Event producers rely on a team to pull off an extraordinary meeting or event. At Wilsonwest, we hold members of this team in a very high place. Call them trusted partners, collaborators, friends –  but never vendors. Vendors sell you something. Trusted partners give and keep on giving – great inspiration, extraordinary service, value, respect, and much more. Working with these partners you are capable of delivering more than you or your customer imagined. All of this giving translates into an even greater experience for event participants.

This week, I’d like to give a shout out to one of those partners: Bill John and the Odyssey Team.

The Odyssey team is extraordinary and they have been working to create meaningful Corporate Socially Responsible (CSR) events long before the term was in vogue. When many of us hear the words team building, we cringe. Odyssey changed this for me. When you meet Bill, you understand why the firm is so successful.  He lives and breathes his mission. He listens. He gets it. And he is a true innovator.

Check out their work: innovative, dynamic, smart, and real.

Cindy Wilson

admin Relationship Marketing, The Wilsonwest Way collaboration, culture, partners, relationships

I took a quick trip to New York City last week, and while dining in some great spots I was reminded of a favorite guru of mine in the hospitality industry: Danny Meyer. Danny is CEO of the Union Square Hospitality Group and owner of famed restaurants such as Union Square Café, Gramercy Tavern, Tabla, The Shake Shack, and many more.

I LOVE his approach to business which he calls enlightened hospitality and which serves as the foundation of his thriving restaurant empire. This business model, designed for long-term sustained profitability, embraces his key stakeholders in the following order: 1) employees  2) customers 3) community 4) suppliers, and 5) investors. Hmmm? Investors at the bottom of the list? Sound a bit backwards? Meyer argues that if you place the emphasis on the first four groups (in this order) you will find that it is their collective work and collaboration that fuels even greater and more enduring financial success which ultimately fuels the bottom line and makes for happy investors.

His businesses are known for outstanding employees, warm hospitality, strong ties with exceptional suppliers, and a solid commitment to playing an active role in the community. Investors are honored to be associated with businesses that generate not only profit, but good will and soul. There’s a lot to be learned from this business philosophy and I have enjoyed reading Meyer’s book Setting the Table, The Transforming Power of Hospitality in Business.

Meyer understands that serving food is secondary to the experiences he creates for his customers and to quote him, “Business, like life, is all about how you make people feel. It’s that simple, and it’s that’s hard.”

Cindy Wilson

PS – If you’re heading to NY  there’s a few new Shake Shacks popping up in the Theater District and the Upper East Side.

PS - I know it’s been around for a while, but my daughter and I loved, loved, loved Billy Elliott The Musical and I hear it’s coming to San Francisco in the Fall.

admin Relationship Marketing, The Wilsonwest Way collaboration, culture, customers, employees, food, partners, relationships

What other event gets teenagers out of bed at the crack of dawn during summer vacation, prompts grown men to cry, and brings together 204 nations in fair-minded competition? With 715 million people are expected to tune into the final World Cup match (compared to 106 Million for our Football game aka The Super Bowl), it is clearly the most important sporting event anywhere. The Wilsonwest Team has had the privilege to be a part of the World Cup at Stanford (1994), in Paris when France reigned supreme (1998), and most recently in Berlin (2006). As an event producer, I have never seen more spectacle and frenzy. You can truly feel (and hear) it in the air!

This year, since we’re not in the center of it all, I have been observing from afar and wondering what lessons we might we learn from World Cup where aside from a few bad referee calls and temper tantrums, the world’s drama is played out fairly on a stage of grass. What if we could channel that energy to take on some the planet’s biggest challenges? This would certainly be a call to action for social media experts – mobilize people all over the world to stop and focus their energy, time and even money on just one thing – even if it’s for only the 15 minutes allotted during half time. What if we could create a competition that is as exciting as the one played out on the field? With all the eyes of the world focused on such a venture, would it not be an opportunity of a lifetime?

Cindy Wilson

admin Uncategorized collaboration, culture, events

When it’s time to start the food and beverage planning with a hotel catering team, event producers are most likely to be handed a big file of “banquet menus” presented with fancy wording and packaging. Buffets, plated dinners, themed events, and food stations – you know the drill. Other than a glance at the pricing model, I generally spend little time with these menu packets. While I do respect that a skilled culinary team has spent many hours crafting and packaging these menus, I simply find this method of menu planning to be sterile, lacking in personality and that it provides little clue to the heart and soul of the hotel’s Chef de Cuisine and the seasonal offerings. I want more!

At Wilsonwest, we start the process with a conversation with our catering and conference services manager and from there we ask to be introduced to the Food & Beverage Director. Once we have a solid understanding of the property, the kitchen, and the connections to local purveyors, we then ask for an introduction to the Executive Chef and the Banquet Chef. We LOVE seeing what’s going on in the kitchen and what the Chef is enjoying doing at the moment. What’s a new favorite? What are you most proud of? What are the limitations of the kitchen and better yet, what special equipment, facilities or culinary resources do you have to really make the meal a special event?

We share information about our audience, however during the planning stages, we rarely dictate the specifics of any menu. We want to hear from the experts first - encouraging them to share the very best of what they have to offer and hopefully create an opportunity for them to try something new. We generally find that at first, the Chef is hesitant, thinking that a couple of event planners have turned “culinary” and they are protective of their space and rightly so. We respect that. It’s precisely the reason we solicit the expertise from the Executive Chef rather than solely a catering or conference services manager who may have little or no experience in the kitchen.

From here, it’s on to the tasting where we pay careful attention to presentation, portion, service, flatware, dinnerware, and (of course) taste. The banquet and conference service team are engaged in this process and from here we connect and build the team who will stage and serve the meal. We ask the team to taste along with us – it’s a collaborative with just the right amount of cooks in and out of the kitchen.

By this point in the process, almost every Chef we’ve worked with is excited, engaged and completely passionate about executing a new and exciting menu – so much so , that our joint creation often becomes a new addition to the banquet menu!

nick2 Event Essentials collaboration, drink, events, food

“I arise in the morning torn between a desire to save the world and a desire to savor the world. This makes it hard to plan the day.”

- Elwyn Brooks “E. B.” White

E.B. White penned, among other books, Charlotte’s Web – one of my all time favorite children’s books. If I had the opportunity to sit down for coffee with E.B. White today, I might challenge him to think that there’s time and space in the day for both saving and savoring. Thankfully, that notion has begun to work its way into our manner of doing business. Call it conscious capitalism, corporate social responsibility, or what you will – it’s a movement toward thoughtful leadership with a strong sense of mission and purpose.

Eighteen years ago I founded Wilsonwest on the simple principle that a respect for the quality of life for my employees (and me) directly contributes to the high quality work we deliver for our customers. At the time, I remember being challenged as to why my clients and future clients would care if I valued and supported a high quality of life for my employees. I never wavered, and now I know first-hand the wisdom of this decision and am honored to have contributed to the enrichment of the lives of my employees. Collectively, we work to contribute to the growth and well being of our customers’ businesses and employees by building and nurturing the relationships that are core to their business success. It’s a good cycle and one that affords us the opportunity to both savor and save.

If the wise spider Charlotte were here, my guess is that she’d weave those words into her web.

admin Relationship Marketing, The Wilsonwest Way collaboration, culture, customers, relationships

Bespoke is a term employed in a variety of situations to mean an item custom-made to the buyer’s specifications.

In this age of recession, cutbacks, and the absence (or rejection) of luxury, I challenge you to think of the term bespoke in a different way – as something essential and authentic, rather than frivolous. What could be better than having something created for you and with you, in a manner that is thoughtful, artful and genuine? And how would you relate to that experience, product, or purchase? I believe the result would be one that carries a deeper meaning, a higher degree of care, and an appreciation that is both long-lasting and powerful.

This week I had the privilege and great pleasure to visit the perfumer Yosh Han and experience the ultimate in tailor made: the creation of a bespoke fragrance. The session began in her stylish salon with a casual conversation, setting the stage for what was to follow. I sampled many exotic and some familiar scents – identifying those that thrilled and captivated from the ones that neither suited my mood nor taste. She then employed her perfumer’s chemistry to help guide me in refining my blend. Yosh likens the end result to a portrait in a bottle, capturing one’s authentic persona and style. The beautiful bottle of my signature fragrance is now nestled between others on my perfume tray and is clearly the star of the show. No other fragrance could possible carry the meaning this experience provided for me and each time I use the perfume, I know I will cherish the drops as much I cherished the time with Yosh.

Bespoke is at the heart of what we do here at Wilsonwest. Each event experience is handcrafted with our customers in mind: their brand, mission, vision, and values are at the core of our blending. We, too, begin the process with a conversation in which we do a lot of listening that helps us uncover what will help guide us to work together with you. Our goal in this process is to create a meaningful event experience that delivers on strategy, artful design, and intelligence.

Bespoke events and meetings are the only way you should be thinking when investing those precious event dollars. Call us and let’s get started.

admin The Wilsonwest Way collaboration, events, relationships

Aptera – from the Greek word for wingless flight.

Wow…what fun I had this week visiting the Southern California offices of Aptera, creators of the soon to be released all-electric car. What struck me most about the visit, beyond their space-age looking vehicle, was the excitement and energy of the design and marketing team we met. Surefire signs of collaboration were present in every corner of the facility: from the workplace design to the diversity of the team who were drawn from multiple industries.

This was a good reminder about the power of collaboration and the diverse resources available to us in the event management world. Planning teams bring together marketing gurus, culinary wizards, technology minds, environmental designers, and more. Encourage your partners to contribute outside of their areas of expertise and some new, exciting idea might take flight.

admin The Wilsonwest Way collaboration, culture, green, partners