In addition to the educational portion of Eventology there were also fun networking events.  Sunday night, Jennifer of A Regal Affair organized what she called “The Smart Girls Dinner” at Ruth’s Chris.  It was great to meet attendees prior to the start of the conference.  I think there were a total of about 40 of us eating, drinking and having a great time getting to know each other.

After our first day of classes, Katasha of K. Sherrie + Co and the organizer of the annual Eventology conference arranged a cocktail party which also included an eye lash bar courtesy of Nashara from Ready to Blush. 

And yes there were guys there {photos below via Jen Lynne Photography}

After the cocktail party we headed over to Jillian’s for karaoke and pool also organized by Jennifer of A Regal Affair.  I started the evening thinking I would only watch others do karaoke however I was somehow talked into singing…twice.  I was too chicken to do a solo so our first group sang En Vogue’s “Hold On (To Your Love)” while our second group sang/rapped Bell Biv Devoe’s “Poison”.  I had a great time!

I was surprised by how many people actually participated but the show stopper of the evening was the duet of Saundra Hadley of Planning Forever Events and Eric Kmetz of Epic Motion {photo below via Jen Lynne Photography}.

Hope you enjoyed my recaps of day one, day two and the fun events of Eventology 2010.  If you’d like to see more photos check out Jen Lynne Photography’s blog posts here and here.  And you HAVE to watch the video coverage of the conference on Epic Motion’s blog.  They did an awesome job recapping  day one and day two and they even did a  blooper reel. 

We began day two with breakfast and then it was time to hit the ground running.  Our first workshop was “The Art of Wedding Design” with Sasha Souza of Sasha Souza Events.  Anyone who’s seen her work knows that her design skill are off the hook (or the bomb dot com as mentioned several times during Eventology lol). She gave us great tips on how to design an event that truly reflects our clients and we received a copy of her new book.  SCORE!  The next workshop was “Geek is Chic” with Terrica Skaggs of Cocktails & Details and Chic Wedding Geek.  Terrica is a legend in the wedding industry for being the go to person for all things tech-y.  She gave us so much information and products to streamline our business and create a great experience for our clients.  The last workshop was “Building Your Team” with Lara Casey of Bliss Events Group, Southern Weddings Magazine, Lara Casey Reps, etc.  She provided us with a few questions to make us think about whether we really need to increase our team.

As day two came to a close I had to say goodbye to some of my wedding planning friends as they headed to the airport.   It was great to see old friends I’ve known for awhile, friends from Twitter that I’ve never met in person and meet new people from all over the country.

Check back for my final recap of the conference.  We aren’t just all work and no play.  We had fun events each night of the conference and all I’ll say is…us wedding industry folks sure know how to have fun  

{All photos from the official Eventology photographer Jen Lynne Photography}

My apologies for taking so long to do my Eventology recap.  It’s been pretty busy since I returned from Indianapolis.  So without further ado…

We started our first morning of the conference with the Welcome Address from Linnyette Richardson-Hall of Premiere Event Management and Ali Phillips of Engaging Events by Ali.  They had great icebreakers so that we could get to know a little about others at our table.  They also encouraged us to get the most out of our time there…education, networking and fun.

After lunch we moved right into our full day of learning.  Our first workshop was “Brand Success” with Harmony Walton of Bridal Bar.  Harmony’s core message was basically once you know who YOU are and what you do best then you can determine your target client.  Also, your brand, your appearance and how you present your business  (website, business collateral, etc) should be consistent and cohesive.  The next workshop was “Priced to Sell” with Saundra Hadley of Planning Forever Events and Saundra Hadley Sales Coach.  Pricing in the wedding industry is always a hot topic and Saundra gave us some great tools on how to price and sell ourselves in any market.  The last workshop of the day was “LawGLOSS” with NaShara Mitchell of Ready to Blush.  Although NaShara is a makeup artist, she is also a soon-to-be attorney.  She addressed contracts and trademarks, copyrights, etc for intellectual property.

Day one provided me with tons of information and I have tons of notes to prove it.  Check back for a recap of day 2.

{All photos from the official Eventology photographer Jen Lynne Photography}