This year’s contest happens during the NACE Hawaii/OWA joint meeting on Tuesday, October 12, 2010, at the Honolulu Suites at the Sheraton Waikiki. Setup begins at 3:30pm, with judging to begin at 6:00pm. This is your opportunity to showcase your creativity, your talents, your team’s talents, and have some fun in the process. Cash prizes for the top designs!

Here are the contest rules:

• Teams will consist of a minimum of two people and a maximum of four people. Team members may belong to more than one team (e.g., a florist may contribute her talents to more than one team, if it’s okay with the designers involved).
• There is a $40 entry fee per team.
• Team identities will be kept secret during judging, in order to keep the judging impartial and objective.
• Designers will be creating designs for a table of 10 guests.
• The Sheraton Waikiki will supply a standard banquet round table, chairs, linen, china, silver, and glassware from their own house supply, but you are invited to bring in your own in order to achieve a more original look. If you want to use the Sheraton equipment, please submit a list of your needs to Eugene or Herb so that they can request the items from the venue. We will need your list no later than Monday, Oct. 4th.
• You may begin to load-in and set up at 3:30pm, and you have two hours to set up, from 3:30-5:30pm. All decor must be brought on location that day and taken down at the end of the event.
• Bringing in specialty items that will require access to the loading dock? Please advise Herb or Eugene so that the hotel can be notified.
• Set-up location is in the Honolulu Suites. Your table and material, if you requested it in advance, will be ready for you when you arrive.
• You are limited to a budget of $250.
• This year’s theme is Green/Sustainability.
• Judging: Your peers (NACE Hawaii & OWA members) who attend the meeting that night will anonymously judge and vote for their favorite designs during cocktail hour and dinner. Judging will close at the end of dinner, and winners will be announced at the end of the night.

Cash prizes (and a year’s worth of bragging rights) for winning teams!
 

Images courtesy DAVE MIYAMOTO & Co.

 
Start thinking of your designs and putting together your teams, then let us know! To register your team for the event, please contact your organization’s President:

• NACE Hawaii – Herb Yamamoto / herby@hawaiicaterers.com / 220-8465
• OWA – Eugene Kam / OWAPres@gmail.com / 228-4278

We look forward to your innovative and original designs!

 

Images courtesy DAVE MIYAMOTO & Co.

Last year, there were six very creative, very original, and very fresh design ideas. This year’s Tabletop Design Contest promises to be bigger, better, and with new challenges…and we’re looking for teams to showcase their creativity and talents! Do you have what it takes to be a part of the best teams of wedding & event professionals in Hawaii? This is a GREAT opportunity to showcase your product, service, and your genius!

    
Images courtesy DAVE MIYAMOTO & Co.

We will be announcing the design parameters very soon, but for now, we need you to start putting together your teams, brainstorming, and at the next NACE Hawaii & OWA meetings, we will be asking you to let us know if you and your teams are interested in participating!

    
 

Images courtesy DAVE MIYAMOTO & Co.

The boards of directors for the Oahu Wedding Association and NACE Hawaii are excited and look forward to your participation and creativity!

Here are the rules to participate:

• Teams will consist of a minimum of two people, and a maximum of four people.
• There is a $40 entry fee per team.
• Your design will be a scaled-down design for a table of four. Sheraton Waikiki will supply a 30″ round table and four standard banquet chairs. You are free to bring your own. If you want to use Sheraton’s equipment (e.g., silverware, china, linens, etc.), please submit a list of your needs to NACE Hawaii President Herb Yamamoto so he can request the items on your behalf from the hotel. Your list is due no later than Monday, October 4. In addition, if you are bringing in your own specialty items (e.g., linens, furniture, etc.) and need access to the loading zone area, please advise Herb so that the hotel can be notified.
• Decor setup time will consist of two hours on the day of, between 3:30-5:30pm. All decor must be brought on location that day and will be taken down at the end of the event.
• Setup location is the Ni’ihau Room Foyer.
• Your team will need to provide the price and information for your design, based on a table of ten (10).
• Your final design and layout will be kept anonymous for judging and will not be revealed until winners are announced at the end of the night. This gives you a fair, unbiased opportunity to be judged on your creativity and talents rather than your popularity among your friends and colleagues.

Members of both organizations will vote to pick the winning entries.

To register your team for this event, please contact your organization’s president:

NACE Hawaii: Herb Yamamoto, herb.yamamoto@pacificbeachhotel.com or 921-6194 (office) or 782-0132 (cell)
OWA: Dave Miyamoto, owapres@gmail.com or 396-5599

Thanks to OWA Past President Susan O’Donnell for putting together the rules for this contest. Good luck with your design!

The ride started promptly at 6:00pm with Brad Buckles (former NACE Hawaii member and show producer of Hawaii Bridal Expo) and photographer Eugene Kam leading a breakaway of the faster riders.  Marino M. Regalado (NACE Hawaii member and professional Master of Ceremonies with Ninja Entertainment) set a comfortable pace for the rest of the group.  Throughout the ride, participants laughed, talked stories, and had a great time.

After the ride, several riders met at Diamond Head Market & Grill for dinner and networking.  Brad shared stories about producing the Hawaii Bridal Expo, explaining how challenging and rewarding the process can be.  Marino & Eugene shared ideas on how to find a balance between running successful Hawaii wedding businesses and making time for fitness.  Everyone had a laugh as we all shared stories about recent “bridezilla” weddings & events.

To those of you who came to the innaugural ride, THANK YOU!  It was great riding with you.  Stayed tuned here for more info on the next ride!

So here’s your invitation to an organized wedding/special events industry group ride. Whether you are a serious cyclist or just ride for fun and fitness, you are welcome to join in on the fun!

When is it? Wednesday, July 29, starting at 6:00pm. If there’s enough interest, we may make it a monthly thing, and eventually a weekly thing.

Where do we meet? Meet at the parking lot of Kapiolani Community College at 5:45pm. We roll out at 6:00pm.

What’s the route, and how easy/difficult is it?
As a starting ride, this one is super-duper easy. It’s relatively FLAT with only one “major” uphill section on the return ride.

1. Launching from KCC, you head DOWNHILL along Diamond Head Road to Kahala Avenue.
2. Take a left on Kahala Avenue and ride it to Kealaolu Street. It’s the street right before the Waialae Country Club and Kahala Resort.
3. Take a left on to Kealaolu Street and ride it all the way. Pull into the service station on your left. THIS IS OUR FIRST REGROUP.
4. When everyone is together, we depart the station and travel along Kalanianaole Hwy to Portlock. After the bridge just past Keahole Drive, turn right into Portlock. THIS WILL BE THE TURNAROUND.
5. Once everyone’s together, we ride through Portlock, get back on Kalanianaole Hwy, and go back. Just past Hawaii Kai Drive and all the way until you get to Kalani High School, there’s usually a nice tailwind to push you along.
6. Take a left on to Kilauea Avenue and pull into the Olive Tree parking lot. THIS IS THE SECOND REGROUP.
7. Get back on to Kilauea Avenue and turn left on to 22nd Avenue. At the end of this section is probably the most challenging part of the ride: it’s all uphill to the finish at KCC. But it’s not that bad, and you’ll feel good when you finish it.
8. Take a right on to Diamond Head Road. You’re a block away from KCC, almost to the finish line!
9. Arrive at KCC and congratulate yourself for a great ride.

To make this ride safe and enjoyable for everyone, there are a few RULES & RECOMMENDATIONS to participate.

• HELMETS ARE MANDATORY. No helmet, no ride, NO EXCEPTIONS.
• The sun will set around 7:20pm, but just in case you get caught out in the dark, bring some lights (“blinkies”) for you and your bike.
• Bring enough water to keep you hydrated throughout the ride, and enough energy gels/bars/sports drinks to keep you from “bonking” (running out of energy).
• Bring a cell phone, just in case you run into difficulty/mechanical problem and need to call someone to drop back and help you. A few of the more serious riders can help you change a tire or offer you an extra powerbar if you need help.
• Bring some money, if you care to join in for a post-ride dinner at Diamond Head Grill on Monsarrat Avenue and Campbell Avenue.
• Bring a good attitude!
• RIDE AT YOUR OWN PACE. This is not a race, and you’re not going to win any medals, sprint points, yellow jerseys, or the Tour de France for being the first one at the regroups or turnaround. You want to get to a regroup and the finish still feeling good and with some reserve in the tank.

Having said that, THIS IS A NO-DROP RIDE, meaning that you will not get left behind. We wait until everyone is at the regroup area before we continue. (It also gives riders a chance to catch their breath if they’ve been riding hard.)

If you want to get back into fitness but haven’t found the right group of friends to do it with, join in on the fun! We’re all busy wedding & special event professionals, so we totally understand how busy work can get, and how easy it is to put off your workout. So make time for yourself. We’ll see you on Wednesday!