Andrea Michaels's Blog

Disaster management - we've all been there. I can name earthquakes tornadoes, floods, hurricanes and volcano eruptions which have caused me event challenges. Those you have no control over, right? It's the ones that you can see coming that are the real challenges. So I thought I'd share so that you won't make the same mistakes that I did.

The first one that came to mind was what I think of as "Disco Inferno." A fellow event planner invited me to become involved with an event held in the Palm Springs desert where her client wanted to have a fireworks show after a country western night at a remote ranch. Remember the word "remote." All basic elements had been planned, but they still needed fireworks. The client was a New Yorker; at the time my associate resided in Florida; and I was relatively local. So I got to plan and be responsible for the fireworks.

The client asked me for a short and impactful show, and I hired a local and very reputable pyrotechnics company. One that was fully insured.

The Challenge
A few days before the show, the client indicated that he had seen something he wanted to hire - AKA "I have to have that! - a bi-plane that had pyro on its wings. He thought this would be very cool to add. I had never heard of such a thing and said that unless I knew more about the company, the plane and their insurance that I could not take responsibility. The client insisted. So, I said he could hire this plane on his own but that I needed to coordinate it to make sure that all was going to go smoothly. That meant I needed to coordinate the plane with our pyro company, too.

When I contacted the plane's owner, I was told how great and how safe the act was. Nothing specific was detailed, except, "Don't worry," which meant to me that I should worry. I let my client know (yes, in writing) that I didn't trust this addition and advised against it. Of course, I was pooh-poohed. I don't give up easily, so I went back and repeated that several times. Each time I was dismissed. Against my better judgment I caved and said "Okay."

The Venue
Let me describe the venue - a ranch surrounded on three sides by mountains of brush and only a one-lane road to get in and out. The center or eye of the keyhole was where the party took place.

To be on the safe side, I ordered two water trucks to be in the keyhole and on standby. My client didn't want to pay for this as he felt it was unnecessary.

The Outcome
All went well through dinner and during the entertainment. For the finale, we got our pyro team in place and called the cue for the plane to start flying. We saw it take off, and standing next to him, I heard my pyro chief take a deep breath and start muttering, "Go higher; go higher!" Then he took off at a flat-out run to the water trucks as pyro started spitting off the wings of the plane directly onto the brush. The hills on all three sides exploded into flame.

The water trucks immediately took off toward the burning hills, giant hoses spraying the brush, as my associate radioed the buses and started herding a panic-stricken audience of executives toward them. Immediately, I grabbed some blankets, and my entire team and I started beating down flames.

Fortunately, we got all the guests out quickly and ultimately watered and beat down the flames. I lost my eyebrows, charred my face and hands and ruined my outfit, but at least no one was hurt.

Of course, during the time I was on the mountain playing fireman, my client was standing next to me screaming hysterically, "This is your entire fault!" Or, best yet, "I'm not going to pay for this!" I chose not to respond as he stood there doing nothing but watching me and having his tantrum.

Indeed, when I sent him our bill, he refused to pay it because our pyro had never been set off. It was a substantial charge, yet I chose not to fight it even though I knew I had been wronged. It would have wound up in court forever, across three states of negotiations and cost more than could be redeemed. And ultimately I knew I had been a fool to say "yes" to something that I knew was a potential disaster.

And, yes, I paid our pyro provider in full. And, no the bi-plane had no insurance.

The Lesson
When you know something is wrong, stick to your guns and don't give in. I should have refused to have anything to do with this job as it flaunted good sense and safety, and nothing good ever comes of that!

Andrea Michaels is founder and president of Extraordinary Events, a multi-award-wining international event agency based in Los Angeles. Andrea is the author of Reflections of a Successful Wallflower: Lessons in Business; Lessons in Life and an in-demand speaker and leading voice in the special events industry. She may be reached via amichaels@extraordinaryevents.net.

Quite a few years ago while attending a meeting in the United Arab Emirates, I was also asked to do a site inspection for the Super Bowl of Rotax Go Carts (they claimed to be as big as NASCAR internationally) in nearby Al Ain. I confess I had never heard of this, but it sounded intriguing. Never one to dismiss an opportunity, I sallied forth and made some complicated arrangements to meet an elusive client. He was hard to reach and when we did talk there was a lot of wind noise going on.

I was escorted by limo about two hours out of Abu Dhabi into the desert where we saw some great museums and palaces and even the racing camel market and finally arrived at... well, more desert with just a temporary trailer-type of building. I knocked on the door. No one answered, so I called the cell number I was given. No answer. We drove around looking for anything or anyone other than sand. Nothing. So, we drove back to the building. Finally, in the distance, I could see a Porsche racing toward me. In a flurry of dust, it came to a stop right where I was standing. And out of it, a young man. Gorgeous. Looked like the dictionary definition of a race car driver - tight jeans, tight t-shirt, glistening smile. And wind-blow hair which explained why our conversations were always noisy.

We shook hands. I mentally drooled a lot. We entered the "building." I began to ask about the event. Where was it going to be? He waved at the sand. How are you going to be ready in a few months? He shrugged. What would you like to accomplish for this event, and how can we help you?

"Just fill in what I don't have here and make this an event comparable to a Super Bowl... exciting... fabulous."

Music to my ears. But I've heard those words before. What's the budget?

"There are no limits."

Uh-huh. Heard those words before, too. So, a million dollars would be okay?

I revived him.

I asked for an example of what he thought was a wow. He started with lasers, but told me that there were hundreds of laser companies nearby, so there was no need for me to look for those. Hundreds? I told him that anytime anyone I knew had worked in his part of the world that lasers had been brought in from the U.S. or Europe. And then I realized what he meant and knew that he had no idea what he was talking about. But I couldn't resist asking, Where are you finding all these hundreds of companies"

And he told me, "In the phone book."

I replied Show me, please," very politely, of course.

He opened up the directory (aka phone book) and showed me. I said quietly, without cracking a smile, You're looking under laser surgery. Then I immediately started talking about what other things we could do in which he might be interested.

The Lesson
It's impolite to disable people and not take them seriously, especially if they are inexperienced. It's particularly important not to embarrass or make them feel uncomfortable. It's up to us to educate kindly, just do our jobs and not laugh uproariously at some of the things we hear!

And this doesn't just apply to the inexperienced. It's a good policy no matter with whom you are dealing. During the 1988 Special Event in Los Angeles at the Bonaventure Hotel, the hotel's Director of Catering (name withheld to protect the guilty), was serving as the event team committee chair. He called a meeting at the hotel, and everyone involved in the convention attended. I made what I thought was an appropriate suggestion to better the conference. Instead of taking it under consideration, he reamed me, dressed me up one side and down the other in front of all my peers. We all sat in stunned silence. (And anyone who knows me understands I am never at a loss for words. Some people are always thinking "Oh, I wish I had been quick enough to answer" but I NEVER have THAT problem. I always know exactly what I want to say.) At first, all I wanted to do was produce the perfect comeback to embarrass him in front of all. My second thought was to yell "F**K YOU!" but that would have been unprofessional, so I smiled like a lady and carried on as part of the committee. Afterward, everyone said they didn't know how I sat through it but confessed they saw each of us for who we truly were. Years later and everyone still remembers that interchange and how I handled it. So, no matter what you want to say to a client or an associate, you will always win if you bite your tongue and behave like a professional.

I have experienced some similar episodes since, and I continue to be silent. Silence is the most powerful tool we all have and, when used correctly, will almost always empower the one who is silent. I learned this from an expert in the art of buying a vehicle. When the zealous salesperson makes an offer, remain silent and just look him (or her) in the eye. That person will usually keep dropping the price (because they are uncomfortable) until you get to where you want to be and speak up for the first time.

Another approach, particularly if you are in conflict with someone who is ranting and raving, is what I call the board game analogy. If you are playing a game with someone and pick up your pieces and walk away, they can't play anymore. Game over. That's my philosophy. Walking away disempowers that person. Use it only when you must.

If we aren’t careful, being in the event business can lead to a life of “gotchas.” Never mind that we have tons of expertise. Murphy’s Law rules. I was reminded the other day of one of my gotchas. It was one of the most valuable lessons that I learned in the earlier years at Extraordinary Events. However, like all lessons learned, it can also be a lesson forgotten… until reminded… and therein lies the rub.

Lesson One: We had been hired to come up with an innovative method for Los Angeles to present its bid to The Democratic National Committee to host the convention (which incidentally L.A. won). So, here’s our presentation at the South Hall Lobby of the Los Angeles Convention Center.

The DNC arrived by limo into an empty convention hall. Committee members walked a red carpet which led them to a loooong balloon wall that spelled out Los Angeles. Where were they supposed to go?

With a rousing fanfare of unseen herald trumpets, the balloon wall burst open in one magical explosion and revealed the entry to the South Hall Lobby where a long line of faux paparazzi applauded them into the hall. Down an escalator they went to join the executives and VIPs of the Los Angeles Visitors and Convention Bureau and the city. Music. Morning fare. Very nice. And angels, lots of them. And then… from 400 feet overhead, accompanied by a beautiful piece of ethereal music, an angel descended and performed an aerial ballet until she landed at the feet of the DNC members and handed them Los Angeles’ bid. Magically, she arose again to disappear 400 feet above. It was a moment that the press wrote about and photographed for print and live television.

But, that’s not all they wrote! They also wrote about the angels that were already in the room, and herein is our story.

We had specified to our talent coordinator that we wanted a room of angels to circulate. I had great faith in his judgment. But I should have said, “Describe every person and every costume,” but I didn’t. So here’s what I got. One angel was in scarlet red lingerie and sequined wings. Another wore a Frederick’s of Hollywood black bustier with black feather wings (think whips and chains angel), and it went on from there. Yep, there was plenty about which to write!

Lesson Two: Years had passed since Lesson One. We were hired to produce a major, no holds barred, community event for what turned out to be hundreds of thousands of people, and at the last minute the client requested dancers to accompany the D.J.

I guess my interpretation of “dancer” and the local talent producer’s definition were polar opposites. His was “bump and grind” and mine was what would be appropriate for a family audience. All that the dancers were missing was a pole, and oh yes, a lot of costume. I had asked to preview the costumes, and they showed me a sample of one, which though sexy, was relatively covered up. My mistake was in not asking if all the dancers would be wearing that same costume. They were not. The others were bare…. very bare… as a matter of fact, too bare.

They had not been performing for more than a minute before my client on radio was shouting “get them off the stage!” and as the music was pulsating loudly there was no way for them to hear me until I had to physically climb onto eight different platforms and pull them off one at a time, with all of them resisting since they had never before met me and couldn’t hear me.

The Lesson
Never make an assumption. NEVER! Check every detail. Repeatedly. Ask for write-ups and descriptions. Ask for photos. And in the case of entertainment, check them out BEFORE they go on stage, while they are in the dressing rooms. Ask them to bring a variety of costumes so you can see what you are getting. Define what you need. What do YOU mean by “dancer”? Don’t ever feel too secure. Don’t assume! You know what that makes out of you and me!

Branding and its definition are paramount in the strategic thinking of businesses as well as for personal lives. So it's provocative to think about what your "brand" is and if it's truly authentic.

In order to define your brand, you need to decide what business you are in and what you do best. If you cannot define who you are and at what you are best, no one will take you seriously. Simon Sinek in his book, Start with Why, attests that "Every person, every organization knows what they do, and some know how they do it, but very few know why they do what they do." And it's that 'why' that defines you.

Take Disney for example. The simple idea on which Disney launched Walt Disney World Resorts has never changed. He made it clear that it was "to create happiness through magical experiences." According to Forbes, Tom Boyles, Senior Vice President, Global Customer Managed Relationships at Disney Parks and Resorts says there are "11.2 billion ways" a guest can interact with the Disney brand through major attractions, restaurants, characters, hotels or transportation, to name a few.

EE's business is simple: we conceptualize, design and execute events. That's what we do. We do it by hiring event partners who are at the top of their field in every discipline in order to deliver a flawless product. BUT... why do we do all of this? Let me give you a personal vision: I want to make a difference; I want to make meaning in all we do. I want to educate; I want to inform; I want to enlighten; and every once in a while I want to do something that changes the world. Like rebuild an entire school in an impoverished area (a long and wonderful story for another time.) EE's brand is to not just follow the trends, but to create them.

Consider this: If you want to find out what your brand truly is, ask someone else. Ask your customers what they think best defines you. If you have a product, do not ask the people who invented it and produced it how it should be branded; ask its customers. If you are building a personal brand, ask your friends who they think you are. When you have these answers you will know how to market yourself or your company. One example was given to me by an automotive brand that saw itself as a luxury automobile, but its customers when polled defined it as a performance vehicle. Based upon its customer base, all future advertising and promotion focused on performance, and sales numbers went up dramatically.

Hot Branding Irons
Think of it this way: Your "brand" is like a branding iron, searing your image into the world with permanence. It's how you will be perceived.

An exceptional speaker at a conference I attended talked about a welcome letter he received from Apple which read "Apple wants you to go and explore and, where you can, swim in the deep end."

What's the brand message? We are untraditional. And if you take a look at Apple's packaging, their stores, their Genius bars, what are they saying? That they deal in simplicity, the ease of using their product. The brand image is carried across all their platforms.

Think about Starbucks. Theirs is a never-ending quest to innovate and simplify the experience for their customers, and this keeps them on the leading edge in their category of business. Think about Nordstrom's Shoes of Prey where women have the power to design shoes on IPads which are then made to order and can be picked up in the store. This personalized service and custom design capability helps give Nordstrom a competitve edge over other high-end retailers.

Branding Isn't for Just the Big Guys
Apple, Starbucks, Nordstrom are all big brands, but branding is not just for large corporations. All businesses can use branding to win a place in both the customers' hearts and minds. Danny O'Neill's air-roasted coffee business, The Roasterie®, communicates his company brand and his passion for the coffee bean through his logo, product packaging, Web site, and marketing message.

To communicate this passion, O'Neill includes his entrepreneurial story on each packet of coffee beans he sells. It starts with "I can tell you when I fell in love. It was November 22, 1978. On that day, as a foreign exchange student in Costa Rica, I picked my first coffee bean in the mountainous, volcanic, coffee-growing region around the Poas volcano. I fell in love with the country, the people, and the coffee. Fifteen years later my passion for great coffee could no longer be denied, and The Roasterie was born..."

Danny O'Neill is an example of what Sally Hogshead in her wonderful book, FASCINATE, How to Make Your Brand Impossible to Resist, means when she states: "Brands live inside communities, not corporations. Your brand lies inside conversations and aspirations. A brand lies in workplaces and schools, inside homes and dinner table conversations. Brands aren't static; they are living, breathing things that organically change and evolve as new people join the conversation."

Brand Rules to Embrace
Madonna has branded and re-branded her image and style over the past 30 years. She is a fearless master of her brand and message, and she set the branding tone for all other celebrities to follow. Below are the branding rules she has created for herself. Click here if you want details on each bullet point.

Stand for something
Always deliver
Be clear about what you want
Be a work in progress
Don't be afraid to bloody a few noses
Don't be afraid to stand up for your beliefs


Andrea Michaels is founder and president of Extraordinary Events, a multi-award-winning international event agency based in Los Angeles. Andrea is the author of Reflections of a Successful Wallflower: Lessons in Business; Lessons in Life and an in-demand speaker and leading voice in the special events industry. She may be reached via amichaels@extraordinaryevents.net.

Les M. Goldberg gave me his book, Don’t Take No for an Answer: Anything is Possible, and I opened it up randomly and this is what popped up:

“You can’t intimidate people into excelling.” I am quoting him here because I have been thinking about leadership, management, and the relationship of employer to employee, and Les’ words capture so much about what I am thinking.

In reading on, Les says: “ It’s not unusual for employees to be intimidated by the company’s founder or senior management. I don’t feel I’m an intimidating person, but when it was brought to my attention that sometimes I appear that way, I began making a conscious effort to change that perception. People who are intimidated will not perform at their highest level. Intimidation is not a good motivational tool. Certainly managers must maintain their authority but it doesn’t need to be done through fear. Respect is woven through our core values because it creates an atmosphere where people can and will excel.”

And all of that wisdom wrapped around me from just one page! I cannot even imagine what I’m going to learn as I read more pages. For now, though, (and thank you, Les) let’s just stick to this one topic. In it, Les talks about not only management but leadership. To me, leadership is defined as leading by example. And that means never asking someone to do what you are not willing to do yourself. (Unless of course you are talking about computer skills, and I will confess I’m usually always asking for help in that realm).

The other night we had to get a major proposal out, and my team could have run with the information they had and finished it… by themselves. I didn’t leave them until it was finished. Why? Because to me it wouldn’t be fair to expect them to stay late, give up their time, and work late into the night if I was not also willing to do so and be a support to them.

As an event management agency, we work long and late hours when producing events. I am there for set up, and I am there for load out. I don’t leave when the fun part is over. I hope that illustrates that I am not only a boss but am always there in case I am needed. I will sweep floors, bus dining tables, and do anything necessary on site. I want to lead by example.Does that sound a bit too “oh, admire me, I’m wonderful?” I hope not, because I’m just trying to make a point. I’m supportive. But does that mean that I am also a good manager and good leader? What do I expect of myself in those areas? I think if I am good at anything it is listening. This is key to being a successful manager/leader. It’s not just about what I want, and what I have to say. It’s not about preaching. It’s about guiding and teaching. So let me use an example in the world of event planning.

My team is young, and they will make some mistakes. A long time ago I walked into a room that had been set up by a young producer, and I knew that it was “wrong.” Instead of being critical and saying, “This is wrong and here’s how to fix it,” I asked her to walk the space with me from the guest’s point of view from entry to departure and see how the experience felt. What were the sightlines? What were the access points to bars and buffets? Would guests be able to flow well throughout the room? You know the drill.

I knew how to fix all the problems and could have changed everything quickly. But it would not have taught her anything. I would have missed a “teachable moment.” I let her discover how to improve the room layout by herself and merely guided her into the solutions.

If I’m understanding Les’ point, I believe that “lecturing” is intimidating. “Discussing” is not. It’s much like a parental role where parents guide their children through life; they don’t intimidate them by telling them what to do and how to do it and never let them make their own mistakes. They help them grow up.

As employers, aka “bosses,” I think that a parental and non-judgmental role is key to successful management. What do you think?

Les M. Goldberg’s book is available on Amazon.

Andrea Michaels is founder and president of Extraordinary Events, a multi-award-winning international event agency based in Los Angeles. Andrea is the author of Reflections of a Successful Wallflower: Lessons in Business; Lessons in Life and an in-demand speaker and leading voice in the special events industry. She may be reached via amichaels@extraordinaryevents.net.

Failure. To me a hateful word. And one that has far too much influence over people. So here’s how I look at it …. if you’re interested, and I hope you are.

You didn’t win an account. You got a bad grade in school. Your relationship ended. Was that “failure” or were you just not successful? I hope you see the difference. In one instance, all hopes are dashed. Your failure meant that you were less than adequate. How can you possibly move on?

On the other hand you didn’t succeed … at one thing. Well no one succeeds at everything, do they? So with that mind set, it’s easy to move on and even easier to feel better about yourself. You didn’t win one account, but you can go on to win another one. You got a bad grade, so you choose to study harder to get a good one.

Wouldn’t it be better to look at “failure” as an opportunity? Let me give you a concrete example. You’ve worked to win a new account. It has been time consuming; you’ve had multiple meetings; you’ve invested in lengthy detailed proposals, renderings, multiple site visits; and you didn’t win the business. Was it a “failure”? The first thing you need to know is “why.” Often times it is because your client had a relationship with another bidder, and that relationship superseded your attempts. It happens often, and it probably happens to your competitors when you have had the long time relationship, right?

There are two possible scenarios. You can bemoan the time and money spent or you can go back to that client and get some useful information. If the client appreciated your efforts and liked your proposal, then you can ask, “What else could we have done to have won your business this time and what else could we do to win it in the future?” That “what else?” question is a mandatory one and might lead to some interesting and informative results. Better yet, if it is a large enterprise, “Who else in your company could you refer me to?” Along with … wait for it….”would you be willing to extend a personal introduction to that person(s)?”

Now take this a step further. Did you really need to invest all of that time and money or was there a point where common sense starting telling you that you were chasing after something you couldn’t catch? And if so, would you have had better results taking that time and money and investing both into more clients with better prospects for you?

So wipe “failure” out of your vocabulary.

And here’s another one: “Try”… what the heck does that word really mean? I had a dear friend once who whenever I asked a question of him would respond, “I’ll try.” I learned that meant “I’ll do nothing.” When I questioned why he used the word, “try,” he said, “If I only try, then I can’t fail.”

Ah, back to that word again.

I like the Nike approach much better. “Just do it!” How much of a message would they have conveyed if their platform had been, “Just try to do it!”?

What examples can you think of where you thought of “failure” as the outcome? Or how often do you give out the message, “I’ll try,” instead of, “I will”?

Andrea Michaels is the founder and president of Extraordinary Events, a multi-award-winning, international event agency based in Los Angeles. To learn more about EE, visit www.extraordinaryevents.net. To contact Andrea, email her at amichaels@extraordinaryevents.net.

In the last blog I talked a lot about how to do business in the future. I reviewed general tips and advice I have garnered from successful people who are great at doing business. Now I'd like to get a bit more specific about trends in all aspects of our business world. They might apply to meetings and events, but in general they apply to advertising, public relations, and sales of every kind. They are what we need to keep watch on, now, and into the future. Read this today, and by tomorrow there will be a few new ones. I promise to try to keep on top of them and share.

1. Change your terminology
You no longer have "clients;" you no longer have "guests;" you no longer have "attendees" ... you have PARTICIPANTS. This changes the mind set on everything you think about and plan, because now you are offering to engage them in an experience.

2. Demographics are being replaced by psychographics, or "what do you like," not what is your age and where are you from.

3. Look closely at Generation Z, those 19 and under ... they are the participants of the future and should guide what you are doing now.

Mike Dominguez, VP of MGM Mirage, shared with me that they are building a new arena where the entire second tier will be General Admission for people to buy tickets but not purchase seats. They will stand and be a part of the experience of the concert ... an entirely new way of thinking.

4. Examine what the Music Festival Experience is all about:

*People meet others they would never normally encounter. They use the power of music as a unique tool to aid the human experience.

*Adding this to a social gathering is an unparalleled force.

*Festivals are a uniting experience; people synch with each other; in other words, they connect.

*The use of social media at events, once known for mosh pits, morphed into hyper-connected webs of social interaction.

Think of the possibilities:

*geo tagging allows users to drop a pin on their tents so participants won't get lost;

*Austin City Limits programmed RFID bracelets with credit card information so no one had to pull out cash or cards to pay for drinks; for organizers all the data needed is provided, even line control, because they can see a back-up before it happens;

*At the Sapphire Conference, use of I-Beacons and Wi-Fi heat mapping to improve the participants' experiences allowed data to be monitored in real time but analyzed later. It provided how people moved, what attracted the crowds, where they stayed the longest. And the data can be broken down into patterns by industry and job title.

5. It is still the day of "The Sharing Economy."

-We have no more secrets.
-We share ideas.
-Crowdsourcing and crowdfunding are becoming a norm.
-It's about groups and togetherness ... nothing attracts a crowd like a crowd; just look at the popularity of flash mobs.
-In the words of my friend, Colja Dams, President and CEO of Vok Dams, this is an era of word-of-mouth in 3-D.
-One Spark is a great example of a Crowdfunding Festival in Jacksonville, Florida. It proves that face-to-face connections are critical to start-up projects. The idea is that great ideas can come from anywhere; it cuts through the digital noise and allows people to connect and truly engage and get real-time feedback. Ideas are presented on multiple stages; participants cast votes at kiosks or on an event app, and significant monies are given to creators in proportion to total votes cast; it empowers the crowd to make the decisions.


A lot to absorb, right? I'm going to give you some time to mull over all of these and watch for the next blog which will continue this conversation. I invite you to participate with your own "trends." Let's get the dialogue moving!



Andrea Michaels is founder and president of Extraordinary Events, a multi-award-winning international meeting and event planning and production firm based in Los Angeles. Andrea is the author of Reflections of a Successful Wallflower: Lessons in Business; Lessons in Life and an in-demand speaker and leading voice in the special events industry. She may be reached via amichaels@extraordinaryevents.net.

I read a lot about trends. And by that I mean I don't really care what the trendiest color in linens and flowers might be. I want to know about how to engage the participants at my events. What will move them emotionally to achieve the results my clients are searching for?

So I'm going to share a few with you and see what you think. These are ideas that have been shared with me through some experts' advice or about which I have read. I encourage you to explore them more deeply because I don't believe that white lounge furniture ever got a room full of people to "feel" anything or that a combination of taupe linen with saffron colored roses ever influenced how people felt about a new product. If you do, I accept that. But, if you don't, read on.

*The trend has moved away from being a generalist (you know, "I do EVERYTHING") to being a specialist. In other words, you do one thing well, if not better than anyone else.

*The trend is moving away from commoditization ... if you are a commodity, the only thing that distinguishes you is price so it becomes all about who is cheaper. Do you want that to be you?

*The trend is collaboration, even with your competitors. I've been doing that for 20 years and fail to understand why the thought of such collaboration is scary to so many.

*The trend is to find your passion and work within that passion. You love cars? Read all about that industry. Attend every trade show. Speak at those conferences. Put yourself on Google Alerts. Meet everyone involved. You will work harder for that about which you care.

*The trend is to respect time. The time of your clients. The time of your vendors. That shows you value them. If you respect their time, in all likelihood, they will give you some of theirs.

*The trend is to find trend scouts who can help you find current progressions. Try out a 14-16 year old. They know where the future is headed.

*The trend is to create emotional bonds, not transactions.

*The trend is to move outside your own personal field or employees and search out ideas that come from the outside ... marketing, new trends, new clients ... when we expand our community of ideators, we generate innovation at a new level. For instance, if you want to learn how to launch a product, ask its customers and not its designers.

*The trend is to put together thought groups. For instance, ask a thought group to tell you who they think you are, and you will learn how to market yourself.

*The trend is knowing that customer experience is bigger than customer service, so deliver an experience and not a product or event.

*The trend is knowing that today's customers are smarter, savvier and better informed. Selling to them is obsolete. They are looking for inspiration. And relevance.

So those are trends in how to approach business. Look for the next blog which will be new trends from some very creative minds that have achieved great success in branding and delivering results.

Andrea Michaels is founder and president of Extraordinary Events, a multi-award-winning international meeting and event planning and production firm based in Los Angeles. Andrea is the author of Reflections of a Successful Wallflower - Lessons in Business; Lessons in Life and an in-demand speaker and leading voice in the special events industry. She may be reached via amichaels@extraordinaryevents.net.

Differentiation ... it's an interesting word and an even more interesting concept. It's difficult to define. If I were to ask you what differentiates you from every other person, how would you answer that?

Would you say, "I'm very intelligent"? Well, so are a lot of other people.

OR

Would you say, "I hold the world's record for the 100 meters, running backwards"? I dare to say that would differentiate you.

So in business, when we are all promoting who we are, what are we saying about ourselves? I've been listening to some great minds, reading as many articles as I can by some great thinkers, and a few things pop out that I'd like to share. Because with all the world being able to look at us so closely (ah yes, social media, blessing and curse), we have to understand what defines us.

Let me give you an example:

A client says, "Tell me about your company." And you respond:

We are available 24/7.
We have dedicated account teams.
We offer exceptional service.
We are creative.


Guess what? That's exactly what your competitors are saying, too. Here's a suggestion: Go to your competitors' websites (take the top 3) and line them up. Get a marking pen and mark the words that they use that you use, too, then find a way to eliminate them from your website. Instead, come up with those words and phrases that will set you apart. In other words, find your "differentiator."

If you do live pitches, think carefully about the words you will choose. You need to find a way to set yourself apart, and it's not by saying "blah, blah, blah" ... It's about saying specific things that show you understand your clients and their brands. In the words of Norman Drummond, "Be at the point of need, NOT at the point of repair."

Think about that one. And then define yourself.

Good luck!

Andrea Michaels is the president and founder of multiple award-winning Extraordinary Events, an international meeting and event planning and production firm based in Los Angeles. She is the published author of Reflections of a Successful Wallflower: Lessons in Business; Lessons in Life and a noted pioneer and speaker in the special events industry.

Based on an experience in "Reflections of a Successful Wallflower - Lessons in Business; Lessons in Life."

Glasgow: Here I had my first lesson about how Scots and Yanks don't speak the same language. "What?" "Huh?" "Could you say that again?" were my mainstays. This was quite a few years ago so a few things might have changed … I hope.

Let me give you some examples. I needed space for 3,000 people for a plated dinner, not available in Glasgow at that time. So, I identified an empty lot that could be tented for our event. “Tented?” my Scottish collaborators asked. Turned out in Scotland, a tent is a canopy. What I wanted was a “marquee.” George (my local Glasgow caterer) was my go-to person responsible for connecting me to the landowners. He's an integral part of everything that follows. He did some leg work and was able to contact the land management company. They were going to be building condos soon, but they thought they could lease us the land for a week if we needed it. We just had to fill out a few forms.

Those “few” forms turned out to be about 100 sheets of paper consisting of English legal terms I couldn't figure out ... did you see Charles Laughton in Witness for the Prosecution? I filled them out.

Now we get into the real challenges. Trying to analyze what this would cost. Our dollar is their pound, and the exchange rate fluctuated every day. I tried to persuade all vendors to quote me in dollars, but they wouldn't. I tried to persuade my client to be flexible, but they couldn't. What's that expression ... between a rock and a hard place?

The budget was limited. We had to plan carefully.

So, let's recap. We have a piece of land larger than a football field. I'd tell you the number of feet, but I only know the number of meters. The land was slanted, rocky, ungraded and dilapidated. It was surrounded by barbed wire fence. There was only one point of access ... across a l o o o o o o n g bridge. No problem, unless it rained. And, as I discovered, it rained 360 days a year in Glasgow.

Never mind. More later. Let's talk about the marquee. If we could grade the land and if we could secure the marquee and if we could find flooring and if we could get all the appropriate permits ... how could we create an innovative event when our entire budget was being blown on grading, permits, land use and marquee-ing, not to mention porta-potties, called mo-bile loos? It helped that the marquee was a bright blue, an unexpected look.

We interviewed everyone we could think of from production companies to flooring people to linen purveyors. What we found was that most people could not fathom what we were trying to achieve. When we asked about floor-length tablecloths, they all looked at us askance. I finally worked up the nerve to ask the caterer why no one had floor-length linen. His reply: "Why would you have a table linen that came to the floor? What would people do with their feet?"

Okay, load in and prep: After the marquee was set up (and that’s an endless story of logistics) next came the flooring, meters and meters of flooring. The floor did not fit the tent when it was set in place, so all the tent poles had to be moved to fit the floor, which was filthy. I asked another George, the floor man, if he intended to clean it. Blank stare. I asked again.

"Ye only said you wanted a floor, mon," he replied. "Ye didna say ye wanted it clean."

The walkway marquee arrived. It was flimsy, made of skimpy wood and was yellow and white striped. I asked the tent man if he had an all-white one. "No."

I then asked why he never told me that it was yellow and white striped (just gorgeous with bright blue), and he gave me a blank stare and said, “ye never asked.”

The client did a walk through a few hours before “go.” He wanted us to cover the barbed wire fence. There were no local materials which would take care of this. However, our logistics coordinator, with all his ingenuity, went across to the exhibit hall and, as they were dismantling the tradeshow, had them bring carpeting across the bridge to cover the fence. Hundreds of meters of fence. To connect it we needed zip strips also known as zip ties, but no one in Scotland had ever heard of them. Once we gave an in-depth description, it was decided that what we were looking for were "cables." We drove to a local hardware store, where they were sold by the piece as opposed to being sold in packages of 100 in the U.S.

Final walk through. Marquee up. Floor down. Doors … the doors were still not completed and were being painted. None had knobs. We asked why. Blank stares.

"Ye didna ask for doorknobs, mon."

Bungee cords were installed to open the doors. Necessity is the mother of invention.

All the kitchen equipment arrived. Then the centerpieces, which were placed on the sides of the tables. Funny, I could have sworn that the definition of "center" piece meant that it went in the middle of the table. Moving 300 centerpieces an hour before the event is exhausting, especially considering that every table was pinspotted. If we hadn't done so, we would have had a pinspot in the center and the centerpiece on the side! When I asked the florist why she did that, she replied, "That’s where the sugar and creamer go.”

Dinner: Salad arrived with a police escort. Since it had to go slow through rush hour traffic and it was on tray stands, the caterer protected it with a sirened escort. Glasgow has a code on how long food can be pre-set on a table, so it had to arrive at almost the last minute. Which meant that the first music our guests heard was the sound of police sirens … many of them.

Then came the billing and VAT. But that's another story.


The Lesson
First, just because you and your crew in Scotland use English to communicate, don’t assume you speak the same language. Don’t presume that you can understand each other, either by what you are saying or by the accent in which you are hearing it. Everyone in Glasgow sounded like Scotty from Star Trek or Mike Myers caricaturing Scottish! Listening carefully was the key. Providing clear details was also important.

Would you think you’d have to ask for a floor to be clean or for doors to have knobs or for centerpieces to be placed in the middle of a table? Well, details matter, especially if you are collaborating with new people.

Other Examples
This could be a very long blog, but here’s where I learned that “lunch” could mean a lot of different things depending on where you are. In Mexico, it meant all workers went home to be with their families. Whether they were in the middle of a project or not. And it was not a lunch “hour” … it was as long as it took. In Spain, workers expected a full multi-course plated meal complete with wine. In the U.S. we have a “no alcohol” policy. In Spain, forget it. No wine with lunch. No more workers.

So, Andrea, is there a point to all of this? Yes, always have a local translator on hand even if you speak the same language. And ask for examples, drawings, samples and full descriptives of everything along with timelines. Because language is not just words, it’s what the words mean and how they relate to local customs. Successful outcomes can only be achieved with clear communications and both parties having the same understandings. Though all of what I’ve described, and I’ve only scratched the surface, sounds like a comedy routine, at the time no one was laughing.

I am now…remembering a lifetime of lessons learned, with more to come.


Andrea Michaels is the president of multiple award-winning Extraordinary Events. EE has won 39h Special Events magazine Gala Awards. Andrea was presented with the Steve Kemble Leadership Award during The Special Event 2015, adding to numerous personal honors, including the Pillar of the Industry Gala and the Event Solution Hall of Fame awards. She is the author of Reflections of a Successful Wallflower – Lessons in Business; Lessons in Life and co-author of a number of other business books. To learn more about EE, visit www.extraordinaryevents.net.