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Just a reminder & invitation: the next NACE Hawaii board meeting is coming up!
Even if you aren’t a board member, you are invited! Let your voice be heard and help the board make your association even better. We’ll see you there.
If you want a good reason as to why you should be a NACE Hawaii member, here’s one very good reason. This story was shared at Tuesday night’s NACE Hawaii meeting: Sometime last week, Brian Wada with Kamaaina Catering had a HUGE dilemma.
Brian was hired to cater an outdoor function at Kapiolani Park for about 200 guests. These guests had flown in from the mainland and were expecting this buffet to be the centerpiece of a week of activities in Hawaii. Normally, this would not be a problem for Brian on an ordinary day. But this was no ordinary day…this was the day that Oahu was drenched with rain. LOTS of rain. Non-stop rain. And if you’ve ever catered a function at Kapiolani Park, you will know two things:
It was several hours before the party, and the dark skies were showing no sign of slowing. What’s Brian to do? Fortunately, Brian had met NACE Hawaii President Herb Yamamoto at the Catersource Conference in Vegas in February. Herb told Brian about NACE Hawaii and even invited Brian to the March meeting at The Pacific Club. Because of this connection, Brian called Herb to see if Herb could help. Fortunately, the guests of the party that Brian was catering for…were guests at the Pacific Beach Hotel…which conveniently Herb was the Catering Sales Manager.
Herb pulled some strings and spoke to his general manager…and Brian instantly had a solution to his dilemma. The party was moved to an unused restaurant space at the hotel. Brian was able to use the restaurant’s kitchen, and the guests had a great time. So what’s the lesson in this? When the unexpected arises, it’s great to have a network of people you trust and can turn to to help you out. Brian joined NACE Hawaii at last Tuesday’s NACE Hawaii general meeting. Welcome, Brian Wada with Kamaaina Catering!
If you missed last night’s NACE Hawaii meeting at the Hilton Prince Kuhio Hotel, you missed out on some great educational and networking opportunities! While doors opened to the ballroom at 6pm, most people hung out in the foyer and networked. It was great to see a large crowd eager to learn something new that could help their business, and guest speaker Judy Ng Christensen didn’t disappoint. Her very informative talk on Doing Business with China was well-received and full of facts and entertaining anecdotes.
Did you know that Chinese people LOVE coming to America? They love spending money here, yet our marketing dollars go towards promoting ourselves to other areas where there is less eagerness to travel. The truly smart service provider/caterer/hotelier, according to Ms. Christensen, should seriously consider the Chinese market. Her insights and experience in dealing with this unique market made her presentation very worthwhile; the audience was very attentive.
After Ms. Christensen’s presentation, everyone moved to the ballroom next door and shared in a good pupu (appetizer) buffet. NACE Hawaii President Herb Yamamoto talked about the upcoming NACE Hawaii fundraiser.
Herb also recognized Brian Wada with Kamaaina Catering, our newest NACE Hawaii member.
Welcome, Brian! After the formal meeting ended, the networking continued informally. Some went to Ryan’s Grill to support NACE Hawaii member Ryan Pierce with Lift Your Spiritz Mobile Bartending Service as he competed in the Iron Bartender competition, ultimately placing a very respectable fourth place. Congratulations! Others went downstairs to MAC 24/7, where they helped James Chun (Crane Media Productions) celebrate his birthday. Instead of a cake, we shared a MAC Daddy Pancake. That monster is HUGE!
Happy Birthday! Our next meeting will be on Tuesday, May 12, at Formaggio Grill in Kailua. Networking & registration starts at 6pm. Our guest speakers will be Mike Miller of Tiki’s Grill & Bar and Wes Zane of Formaggio Grill, and they are covering a very practical topic: “Gorilla Marketing”. Want to learn how to get more bang for your marketing buck? Want to learn how to get your name out without spending a ton of money? Wes and Mike will show you some tricks and tips on how to do it. NACE Hawaii would LOVE to have you there! Email us at nacehawaii [at] gmail.com to receive an invitation! Special thanks to Matt Muccio with Techniques Hawaii for providing audiovisual support for tonight’s meeting; Mike Rabe with Creations in Catering for getting Ms. Christensen as our guest speaker last night; and Frank Robinson and Kathy Arakaki with the Hilton Waikiki Prince Kuhio Hotel for the great food and for graciously hosting us! See you at next month’s NACE Hawaii meeting!
Aloha, NACE Hawaii members: Just a reminder that the April NACE Hawaii general meeting is TOMORROW, April 14, at the Waikiki Prince Kuhio Hotel. Click here for more information about tomorrow’s NACE Hawaii meeting. Registration and networking starts at 6pm. Added to the agenda: we will discuss the new fundraiser tomorrow, which is a discount card that gets buyers discounts to local restaurants. This not only helps NACE Hawaii to build funds for its educational programs, but it also helps local restaurants to get business during this tough economy. If you know of any restaurants that want to participate, please bring the following information to tomorrow’s meeting:
A letter has been created to explain what the fundraiser is about and what it entails for participating restaurants; the letter will be shared with you all tomorrow. See you at tomorrow’s meeting!
From all of us–the caterers, photographers, videographers, wedding coordinators, entertainers, musicians, and more who are members of the Hawaii chapter of the National Association of Catering Executives:
We hope you are having a good one.
If not, YOU SHOULD. He writes a very influential and informative blog on wedding marketing. It is full of great ideas to improve your sales & marketing, especially to brides and grooms. Andy covers almost all aspects of wedding marketing: from marketing on the web, to bridal shows, to traditional marketing strategies, and more. And best of all, his tips, ideas, and advice are FREE. Check out his blog at http://www.weddingmarketingblog.com In this tight economy, you need every advantage to attract new business and bring in return business. Andy Ebon gives you that advantage. Did you know…Andy is also a NACE member? And that the information on his website is FREE?
Why join? Click here for some great reasons. From now to May 25, NACE is offering a special opportunity to event professionals who wish to become members and to take advantage of the benefits of NACE: sign up between those two dates and NACE will take $100 off your first-year investment! You don’t have to be a caterer to join: we count photographers, videographers, entertainers, musicians, disc jockeys, coordinators, and more as part of our ohana (family). So make an investment in yourself and your future. Join now.
Read about the latest NACE Hawaii Board meeting on April 7 by visiting Marino/Ninja Entertainment’s blog.
The next general meeting will be on Tuesday, April 14, 2009, at the Hilton Waikiki Prince Kuhio Hotel, where our keynote speaker will be Judy Ng Christensen, Assistant Director of Executive Programs for the Shidler College of Business at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. She will give a very informative presentation on How to Do Business with China. China is a hot market to be involved in; Ms. Christensen will share her insights. Click here to reserve your seat, or call NACE Hawaii Secretary Kelly Sugano at 808-497-3339.
It is an exciting time! |
NACE Hawaii members: do you know Andy Ebon?
Welcome to the NACE Hawaii blog! Over the next few months, this blog will grow, and it will serve as your source for the most recent news, information, and updates about the Hawaii chapter of the National Association of Catering Executives. Come back often to read about what’s going on in the catering & special events industry here in Hawaii; who’s doing something unique or special; and for updates on where and when upcoming meetings will be!