Engage 10 Engages and Enthuses

I have been to my fair share of conferences.  Afterwards, I am always pumped at the things I’ve learned and how I will apply all my new info to my business.  The level of my post-conference enthusiasm is usually parallel to the overall value of the conference.
Nothing prepared me for Engage10, the luxury wedding summit created and produced by Rebecca Grinnals and Kathryn Arce of Engaging Concepts.

Rebecca Grinnals of Engaging Concepts

From the moment we stepped off the plane in the Cayman Islands, to the time we left three days later, every detail was exquisitely conceived, every speaker was there to give value, and every guest was made to feel included in this wonderful club of wedding industry providers.
I will break up these posts into smaller sections since all the information is pertinent to this audience. There will be a few posts on content, the details and the amazing people that were part of Engage10
There were two types of speakers at the conference.  Those that were in the wedding industry, sharing their wisdom and their perspective, and those outside the industry who were there to help us all take our businesses to the next level.  There was definitely something for everyone.
Some of the speakers were made up of Who’s Who in wedding media and planning.  They included Carley Roney from The Knot, Darcy Miller from Martha Stewart, Millie Bratten from Brides magazine, Marcy Blum, Sylvia Weinstock, and Colin Cowie, Randy Fanoli, among others.

Millie Bratten, Sylvia Weinstock and Marcy Blum

I have heard a number of these amazing folks speak before.  Carley’s statistics are always interesting and The Knot is always up to many new things as they continue to evolve as a superpower in the wedding industry.  Look for their exciting new registry, sure to be a game changer.  Each time I hear Marcy and Sylvia, I’m so thrilled to call them my friends.    They are funny and they both say exactly what they think.

Colin Cowie

The person who surprised me most in this group was Colin Cowie.  His session was in three parts.  The presentation started with a commercial on all things Colin and I thought I’d seen it all before.  He came up on the stage and showed us three weddings he had produced over the past three years.  One had a budget of 25 million for décor.
As impressed as I was that he was able to build a church with stone siding and a tented roof, this does not have anything to do with my world.  What did impress me was the third part of his presentation.  He talked about his humble beginnings, he admitted these jobs were  a few years ago and he spent the rest of the time discussing how customer service sets him apart, even in this economy.
Here are some of his pearls of wisdom:
•    It’s how you make people feel that gives you the competitive edge
•    After every job, they meet as a team and discuss what they could have done better
•    Ask every customer within 24 hours of their event what they could have done better
•    You can’t deliver customer service without teamwork and communication
Colin is busy creating a new service that allows brides to get updates throughout their planning process from all vendors that are part of his new venture.  I look forward to seeing what he does next.
Other highlights from the conference include:

•    Two smart ladies, Rosalind Bordo and Siri Eklund from Two Bright Lights who have come up with a wonderful site that helps photographers get their images to the vendors and media that need them (with the proper credit).  They shared the results of a fascinating marketing study from wedding insiders.  These are two smart cookies and I look forward to being involved in their business.
•    The press panel gave helpful insight into how to get your company’s images published, what type of images and weddings they look for, and the rules of magazine versus blog publishing.  The folks included on this panel were I Do Destinations, Wedlux, Inside Weddings,  Destination Wedding and Honeymoon magazine and hosted by the very funny Michele Lord Rago.
•    Dinner with the lovely Millie Bratten, editor in chief of Brides magazine, who was the host of the dine-around dinner  group that I was assigned. The highlight of the evening was hearing Millie discuss the role of magazines and how there soon will be a different interactive version of Brides created specifically for the IPad, how she feels blessed to be standing after 70 years, and how they not only look to the past for inspiration, but to the excitement of the future of journalism.

The contents of the swag bag

Next, I will touch on the details of the well executed event – right down to the amazing swag bag that I had to check on the way home – as well as the other speakers outside the industry, and some of the great folks I met, that I hope to introduce to the readers of this blog.

Thank you to Donna Von Bruening  of DVBphoto for supplying the awesome images!