Experience

Are you asking an Administrative Assistant or another colleague to plan an event for your employees or clients?

Here's a tip: check to make sure this task is included in his or her job description! If it's not, do everyone a favor and consider bringing on an event planner to do the work.

I've helped businesses with:

• Multi-day Conferences
• Client Appreciation Events
• Employee Appreciation Parties
• Speaker Series
• Holiday Parties 
• Community Outreach Initiatives

And I've helped prevent conflict in the workplace, because employees don't like working for free.

It's truly an honor when I get to help a non-profit with their fundraising and community events, and I view my role as an extension and representative of their mission.

Events for my non-profit partners have included:

• Annual Galas
• Golf Outings
• Award Ceremonies
• Veteran Appreciation Events
• Community Festivals
• Read-a-Thons

It's extra important that my clients spend time building and maintaining relationships with their guests during these events, as it may be the one occasion during the year when they are in the same room. Don't waste it worrying about things like the 'run of show,' food service, audio visual or signage!

I have had the honor of planning personal and important celebrations for some very special individuals. 

This includes:

• Milestone Birthday Celebrations 
• Intimate Weddings
• Graduations
• Bachelorette Parties
• "Return to Good Health" Celebrations
• Retirement Parties
• Wedding Anniversaries

Whatever the occasion, my goal is for clients to feel like guests at their own event. Wouldn't you rather be connecting with your guests instead of worrying about replenishing the beverages or adjusting the music volume? 

The Think GREAT Foundation brought me on to help support and execute their marquee event, "Homefront Heroes Gala." 

I consider this event "my baby," because it truly takes about 9 months of planning! I liaise with their staff, their Board members and a dynamic team of volunteers throughout the year. The culmination of all this hard work is when deserving Military Spouses are awarded academic scholarships to pursue their educational goals.

From a strategic marketing campaign, to securing live entertainment, to working alongside a professional auctioneer, it's beyond rewarding to know these efforts are supporting a segment of our society who often gets overlooked, despite their years of sacrifice.  

They truly are our "Homefront Heroes!"

Ever heard of Christmas in June?!?

I get to celebrate just that for my client's "Best Christmas Ever" Golf Classic. Picture Santa, Mrs. Claus, life-size candy canes and Christmas cookies as you finish your round!

This is their marquee fundraiser to raise money for all the families they will be lifting up and supporting during the holiday season. So it's especially important to dot all the "i's" and cross all the "t's. 

Planning for this annual event begins shortly after the actual holiday season, and we all share a Christmas spirit that carries us through the golf tournament the following summer. 

Their mission is one that anyone can get behind, and it's an honor to be one of those people.

This is one of my most fond memories as an event planner. I was entrusted to oversee a very special and intimate New Year's Eve wedding, from start to finish. 

The bride and groom lived out-of-state and led incredibly busy lives. I was asked to create their special occasion and had full control of the theme, the "vibe" and the flow of their wedding. I did not take lightly that they were trusting me with one of their most important days in their lives.

I turned a rental lake home into a cozy, comfortable and classy space and handled each and every detail. 

All they had to do was show up ...and say "I  Do!"

In celebration of Morton's The Steakhouse's 25th anniversary, we commissioned what was certified by the Guinness World Records as the "World's Largest Wine Bottle." It held over 173 standard bottles -- the equivalent of 1200 glasses -- of wine.

The wine bottle made a coast-to-coast tour of 27 Morton's restaurants in the U.S., celebrating the company's 25th anniversary with wine and food receptions. The culmination of the campaign included an online auction with Sotheby's in New York City, with proceeds benefiting Share Our Strength.

It was quite an adventure to oversee the logistics of this event, which included managing the brand ambassadors and the truck that drove the wine bottle from coast to coast (without it breaking!), planning the receptions and coordinating the marketing and public relations efforts. 

This event brings me back to the very start of my professional career. When I was working for the Minnesota Timberwolves and Lynx, I was charged with overseeing an inaugural event on behalf of one of our largest sponsors. 

The objectives for the "Great Basketball Dribble" were to bring exposure and excitement around the brand new WNBA team, and to raise money for breast cancer research, It was an incredibly exciting challenge to manage this fun family event that invited fans to walk, dribble and chat alongside their favorite Lynx players through the streets of Minneapolis. 

The event included games, food and finally, a special invitation to watch the Lynx scrimmage inside Target Center. I credit this event for helping me realize my passion to create something new, from the ground up, and see it through until the end.

I had the opportunity to oversee this once-in-a-lifetime food, wine and fundraising event. It brought over 1,500 dinner guests and three generations of winemakers from the Mondavi family together at the same time, across four time zones!

The Mondavis opened the doors of the historic Carriage House at Charles Krug Winery for a live, satellite wine dinner production.  This one-night event also raised $110,000 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation!

This was a  ground-breaking endeavor, as it incorporated social media (which was innovative at the time!) and state-of-the-art satellite technology. Managing the logistics of this event, which included the marketing, public relations and production, was the highlight of my career with Morton's The Steakhouse.