In my search for knowledge about event planning I was able to volunteer at LA’s Mindshare. This events whole purpose is to bring people from every neck of the woods together to share ideas. Its fun and genius much like the crew behind it who I got to meet and hangout with. The event was founded by Douglas Campbell, and upheld with the help of his geek squad (in this case being geeky is a good thing).

                  I went the day before the event to the setup to help where I could and see the whole process from beginning to end. First off the location was great! This really cool old fire house turned into a apartment loft. It is located in the factory district in downtown LA. It had a big spacious room where they could hold presentations and then a nice outer area that was separated so one side had DJ’s and the other side had food, a beer and wine bar, and an big projection screen so people could watch the presentations from outside as well.

the inside area

Entry outside area

2nd out door area

               The setup for this event was just the final leg of all the setting up that had to be done. At each mindshare there are new and cool gadgets and knick knacks for people to play with. This month had a laser room challenge, a photo booth, and a pong table.  All these fun activities are hand made by the mindshare squad. It was quite a bit of work to just see the physical setup of each thing let alone imagine about the time and dedication that went into making them. In addition a lot of work went into setting up all the audio and television stuff. All the mindshare folks were really excited to have everyone come play especially since once again mindshare had sold out.

              The next day everything was lighted, floral arrangements placed, bars stocked, tech toys ready, presentations loaded, and then the people started to arrive. There was a check in at the door where each person would then get their name tag which has not only their name but a unique question they had to answer such as, when I was little I used to…

               People of all ages (21+) and types rolled in. Doctors, web designers, artists, dancers, and just people who want to meet other interesting people. Then, the presentations begin:

Jessica Jackley / Founder, KIVA
Microloans to Change the World

Geoffrey Sommer / Aviator & Risk Analyst
Keeping Calm When The Killer Comet Cometh

Ariel Blumenthal / Composer, Founder Sentient Music for Media
Music Environment as a Design Element

Dr. Alex Benzer / Author, Tao of Dating for Women, Tao of Dating For Men
Why Do Smart People Have a Difficult Time Dating?

Jason Porath / DreamWorks Animation
A Short History of Hollywood's Genitalia Coverups

                  Afterwards everyone just relaxed, talked, and had a few drinks. The event was fun and stimulating for the mind. It was a great experience, everyone enjoyed themselves, and when that happens you have a successful event. I will be going back and you should too!!! So check them out at:

http://www.mindshare.la/

I was browsing through my email when I came upon this cute idea for sushi cupcakes.  The first cupcakes are home made so don’t judge them too harshly, but what a fun concept of sushi cupcakes. Wanting to know more I googled it, only to find tons of really great innovated ideas about what materials to use. The only thing better than sushi is other food pretending its sushi, unless your not a fanatic about sushi like I am.

http://www.ireallylikefood.com/698250091/i-love-my-sushi-cupcakes/?ref=FPP

  As you could guess these are professional

http://www.debbiedoescakes.net

 The “chop sticks” are the perfect touch

http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/photo/1267639222047482355iOXFIJ

   Swedish fish on top of half a powdered donut

www.adorablog.org/2005/02/swedish_fish_sa.html

These are rice crispy treats

sewingchick.blogspot.com/2007/11/whos-up-for-..

  They used Sprinkles as rice

soap-queen.blogspot.com/.../sushi-cupcakes.html

superpunch.blogspot.com/.../sushi-cupcakes.html

IS IT JUST ME OR IS ANYBODY ELSE EXTREMLEY HUNGRY NOW!!?!??!?!?!

With summer just around the comer it is time to begin looking for a internship. So I have begun to research and man oh man. Just the pictures of the events are breath taking. Its truly inspiring and it makes me really hope that I hear back some positive responses.

So for this Fat Tuesday i went clubbing. The club is called Club NV, but they have a great Tuesday deal called Two dollar Tuesdays. It is 18 and up and so its a place underage kids can go for a good time even though its a Tuesday and they should be studying for school the next day. There is also a two full bars for the older crowd too. The club is really spacious with an upper level that is a balcony looking over the dance floor with two protruding "cages" which is really just an little extra piece where people can show off some snazzy moves. In addition, there are lots of cubbies of couches for people to hide in in the top and bottom. The dance floor measurement wise was not that big, but there was so much room to expand the dance party off the actual mat it balanced out. The venue also has a coat check, but parking is street parking only.

Highlights: The lighting and environment was nice. They had free masks on the tables that were good quality, which was awesome. The DJ was so so, a basic mix between some electro dance and hip hop.  

Low Points: The night is called TWO DOLLAR TUESDAY, so why was i getting charged $10. Your probably thinking well because its a holiday, but the website specifically boasted about how two dollar Tuesday was Mardi Gra theme, can you say rip off. I know that has nothing to with the venue event planning wise, but it says something about the people who run the place because their ability to  false advertise makes me question their business ethics. Moving on the venue wise everything was good except that if you wanted to step outside for a breath of fresh air think i hope you don’t mind being elbow to elbow with a billion people who are smooched together in this little baby pin area.  If you don’t like smokers than don’t even think about stepping outside because the small amount of air available is flooded with smoke

Hey there everyone! So the other day i attended a 78th Mexican themed birthday party. The crowd was mostly a mix of 35 and up, there was a band, dance floor, open bar, and buffet style food which was basically just a fajita bar.

Highlights: The decorations were a really cool new take on a Mexican party. The table clothes were dark green, dark purple, and dark red. The table ornaments were Godzilla dolls with miniature sombreros and miniature Mexican blanket draped over their shoulders. In addition throughout the table were church candles with various saints and angels images on them. They provided the perfect mood lighting.

Low Points: The sound system. Having a band is super fun, a couple of people even got up and danced, but then the singers came on. They were all ok, however I couldn’t really tell because the drummer was so loud and the microphones weren’t turned up enough. All the music was classic rock and jazz, definitely danceable for all ages. Too bad someone let the bartender turn on the plasma above the bar because then people became entranced in finding out who was going to win the Oscars.

Tips for next time: 

• Make a DVD looping video footage of the birthday boy/girl or a montage of people dancing to get everyone in the mood
• Do a sound system test yourself by standing back and listening. Don’t rely on the band to do it themselves because they are for 1 bias and 2 not listening to the sound from where the party attendees will be standing.
• If candles are going to be on the table, make sure the table clothes are not to long. no one wants there event to go down in flames