Watch this 7 Billion Times

Welcome to 2011 - Glad to be here, glad to have you.

And glad to provide you with some perspective (courtesy of National Geographic).

Today, while getting up to speed with some new creative initiatives (personal, work and otherwise), I found the new National Geographic video for their year long series entitled 7 Billion. The video adds perspective on the global population and where we are headed: consumption, lifestyle, basic needs and so on.

Although most corporations now undertake some sort of "Go Green" corporate citizenship - are they doing it because they care? Or are they doing it simply to be accountable to shareholders. Yes, this is a step in the right direction. Yes! At least we are all acknowledging our growing concern to take care of our Mother Earth. But can we do more? We have to.

Lately, hearing about initiatives for clean water, proper sanitation, children's education and so on have absolutely inspired me. I think we need to focus these efforts not only overseas, but at home. Why not make everyone productive, healthy and focused so that 7 Billion heads together can work to make efficiencies to save our planet?

www.flauntevents.org - the next project as our way of giving back.

Video taken from YouTube.com:

Scan Me

That's right. I'm a QR Code :)

Batelco Inspired

We all know that www.adage.com is my homepage, so let’s not pretend that a good dose of Monday morning viral video watching doesn’t get my week off on the right foot. And this morning, I can’t lie: watching the Batelco viral video that makes the cityscape a virtual playground for grown-ups made me sort of wish that I could skateboard into work this morning. If I could skateboard at all.

A year in the making, Batelco releases its video upon its entrance to the global marketplace. Not even promoting what they do (telecom), the video has been a hit on their Facebook page and is stealing viral viewing share from others. What is it about viral videos that we love? Perhaps it’s the creativity behind it, that allows us for 4-minutes at a time to escape our mundane world. Perhaps it’s the pleasure of seeing people banning together, doing extreme activities or something just so fun that makes us laugh and see endless opportunities in the world. Or perhaps it’s all just timing…

Last week, in discussing a couple of potential viral videos with a friend, he showed me the book he was reading: Real Time Marketing & PR by David Meerman Scott. This is a must buy for anyone in the new marketing era, because it really is all about timing. Yes, people love creativity. Yes, people love seeing cool things. But, what’s underneath the psyche is the timing of it. How applicable is it to life right now? No, let me rephrase that: How applicable is it to life in the future?
Always be on the cusp of the trend, on the forefront. So that when you release your video, it IS the wave that others ride on after you. What are you waiting for? Go viral!

(video from http://memmachine.viralvideochart.com)

Batelco Ad Launches After Year In Making, But Was It Worth Wait?

Andaaz 2010

On Saturday November 13, 2010, something epic happened. Andaaz came back.

After a 3 year hiatus, the South Asian Alliance of Quebec hosted the Andaaz 2010 Culture Show at Cegep Jean Grimaldi in Lasalle, Montreal. An almost sold-out show, co-presented by TD Bank, was the talk of the community and has set a new standard for cultural shows to come.

As part of the organizing committee, managing the event coordination and Public Relations, I had an amazing 2 months working with the team. Endless laughs, stresses and encouragement made the event a success for each of us personally and proved to me that teamwork can work in the Real World (let’s not pretend that in school everyone has the same availability and motivations).
After having the Launch party scrapped (dear event planners of the world: It is ESSENTIAL to do a SWOT analysis of other events happening on the same evening… especially if you are in competition with Denis Gagnon, chances are great that you will not win), we were not sure if Andaaz would get the exposure it required. And it didn’t. Next year, we are definitely having a launch party, otherwise our PR efforts are wasted. We need media – end of story. And media need a press launch for such a specific event (full stop).

Lesson Learned. On to Andaaz: A series of behind the scenes mishaps that were ironed out come curtain time. As an event planner, this was a great event to be part of. I saw the good, the bad and the ugly. When a group goes to an unknown location to pick up a prop, gets lost and is late for rehearsal (did we say 12:00 Noon? Because you DO realize it is now 2:00 PM, right?), we learned very quickly that this will not be tolerated again. Then, in a confidential scenario, we learn that our headlining group is… umm… held up. Again, something to note for next time. However, by 7:00 PM, these and a list of other logistical problems were cleared up and we like to think that no one knew.

The event itself went rather flawlessly. The 80 performers were intense, ravishing and breathtaking. Ranging from classical to Bollywood dances, tabla musicians and an acapella group, we had the crowd standing and dancing by the end of the show. Can’t wait for Andaaz 2011: Save the Date Now!!!

Xoxox,

The Bollywood Kiss [my new nickname, thanks to the troupe of Bollywood Blast]

(Video of Penn Masala below, taken from YouTube)

K4K Intro

After much discussion about our event planning project in school, we have finally decided on what seems to be a viable and applicable idea: K4K. What does it stand for? Kids for Kids – in fact, maybe I should describe it as K4K4K (Kids For Kids For Kids – not a typo!)

Essentially, the premise is to host an event done by kids (us … well young adults, but YA4K just doesn’t sound right from a marketing perspective), for kids, doing the event for other kids. I know – layers of complexity are too much for a Friday. So let me break it down for you a little bit:
Unfortunately in the world, there are kids who are sick. Fortunately, there are foundations and charities that like to help them. Unfortunately, they often remain isolated from the rest of the world… and so do their families. Fortunately however, people do care they just don’t know how to show it. Unfortunately, these kids are terminally ill and may never have a chance to realize all of their dreams. Fortunately, there is the Children’s Wish Foundation.

The Children’s Wish Foundation is an organization that sponsors a terminally ill child’s dream – no matter how big, small, expensive or not feasible it is. I have spoken to them before and their heart is definitely in the right place. That being said, we want to help.

And so the plot begins and the project is underway. So far, the group is super positive about it, the event should be fun and it is (more importantly) feasible. The basic concept to date is to host a Winter Wonderland in which kids and their families will be invited to attend and participate in a type of arts, crafts and fun trade show. Moving from booth to booth, kids will be able to enjoy an afternoon of pre-planned activities with their peers, with all proceeds going to the Children’s Wish Foundation.

And what better time of the year to do it? Holiday themed music, décor and inspiration will be all around and ensure that spirits are high and worries are low. Looking for sponsors will help to create a budget and with 20 strong willed, and kind hearted event planners looking after the event it will be challenging but I am positive that we will come together to make it work.
I also loved that the biggest discussion of this project was the debate of when to host the event: Saturday vs. Sunday.

We like simplicity with a twist of creativity.

(Children's Wish Foundation logo taken from:

http://www.faithfulpromise.com/Childrens-Wish-Foundation_c_108.html)

Bringing Bollywood to Q-City!

Bindis, Henna, Bangles, and a little Bombay Kiss. Welcome to my past weekend in Quebec City as part of the Montreal based Bollywood Blast professional dance troupe. Bollywood Blast is a group of professional dancers who band together to enhance corporate events, presentations and events – Bollywood style of course.

This past weekend, my role was to help the behind the scenes of the event – helping the dancers make sure they were ready for each set, organizing costumes and even helping to set up and run a “bangle bazaar” in which guests could purchase not only bangles and bindis, but authentic clothing and even turbans for the men!

To begin the event, guests were greeted (by myself), and given an exclusive drink appropriately named a Bombay Kiss. Then, they were able to mingle, have a henna tattoo done, or purchase a new Bollywood wardrobe. Following this, they enjoyed an Indian meal of Tandoori chicken, a la Concorde hotel; and then the party started. Mixing classical with trendy Bollywood styles, 6 girls took the stage clothed in lenghas and jewelry. Dancing to popular tracks such as “Jai Ho” (from Slumdog Millionaire), we entertained the night away. The crowd LOVED it, and even had the chance to take part in a small lesson at the end, where they were truly transported to Bollyland.

From an event planning perspective – I realized how much people loved the cheese factor! Everything was gold, bright and extreme!!! I realized that this type of décor creates amazing photo opps, and is something I can take with me going forward. Also, although nothing major went wrong, there were minor hiccups along the way. From an event planning standpoint, it was great experience for me to see the hiccups (ie: when we lost the music cd, and had to improvise by using our practice copy and explaining the order to play it in to the DJ). These types of hiccups will allow me to gain confidence and know-how of how to think critically on my feet in high pressure situations where time is of the essence.

All in all, what an amazing event – I will post pictures soon!

(Bollywood Bangles image taken from:

http://www.worldbeatbremen.de/wbb/wbb_events,termin-10-3.php)

The Clever Un-Bride

Last week, as a class mandatory event, I went to The Clever Bride trade show. Now, I know that wedding planning is the least of my interests (mine and otherwise), however since it was a mandatory event I went with bells on.

The event itself was... well... very wedding oriented. Walking past a "Just Married" limo, looking at beautiful pink and white centre pieces, being served pink popcorn amidst the cupcakes, cakes and bonbons, and of course, looking through photography portfolios full of happy couples and their mom's aunt's nieces' sister's little flower girl. How cute.

If you couldn't already tell, I am being sarcastic. Not only was the wedding music as I walked down the imaginary, non-existent aisle ringing in my eardrums, but it only made me realize how little I want to even think about wedding planning. This is also a good thing, I suppose, because it did re-affirm my interest in corporate and non-personal events - I like to be a little more intense and a little less ... puffy. Not to say that for my colleagues in wedding planning do not inspire me - in fact I think that they have the hardest job of all: dealing with personal preferences, personal money and that one big day!

Although the event was not my cup of tea (or cake for that matter), there were some good things that I took away from the event:

1) People are much more accepting of a single gal heading to a wedding event if you tell them that you are helping a friend (vs the one line that is like nails on a chalkboard to them : "NO, I'm not getting married"... leading to an awkward silence followed by their soft mumble "I'm so sorry") - sorrry for the tangent - but yes, definitely just say that you are helping a friend with their wedding.

2) Ambience makes the event - so no matter what the event, make sure the ambience matches it. Like I mentioned, I felt like I was walking into a wedding. And for the purpose of the show, it was amazing. Not once during the event did I feel like it was a trade show or that people were actually trying to sell something.

3) The importance of the relationship - The people/vendors I remember were the nicest people to me. The ones who still spoke to me regardless of being engaged (or not). Those individuals are definitely top of my mind looking back on the event; I would be able to tell you their booth location, their service offered and the conversation we had. I am going to take this fact and apply it to my business - remembering that everyone I interact with my not be my client right now, but if I leave a positive taste in their mouth, they will remember my name an my story when they need to.

4) There are a lot of photographers. And when I say alot, I mean ALOT (on a business note, how do they differentiate themselves? What value do they add amongst each other? Just a thought...) This being the case, I know that if I ever require a photographer I can definitely use this fact to leverage my negotiations and aim for a better package.

5) It's a small world: Okay so considering that I know all of 10 vendors in the city and they were all there is good and bad for me. Good because I can build excellent relationships and work on a volume basis with these suppliers. Bad because of the word of mouth that must happen within the industry. Also, if one relationship goes sour - what other options does one have? I think I'm going to start thinking about a backup plan for a situation like this which may come up - believe me, I know what it is like to work in an industry full of women (ie: D-R-A-M-A!!!!)

These are just some of the lessons I learned from attending the Clever Bride event. Can't wait for the Elegant Wedding in November.