GC Weblog

Try saying this 3 times fast: American College and University President’s Climate Commitment Conference

The Wege Foundation hosted the annual ACUPCC Conference.  It featured speakers on all aspects of helping college campuses become more environmentally friendly while helping to educate its students.  Together with the fabulously creative folks at A5 Inc. (http://www.a5inc.com) we created a website for hotel registration, session signups, meals and activities.  We managed the room block at the JW Marriott—which did a fabulous job on all aspects!  We also managed the food and beverage, secured chocolates from Patricia’s Chocolates (made from Michigan Cherries and blueberries), floral arrangements, transportation, and registration.  Of course the team did a fabulous job making all the attendees feel welcome to Grand Rapids!

"Your team did a fabulous job as always...Lynne is so "cool" to work with and everyone does such a wonderful job of not just assisting, but "connecting" with our guests.  The clients are still raving."

Europeans Tour Grand Rapids and Chicago

Mary and Marybeth have been quite busy working on back to back groups from Germany.  They are packing in all sorts of sightseeing opportunities from factory tours, art museums and visits to Lake Michigan to motorcoach trips to Chicago where they dined at the Trump Hotel and experienced the Architectural tour aboard a boat.  They did a super job according to our friend and client Edris Takeda...by the way can we get a photo of Edris on the next round of tours this week!?   

Inspector General

Here's a link to Ann Marie's article on site inspections that appeared in the recent issue of Michigan Meetings & Events magazine.  http://www.mimeetingsmag.com/ME2/Audiences/dirmod.asp?sid=&nm=&type=Publishing&mod=Publications%3A%3AArticle&mid=8F3A7027421841978F18BE895F87F791&tier=4&id=7A10B224B9254E559D0D5930CBFF64B9&AudID=

San Francisco again!

Marybeth just returned from managing a small group's events at the Intercontinental Mark Hopkins in San Francisco.  This is part of a large contract we have with a company...we do a few of these meetings every month.  I believe Leah, Ann Marie and Marybeth all work on these periodically.  We do the websites and online registration, hotel bookings + payment collection for these groups.

Let's see...today we also have Lynne onsite with a group in Holland and Leah is in Chicago.  Ann Marie's headed to Aspen shortly with a group...so hopefully some good stories will come my way. 

Leah left her Heart in San Francisco

Leah just returned from a site visit with clients to California where she saw the Palace Hotel and Westin St. Francis in San Francisco and then La Costa in Carlsbad (near San Diego).  At La Costa's hair salon they read the Fung Shui of her look and based her haircut on the results.  She is a wood and earth in case anyone is interested...how on earth she survived this long not knowing that I will never know.  We'll know soon which site was chosen for the conference!  I think Marybeth is in San Francisco now doing an event so hopefully I'll have more on that soon.

April Sales & Dealer Meeting in Holland

What a project!  ...17 total GC staff and 18 shifts, 11 coaches a day, 8 different hotels and a little bit of fun.  Lynne managed registration and hotel bookings, Leah was in charge of transportation and Tracy did extensive website design.    Piece of cake for them - speaking of cake if anyone wants to buy off Leah try Strawberry Shortcake from Russ's. 

Client quote  "Amy – I think I echo everyone’s sentiments when I say that your staff did a tremendous job.  The bus transportation (which was extensive) went off without a hitch, which is no small accomplishment!  Everyone we worked with was professional, friendly, and a pleasure to work with.  I want to especially thank Leah and Lynne – who handled the multiple changes and challenges in stride and made everything look effortless when we know it certainly was not. So, please convey my thank you to all!  Now, on to the next… and I’m so glad we have you on our team"

Here's Leah and Lynne hard at work - and some other fun shots.  Looks like some alphabetized luggage on departure day to me.  If you see them ask about the clean windows...it's a funny story and one I shouldn't tell here!

Lost in New York

This past weekend Ann Marie had an incentive group at the Essex House in NYC...Day 1 arrival transfers and reception; Day 2 morning meetings with afternoon free-time + shopping and dinner allowance; Day 3 morning meetings and departure transfers.  http://www.jumeirahessexhouse.com/  Ann Marie says this is the perfect spot with great proximity to Central Park and Broadway.  Ask her how she managed to GET LOST in Central Park!

From an attendee..."Thank you all so much for an amazing trip to New York City. The accommodations and the airport transfers were all over the top. We had a fabulous time and once again I am proud to represent the best manufacturer in the industry.  I hope I can do it again next year."

Anyone interested in Cabo?

More on the Cabo San Lucas trip we just completed...I would like to go back if anyone is interested. Here's a sample itinerary!  Day 1:  Arrival via private charter for 38, beach club in the afternoon, dinner on the beach.  Day 2: beach club, tennis tournament, shopping shuttles, dinner @ remote desert mountain location with star gazing and fire dancers.  Day 3: charter fishing, golf at Cabo Del Sol, spa appointments dinner outdoors at resort followed by private concert.  Day 4:  brunch with video slide show, pool time, departure via private jet.  Anyone interested?             

Brag post

Couldn't help it, had to share this email about Jamie--wow!

Again, thank you for the assistance and advice in registering for NCJC. This has been much easier and quicker than any of my previous three general and jurisdictional conferences. I salute you and your organization

James Taylor -- Down in Mexico

Ann Marie and I are in Cabo San Lucas at Palmilla One and Only...we had a nice little after dinner concert last night for our intimate group of 38 guests.  Just a little someone named JAMES TAYLOR! I'm having a hard time getting my thoughts together enough to describe the evening.  I wIll have to come back later to finish this post...gotta run and do luggage pull and departures.  Whew, what a night.        

Jamaica Mon

Just returned from a site visit to Rose Hall Resort in Montego Bay Jamaica.  They've recently completed a huge renovation and it looks awesome - a great all inclusive option.  I was able to go on an ATV trip up Mt Zion (birth and resting place of Bob Marley).  I was really impressed with the new airport and the hotel renovations - Jamaica's come a long way from the last time I visited.  I can't wait to go back and float on the hotel's lazy river - complete with a swim up bar.  Thanks to everyone at LXR and Rose Hall for putting together a great and informative trip.   

Ready, Set, Jet Incentive Trips

Ann Marie has done a great job putting together the unique "ready, set, jet" incentive trips.  Instead of one large trip she helped the client put together 4 fabulous weekend trips to offer to their dealers.  These trips allow much more free time for the guests than the every-second-planned award trips.  The guests have flexibility on booking their air, on choosing activities and how to spend their free time.  They have pre-loaded debit cards and can dine and play how they want and where they want at the resort.  So far I have pictures of the Cancun trip, I'm expecting some from the Park City, New York and San Diego area trips.  One question, what's up with the little doll guy showing up in all the photos:-)?  

San Diego

San Diego is just one of the best spots in the country to hold a conference of any size.  The temperature is pleasant year round, there are lots of options for off site events, and the Gaslamp area has hundreds restaurants and stores that are an easy walk from most hotels and the convention center.  Christina was out there with a software training group.  The conference was held at the Westgate Hotel, which is the sister property to the Grand America Hotel in Salt Lake City.  We spent a lot of time at the Grand America last summer at an event, and we loved it!  So, we had high expectations going into this conference and we weren’t disappointed.  The Westgate is an easy walk to Horton Plaza and all of the Gaslamp area.  It’s a historic hotel and of the rooms have been recently renovated.  The level of service they provide is over the top.  They also have a complimentary airport pickup shuttle (it’s $5 for the return shuttle-still a bargain). The attendees at this event were a ton of fun, as you can see in the pictures below.  They loved the location of the hotel.  Since they had all of their evenings free it was a big win to have them in an area that had so many entertainment options.  My guess is that anyone who asks Christina to do a site search in the near future is going to find San Diego at the top of the list. Christina - I love the new haircut!  

Ramen Noodles in St. Pete

Lynne did an amazing job of organizing a management conference at the Renaissance Vinoy Resort in St. Petersburg Florida.  She couldn't go onsite so Holly and I were able to show up and take all the credit for a well organized event.  I think our reports from Sunny Florida may not have gone over so well with Lynne - since she was stranded back home with snowed in school kids! The hotel's service was excellent and the attendees really enjoyed the hotel - infact many requested that we go back to that location. I usually like to report on something unusual or funny whenever we do an event like this - here's a good one.  Someone I know made soup in their hotel room - they used the coffee pot and a pack of Ramen noodles and you can use your imagination on how that turned out! Great advise for anyone on a per diem!  Seems like my friend Dave Barrenger told me about a recipe once for grilled cheese in your hotel room using the iron!  Pictured below is our new friend, commedian Colin Quin + 2 great friends from Bifma that are pretty funny themselves!

Marybeth Makes Clouds!

We were called upon for a heavenly task this past weekend--at the last minute (one days notice) we were asked to help create a solution for a "Better than Heaven" theme party.  Turns out the prop company in New York couldn't get the props to the client so we jumped in to help out.  Marybeth created a fantastic solution for clouds, hanging super sized pearl white balloons upside down from the ceiling, intertwined with feather boas.  Marybeth is so creative and I think she's the only one of our project managers who can sew (for future reference)!  The new club Eve at the top of the B.O.B. is fantastic for private parties. 

Christina helps Huckabee

Christina volunteered her time last weekend to help organize a prayer breakfast, rally, and press conference for presidential hopeful and Governor of Arkansas, Mike Huckabee--I asked her to give me some information for the blog, even though I voted for someone else (but I won't tell who)!  The entire event was planned in less than 72 hours and had about 500 attendees.  The Amway Grand Plaza was amazing, as usual.  Kevin and Jennifer (from conference services) did a fantastic job of working on the fly and rolling with the punches.  Political events are certainly different than corporate events.  When  it comes to political events there are lots of people in charge, which can make it difficult to get things done quickly.  At one point there was some confusion as to whether the press was allowed inside the prayer breakfast.  Christina’s instructions were to keep the press out, but someone from the campaign told them they would be allowed in.  It’s too bad we don’t have a picture of her physically blocking the door to keep them out.  I suppose if we contacted CNN or Fox News they would have some video of her kindly but firmly saying that they’d be going in over her dead body.  Ultimately the event ended up being a huge success.  Christina said, "Governor Huckabee’s staff was a hard working, dedicated group of people who I would be happy to work with on any event".

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Well we're off and running in 2008!  I can't believe it's here already.  We have so many great projects about to launch, plus we've recently brought on 2 new clients that we are SUPER excited about.  What a great New Year's gift for us.  Coming soon are pictures from a few of the destinations Ann Marie is using for the "Free to Choose" incentive programs we launched last year.  I'm off to Tampa shortly with Holly to work on the BIFMA group. Christina's heading somewhere (San Diego?)...Leah's off to Mexico again.  There's a lot of exciting events coming our way so there will be lots of fresh stories for the blog!

We Care!

Tracy's been working at this charitable event "We Care" for a few years now.  It's at the Holland Boys and Girls Club.  Grand Connection sponsors 1 of 10 craft booths.  Nearly 100 kids came to make crafts for their family members and friends.  They also get to meet Santa and have Pizza.  It's a great cause and I know Tracy & the team (including her girls!) enjoy themselves.  Tracy is a perfect fit for this charity - she is so crafty!  Every year she comes up with a great new idea for the booth.    

Happy Holidays!

Last Friday we had our annual GC Christmas Party at Wengers Bowling lanes.  Since we are part of so many fancy soiree's it's fun to throw down some bowling balls and just let loose in blue jeans!  The poker game w/prizes we started incorporating a couple years ago was a big hit - Tracy gets amazing gifts.  Winners this year were Christina, Jamie and Ann Marie.  Next year maybe we'll spring for fancy bowling shirts for everyone!

This year for the holidays our Christmas gift was inspired by the idea of supporting local businesses...gift baskets from local vendors and a donation to the Helen DeVos Children's Hospital.  There's a wish list online at http://www.devoschildrens.org -  We chose the 3 CD Players for the listening program for the Pediatric Rehabiltation Services Dept. 

Happy Holidays to everyone - lets hope we have as much fun in 2008!!!   

Vegas Baby Vegas

Christina worked on a dealer conference at the Loews Lake Las Vegas in October.  What a fantastic Location!  Lake Las Vegas is about a 20 minutes off of the strip and about a half hour from the airport.  Vegas is a tough location to hold conferences at times because you tend to lose attendees to gambling and shows.  The Lake Las Vegas locations work well because you get the benefit of Las Vegas but since you’re a little bit removed it doesn’t feel so Vegasy (is that a word?).  The hotel was wonderful, with a staff that stepped up at every turn.  The event went off without a hitch.  Well almost…the sprinklers went off on the lawn during the outside dinner one night (even though we discussed this prior to the event!).  No one got too wet and it made for a fun story for the rest of the trip.  The hotel felt horrible--I’ve never seen staff move that quickly.  They put high end bottled water at each seat in the general session the next morning with a note that said “in case you didn’t get enough water last night…” .  It was very cute.  That’s really what it comes down to when you run into problems during a function; how does the vendor recover.  We never expect that things are going to run perfectly.  We just expect that when there in an issue that it is addressed quickly and definitively.  So the bottom line is, if you want the fun of Las Vegas but don't want it right outside your front door, head out to Lake Las Vegas!

Wood Workers Expo + fragmented thoughts for the week...

We have the Midwest Wood Expo in Grand Rapids this week, Leah managed the hotel reservations and Christina has the bus shuttles under control.  Here's a link to their website...it was the first convention to book at Grand Rapid's new DeVos Place convention center last year...we've been working with them for 8 years or so  http://www.midwestwoodexpo.com/gr/

Lynne just found a local shuttle company that operates w/hybrid cars for our "green" clients.  What a super idea, I should have thought of that one! 

How about that 6% service tax Michigan just decided would be a great idea?! UGH, it is really ridiculous and I hope it gets repealed.  It looks like it would apply to certain parts of our business and not others. 

Amy Cole and the Reservation Madness!

I think Amy Cole gets neglected down there in Brighton, so I wanted to give a shout out to our "East Side" office.  Amy is currently booking hotel reservations for the Michigan Townships Convention, which has been known to book 500+ reservations within the first hour of opening day.  Amy does an amazing job and has many friends now at Townships all over Michigan.  She has been doing this project for 6 or 7 years (Amy...correct me if I'm wrong please).  She does super job keeping all the sub blocks for exhibitors, staff, attendees straight.  And she's always so chipper and nice to everyone...great job Amy.  This is Amy on opening day...hee hee, sorry Amy I couldn't help it!

Travelin' gals

Leah and Ann Marie made it back from Cancun.  Christina was in Vegas last week with a group and Maribeth was in Chicago... Nothing to exciting to report but I have a nice photo of the private beach AM and Leah had for their group in Cancun, looks like a nice place to hang out.  The attendees had a super time in Cancun and so did Ann Marie and Leah---that is until their plane pulled away from the gate--where they proceeded to sit for 2 1/2 hours and therefore missed the connection home.  I think the best thing to come out of this trip was Leah and AM's brilliant idea to share a couples massage to save money!  Now that's a true trip director's travel secret and should be compiled for a book of travel tips someday.

What's up this week?

This year for the GFS Fall Food Shows we had 20 client day-trip and overnight buses: 14 buses for the GR show --- clients from Fort Wayne, Toledo, Detroit, Chicago, Peoria, Merriville, Flint and Saginaw; 2 buses for the Columbus show --- clients from West VA and Ohio; and 3 buses for the Louisville show --- clients coming from all over Indiana. We also had 3 satellite parking lots running 3 busses each that transported 1800+ people to/from DeVos Place over the two day show. In addition to the ground transportation management Jamie was doing her thing with hotels...5 hotels and about 1000 reservations “nothing to exciting, fairly uneventful for me”. Uneventful means successful in my book! Finally a picture of Jamie on the blog!  p.s. another post is on the way regarding Ann Marie and Leah's adventure to Cancun this week.

The Motivation Show

This year's show was extra fun because ANN MARIE WON A TRIP TO PARIS at the Intercontinental Hotel's party (first class air, 3 nights in Paris and 3 nights in Cannes)...I bet Jamie, Mary, Amy and Holly are extra bummed they couldn't make it this year!  We were all so excited when they pulled the orange card out of the bowl.  We actually confused them onstage-they wondered how we already knew who won because we were all freaking out. 

We arrived in Chicago on Monday and made it to the Krisam Group party and then dined with our favorite friends from Disneyworld/land.  The next morning we met Mary Vogt for breakfast at the Peninsula (a fabulous tradition) where I had the Peaky Toe Crab Cakes benedict.  I HIGHLY recommend!  We spent all day at the Show, Lynne attended the Green Meetings session and Ann Marie toured prospective incentive destinations for '09 with a client.   Christina and Tracy toured destinations with a client and the rest of us just wandered the show floor and visited with all the vendors. 

I would like the GC team to submit their comments regarding what they thought was the most exciting thing they learned or saw at the show.  I'm still collecting photos, so keep an eye on the site for updates.  Note the photo of the "bull"...in honor of Jamie:-)    

Way to go Leah!

Leah passed the CMP, (Certified Meeting Professional) exam!  I looked on the Convention Liaison Council's website to get the official description of CMP (for those who don't know what that means)... "As the premier industry certification, the CMP distinguishes holders as career professionals who have demonstrated a high level of experience, skill and knowledge".  Awesome job, not sure if you can pull out any of that new knowledge for the trip to Cancun next week.  Let's hope the hurricane dissipates or changes direction!!!

Michigan Metings + Events Fall 2007

See page 29 of the Fall issue of Michigan Meetings + Events for some of my comments about decor trends or click the link here http://www.mimeetingsmag.com/ME2/Audiences/dirmod.asp?sid=&nm=&type=Publishing&mod=Publications%3A%3AArticle&mid=8F3A7027421841978F18BE895F87F791&tier=4&id=5318E75831B5495888439C50B5CF9F99&AudID=5AFBD19F922E4F53BDBF3DBB2272DE97

Off to IT&ME Monday armed w/my digital camera to catch fun shots -- watch out everyone you never know what will make the blog!  Jamie riding the bull (inside joke).

A Boring Post

I know it's not as exciting as a lovely photo of an amazing event - this post is an update on our recent BORING activities! Tracy and I are commited to staying on top of technology and boy is that a full time job.  We have been doing wonders with our registration sites that are not only managing event registrations but multiple hotels and sub blocks and even collecting registration fees.  Tracy has become quite a website builder and others on our team are not far behind.  We also have a new web and email host that functions as our virtual office.  We can share documents, make appointments, view calendars and keep calendars for our "mobile equipment" like printers, wireless routers, linen books and other fun things we share. 

On a similar note...I have a new toy (and I hear some of the girls received them from a recent event as a THANK YOU)!  I need to get on that job next year.  I now have a video Ipod which I think is great fun.  I won it at the ASAE show in Chicago last month from the St. Louis CVB team (how exciting to actually win something!). I just finished downloading podcasts after checking my email...I walked upstairs and took off my Blue Tooth earpiece and plugged that in to charge.  Then I took my cell phone off my hip and put on my Ipod to listen to an NPR broadcast of Krulwich on Science (okay I'm a closet science freak).  I remembered that I should probably post somethiing to the blog, since I've not done that for a while!  I thought to myself, WHAT IS HAPPENING TO ME!  I'm turning into some kind of creature with wires and contraptions and such coming from me--talking in a language nobody would have understood even 8 years ago...I had a little laugh to myself.  I wondered if someday I'll just plug myself in somewhere at night and recharge myself AND all these contraptions.  If I could recharge my brain in an hour instead of 8 that would buy me enough time to actually have a hobby. 

Unique Team Building Event

Maribeth just finished organizing a unique day long team building event in Grand Haven (about 30 minutes from Grand Rapids).  The group cooked Hawaiian food and then went to the beach for a couple beverages and a few hours fun luau games and relaxation.  I love her watermellon dart game as pictured here!

Beach Games:

Artesian Cooking School:

      

Disney Friends

This was last Thursday at Blue Water Grill...Grand Connection & friends hard at work (networking that is).  Jeff prefers summer visits to Michigan.  The last time he visited us was during a blinding snow storm when he drove from Chicago!  The only hotelier on our blog and he's on twice now...way to go Jeff!  Anyone with groups to Disneyland must work with Jeff Gibbs, he's the best.  Patty Long is our gal for Disney World...thanks Patty for hosting us and visiting Michigan.  We look forward to booking a lot more business with Disney! 

New photos

Here are the professional photos from www.rebeccabouck.com that I promised earlier from the event I did in Glen Arbor...there are more photos in my photo album.  The menu in the photo is made out of 100% pure sugar!  Also, I wanted to share some nice comments about Mary's work with the hotels, she had her work cut out for her securing rooms at the last minute and her attention to detail was amazing.  I always like to get compliments from hotels, because I know they work with a lot of companies! Here's an excerpt "First, let me start by saying you did a FANTASTIC job with that wedding. I was so incredibly impressed with all the details and negotiating that you handled. Chris and I both were blown away."    

Salt Lake City, UT

Tracy, Christina, and Leah just returned from Salt Lake City where they worked on a large sales conference.  Leah managed registration for the event.  Now, this wasn’t just your run of the mill “hotel room only” registration—this was a service project choosing, pre function reception confirming, dine around grouping, breakout picking, off site event activity selecting, formal dinner meal choice eating ----kind of registration.  It’s the kind of data management that keeps you awake at night.  Christina managed the food and beverage, and meeting space, and the budget that went along with it.  If you want someone to keep a tight lid on your budget, Christina’s your girl.   She’ll make sure you don’t pay for an extra granola bar, can of soda, or extension cord.  The event ended with a formal award dinner.  Tracy did an amazing job planning and executing that evening.  No detail was left unchecked, and boy were there a lot of details!  The list includes, but is not limited to: formal reception, entertainment, table placement and set up, linens, tableware and stemware, special order chairs, name cards and table numbers, menu placement for special meals, and wine and food selection.  All in all it was an amazing event.  The attendee surveys are rating this as the best conference to date.  And, just because we like to-here are the top 10 reasons to hold your event in Salt Lake City:

10.  Free transportation throughout the city on Traxx.

  9. The Tin Angel Café (you have to go there-it was a staff favorite).

  8. The people, they’re just as nice as they are in Grand Rapids.

  7.  The art of ordering drinks; once the skill is mastered you’re golden.  Join the “club” and order   a    

       sidecar if you want it strong.

  6.  Thin air-you really can breathe it and it doesn’t hurt.

  5.  A rental car with mysterious stains, squeaky doors and random dents and scratches.  But, we felt   

       sorry for her and kept her anyway.

  4.  The Grand America Hotel.  A one of a kind property!

  3.  Forest fires that were 80% contained by the time we arrived

  2.   Olympic Park and the 4 person bobsled at 70 mph, the extreme zip line, and a freestyle skiing show 

        that had the US Olympic Team   landing in giant pool.

  1.  Tracy, Christina, and Leah—the first time the dream team has worked an event together for an entire

       week.  Turns out that three strong leaders can work together, and nobody got hurt!        

Rome wasn't built in a day---or was it?!

This is where Marybeth, Mary and I spent the weekend of August 4!  This is probably the most beautiful lake I've ever seen...Glen Lake in Glen Arbor Michigan.  Since I was in the Bahamas a month ago I can honestly say this is as pretty if not prettier than the turqouise blue waters of the Bahamas.   

Needless to say we had people talking in this little village in Northern Michigan...look at the pictures and you can imagine...it was the talk of the town for sure.  So much talk infact that I actually received these photos (the ones taken from the water) from a friend of my mom's who has a place on the lake.  I think when she first told my mom about this event she did not even know that I was involved.  Talk about small world. 

I guess to sum this all up, imagine putting something like this together in 6 weeks....look at these pictures and think about these details and remember we are in the middle of nowhere "up north"!  Tents, chairs, stemware, flowers, band, sound system, lights, kitchens, hotel rooms (sold out inns and small hotels), shuttle service, cake, table numbers, seating charts, fire extinquishers, hot boxes, convection ovens, propane tanks, cigar rollers, salt cellars, marzipan, cappaccino, catering staff uniforms, etc., etc., etc. 

...then again, maybe Rome was built in a day!  I can tell you if they had the team I had to work with it could have been done. 

p.s. Check back often as SPECTACULAR photos are on their way from www.rebeccabouck.com.   

July--Slow???

So what happened to business being slow in July and August!  Not around here...here's a peak at more to come regarding the 500+ person Sales Meeting in Utah. 

Letter 1:

Leah, thanks again for your help and just wanted to say --- everything was Fabulous!!! I know there are so many people who work so hard to make these events special - and you guys succeed. There were so many comments about how relaxing and fun this GSC event was compared to past years. Thanks to you and your team for all of your hard work.

Letter 2:

It was a pleasure  to work with you and have the group in-house.   It nice to work with a planner that understands how hotel operations function.   Travel safely and I hope to see you again at "The Grand."

Tracy, Leah and Christina have promised good stories...and I want pictures of the volunteer/charity project asap ladies!   

Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative Conference

Lynne just finished working on "GLSLCI" Conference---where mayors and other city advocates come together to discuss protecting the great lakes and waterways.  Lynne worked her magic making this conference green without spending the green if you know what I mean!  I heard about the dinner, where she sourced yummy local trout and berry pies---YUM.  Lynne also went above and beyond helping guests charge their batteries, finding blackberry chargers, printing documents, pulling strings to get local goodies for out of town guests and so on and so on.  GREAT JOB!

I've received a few notes complimenting Lynne and the onsite team (Mary, Marybeth and Pat Schuuring) for the stellar service.  I've had to condense the notes, but here's a couple samples...

Letter 1:  "Thanks for all your hard work in making the Great Lakes conference a huge success. It was a pleasure to work with you and, from one control freak to another, I felt confident of the details being handled behind the scenes. On-site, your staff was very professional. It was so helpful to know all the venue, catering and registration were in your capable hands!"

Letter 2:  "Although I will always hold you in the highest esteem and can only hope to live up to your extremely competent example, I must scold you and hold you to blame for the several pounds I gained last week.  The food food food being everywhere, I am not able to resist.  tsk tsk.  You and your troops really opened my eyes to customer service, and for that I thank you.  For the extra belly blubber, I curse you."

p.s. their shirts in this photo are made from Bamboo!

A Dream Wedding II

On an earlier post I promised some great photos from the wedding we just finished planning.  Well, here they are...courtesy of Brianna Graham Photography.  www.briannagraham.com.  The event was fantastic - her photography really captures everything much better than my memory that day (which is kind of a blur).  Thanks Brianna for sharing your talent and working on this project with us!