Reflections from 35,000 feet above and heading westbound…

I’m sitting here, tucked in comfortable window seat, with an open middle seat next to me (a little odd for me as I usually enjoy the aisle) reflecting on not only the past day, but the past few months.

Yesterday morning I flew to Chicago from LA, and today I’m returning back to the sweltering heat of the southland.  At the current moment I would define my current feelings as ‘on-fire’ about what I do for a living and whom I do it with.  I got to come to Chicago to do a site visit for a conference that our company will be producing in 2010 at the Marriott Downtown Magnificent Mile.  And in just a few weekends we will be producing the National Prostate Cancer Conference—a conference for the patients.  

I’m beginning to really get use to corporate travel (and might even be becoming a hotel wh*re along the way) but I’m ok with that.  As I’m sitting here (with my seatbelt fastened of course), I’m feeling truly blessed for the opportunities I have been given in the past year with BDI Events.  I’ve been to Denver, San Diego, Monterrey/Pacific Grove, Washington DC, and now Chicago in less than a year.  I will not lie that when I first started as a Conference Director, I thought—am I going to get bored with this? To my surprise, I’ve really grown to love it, and have found areas that get me excited and really meant for me; one of those being the whole logistical angle of how conferences are setup.

For those of you that think what we do is ‘cake’’—it most certainly is not and causes headaches for most people, which is why they hire us.  The gift of a good event producer is that they don’t get stressed and overwhelmed.  Diagrams, meeting spaces, budgets, audio visual components, successful marketing, keynote speakers, musicians, travel, registrations, for 600 to 1000 people all take EXTREME organization and anal retentiveness.  This is what I love, and this is what I’ve always said I do best. 

The client that we met with is a New Thought spiritual organization.  They are wonderful people to work with, and I’m very excited about the team that is on board for their 2010 conference in downtown Chicago.  I’m excited to begin working on their budget to assist them in figuring out ways to make money, create an intense marketing plan to meet the registration goals, and to create an experience for their attendees in which they will walk away satisfied for coming to their annual summer conference. 

So as I continue to sit here—I’m feeling energized about what I’m doing and where I’m currently at.  I love that I can say that I love what I do AND where I do it.  Some people can only say the earlier rather than the later.  I’ve said this on multiple occasions and will say it again that I really do have the best 3 bosses around.   I think this is only just the beginning with myself and BDI and I cannot wait to see what is in store for me next, and where the company grows in the upcoming years.  We may be small—but we know what were doing…and we’re on our way…

A strong practice of New Thought followers is to set ‘intentions.’  I’ve always been one for ‘putting it out there,’ and as I reflect on what I’ve done, it seems to be working.  I like to call these ‘goals’ rather than intentions though.  Recently I set the goal to bring in or assist in bringing in three new clients for our company in the next year.  Tomorrow we have a meeting that I setup with someone about a festival for us to work on—and I think we’re going to sign on with them.  One down…two to go. 

Happy. Energized, Excited. Blessed. This is where I’m at in my career at age 22.  

2-Week Conference Run. Locations: SoCal & NorCal

I just finished up a two week run of 2 different conferences--both for religious science organizations (2 of our clients).  

The first conference was in San Diego, CA at the Sheraton San Diego Hotel & Marina.  Though my client wasn't as happy with the attendance as they wanted to be, the conference as a whole was a true success.  This was the first time they were holding their annual conference off the world famous 'asilomar grounds'.  Last year they began to outgrow the Asilomar Conference Center, so they decided to take it on the road to create the New Thought. New World. Annual Summer Conference--with the first year being in San Diego.  Throughout the entire planning process there were a lot of hesitant participants, and some that resisted completely, but I do know that those who attended could feel the power of the conference and what an impact this conference could have in each city it arrives in.  

My goal for this blank white tent (and the rest of the conference)--was to create a warm, exciting,  and comfortable place where people could truly connect spirituality, with just enough newness to make them notice the professionalism that our team brought to the table.  

I thought the tent came out great! And I can't wait to take this conference to Chicago in 2010! 

The second conference was in Pacific Grove, California at the Asilomar Conference Center.  This conference has been coming here for over 50 years which makes it easy and difficult at the same time.  The reason it is somewhat easy is that it has a tendency to 'run' itself for the most part.  However on the other end, participants expect certain things to happen or be allowed that happen 'every year.'  

It has a jammed packed schedule filled with daily general sessions in the morning and evening, as well as workshops & meetings throughout the day in between.  Besides the conference center not being like the 'high-end hotel staff' we are use to working with, the challenge with this conference was truly making sure each meeting/workshop/session was set correctly with what the facilitator requested.  

I think there were a lot of questions from many people wondering if the conference was going to feel the same now that we were doing it...in the end, I think that the BDI team proved itself once again to this community.  My goal throughout this event was to maintain those traditional aspects that people expect each year, but also put my own organizational, clean, and professional touch to it.  

A few highlights from the week--1.) The nightly fires in the fireplace of our director's cottage...it was a great thing to come home to each night! 2.) Getting out surfing during the free day on Wed with our Sound Engineer Dan..we were able to rent a board and wetsuit at a stereotypical surf shop, complete with a 'bro' that cashed us out. Needless to say, the waves were awesome and I was actually able to get up and ride the waves in this time followed by a delicious lunch at a BBQ Smoke Chicken shack. 3.) Being in the middle of no where. 4.) The weather all week, and the incredible sunsets.  5.) Being able to get a pitcher of Diet Coke at lunch if we wanted to. 

This was pretty neat...I could get use to this...

It was a great couple of weeks on the road.  I really enjoyed working with both groups because in the end it felt really good to know how much each of these events meant to different people in growing spiritually both individually and collectively.