Upcoming Fall Events

Waterways Cruises and Events Open House
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
4-7 p.m.
Where: The Lakeside Event Center
2501 N Northlake Way
Seattle, WA 98103

RSVP by clicking here.


Emerald City Applause Awards
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
6:30 PM - 9:30 PM
at the Columbia Tower Club
701 5th. Ave, 75th. Floor
Seattle, WA 98104

Celebrating the Gems of our Industry

The entries are entered, the judges have judged, and the excitement is building in anticipation of the 4th Annual Emerald City Applause Awards!

Join your colleagues and friends in honoring the best of the best in Washington’s event industry! Your presence is requested to come and savor the excellent work done by some of the top companies in our industry.


NACE AUCTION
October 21st Annual Auction
RSVP by October 16th
5:30 p.m. Tuesday, October 21st, 2008
RSVP by Thursday, October 16th at www.TacomaNACE.net
Sharon McGavick Student & Conference Center
Clover Park Technical College
4500 Steilacoom Blvd. SW Building 23
Lakewood, WA 98499

The Tacoma/South Puget Sound Chapter of the National Association of Catering Executives invites you to our annual auction Cooking up Success! benefiting Clover Park Technical College's Culinary Arts and Floral programs & the NACE education program.

Register Here >>


Murder Mystery aboard the historic Steamship Virginia V
November 1, 2008
7-10 p.m.
Departs from Seattle's Lake Union Park
860 Terry Avenue North
Seattle, WA. 98109
For a cruise around Lake Union and Lake Washington

Join Events on the Edge and the historic Steamship Virginia V for a special Halloween theme murder mystery celebration and adventure aboard the High Seas, with a 3 hour Dinner Cruise around Lake Union and Lake Washington. Halloween costumes are welcome but not required!
Time: Boarding/cocktails 6pm. Mystery & Dinner Cruise 7-10pm
Cost: $85.00 per person plus $2.00 fuel surcharge for Buffet Dinner, Mystery & Cruise (does not incl tax or gratuity)
Tickets: Available online at www.virginiav.org or call 206.624.9119
Parking: Lot & street parking is available at Lake Union Park.


Umbrella Tour
(Familiarization Tour)
Olympia Lacey Tumwater Visitor & Convention Bureau
November 15-17th, 2008

To assist you in planning for 2009, Olympia Lacey Tumwater Visitor & Convention Bureau invite you to participate in the Umbrella Tour. Specifically designed for meeting and event planners, this two-day event is sure to get you acquainted with Thurston County as a meeting and event destination.

RSVP TO:
Heather Antanaitis, Membership & Marketing Development
Olympia Lacey Tumwater Visitior & Convention Bureau
Toll Free: 877.704.7544 Email: marketing@visitolympia.com

Whether you have never been to the area or it is been a while since your last visit, this Familiarization Tour is sure to give you a fresh perspective on what the region has to offer. You will experience our finest attractions, explore restaurants and enjoy two complimentary room nights at the Phoenix Inn & Suites/Red Lion Olympia.

Please join us for the Umbrella Tour November 15-17th. Space is limited, so we ask that you RSVP by November 5th.

We Think You'll Love...

We think you'll love this local website that helps you connect with local teachers so you can learn just about anything. Meet teachstreet.com where you can search for teachers of a certain craft in the Seattle and Portland area. So if you want to learn to sail, cook, sew, dance, play the piano or just about any other craft you can think of, Teach Street helps you find the skilled professionals in the area that can turn you into a pro yourself.

Once you have found a teacher you can then go onto teachstreet.com and write a review that will help others find a teacher that is right for them. We also like how the site recognizes what craft you want to learn and offers books about the similar trade that are available for you at Amazon.com.

Check out Teach Street and let us know what you think.

I Ate An Obama On Sunday And A McCain On Tuesday

In less than a month, our country will elect a new President of the United States. In the spirit of the season, candy makers are taking advantage of this sweet opportunity to offer politically inspired edible goodness. Check out what we've found below.

This election year, Byrd Cookie Company wants everyone to Vote With Taste! Get your campaign headquarters ready with our selection of Democrat or Republican tins filled with Key Lime Coolers (left). Show your patriotic spirit with this red, white and blue tin collection! They are sure to be a hit with your guests at any election event this year!

Made with the traditional Japanese art of kumi ame (rolled candy), Kai's Candy Campaign ‘08 candies (below) are here to add some fun to the race for the Presidency. Each candy is individually wrapped, and the lollipops come on super long 8" sticks. The flavors are similar to American hard candies, but with a more mild flavor. But look out for the small Obama candies - they have a zesty mint flavor!


If candy is not quite your thing, you may be more interested in a mocha cafe drink with special packaging to promote Senator McCain and Senator Obama from McStevens.

Lastly, L.A. Burdick Handmade Chocolates have developed a variety of sweet treats representing both candidates. Enjoy an assortment package of candies that include awaiian Pineapple, Kenyan Coffee, Kansas Corn Crunch and Tennessee Sour Mash in the Obama package, and Arizona Citrus, Hot Pepper Tequila, Peanut Butter, and Kentucky Rye in the McCain assortment.

Phone Home

We recently heard about a great organization that is making a difference in the lives of our military troops.

Cell Phones for Soldiers hopes to turn old cell phones into more than 12 million minutes of prepaid calling cards for U.S. troops stationed overseas in 2008. To do so, Cell Phones for Soldiers expects to collect 15,000 cell phones each month through a network of more than 3,000 collection sites across the country.

The phones are sent to ReCellular, which pays Cell Phones for Soldiers for each donated phone – enough to provide an hour of talk time to soldiers abroad.

Cell Phones for Soldiers was founded by teenagers Robbie and Brittany Bergquist from Norwell, Mass., with $21 of their own money. Since then, the registered 501c3 non-profit organization has raised almost $1 million in donations and distributed more than 400,000 prepaid calling cards to soldiers serving overseas.

Through increased fundraising efforts, the Bergquist family hopes to raise more than $9 million in the next five years to fund new programs, such as providing video phones with prepaid service to allow soldiers abroad to see their families on a regular basis.

If you are like many of us and have an old cell phone just sitting in a drawer, consider donating it to this great cause. Click here for details on how to donate your phone.

Marketing In Uncertain Times

There is now doubt the economy is in a state of flux. So how is this unstable time affecting your business? According to an ongoing poll at Meetings & Conventions Magazine, a surprising 62% of meeting & event planners are going ahead with their usual event planning routines. Now, more than ever it is vital for businesses and services to understand how to market to these event planners. An old saying goes, "Know the difference between what is extra and what is necessity" and without a doubt, marketing and advertising is a NECESSITY.

When money and budgets are tight; however, it is not uncommon for businesses to cut their advertising budget, which in the end, will cause more harm than good. Some of the easiest variable expenses to cut out are advertising costs, an act that takes a bad situation and makes it worse. When your business drops and you take action to stop the flow even more, you are doomed. Be smarter with your marketing and adopt a strategy that gives you the most bang for your buck.

WHY B&E MAKES SENSE

B&E publishes two full color resource guides for the Puget Sound area. Unlike placing an ad in a magazine or a newspaper which a reader may only look at once, the Wedding & Event Resource Guides remain on the desks and in the hands of party and event planners all year round. When its time to plan an event, our readers faithfully and continually use the Wedding & Event Resource Guides to begin their search for qualified wedding & event services. And with our free online resource, banquetevent.com, all (and we do mean all, not just a portion) of the information that you'll find in the Guides, is also just a mouse click away. So think of it this way, advertising in a B&E Resource Guides is equivalent to paying for a full year of ads in a magazine, but at the rate of one month!

To help you compare B&E with other event planning marketing outlets, check out our comparison chart below. Let's say you have a budget of $4000. How much advertising can you get for your budget?

















Rates from 2008 media kits.

B&E can work with any budget

We've Made The List!

Yesterday, this blog was featured in an article by Meetings And Conventions magazine and recognized as one of the top blogs for meeting & event planners. The exact verbiage states: "There's an excess of advice, trend spotting and pontification by and for planners on the web, but the insightful blogs described below consistently are worth reading."

Special thanks to all of our readers. We look forward to bringing you more great business and event planning tips and tricks!

Click here to read the full article and see who else made the list!

Open House This Weekend: Catering Concepts at Acalia

The "Must See" event is this Saturday October 4th. Mark your calendars and be sure to attend.

Open House Event at Acalia
301 Queen Anne Avenue N
Seattle, Washington 98109
October 4th, 2008
2:00 PM - 5:00 PM

Come experience some of the many fun ways Foodz Catering is serving up Seattle!

Showcasing:
Suspended Buffet
Wine and Cheese Table
BBQ Satay Bar
Interactive Chef Bar
The Circular Buffet
RSVP is most appreciated

RSVP to: Shelby@foodzcatering.com or call (206) 297- 9634

Also coming up:

Foodz Catering is proud to be sponsoring FareStart as a part of their Guest Chefs program on October 9th. This is a chance for us to give back to the community and help make the lives of some homeless a little better. Join us for a 3 course dinner for only $ 24.95. Call (206) 267 - 6210 or try reservations@farestart.org. Chef Shelby, Chef Anne and Chef Sarah will spend the day working with the people in the program to create and serve your meal. All proceeds go back to FareStart to help support this wonderful effort.