Political Event Planning: Do Convention Host Cities Benefit?

In case you haven't noticed, we are in full campaign season as we approach the presidential elections in November. And, as part of that process, the event planners are busy organizing each party's respective convention. The conventions are a great vehicle and opportunity to showcase the party's platform and, of course, the star performer - the candidate. While many of us are probably very well aware of who those candidates are, they are officially unveiled at their conventions. The Republicans will be first up with their convention taking place in Tampa week of August 27th. Next up will be the Democrats with their convention in Charlotte the week of September 3rd.

Political Event Planning Has a Very Strong Focus on Security
With political parties, in addition to the program itself, the event planning is heavily focused on security. After all, for presidential elections, one of the candidate is the current sitting president. No doubt there will be protesters at both the Democrat and the Republican conventions. That's just something that goes with the territory. However, with protesting, there is always a security concern. A lot of the money that is allocated by the federal government and the local municipalities has to be spent towards ensuring that all of the delegates, and especially both of the candidates, are well protected.

The Pros and Cons of Hosting a Political Convention
Obviously each of the cities that bid to host these political conventions think that the benefits far outweigh the hassles. After all, we are still stuck in the middle of one of the worst economic downturns in our lifetime. But, there are definitely some issues that need to be addressed in the planning stages.

Political Event Planning-the Cons
Security. Not only from a cost perspective but from a coordination aspect as well. After all, because of the delegates involved, there needs to be coordination at the municipal, state and federal levels as well as with the Secret Service. And just trying to determine the hierarchy (save for the Secret Service) can be a logistical nightmare. And with both Florida and North Carolina having concealed weapons laws (which allow their citizens to carry concealed weapons with the permits) this presents a security nightmare, to say the least.

The City's Image. With protesters often comes damage and destruction. Tourism officials are always concerned when images are published in the press that show their respective cities in a negative light. Not that anyone will be blaming the municipalities themselves for any demonstrations that occurred during the conventions. But we are humans after all and when we go to book our vacations those images may pop into our minds and have an effect on whether or not we decide to visit those cities.

Political Event Planning-the Pros
Infrastructure. As cities prepare to host the conventions they all want to make sure that everything is spruced up and looking great for everyone arriving. And their cities are also on the national stage from the media's perspective as well. So the cities are currently receiving a lot of attention to their infrastructures. Pretty safe to say that a lot of this work would not be completed by these municipalities except for the fact that they are hosting these conventions.

Revenues. Congress allocates $50 million to each host city to help them prepare for the big events. Now, admittedly, most of that will go toward security for the conventions. But, if history is any indication, Tampa and Charlotte both stand to see between $150 to $170 million pumped into the local economies. Certainly nothing to sneeze at given the current economy.

Tourism. According to Hotel News Now, current hotel occupancy rates in Tampa are 69.5% and 63.1% in Charlotte. Confirmed bookings indicate that during the convention Tampa is expected to have a hotel occupancy rate of 82.7% and Charlotte is expected to see an occupancy of 88.4%.

From all indications, there will be some PR issues that Tampa and Charlotte will be dealing with. City officials recognize that there will be logistical issues that need to be dealt with, namely transportation and security. But, factoring both the pros and the cons, CVB (Convention and Visitors Bureau ) officials in both cities are considering the conventions to be a win-win for the local economy.

How to Throw a Terrible Party! - The 5 Most Common Mistakes That Party Planners Make

Don't ruin your party with a mistake that could so easily have been avoided! Read on to find out the 5 most common mistakes party planners regularly make and how to avoid them!

1. Unremarkable entertainment
The last thing you want at your party is a dull atmosphere where guests are bored! This can easily happen if you choose the wrong type of entertainment for your party. By choosing something a little different to the norm you can keep your guests amused and having fun, regardless of their age! If budget is a concern, simple suggestions such as a DJ and background music from an Ipod can work perfectly as long as they are tunes that will get everyone up dancing and not Dad's soft rock favourites! Alternatively, a giant Jenga will ensure fun for all ages. If your budget can extend further, consider going all out with human canapé tables, a carousel, living statues, ice sculptures, a contortionist, a comedian, ice cream van/bike, firework show, stilt walkers, a baroque orchestra, or even circus performers...to name but a few!

2. Is there any more champagne?
It's crucial that you have enough food and beverages to satisfy your guests. The last thing you want is to run out of booze or nibbles half way through the night! If you are using a caterer or a party planner, they should be able to advise you on how much you will need, based on the number of guests you are expecting. If you're planning this event yourself, remember it's always best to over estimate rather than get caught out on the night, even if it means leftover party food for lunch and dinner the next day! And make sure you buy sale or return booze to ensure the drinks keep flowing!

3. Where are we?
Choosing a venue for your party will usually be hugely dependent on one thing, budget. But this doesn't mean you have to settle for something that is not right for your party! Consider the number of guests you are inviting, and the type of party you are throwing...can you host it in your home by re-arranging some of your furniture? If your home is not big enough - or you can't cope with the mess - think about venues in your local area. Perhaps there is a local art gallery, or unusual location that could add a bit of excitement to your party? Think out of the box for this one!

4. Cringe-worthy decor
Decorating your venue is usually something that is considered less important than the other factors e.g. catering, venue, entertainment (unless you are throwing a themed party, in which case decor should be at the forefront of your party plans!). However it is one of these elements that can really add to the atmosphere of your party, and a small budget doesn't have to equal tacky decorations! Be clever with your budget and use it for elements that will have the most impact on your guests, for example, maybe all you need is some creative lighting to enhance the venue. Or if you are having dinner, consider some coloured table linen and candlelight table centres that will transform your guests' dining experience!

5. Fantastic night, but where are the memories?
People are often so busy planning the party that they forget about how to capture the essence of the night for long-lasting memories. Hire a good photographer and/or videographer, or appoint a friend as the dedicated 'snapper' of the night. When it's all over you'll want to remember the fun of the night and there's no better way of doing this than through photos and videos!

9 Benefits To Outsourcing Your Small Business

Have you ever asked yourself "If I could start over again, I would... ?" It's like the saying "If I knew then what I know now" kind of thinking.

I can tell you, through my own experience, If I could start over again, I would outsource, plain and simple. It was not fun doing it alone and it certainly took up a lot of my time. While I did learn a lot and can use my new skills to help others, I realized you can't be an expert at everything. That's when I realized the need for outsourcing.

When I first got started, I spent the first year learning everything and spending hours upon hours learning how to do all the techy stuff like, how to set up my blog, my Facebook, my Twitter, email marketing, and everything else that goes with setting the foundation for your solo biz. I spent so much time on the technical aspects of the business that the overwhelm took over and the confidence and enthusiasm started to fade.

Lesson learned.. I don't have to do it alone, I can get help through outsourcing.

I started to realize there are so many benefits to outsourcing so I put together these 9 Benefits to outsourcing for the solopreneur and small biz owners. Many newbies or established business owners don't recognize these benefits can really help them move forward in their businesses.

9 Benefits to Outsourcing Your Small Business

O = Opportunity to collaborate. This is where you can find experts for the techy part of your business that you don't have time to learn or you don't have time to do it.

U = Understanding You Can't Do It All. Solopreneurs can't do it all so outsourcing helps you find the experts so you can concentrate on doing what you love to do.

T = Team - Yes, now you can work as a team. Just like working any job, there are always people who concentrate on what they do best while others do what they do best.

S = Solutions - This is a perfect opportunity to find solutions. We all want to find solutions to our daily struggles.

O = Opportunity to Organize your thoughts and your biz plan. When you hire someone to help you, the two of you can brainstorm to move you forward.

U = Unload some of the busy work to an expert. It takes so much time to do it all. Let others help you.

R = Release the stress of doing it all by hiring a virtual assistant.

C = Concentrate on other areas of your business while your assistant is doing the things you don't have time to do.

E = Event Planning and Speaking arrangements can build your biz and hiring an event planner can help you find locations, fees and get you the information you need for your event.

Even though you are a solopreneur, you don't have to do it alone. Why not hire the experts to help you get more time, more clients and more money in your pocket while outsourcing those tasks that take up to much of your time?

The Steps to Organizing an Event

The best events are those that are planned. Regardless of the size or budget, if you are prepared you can take the stress out of event planning.

So what do you need to consider when planning an event?

The first thing to do is to find out is what the event is for. The purpose of the event effects the other steps. Is this a wedding reception? A business meeting? Graduation? Or Festival.

Once you have an idea what the event is you can go on to choose the venue. Here the possibilities are endless. Most states have event centers set up for various kinds of events, but you could also consider hotels, parks, reception halls or convention centers.

A factor in deciding where to hold the event is the budget. Reception halls, and Event Centers, will have sliding scale prices to suit your budget. Parks are great for birthday parties and even wedding receptions and for those on smaller budgets.

The time of the event is also crucial to effective planning. For example if your planning a Christmas party, parks or outdoor areas might be out of the question. Another consideration for the date of the event, is the locations availability. Make sure the location is called in plenty of time.

Delegation - When you organize an event it can be surprising just how much work there is to be done. Make sure you have plenty of people to help out. Booking dates, ordering cakes and catering, arranging invitations, this can easily drain upon one persons resources.

Decorations - One part of event planning is a theme. Whether this planning for a wedding or a festival a common theme will be relevant. Choosing appropriate decorations (balloons, signs, napkins, plates and cups) can help the event look professional.

Accommodation - If this is birthday party for a few friends in your local park, then this isn't going to be a problem, if you arranging a festival, a conference or a wedding, making sure that accommodation is available could be vital for guests and speakers. Taking time to properly research your guests needs will help take all the stress out of the day of the event.

There are also other factors that need to be co-ordinated. For example Transportation. Booking Taxi's, coach's, limos or hummers also needs to be arranged. If your event is at one place but the accommodation is ten miles away, then you will have to make travel arrangements. Health and Safety. If you are planning an outdoor event, will you need event security, first aid staff or friendly helpers to advise guests. Some events may also require permits.

Alternatively you could hire a party planner to take care of this for you. These are people paid to take the hassle of an organizing an event out of your hands. They will arrange every aspect of your event from location to catering. Like any business there are good and bad event planners, so make sure you ask for there credentials and maybe contact some of there old clients to make sure they were happy with the service they received.

Set the Stage With Exciting Corporate Entertainment

Getting some entertainment in life is really important from time to time as there are going to be many moments when you will get exhausted with the daily routine of life. Additionally, you will be required to arrange some really great entertainment options for various work related events too. There are a wide variety of options that you will be able to consider for your events but getting some really good entertainment will be an easy task once you get some comedy entertainment options for your corporate events.

Your work related events don't have to be boring and this is exactly what you will be able to prove once you get some interesting corporate entertainment for an upcoming function. There will be many advantages that you will be able to experience once you decide to spruce up your corporate events with some fascinating entertainment options. Without a doubt, you will be able to lay out a fantastic event if you get one of the many entertainment options that will keep your guests entertained at all times.

One of the most entertaining options that you will be able to choose for your corporate events are comedy shows that will be able to ensue a laugh riot which will have your guests entertained at all times. There are a wide variety of comic acts that many professionals offer and you will be able to choose their acts in order to ensure that you have some interesting corporate entertainment lined up for the evening. The comic actors will be able to offer something new for your events with a wide variety of comic themes that won't be monotonous and will offer something new every time.

It is not just the events related to corporate affairs that need such kind of entertainment options and you will be able to use these hilarious services for wedding entertainment options too. You will have a lot of fun planning and executing these wedding entertainment options too for your loved ones by offering them something great on their special day. These entertainment options can be used for various events like corporate affairs, weddings, birthdays, parties and more. You will be able to use them for a wide variety of events in order to make the evening spectacular.

Events will keep on coming in your life and in order to create an event that people will remember you will need to take some efforts to make it special. A wide variety of options are now available at your disposal and you will be able to plan exactly the kind of event you want with these fascinating options at hand. With the kind of options that you will have with corporate entertainment options, there is no doubt that you will be able to create an event that all will remember with a big smile on their faces for a long time ahead.

An Award Winning Location For Your Next Corporate Retreat

Whenever you receive an invitation for an event, one of the first things that comes to mind is location. While you need to know where you are going, your expectations for the event are immediately altered by the knowledge of the destination of said event. This is especially true for retreats that are lasting more than a couple days. You want your guests to be excited by the location and excited to be apart of a wonderful and unique experience.

One sure fire way to ensure that all guests have a great time is by holding the event in a location where they'll be mesmerized by the environment and services. Few places on Earth are as beautiful as the Bella Coola Valley in British Columbia, as this area in the Central Coast is a section of the planet that has not been altered by human evolution. This means that nature flourishes undisturbed all around you in the majestic Rocky Mountains, a place where the air is mountain fresh and Grizzlies still pick off salmon during the annual run. A place where you can enjoy the finer things in life.

When you combine an environment like this with warm, friendly hospitality and gourmet home cooked meals, you are offering a good location for any kind of event. When all of this is combined with a number of daily activities and the means of comfortably housing a large group of people, you have an excellent location for a group or corporate event, and Tweedsmuir Park Lodge is a prime example. In the heart of the Bella Coola Valley, Tweedsmuir can make planning your next corporate event as easy as a mountain breeze.

Simply put, Tweedsmuir offers everything that you would need for a corporate getaway including team building excursions and activities in the majestic Rocky Mountains. The common activity area and dining hall ensure that the group will spend ample time together, while lodges are private enough to provide an intimate log cabin setting for the evenings. This stunning lodge can accommodate a broad and diverse range of groups, teams, and organizations, meeting the needs of businesses large and small, not-for-profits, boards of directors and government bodies alike.

Critics and past guests seem to agree. Tweedsmuir recently has been included in the very prestigious 'Signature Experiences Collection' by the Canadian Tourism Commission. The Canadian Tourism Commission described Signature Experiences Collection members as "the best attractions that Canada has to offer and help show the world why our country is such an authentic and engaging place to visit". Making this list is a distinguished honour in the tourism industry and demonstrates Tweedsmuir's dedication to hospitality and nature conservation.

While praise from critics is always welcomed, knowing that past guests have enjoyed their experience is arguably just as important when researching locations for group gatherings.

Trip Advisor offers the "Certificate of Excellence" award to resorts that consistently receive 5 out of 5 ratings, and this award was also recently bestowed upon the lodge. When hospitality and picturesque settings are combined, the result can be extremely memorable for guests of any type of getaway, especially corporate and team building retreats. Tweedsmuir can make planning your next retreat a breeze while offering guests the experience of a lifetime.

Lovely Ideas For A Vintage Wedding Event

For couples who love poking around antique malls and paging through old sepia photographs, a vintage style wedding is a perfect fit. Tea-dyed table linens, delicate hand-tatted lace, and dropped-waist dresses are just some of the lovely retro touches that infuse a modern marriage ceremony with old fashioned panache. Contemporary couples planning such an event should consider these lovely but simple ideas for a vintage wedding.

Bridal Attire

Before selecting accoutrements for the bride, groom and wedding party, the couple should decide on a specific era that will integrate their choices into a single theme. Victorian, Turn of the Century, Roaring 20s, and Fab Fifties are some examples. By researching their era of choice, the bride and groom can get a clear vision of the fashions and feel of the time period.

Vintage style wedding clothes set the tone for the ceremony. Many upscale vintage clothing stores stock a selection of lightly used retro wedding gowns and men's dress suits. Several online shops showcase one-of-a-kind vintage wedding attire for sale too. Happily for the bride who prefers something new, contemporary retro designers offer a variety of vintage inspired styles from different eras.

Accessorizing clothing with vintage type touches further reflects the retro wedding theme. For example, for a Roaring 20s affair, the bridesmaids could wear long, knotted strings of pearls and feather hair adornments to accessorize their flapper style dresses.

Invitations

In many cases, the wedding invitation is the first encounter guests will have with the big event. Therefore, the invitation should reflect the ceremony's retro flavor. Ideas for a vintage wedding can be easily translated to stationery. If the event is Victorian, for instance, the invitations could employ elaborate script for the lettering. Scroll work borders adorned with little cupids could provide period flair. Adopting the phrasing from an authentic invitation from the Victorian era would make a lovely introduction to the themed event.

Photographs

Photos can take center stage in a vintage wedding. Using vintage photographs to decorate at the reception recreates an atmosphere of bygone days. If the theme is Turn of the Century, each reception table might have a centerpiece that features a sepia-toned photograph of a different period scene, such as a cyclist on a tall velocipede or couples strolling in their period costumes.

Creative photographers can capture the essence of an era-themed wedding through their use of poses and props. If the retro theme is the 40s Big Band Era, the photographers could use a music stand with a clarinet or trombone as a backdrop. The way the bride and groom interact in their wedding photos could reflect the theme era too. For a Fab Fifties themed photo, for example, they might strike a jitterbug pose.

Music

Selecting appropriate music for the event is not as difficult as other choices, given that each era has its own distinctive musical style. For a Jazz Era wedding, a jazzy version of the wedding march incorporates the theme in a witty and sophisticated way. Of course, the couple's favorite jazz tunes would reign supreme on the dance floor at the reception.

A vintage wedding is a fun project that instills the intrinsic beauty of the ceremony with a personal glow. From designing the invitations to choosing the music, a vintage event conjures the magic of bygone eras.