With the holidays coming soon, I've put together my wish list. If you're out shopping and wondering what to get for me, here's what I'd like:
I wish for the budding recovery in special events to take root and grow. The rental business is the touchstone for the health of the entire event industry, and the latest edition of our “30 Top Rental Companies” list shows that the bad old days of the recession are starting to fade away. It's still tough out there, but confidence is beginning to return, even in the hard-hit corporate sector. Turn to page 21 to see the whole story.
I wish that the scammers who continue to prey on social planners with bogus cashier's check schemes will find some particularly deep, dank hole to fall into. Once there, may they be pestered in perpetuity by email scams offering phony promises of escape.
My mother used to remind me that before I said anything aloud, I should ask myself if it is true, if it is kind and if it is necessary. I wish that everyone who posts on social media will ask themselves the same questions. Actually, just the “is it necessary” question will do the trick.
I wish that clients who push for discounts that go beyond all reason will think about what they are doing to their partner vendors. It's one thing to sharpen your pencil; it's another to stab someone with it. The current demand for discounts is, of course, the flip side of the years of heedless spending. But reckless discounting is just a race to the bottom — for all of us.
I wish that I will continue to hear stories about special events that incorporate corporate social responsibility. One of my favorite articles from this year covered Target's “party for good” — masterminded by Beverly Hills-based Caravents — where 4,000 guests had a blast packing 150,000 meals for the needy. Guests were so enthusiastic that many happily lined up again to pack a second and even a third box before returning to the buffets and entertainment. This was a party that no attendee will ever forget. Isn't that what we are all going for?
I wish that you will look me up in January in Phoenix at The Special Event 2011 and tell me what's going on in your life. I talk with people all year long, but often it's only at The Special Event that I find out what some people I consider to be old friends actually look like.
And for all of my wonderful readers, I wish you will find the abundant creativity and endless energy that a career in special events requires.
