ISES Jam 2008

Every year the International Special Events Society- Greater Los Angeles Chapter produces an “industry expo” of sorts, where the premiere event planners and vendors in Los Angeles showcase their services. This year’s event, the ISES Jam 2008, took place on Tuesday, September 16th at the Pasadena Convention Center and it was just as spectacular as ever. Carina Ost, Bride’s Night Out, Inc. Party Assistant, and I volunteered to help with the production and had so much fun helping our ISES organization, networking with other members and meeting new industry experts. We visited with our good friends Tasos Tsirtsis of Atmosphere Entertainment, Mary Sushinski of Occasions, and Harvey Schwartz of 20th Century Props, and many others who all enjoyed the festivities.


To produce an event of this caliber, it takes significant planning and then executing that strategy to make it a success. All of the ISES board members, headed up by President Carol Rosen, have been working on the ISES Jam 2008 for many months and at the Pasadena Convention Center for several days. They were more than successful in making the event run smoothly and we were delight to be a part of the fabulous team.

The setting was what can be imagined only in dreams -- an impressive venue decorated stylishly and booths sponsored by the best event professionals, Grammy ready musical entertainment and award winning food and beverages that make you go “Ahhh”. The booth sponsors included caterers, cappuccino services, linens, floral designers, casino-type gaming, mind-blowing magicians, a showgirls, prop and furniture rental houses, industry publications, extraordinary party planners, and interactive entertainment.

Since Carina and I helped out at the registration table for part of the event, we had an opportunity to visit with many of the participants as soon as they arrived. We were delighted to see many industry friends including one of our own BNO Party Consultants, Paula Estes. In addition to her BNO business, Paula has an eco-friendly company, Petalos Di Pauli, which creates beautiful Custom Invitations and Stationery adorned with embellishments that were once living flowers.
Carina and I also met a lovely woman who came by the event to find out how she can become a party planner. She explained that she was looking for information on how to get started, networking opportunities, and having a support team to assist her. It was apparent that the BNO Party Consultant Program may be a perfect opportunity for her. We shared with her a bit about the benefits to someone starting out: BNO PC trainings, marketing events to network with other event planning professionals, and opportunities to grow with our nationwide company. We only spoke with her for a few minutes, but we could see the delight in her face. The information we gave her was exactly what she was looking for. In fact, she just responded to our “Get to Know BNO!” Evite and she will be attending tomorrow night’s event here at BNO Party Central.

At the end of the event, Carina and I helped with “load out”, rental collection, shuttling vendors, and other management details that are part of the event breakdown. Considering the ISES board members and team planned this perfectly, our tasks were not only manageable but were also fun. After all, working on an ISES event is a complete joy because it’s one of the only opportunities where you’re surrounded by other great professionals and you work with them side-by-side. Thank you ISES board members and everyone for making ISES Jam 2008 awesome!