A FULL SLATE OF activities-education sessions, a trade show, the Gala Awards and interaction with industry leaders-is on tap for The Special Event 2000, slated for Jan. 12-15 in San Diego. (A complete program for The Special Event 2000 is included in this issue; turn to page 26a.)
Behind the scenes is a committee of more than 90 volunteers who make The Special Event, which is sponsored by Special Events Magazine, the premier conference for the industry.
Lots of planning goes into each facet of The Special Event. The volunteer recruitment process starts nearly a year before the show, according to event director Betsy Wiersma, CSEP. She says the producers started gauging interest for the 2000 event at the 1999 show. From the pool of volunteers, the producers choose leaders in the field to chair different committees, such as the Welcome Party and the Gala Awards and Celebration committees.
"Our goal is to get the best minds in the business and give them the opportunity to showcase their talents and the local vendors at The Special Event," Wiersma says.
Lisa DeFino of LD Events in San Diego co-chairs the Opening Night Committee, which is planning the opening night party at San Diego's Balboa Park. Balboa Park was built for the Panama-California Exposition in 1915. "The party-A Tapestry of Time-will be a rich cultural experience," DeFino says.
Tiffany Danley, CSEP, CMP, of Success Unlimited in Dove Canyon, Calif., serves as one of the co-chairs for the Welcome Party. While The Special Event 2000 theme is "Visions of the Future," "this event will revisit the past, at the Children's Museum San Diego," Danley says. "This interactive party will take us back to our childhood and the special events we went to and enjoyed. We will be rediscovering our creative childhood years."
Even though volunteering for a committee may be time-consuming, DeFino, who also serves as ISES San Diego chapter president, says she participates "because the opportunity to work with a diverse range of people is unique for me personally."
For more information about The Special Event 2000 or to sponsor or donate products and services, call event director Paul Stratton of Intertec Exhibitions, part of Special Events Magazine's parent company Intertec Publishing, at 800/822-8606; e-mail: [email protected]
