Yesterday, I did a presentation for the PA chapter of the Association of Bridal Consultants. I’ll blog more about that later. First, though, I wanted to mention a useful and fun site for any fellow Penn Staters getting married in the Centre region.
One of the meeting attendees was Kerri Smith, the “quarterback” (their term) for Nittany Weddings. Her business card resembled a sports card, and the photo was of a bride in her gown, with a blue sash, about to throw a football. And she has lamp black under her eyes.
That football theme was consistent in their material, and I liked the branding. I have to figure that it plays well up in Happy Valley. Check them out at www.nittanyweddings.com.
Monday, March 10, 2008
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Changes at The 4EVER Group
4EVER Group Focused on Membership Growth as Co-Founder Departs
Contact: Levi Rabinowitz
Redzone News Management
443-280-1911
levi@redzonenews.com
Or: Scott Broom
Redzone News Management
443-562-0112
s.broom@redzonenews.com
Feb. 26 2008 (Philadelphia, PA) The 4EVER Group, the leader in education and resources for the event video industry, today congratulated co-founder and former Director of Education Tim Ryan as he took leave from the organization.
“All of us who have worked with Tim wish him the best as he refocuses his efforts on growing his already-successful video production business,” said The 4EVER Group’s Director of Development Steve Wernick.
Ryan, along with his wife Lee Ann, own Treasured Memories Video in Massapequa, New York. He announced his leave from The 4EVER Group due to personal and private reasons February 25.
Wernick and Ryan established The 4EVER Group as the premier resource for event video production firms seeking professional development opportunities and access to networks of fellow event producers and the vendors that serve them. Event DV Magazine named Wernick and Ryan of The 4EVER Group to its inaugural Top-25 list of contributors to the industry in 2005. Since it’s founding in 2005, The 4EVER Group has hosted professional events and conferences attracting an international host of video professionals and vendors.
“We appreciate all that Tim has done with The 4EVER Group,” said Wernick. “The 4EVER Group was founded for the promotion and benefit of event video production companies exactly like Tim’s.”
Under Wernick’s continuing leadership, and with the assistance of a strong team that includes Ed Wardyga, Ken Ehrhart and LaDonna Moore, The 4Ever Group remains focused on growing its substantial membership and expanding the events, services, vendors and professional networks critical to assisting members in growing their businesses.
At The 4EVER Group’s most recent annual international conference, VIDEO 08, in Orlando Florida, members indicated expanding demand for newer areas of event production services such as the creation of video biographies and memorial productions for private clients, as well as sports- and school-based productions. Traditional areas of business include wedding video productions, corporate video productions and the production of photo montages for corporate and private clients.
In addition, The 4EVER Group’s 2007 Artistic Achievement Awards attracted global interest with entries from event video producers in Austria, Hong Kong, Puerto Rico, Canada, and the Philippines.
The 4EVER Group is the leading resource for video producers, especially those in the social event industry. For more information about the events and activities of The 4EVER Group, please visit www.4EVERGroup.org, or call 1-888-4EVERG1.
Contact: Levi Rabinowitz
Redzone News Management
443-280-1911
levi@redzonenews.com
Or: Scott Broom
Redzone News Management
443-562-0112
s.broom@redzonenews.com
Feb. 26 2008 (Philadelphia, PA) The 4EVER Group, the leader in education and resources for the event video industry, today congratulated co-founder and former Director of Education Tim Ryan as he took leave from the organization.
“All of us who have worked with Tim wish him the best as he refocuses his efforts on growing his already-successful video production business,” said The 4EVER Group’s Director of Development Steve Wernick.
Ryan, along with his wife Lee Ann, own Treasured Memories Video in Massapequa, New York. He announced his leave from The 4EVER Group due to personal and private reasons February 25.
Wernick and Ryan established The 4EVER Group as the premier resource for event video production firms seeking professional development opportunities and access to networks of fellow event producers and the vendors that serve them. Event DV Magazine named Wernick and Ryan of The 4EVER Group to its inaugural Top-25 list of contributors to the industry in 2005. Since it’s founding in 2005, The 4EVER Group has hosted professional events and conferences attracting an international host of video professionals and vendors.
“We appreciate all that Tim has done with The 4EVER Group,” said Wernick. “The 4EVER Group was founded for the promotion and benefit of event video production companies exactly like Tim’s.”
Under Wernick’s continuing leadership, and with the assistance of a strong team that includes Ed Wardyga, Ken Ehrhart and LaDonna Moore, The 4Ever Group remains focused on growing its substantial membership and expanding the events, services, vendors and professional networks critical to assisting members in growing their businesses.
At The 4EVER Group’s most recent annual international conference, VIDEO 08, in Orlando Florida, members indicated expanding demand for newer areas of event production services such as the creation of video biographies and memorial productions for private clients, as well as sports- and school-based productions. Traditional areas of business include wedding video productions, corporate video productions and the production of photo montages for corporate and private clients.
In addition, The 4EVER Group’s 2007 Artistic Achievement Awards attracted global interest with entries from event video producers in Austria, Hong Kong, Puerto Rico, Canada, and the Philippines.
The 4EVER Group is the leading resource for video producers, especially those in the social event industry. For more information about the events and activities of The 4EVER Group, please visit www.4EVERGroup.org, or call 1-888-4EVERG1.
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Why Get A Wedding Video?
An associate from California posted this Youtube clip;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sP0UHCVyvtU&mode=related&search
In it, a couple discusses their wedding, and their decision to not have a video recording of the day. It's worth spending the 5 or 6 minutes there is you're unsure about hiring a wedding video producer.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sP0UHCVyvtU&mode=related&search
In it, a couple discusses their wedding, and their decision to not have a video recording of the day. It's worth spending the 5 or 6 minutes there is you're unsure about hiring a wedding video producer.
NACE Conference
I recently celebrated my 4th anniversary as a member of the Philadelphia chapter of the National Association of Catering Executives (NACE). To celebrate, national NACE is having its annual convention in Philadelphia this summer. OK, that's not completely accurate, but the conference is coming to Philadelphia.
Since I'm part of the local chapter, and I know a thing or two about national conferences, I volunteered to serve on the committee assisting the national team. I'm serving as chair of the closing Gala. It suits me well, because the national is making most of the arrangements, and I will have little to do until the last month or two before the conference.
The local NACE chapter is an excellent place for industry professionals to meet and share. It's just another way of staying involved in the social event business.
Since I'm part of the local chapter, and I know a thing or two about national conferences, I volunteered to serve on the committee assisting the national team. I'm serving as chair of the closing Gala. It suits me well, because the national is making most of the arrangements, and I will have little to do until the last month or two before the conference.
The local NACE chapter is an excellent place for industry professionals to meet and share. It's just another way of staying involved in the social event business.
Monday, January 28, 2008
I'm Still Here
You plan and organize a conference for hundreds of video producers, and you’ll let your blog slip. We just wrapped The 4EVER Group’s 3rd annual conference and trade show, and it was great. The discussions in the industry forums has been all positive, but we’re already working on ways to make the 2009 conference even better.
An important part of the conference was the Iron Videographer competition. It was based on the Iron Chef TV show, and was a compelling, six-month long project. The winner was Terry Taravella, from Studio Vieux Carre in New Orleans. Every part of the competition used video footage from my studio, so it made for a great re-imagining of our clips. The winning entries from the Iron Videographer competition can be viewed at http://4evergroup.org/ironvid.shtml.
If you want to get an idea of what the conference was like, just visit the home page at www.4EVERGroup.org. We had a series of daily vlogs created, and they’re posted on that home page.
Back in the north, we participated in the WPST bridal show yesterday. We haven’t taken a booth at a show in a few years, and they’re just not a place where we get instant gratification. But it’s a good time to remind anyone shopping for wedding vendors that you should make your selections as soon as you can.
An important part of the conference was the Iron Videographer competition. It was based on the Iron Chef TV show, and was a compelling, six-month long project. The winner was Terry Taravella, from Studio Vieux Carre in New Orleans. Every part of the competition used video footage from my studio, so it made for a great re-imagining of our clips. The winning entries from the Iron Videographer competition can be viewed at http://4evergroup.org/ironvid.shtml.
If you want to get an idea of what the conference was like, just visit the home page at www.4EVERGroup.org. We had a series of daily vlogs created, and they’re posted on that home page.
Back in the north, we participated in the WPST bridal show yesterday. We haven’t taken a booth at a show in a few years, and they’re just not a place where we get instant gratification. But it’s a good time to remind anyone shopping for wedding vendors that you should make your selections as soon as you can.
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Faux Food TV?
In this line of work, we never know what the next phone call will bring. While I was in Iowa over the weekend (what, isn’t that where everyone goes?) I received a call from the owner of a restaurant in Warminster who wanted to see about having a camera crew out to his establishment on Tuesday, 11/20. Seems that the renowned chef Georges Perrier, along with his Le Bec-Fin team would be cooking up a special tasting menu that evening, and the owner wanted coverage.
Having grown up in Warminster, the concept of fine dining there was completely unnatural. When I lived there in the 1970’s, the boldest restaurant opening was a Burger King, and I’m not at all kidding about that. There was also the Sambo’s restaurant, until that racist name put that chain out of business. That place became a Denny’s.
Augusto’s of Madison Avenue is a Zagat-rated restaurant located, surprisingly, on Madison Ave., between Street Road and County Line Rd. Augusto, the owner, once worked for Chef Perrrier (there were four Chefs at the restaurant last night, so everyone is calling everyone else ‘Chef’) at Le Bec-Fin, so this was a pretty special evening for him. The tasting menu was limited to one seating, so fewer than 100 people got to enjoy the classic French cooking that is the Le Bec-Fin specialty.
So I’m not a French cooking guy, what with snails, sweetbread, and squab on the tasting menu. From the individual choice perspective, it was good to see that foie gras was on the menu. Nonetheless, I could still appreciate the great discipline that it takes to work in the kitchen. It’s really hot, there’s not much room, it’s loud and there all kinds of pressure. All of the staff, whether the regular Augusto’s team or the Le Bec-Fin crew, were completely professional and disciplined. And, according to every diner, they were incredibly skilled as well.
Chef Perrier was a celebrity on duty. He did some cooking, but he also did a lot of schmoozing. Twice, he opened champagne bottles using a saber. Apparently, that evokes some pre-French Revolution grandness. It seemed like he knew a lot of the patrons, who seemed to have at least one bottle of wine per person.
I don’t yet know what Augusto will want to do with the video, but I’ll make sure to link to it here.
Having grown up in Warminster, the concept of fine dining there was completely unnatural. When I lived there in the 1970’s, the boldest restaurant opening was a Burger King, and I’m not at all kidding about that. There was also the Sambo’s restaurant, until that racist name put that chain out of business. That place became a Denny’s.
Augusto’s of Madison Avenue is a Zagat-rated restaurant located, surprisingly, on Madison Ave., between Street Road and County Line Rd. Augusto, the owner, once worked for Chef Perrrier (there were four Chefs at the restaurant last night, so everyone is calling everyone else ‘Chef’) at Le Bec-Fin, so this was a pretty special evening for him. The tasting menu was limited to one seating, so fewer than 100 people got to enjoy the classic French cooking that is the Le Bec-Fin specialty.
So I’m not a French cooking guy, what with snails, sweetbread, and squab on the tasting menu. From the individual choice perspective, it was good to see that foie gras was on the menu. Nonetheless, I could still appreciate the great discipline that it takes to work in the kitchen. It’s really hot, there’s not much room, it’s loud and there all kinds of pressure. All of the staff, whether the regular Augusto’s team or the Le Bec-Fin crew, were completely professional and disciplined. And, according to every diner, they were incredibly skilled as well.
Chef Perrier was a celebrity on duty. He did some cooking, but he also did a lot of schmoozing. Twice, he opened champagne bottles using a saber. Apparently, that evokes some pre-French Revolution grandness. It seemed like he knew a lot of the patrons, who seemed to have at least one bottle of wine per person.
I don’t yet know what Augusto will want to do with the video, but I’ll make sure to link to it here.
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Interview with Rebecca Mead
We routinely do podcast interviews with industry people for the 4EVER Group's web site. Earlier this year, a book was released about the wedding industry. Called “One Perfect Day: The Selling of the American Wedding,” the book was an unreasonable and scathing look at the wedding industry. The author went on a book tour, but I was successful in landing an interview with her in October, at her NY office. You can download the interview here: http://www.4evergroup.org/podcast_page.shtml
In our conversation, her question was “why do we even need a wedding industry”. That’s the kind of question most often asked in college dorm rooms, at 3am, after a whole lot of beer, when you’re going to solve all of the world’s problems.
Please go and download the interview, which runs about 35 minutes, for a glimpse into the mind of the author.
In our conversation, her question was “why do we even need a wedding industry”. That’s the kind of question most often asked in college dorm rooms, at 3am, after a whole lot of beer, when you’re going to solve all of the world’s problems.
Please go and download the interview, which runs about 35 minutes, for a glimpse into the mind of the author.
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