Attracting New Donors in Today’s Charity Marketplace

Charitable giving is the lifeblood for hundreds of local non-profit organizations, many of which form a core client base for most event venues, caterers, service providers, and planners. Join ISES Portland on February 24th for a lively discussion about the challenges of maintaining adequate giving revenues at these organizations, even in our challenged economic environment. How do they find new donors, maximize existing relationships, and keep all of them engaged through effective events? How can we, as event professionals, help? Our panelists will include Margie Hunt, CEO of Special Olympics Oregon; Gina Fleschner, Co Chair of Share our Strength’s Taste of the Nation Portland; and Sharon Brabenac, Director of Development of Self Enhancement, Inc. This month, we’ll meet for networking, lunch, and education from 11:30-1:30pm at the Elephant’s Garden Room, 115 NW 22nd, Portland.

RSVP Here

A “Higher Purpose” for Your Next Event

I came across a great article in the latest Meeting Planners International (MPI) magazine of “Optimizing the Positive and Minimizing the Negative Impact of Large Events”.  When it comes to Corporate Social Responsibility – helping the community where your next event is… eat at local spots, not just in the hotel, supports the local economy;  add post-conference tours to historical sites also add a “cash infusion” to the community that many conferences do not include, find local non-profits that donate flowers to hospitals and hospices (like Friends With Flowers in Bend), and of course using green products and recycle.

The NFL is a good example of this type of thinking… for about 15 years, wherever the Super Bowl is held, they give back to the community by building a youth center, which offers tutoring, career planning, sports, etc.  I just got back from the Pro Bowl in Hawaii, and they have free events throughout the week for “ohana” (families) and “keiki” (children) encouraging them to get active, have fun and they donate thousands of dollars to the local economy with scholarships.

This is a tough time for all of us, but “the beauty of this movement – event planners proactively working to minimize harm and enhance benefits to their host communities – is that it’s working from the grassroots up”, Dave Gazly, VP of Mtg & Convention Sales, Tourism Vancouver.

Plan a Bond Party – Great Idea!

Planning a fund-raiser?  There’s a cool article in Special Events Magazine this month of a company that planned an event to attract men – they created a James Bond Party – complete with “gorgeous” girls in bikinis and fur coats with a helicopter – that raised millions for the Canadian Cancer Society.

Their idea?  They made it “sexy” – just past the entrance was a naked, gold-painted woman a la Goldfinger lounged on a black satin sheet of a circular bed, entertainment and decor included LED video wall integrated clips from several Bond films, the all-woman band were outfitted in metallic costumes and “toys for the boys” were all over the event.  A fake webcam was in each arrangement of daffodils in silver champagne buckets, a flip-top light was attached to each guest’s “Moonraker” auction list.  To offset costs (like the helicopter!) they purchased the toys from dollar stores and discount shops.

Surpassing fundraising goals in today’s sour economy is no small feat.  How did they pull it off?  After orchestrating an extremely targeted mailing, they received responses from all but a couple of invitees by being “pushy yet charming”.  I guess it paid off!

Measuring your carbon footprint

I was reading an industry magazine and came across an article on how the city of Denver has one of the most eco-friendly convention centers. WWW.visitdenver.com provides the opportunity for meeting planners to measure the carbon footprints left after planning an event and the option to purchase carbon offsets. I came across another site www.carbonfund.org that allows individuals and companies to determine the carbon footprint left by daily activities. Check it out, we all have to do our part.

VIPlanner Event at El Gaucho

Tuesday night I attended an exclusive event with top meeting and event planners at El Gaucho. We had a wonderful time. The staff at El Gaucho is fantastic, they were continually on hand to refill drinks and to assist in anyway possible. El Gaucho provided an intimate private space for us to gather. The event planners were able to talk and share ideas without interruptions. Beth at El Gaucho took us on a tour to see other private spaces available, I would strongly recommend this place to hold an event.

Historic Caples House

Wednesday, September 17th, I had the great pleasure of attending a phenomenal event hosted by the Historic Caples House in Columbia City, Oregon.  Columbia City is on the other side of St. Helens, about 20 miles from Portland. The event included live music and catering by Vibrant Table, Katering by Kurt, Simpatica Catering, Devil’s Food Catering and Eat Your Heart Out.  

This beautiful facility just opened its grounds for private events. It includes one city block in a park-like setting with breath-taking views of the Columbia River, a Heritage Orchard with 130-year-old apple and pear trees, and includes a charming Country Store. Their grounds can accommodate in excess of 300 people, and they are available for Weddings, Corporate Functions, Company Picnics – you name it. For more information, go to their website at www.capleshouse.com.

Creatively Saving Money on Events

Budget is always an important factor in planning events and can often be the driving force behind decisions that are made by the planners. The challenge is to create a fantastic, eye-opening event while keeping the budget at a minimum.
By creating one major point for the décor to focus on, this takes away the expense of having many unnoticed smaller pieces. Many décor companies can help you transform unused space into a beautiful design.

Color is another piece that can dramatically impact an event. Try using variations of one color for all of the décor; this will create a beautiful and inexpensive backdrop for your event.

Lighting is a great way to add impact to your event. Gobos can be custom designed with color and /or logos to project throughout the event. Pay attention to the entrance to your event as well, as this is the first look that your guests will get.

Entertainment can take many forms. A new idea is to have an artist creating pictures during an event, try an art school or local artists to save money. Interactive entertainment will keep the guests involved and how about teaching them something as well; such as a bartender teaching how to make a specialty drink.

Source: BizBash Florida, July 2008

Hollywood Lighting Services

• Hollywood Lighting Services recently received the City of Portland’s “Recycleworks” award, a certification that recognizes our commitment to sustainable, earth-friendly operations. RecycleWorks award winners commit to going beyond recycling with activities that range from reducing paper use, purchasing at least 30 percent post-consumer recycled paper, using durable dishware, buying sustainable wind-generated power, and offering personal greening assistance to employees.

Hollywood Lighting Services has committed not only to the minumum requirements for this award, but have gone above and beyond by:

√ Using 100% recycled paper products and soy inks for many of our printings
√ Recycling 14 different types of materials (and counting)
√ Offering a free lamp-recycling program to our clients
√ Using earth-friendly cleaning products
√ Reducing internal electrical usage
√ Aggressively reducing waste through junk-mail reduction programs

And perhaps most importantly, HLS offers a robust line of Low Energy Lighting Alternatives, featuring the latest LED, HID, and CFL technologies.
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• Hollywood Lighting continues to offer the latest in low-energy lighting alternatives for commercial and residential installations. Featuring the all new, cutting edge white-LED technology, we are the first to introduce the Go-FLL flat panel fixtures, designed for smooth, pleasing lighting in recessed, suspended, or pendant mount environments. These amazing panels will cut your energy use by a minimum of 35%, use no mercury, are nearly unbreakable, and will give you 8 to 15 years of service without the need to change bulbs or ballasts. Flicker free operation, many size and shape options, wireless remote control, dimmability, and optional color temperature adjustment make the Go-FLL line a shoe in for many applications. We have four models in our showroom and we love to show them off!
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• Hollywood Lighting’s Production team continues to amaze with a busy summer! Just recently, we’ve been tapped to design and produce many creative lighting environments for events all over the West. Some of the highlights include: Several product rolllouts and large parties for Nike, the Special Olympics opening ceremonies, Festivals like The Bite, Fort Vancouver 4th of July, and Rose Festival, Sportfight XIII, the MPI awards banquet, a splashy party for Lexis Nexis at the OCC, and (we’re guessing) at least our 50th Nordstrom runway event–both in Seattle and Portland. We’ve lit dinosaurs and airplanes, banjo players and software developers, brides and pro golfers….and everything in between!
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• Dwayne Thomas, president of Hollywood Lighting Services, has been busy with a few extra curricular industry activities this summer. In addition to serving on the ISES Portland Board of Directors (Programs and Education Committee), Dwayne has been tapped to serve as Chair of the A/V and Production Committee on the CIC/APEX Green Meeting and Event Practices Panel. This panel will be constructing a comprehensive set of best-practices and standards for sustainability in the events industry that will ultimately be presented to the US Environmental Protection Agency for ratification and adoption nationwide. Additionally, Dwayne has joined the Editorial Advisory Board of Northwest Meetings and Events Magazine.

www.hollywoodlights.biz

Where To Plan My Next Event?

Convention and Visitors Bureaus (CVB’s) are great sources of information for what the state has to offer. Here is what some of the local CVB’s are saying about their great states.
Arizona
Lake Havasu: a ‘fun’ reputation, affordable, accessible to Phoenix
Scottsdale: Events at every budget
Tucson: Exceptional air service allows for easy access

California
Bakersfield: Western mecca for Country Western Music and 4 professional minor league sports
Fresno: Recreational activities abound, located 45 min from entrance to Yosemite National Park and Sequoia Kings Canyon National Park
Los Angeles: Second safest city in the US, venues that can accommodate up to 80,000 people, great public transportation system
Sacramento: Clean, safe, beautiful and walkable
San Francisco: Unique and quirky atmosphere
San Jose: 10th largest city in US, next to coast and large downtown entertainment area
Sonoma: Coastline, redwoods, rivers, and wine
Stockton: Centrally located and affordable

Colorado
Denver: newly expanded convention center and new hotels
Colorado Springs: 300 days of sunshine a year, perfect year-round destination

Idaho
Boise: Large, vibrant and economical city

Nevada
Elko: scenic byways, state-of-the-art conference center, great hospitality

Oregon
Portland: excellent public transportation, incredible food, wine and beer, nature next door

Utah
Davis: affordable location close to Salt Lake City Airport, conference center in hospitality zone
Park City: 35 minutes to Salt Lake City Airport, 100 flights with arrival before noon

Don’t forget to check out Bravoevent.com for event planning tips.

Source: Smart Meetings, Aug. 2008

Company Outings

Company outings are taking on a new look. There are many opportunities for groups to help those in need. Odyssey Teams located in California is planning team-building activities that help companies give back to the community. For example, their “Life Cycles” program has groups working together to build children’s bikes in a limited amount of time. The bikes are then donated to the local Boys & Girls Club. Odyssey Teams provides the parts and tools and the tech support when the bikes are completed. The company provides the meeting site and the labor.
Another program of Odyssey Teams, “Helping Hands” features smaller groups working together to construct prosthetic hands for amputees around the world.

Habitat for Humanity, a well known group that constructs homes for those who need them has seen an increasing interest in the corporate world.

Impact 4 Good, a company based in New Jersey is focusing on producing environmentally friendly team building activities. Go Green Racing is an activity that has teams creating a solar car out of a kit or creating an environmentally friendly car out of recycled materials. These cars are then donated to schools to teach children about protecting the environment.

Teamworx, based out of California has groups build hybrid bikes after working together to create puzzles. These bikes are then available for the company’s use or donated to local children.

Skamania Lodge in Southern Washington offers a Pacific Crest Trail Complete Meeting Package that will help protect the trail. For every group booking until the end of the year, Skamania will donate $100 for the upkeep and restoration of the Pacific Crest Trail.

Team Building activities come in many different options; all you need to do is think outside the box. For many great team building companies check out Bravoevent.com.

Source: Smart Meetings, July 2008
Meetings West, July 2008