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NACE Hawaii members: join MPI Aloha Chapter for this extraordinary opportunity to “pick the brains” of one of the leading minds in today’s wedding design industry:
If you’ve always been interested in joining NACE Hawaii, NOW is the time to do so! October 1-31 is the NACE Fall membership campaign, and it’s a perfect time for you to become a member!
NACE National has announced two awesome new benefits for NACE Hawaii members! First up, Catering and Events Weekly brought to you by NACE will be emailed to all NACE members and prospects on Tuesday, August 16th. This is a FREE weekly newsbrief full of industry resources delivered to your inbox every week. Definitely something worth subscribing to!  
 Aloha! Are YOU dedicated to your professional success? If so, then you are cordially invited to attend “Hawaii – 2011 CMP 101″ YOU owe it to yourself to elevate your professional status in the meeting and event industry in 2011! What: CMP Prep Information Session Where: Offered to you on all islands within the next two weeks. This is an awesome opportunity to “listen in” and learn what you need to know about getting this important designation. When: Why: You owe it to yourself to find out more on how simple it is to prepare for such an important and worthwhile industry designation. This session will dedicate 1 ½ hours to you providing you with a toolkit for success that will include the following:
Let us help YOU do this for YOU! R.S.V.P. Roxann Hendrickson with the date you will attend. To learn more about the CMP designation and download an application click here. OUR SPONSORS: Mahalo Nui Loa to our generous sponsors for making this presentation possible.
Mahalo also to the MPI Aloha Chapter Mentor Team:
 ” ‘A’ohe hana nui ke alu ‘ia.” (No task is too big when done together by all.)
For the benefit of those who couldn’t make it to last Tuesday’s meeting, Michael has graciously allowed his notes to be posted here on this blog for you to read and download. There are also plans for him to deliver this presentation again at another NACE Hawaii meeting sometime within the year (in town, where we hopefully will get more in attendance), and perhaps to other associations you may belong to. Click here to view Michael’s notes for “Are You Networking or STILL Not Working?” If you wish to have Michael Rabe speak at your next function, contact him at 521-7101.
When was the last time you spent working on “your game?” You get so wrapped up in running your business, marketing your name, managing your people, and “being busy” that it’s easy to forget about your own professional development. But professional development is so very important, especially in this day and age when the difference between YOU and the guy with a consumer-grade DLSR & kit lens is your EXPERIENCE and TRAINING. Think about it: one day, you’re the top wedding videographer in the state, and the next, you’re being eclipsed by the hot new cinematographer with a good eye, great camera, a background in Hollywood filmmaking, and an understanding of what today’s brides want. Do you change then, when it’s too late, or do you adapt now, and constantly stay on top of your game? Photographers: When was the last time you attended a conference like WPPI or PhotoPlus? (Several NACE Hawaii members went to WPPI last February. Did you?) What about the recent workshops by Kevin Kubota? (Several NACE Hawaii members were there. Were you?) Videographers: Attended WEVA recently? What about a StillMotion Evolution workshop? the evolution experience II from stillmotion on Vimeo. Bonus points if you can spot the guys from Crane Media in this clip. Caterers & Wedding/Event Planners: Planning to go to Catersource next March? What about NACE Experience next July in Texas? When was the last time you went to an ABC or AFWPI conference? DJs & Masters of Ceremonies: Were you at the Mobile Beat Conference this February? When was the last time you took a workshop like the ones from the Marbecca Method? (Several NACE Hawaii members took the recent class in Hawaii in October, or the one in Vegas last February. Did you?) Will you be at the National Speakers’ Association Fall Conference or the DJ Cruise in November? Just because you’re good, and you’re clients say you are the best, doesn’t mean that you’re always going to be the best. The moment you stop learning is the moment when you should just hang up your hat and retire from the wedding industry, because that’s the moment your competition gains the advantage over you. The only way left to compete is to drop your price…but then you’ll be working for less than you’re worth, and you don’t want that, do you? After all… If you don’t stay on top of your game, then your competition will.
We’ve all come across customers at one time or another who try to negotiate your rate and services, and while there’s nothing wrong with giving your clients a “special discount,” sometimes customers will try to take it too far: Remember: Your clients are not just paying for the product or service rendered; they are also investing in your time, talent, and experience, as well as your staff’s time, talent, and experience, in order to give them (the customer) a great experience. Make sure you charge your customers accordingly.
On his Facebook page, he usually writes about his personal exploits, drinking, and sometimes work. A recent sampling of his updates:
These are taken word-for-word from his Facebook page, with only minor editing on the last one to censor the explicit language. His commenters can be just as bad. In a recent update, one of his friends replied with a Filipino phrase meaning human excrement. Now he’s a great guy. I know him personally, and that’s how he and his friends usually act in person. But if I were a Facebook user who had never heard of him and came upon his page, I would be horrified. My first impression of him would be that he is uncouth, a drunk, and I would certainly not want to have him at my wedding or special event, no matter how good or talented he is. After all, if this is how he acts online, will he be like this at my event? Will he talk to me like this and act like this during the planning process? Is he reliable? Here’s another thing: in addition to running his own company, my friend also works as an audiovisual tech for one of the largest AV companies in Hawaii. If you were the owner of the AV company, would you tolerate such language and behavior from your employees? Even if my friend acts like this and does this on his own time, isn’t it still a reflection of you and your business? Here’s the bottom line: How you act online is a reflection of how you are seen in person. Remember that perception is reality: if you present yourself as drunk and uncouth online, that’s what people are going to think of you (and your business) in person. If you present yourself as professional, that’s the impression your prospects will see. If you try to do both (as in a very professional homepage, but a very “ghetto” personal Facebook page), you simply create brand confusion among your potential clients. Remember: People are watching you.
In a recent blogpost, Andy writes about ham sandwich marketing. This is where people post tweets and status updates that are interesting only to the person who wrote it and maybe a handful of people “in the know.” For example, let’s say you tweet Had lunch with Herb and Josette at The Oceanarium Restaurant. Who cares?? Your followers & FB friends are busy, busy people who don’t have time to really pay attention to you unless what you write is
In this example, do I know who Herb & Josette are? Am I supposed to be impressed that you had lunch at the Oceanarium? Why don’t you just tell me you had a ham sandwich? That would be just as unimpressive and unneccessary.
According to Mr. Ebon,Don’t waste people’s time. Be interesting or be gone. Read his original post (and reader responses/comments) here. |
At the recent 
NACE Hawaii Vice President Josette Murai attended the recent NACE Experience! Conference, and she has graciously provided you with notes from one of the seminars she attended. The seminar was given by 
Last week was the 
I have many friends on my Facebook personal page, but I have one friend in particular who I will talk about. (Don’t worry, he’s not a NACE Hawaii member…but he is a Hawaii wedding/special event “professional.”)
Andy Ebon, NACE member and respected social networking expert, writes 
As Mr. Ebon states, “If your lunch was incredible, take a picture of the ham sandwich. post about the incredible Dijon mustard, the soft fresh-baked roll, and what variety of ham was involved. That has the possibility of being entertaining. Otherwise, you’re just engaging in Ham Sandwich Marketing. In today’s fast and furious world of communications, being boring is a big crime. Being irrelevant is a felony offense.”