CalSAE's Seasonal Spectacular

It's another busy week here at CES--we're off to CalSAE's Seasonal Spectacular in Sacramento on Wednesday. It's sure to be a full day that will live up to its promise to "celebrate, illuminate, and fascinate." We'll be enjoying all that the day has to offer us at Booth 445, so be sure to stop by and say hi!

This week at CES...

We are hosting the UC Systemwide Conferences and Events Meeting! It will be interesting to see what our colleagues are up to at the other UCs across the state and we hope that they enjoy our good ole UC Davis hospitality.

Video Update: Silo District

Hey everyone, we have a new video here at CES! It features the Silo District, an area in the heart of campus where you can host your event. If you're looking for a lecture hall or a rustic setting for a small conference, the Silo District is the place for you. From the restored dairy barn the district is named after to the patches of warm sunshine bathing the grass, the Silo District is full of charm and the perfect venues for your next event. Play the video to see for yourself!

Marketing, marketing, marketing

Everyone's hopping on that up and coming social media marketing bandwagon. It's an online marketing phase that figures to only expand in the coming years.

This leads us to a logical question: at what point do we stop? With "free" marketing at our finger tips through laptops, tablets and a variety of cellular devices, there surely needs to be an answer. Whether it's an event you are planning, or simply for your business, one definitely needs to ask that question. At UC Davis Conference and Events, we strive to share with you what we have to offer through various statuses, pictures and videos. We are extremely excited about the services we have to offer, and invite you to check out our promotional items as a way to get to know everything we have to offer. What have you heard about Mini G Dan?

Just a simple Friday reflection helps puts things in perspective sometimes, and what better way than a blog? As always, check out our website at http://events.ucdavis.edu/. Make sure to follow us on Facebook so you can be the first to hear about everything we do: http://www.facebook.com/ucdavisconferenceandeventservices

Plan Green: The Stretch Run

Happy Friday! Friday really should just be a holiday; talk about pleasing the masses. How nice does sleeping in, making a nice breakfast with some quality TV sound for three days a week instead of two? No point in dreaming, I suppose.

We here at Conference and Event Services do not fit the bill of these 3-day weekend desires. We are really excited to be planning what's shaping up to be a great event. On Wednesday, February 16th, join us for the annual Plan Green Showcase. With over 300 caterers and vendors planning to attend, collaborate with peers from all over and learn how to plan environmentally sustainable events. Think about if this was a New Year's resolution for 2011. How happy would Mother Nature be? More importantly, how happy would Al Gore be? Yeah, that's what we thought.

Jokes aside, the load-in times begin bright and early at 8am and the event will run until 1:30pm and take place in Freeborn Hall. If interested, make sure to check out our website and sign up before January 17th to pay our early bird fee of just $195! Be assured that there will be an extremely diverse crowd and much can be taken out of a wide scale event like this. We are ecstatic with the planning progress this far and simply tying up all the loose ends to make this showcase truly a great one.

Have a great weekend and try and stay warm through this (sad) winter weather!

Making it work

Murphy's Law states that anything that can go wrong, will go wrong. And unfortunately, this applies to the world of event planning too. An unexpected thunderstorm, lost registration, or no Wifi have all been unexpected obstacles in our event planning.

A couple of months ago, I planned a friend's birthday party. "Don't worry, its your birthday. I'll handle everything," I told her. I thought I had everything under control. I sent out invitations, made dinner reservations, and even planned a night out on the town. I just overlooked one minor detail -- I forgot to tell her when and where to show up. Whoops!

Or, take for example the infamous "Dinner Crashers" who breached security when they crashed the U.S. state dinner in November 2009. Although I don't expect many of us to require the Secret Service at our events, this just goes to show that even having them there doesn't spell success.

Planning an event can have so many steps that you might overlook the most obvious of details. Lucky for me my buddy was understanding when I called her an hour before our dinner reservation to tell her where to show up, but when planning events with clients we aren't all so lucky.

So readers, how has Murphy's Law interfered with your events? Leave a comment and tell us how you turned your event into a success even when things went wrong