Speaker:keep it short and sweet.
Speaker:Don't get into this big sales pitch.
Speaker:Oh no,
Speaker:no, no,
Speaker:no. I mean,
Speaker:you can identify why everyone's here.
Speaker:You can identify your new product and your product launch.
Speaker:And if you can incorporate personally,
Speaker:some of your guests into your welcome speech,
Speaker:that's a great gift too,
Speaker:because it engages them and it makes them feel part of
Speaker:it. You don't want to talk at,
Speaker:you want to talk with your guests.
Speaker:Good point.
Speaker:So the introduction,
Speaker:and then at the end,
Speaker:having some type of partying gift,
Speaker:whether it's a sweat bag,
Speaker:a small little sample of a product,
Speaker:it doesn't have to be expensive,
Speaker:I think is what you're saying.
Speaker:No, you're right.
Speaker:But something to thank them and send them on their way.
Speaker:I'm grateful to show up and it makes them happy to
Speaker:leave. So when they're leaving,
Speaker:they say,
Speaker:Oh, that was really nice.
Speaker:They thought of everything.
Speaker:And in between you're meeting a couple people,
Speaker:you're having some food,
Speaker:you're having some beverage.
Speaker:You're looking at some videos.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:technology is one of the hottest things right now,
Speaker:for all kinds of entertaining.
Speaker:If you have a video of your product,
Speaker:you can have it running in the background.
Speaker:If you have a,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:a high profile person that you want to Skype in,
Speaker:you can do that as well.
Speaker:But to have some kind of technology is really cool too.
Speaker:What about some other special touches?
Speaker:Cause I think so much is all the little pieces.
Speaker:All the little details add so much and they don't have
Speaker:to be really expensive.
Speaker:What other types of things have you done that are special
Speaker:touches? You,
Speaker:You want to pay attention to the details.
Speaker:And I think I've started parties just around the details.
Speaker:One party,
Speaker:they were,
Speaker:it was a dance team.
Speaker:So I said,
Speaker:okay, everybody dance.
Speaker:As people walked in,
Speaker:each little kid would grab somebody and they would dance.
Speaker:So the music was always running.
Speaker:I think your food,
Speaker:your attention to the food is really important.
Speaker:The attention to your colors are also really important.
Speaker:And I think one of the biggest detail is you as
Speaker:a host,
Speaker:having a good time,
Speaker:if you're having a good time,
Speaker:your guests are having a good time.
Speaker:It's a good point.
Speaker:The disposition of the host really will filter through the whole
Speaker:part. Totally,
Speaker:absolutely. When I'm hosting a party of my own,
Speaker:I welcome everyone with the biggest hug and the biggest welcome
Speaker:and make sure they have food and the beverage and they're
Speaker:talking to somebody new.
Speaker:And then when they leave,
Speaker:I do the same thing.
Speaker:Who did you meet?
Speaker:Did you have fun?
Speaker:Like to really emphasize meeting somebody new at every single event
Speaker:because he could come and you can come with your spouse,
Speaker:you can come with your friends,
Speaker:but if you leave with a new relationship,
Speaker:you are that much more ahead of the game.
Speaker:Totally agree with you.
Speaker:All right,
Speaker:Mindy, we're going to roll now into our reflection section.
Speaker:This is a look at you.
Speaker:And what has made you successful along the way you were
Speaker:talking about and sharing with us that trigger point where you
Speaker:thought, okay,
Speaker:half the hospitality industry is important to me and is what
Speaker:I'm going to spend my career in.
Speaker:But do you have a natural trait that you're using while
Speaker:you're in the hospitality industry that has helped you to be
Speaker:successful? Hmm.
Speaker:That's a very good question.
Speaker:I'm a pretty go with the flow kind of gal.
Speaker:So I'm extremely flexible and I'm kind of a chameleon.
Speaker:When people want to do something,
Speaker:then let's do it.
Speaker:Let's make the best of it and have a great time.
Speaker:I am pretty hospitable and very warm and make people feel
Speaker:very comfortable mostly by listening to what their needs and their
Speaker:wants are.
Speaker:I'm extremely organized.
Speaker:I can multitask for clients.
Speaker:And I personally like to have a good time.
Speaker:I'm not a big drinker and I don't do drugs or
Speaker:anything like that,
Speaker:but I really like to have a good time.
Speaker:So ever since I been at the pumper,
Speaker:actually I worked at night and I was in a party
Speaker:atmosphere and I had a great time and I got paid
Speaker:for it.
Speaker:So I think that was really helpful.
Speaker:And I do the same thing at Revena every night I
Speaker:get to listen to music,
Speaker:I get to meet wonderful,
Speaker:fantastic guests and people and my friends and family come.
Speaker:And now all of a sudden everyone's my friend and family.
Speaker:That to me has been a great gift,
Speaker:but you really do have to have nice relationships with vendors.
Speaker:I don't think we talked about vendors very much,
Speaker:but for me,
Speaker:my vendors make all the difference.
Speaker:If I need to do decorations,
Speaker:if I need to have specialty food,
Speaker:if I need to have cars,
Speaker:if I need to have a balloon artists,
Speaker:if I want to have a face painter,
Speaker:if I want to have,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:even at these smaller events,
Speaker:like in your stores and in your home,
Speaker:it's always nice to have special something.
Speaker:If you have a handwriting analyst,
Speaker:if you have a Palm reader,
Speaker:if you have something that just sets you apart from any
Speaker:other event,
Speaker:it's fun.
Speaker:And I always like to bring something on that.
Speaker:And since I get to meet so many different people in
Speaker:my wonderful day,
Speaker:I make sure that I incorporate many new people into the
Speaker:events That also brings to mind a really important reason to
Speaker:use an event planner,
Speaker:because you have relationships with all of these people.
Speaker:You've used them over and over again,
Speaker:and you have a rhythm of how you work together.
Speaker:So you're minimizing the possibility of a problem because you're already
Speaker:in sync with each other because these are people you use
Speaker:on a regular basis,
Speaker:Right? I can call him DJ and Tom to do this
Speaker:and I can have the decorator do that.
Speaker:And I have the parkers do that.
Speaker:And that's for a big event,
Speaker:but even for a smaller event,
Speaker:the same way you can have someone makes music in your
Speaker:home or at your stores,
Speaker:make sure that the people that they're serving the food and
Speaker:beverage or what you like,
Speaker:or the food and beverage that you're serving you do,
Speaker:like, but always ask for help.
Speaker:I don't think anyone should ever do an event by themselves
Speaker:because it's not as much fun and it's so much work.
Speaker:You need to be handling your relationships.
Speaker:That's about right.
Speaker:Okay. So is there a tool that you use to keep
Speaker:organized? I mean,
Speaker:you have multiple going on all the time.
Speaker:Is there something that helps you keep organized and structured that
Speaker:you could share with our listeners?
Speaker:I have a book that has every single day,
Speaker:every single event and a timeline.
Speaker:I use a timeline for each event.
Speaker:So whether it's six weeks,
Speaker:eight weeks,
Speaker:two weeks or one week out,
Speaker:I know what I need to do for each event.
Speaker:And I really use my Microsoft outlook.
Speaker:I know that sounds so archaic,
Speaker:but every day I have a plan for what I have
Speaker:to get done.
Speaker:So I really just use my schedule.
Speaker:Have you read a book lately that you think our listeners
Speaker:could find value in?
Speaker:I read magazines all the time.
Speaker:What kind of magazines do you read?
Speaker:I use crane Chicago business every single week.
Speaker:I am a member of NACE national association of catering executives,
Speaker:which is an amazing thing.
Speaker:The special event,
Speaker:TSC is a club I belong to and they're always sending
Speaker:me stuff.
Speaker:I think it's really important just to stay up on trends.
Speaker:Any magazine really will keep you up on trends.
Speaker:I also like to walk the malls in the morning and
Speaker:look at the windows,
Speaker:cause that keeps me up on trends and see what's selling
Speaker:and see what colors are hot.
Speaker:See what's in.
Speaker:I like this.
Speaker:And I liked the answer that you've given because also give
Speaker:biz listeners for whatever industry you're in.
Speaker:There are,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:Mindy's talking about specific magazines that are important for her for
Speaker:an event planning position,
Speaker:right? But if you're in jewelry or you're in crafts,
Speaker:there are clearly trade magazines that you should have your hands
Speaker:on. Because as Mindy's saying,
Speaker:you want to be up to date with the latest and
Speaker:the most significant trends or adjustments or changes or whatever it
Speaker:is within your specific industry,
Speaker:because customers of course are looking to you to be the
Speaker:one in the know,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:you're the professional of that industry.
Speaker:That's never been brought up on a podcast before yet.
Speaker:So I'm thrilled that you did that.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:So now Mindy,
Speaker:I would like to invite you to dare to dream.
Speaker:I would like to present you with a virtual gift.
Speaker:It's a magical box containing unlimited possibilities for your future.
Speaker:So this is your dream or your goal of almost unreachable
Speaker:Heights that you would wish to obtain.
Speaker:Please accept this gift and open it in our presence.
Speaker:What is inside your box?
Speaker:What is inside my dream box?
Speaker:I would love to do an event.
Speaker:Believe it or not.
Speaker:And Dubai I've never been there.
Speaker:And that actually has been a dream.
Speaker:I want to fly Ameritas airlines to Dubai and do a
Speaker:big international event.
Speaker:I don't know why,
Speaker:but it's always been something I believe.
Speaker:No. Okay.
Speaker:Is it going to be a wedding?
Speaker:Is it going to be a business event?
Speaker:Let's create the event right here.
Speaker:We're going to put it out in the universe.
Speaker:Okay. So Let's say it would be my wedding.
Speaker:It could be my wedding.
Speaker:I hire a private plane and take all of my friends
Speaker:and family to Dubai.
Speaker:We stay at the Ritz and we have two days of
Speaker:pre event parties.
Speaker:Then we have the wedding and then everyone goes on my
Speaker:honeymoon. I don't know if it's too bad.
Speaker:It's my party.
Speaker:Okay. And so here's the question.
Speaker:Are you going to hire an event planner?
Speaker:Absolutely. Perfect.
Speaker:I get the basics and the vision on my own.
Speaker:And then I'll sell the vision to the event planner and
Speaker:she will make everything happen.
Speaker:But of course,
Speaker:because that is the way you are able to be free
Speaker:and enjoy your special day.
Speaker:If someone wanted to know more about Revinia and event planning
Speaker:and all of that,
Speaker:where's the best place for them to contact you Directly just
Speaker:contact me at M Moore,
Speaker:M M O O R E N.
R a V I N I a.org.
Speaker:And I am on my computer five days a week,
Speaker:at least six hours each day.
Speaker:So I'm more than happy to share and talk.
Speaker:I believe that right now I've had such an amazing,
Speaker:wonderful career that it's my job to give back.
Speaker:So I spend a good couple hours a week talking to
Speaker:younger people,
Speaker:mentoring people that want to get involved.
Speaker:I have are people that say,
Speaker:I want to change my business.
Speaker:I want to go to do what you do.
Speaker:Well, number one,
Speaker:I make it look really easy and really fun,
Speaker:but it is a lot of work.
Speaker:Well, you have experience too,
Speaker:right? And I talked to this young girl,
Speaker:she wasn't that young actually.
Speaker:And she did her wedding.
Speaker:She goes,
Speaker:Oh, now I want to be an event planner.
Speaker:And I'm like,
Speaker:okay, what is your career?
Speaker:She went to school.
Speaker:She was an attorney.
Speaker:And we talked and talked a lot.
Speaker:And I said,
Speaker:well, why don't you read contracts for an event company?
Speaker:Why don't you do contracts for an artist?
Speaker:Why don't,
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:that's what your specialty is,
Speaker:contracting and legalities.
Speaker:So take your profession that you first did.
Speaker:And instead of deleting the thousands and thousands of dollars and
Speaker:thousands and thousands of educational hours enhance your career,
Speaker:bring it into the event industry,
Speaker:but become a specialty person with contracts or as an attorney
Speaker:or I'm a florist.
Speaker:How can I do events?
Speaker:Well, what a great segue.
Speaker:So I do believe that as I've gotten older and more
Speaker:experienced in the industry,
Speaker:it's my job to give back and help people really look
Speaker:at it to see if it's what they want to do.
Speaker:You come to Revinia and of course it looks romantic and
Speaker:wonderful, but I'm also here at nine in the morning,
Speaker:getting everything ready and we stay till 10 or 11 or
Speaker:12 at night,
Speaker:but I have six hours of amazing while I'm here while
Speaker:the show goes on and the guests are here,
Speaker:but it's a lot of work.
Speaker:So you don't want to pull yourself to say I just
Speaker:here to have a good time because you'll be really tired,
Speaker:really fast.
Speaker:I really liked the insight where you're talking about,
Speaker:take your experience and your education and see how you can
Speaker:merge it into something else.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:some other type of a career.
Speaker:So you're really getting the best of both worlds,
Speaker:what you already have learned,
Speaker:how to do it.
Speaker:And you may be creating a very unique business when you
Speaker:merge two things like that together,
Speaker:too, right?
Speaker:It sounds like Mindy that you are receptive to people giving
Speaker:you a call and talking through,
Speaker:and you know,
Speaker:you're doing some mentoring,
Speaker:which is exactly what this podcast is meant to be,
Speaker:is to help pay it forward,
Speaker:to energize them and,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:get them excited about their business either jump-starting their business or
Speaker:starting something else.
Speaker:So that was perfect.
Speaker:Now give biz listeners,
Speaker:if you've been listening to me for a while,
Speaker:you know that there's a show notes page,
Speaker:it'll have all of this information,
Speaker:some of the highlights of the conversation that we've had,
Speaker:as well as other contact information for Mindy and the Revinia
Speaker:festival. Mindy,
Speaker:thank you so much.
Speaker:You clearly delivered as I expected that you would do.
Speaker:I really appreciate your time today and may your candle always
Speaker:burned, bright.
Speaker:Beautiful. Thank you so much to you and lists all of
Speaker:your events,
Speaker:Happy, joyous,
Speaker:and free.
Speaker:Where are you in your business building journey,
Speaker:whether you're just starting out or already running a business,
Speaker:and you want to know your setup for success,
Speaker:find out why taking the gift biz quiz,
Speaker:access the quiz from your computer at bit dot L Y
Speaker:slash gift biz quiz or from your phone like texting gift
Speaker:biz quiz to four four,
Speaker:two, two,
Speaker:two. Thanks for listening and be sure to join us for
Speaker:the next episode.
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