ISES Indiana June Meeting
Wednesday, June 17, 2009

How to execute a stable emergence in a surging economy

Tom Walter will bring his presentation of “"How to Grow Your Business in a Recession" from the ISES Chicago chapter and share his expertise with the ISES Indiana chapter. This session will be humorous and intuitive as Tom will share insight on what business owners and employees need to do while emerging from a recession to be prosperous in the market place. He will discuss how to control, not cut costs, employ effective leadership, create sales and marketing tactics that are not just price driven as well as how to evaluate the quality and service of your product.

Tom will provide a takeaway that will contain information on:

• Prime Reasons Why Businesses Fail
• Prime Reasons Why Businesses Succeed
• Steps To Take Prior to a Recession
• Steps To Take During a Recession
• Emergence Planning
• Building a Sustainable Business
• How to Turn Crisis into an Opportunity
• Recession Proof Your Brain
• Promote Self-Responsibility
• How To Become Indispensable
  

About the Speaker: Tom Walter, CEO of Chicago-area Tasty Catering, has been a food service professional for more than 37 years. During this time period he has been the owner/operator of 27 businesses. Fifteen were in the food and beverage industry. He is still active as a principal in seven corporations.

Utilizing his visionary skill and entrepreneurial leadership, Tom oversees the administrative functions of Tasty Catering. Tom is known for his expertise in developing and maintaining company cultures and business infrastructures.

In 2008, Tasty Catering was named the number one Best Place to Work in Illinois in the small- to-medium category. Tasty Catering has also been awarded, in 2008: Inc. Magazine’s 95th fastest growing food and beverage company, one of Wall Street Journal’s Top Small 35 Workplaces and Caterer of the Year, by Catering Magazine.

Sponsored by:

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FLAUNT Recap

The Special Events Industry has it, and we FLAUNTED it on Wednesday night, May 6th. With over 30 vendors and sponsors, attendees were able to experience the breath of what the Indiana events community had to offer. Attendees mixed and mingled through various company displays which highlighted all aspects of the industry. Attended by a crowd of 200+, attendees were able to see the latest in design, production, furniture, catering, photography and communications, all with a fun twist that left the crowd entertained.

The FLAUNT party, which took place at the close of the trendshow, allowed the celebration to continue, despite the inclimate weather. Rain didn't dampen anyone's good time. Guests were able to sample the "Fusion" cocktail, provided by Four Course Catering. Sunny Moon spun the hits and everyone enjoyed a good time. Check out the pictures at http://troyhill.powweb.com/2009/FLAUNT/index.html

Special thanks are due to all the Sponsors, vendors and attendees who made FLAUNT '09 a success.

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ISES Community

A new social networking site has been launched especially for ISES members. Go to http://community.ises.com to sign up. You will need your ISES login and password. This is an ISES International page; it’s time to get connected with everyone in the industry!

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May Membership Drive

ONLINE May Membership Drive Terms and Conditions

• Membership Drive Dates: May 1, 2009 – May 31, 2009
• Application must be completed ONLINE for the $50 application fee to be waived.
  ****Anyone who applies online but opts to mail or fax in their payment will be subject to the application fee
• Dues Fee--
  • $399 Members and Corporate Primarys
  • $299 Non-profits and Corporate Additionals
  • **($35.00 Students are not charged an application fee and are not included for the membership drive results)
• New Members (non-students) are listed on the Online Directory—Finder Service

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Welcome New Members
Please welcome our newest members of ISES Indiana:

Tamara Davis, Student
trdavis2@sbcglobal.net

Allie Mantel, Student
amantel12@gmail.com

Mike Trotta, Stage Tech, Inc.
mtrotta@stagetechinc.com

April Wayman, Student
aprilwayman@msn.com

Please feel free to send an email to our new members to introduce yourself and welcome them to ISES!

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Member Spotlight - Bob Ridge, IndyVisual

What does your company do? How is it different than others like it?
We are a wedding videography studio, specializing in capturing all the details and emotions of the biggest day of our clients’ lives. Our creative approach is to capture the intimacy and beauty of the day while being as invisible and unobtrusive as possible. The result is an entertaining and elegantly produced keepsake that immerses the couple right back into their special day, long after the memory of the day has become a blur. This keepsake only becomes more precious as the years go on, allowing the couple to relive the day with their kids and grandkids, eventually becoming an heirloom for future generations to cherish.

How many years have you been in the industry?
This is my 16th year in business, and my studio has covered over 500 weddings since 1993.

What led you into the event industry?
I started my business as a full-service videography studio and was told that weddings would be a good way to create income while establishing myself in other areas such as corporate production. However, I found that I really enjoyed the wedding side of the business, enough so that I sold off all the other parts of my business and became more of a boutique wedding videography studio. I was amazed by how much the studio was able to grow organically once I committed myself fully to focusing on weddings.

What was your very first job?
My first job after finishing grad school at Indiana University ironically was as the promotions director at WLFI-TV, the CBS affiliate based in West Lafayette, Indiana. The nice thing about starting at a small station was that I had to write, shoot and edit everything myself, which gave me the all-around skills I would need to one day to run my own business. And being surrounded by Purdue grads really toughened me up!

Is there a specific person who guided you to your career path or has inspired you to work as you do today?
What got me started thinking about having my own business was when freelance videographers would occasionally drop off footage at the station, and I would peek at their invoices. I was shocked at how much more they made than me, and learned very quickly that I needed to get myself on the other side of that exchange.

I don’t know if I can single out any person who guided me in shaping the business. I was developing the business before the predominance of the internet, so information on how to succeed was hard to come by. I was flying blindly and had to figure it all myself through trial and error, which only makes it that much more rewarding that I now have a successful business model and creative style that is truly reflective of who I am.

However, I do know that I wouldn’t be where I am today without the support of my wonderful wife and three boys, my loyal friends in the event industry, and the most amazing group of clients a person could ask for.

Why did you decide to join ISES? What do you hope to get out of it?
When I decided last year to go completely ad-free, I knew that it would be more critical than ever to nurture my relationships with my friends in the event industry, whose referrals and support have always been the largest ingredient to the success of IndyVisual. The ability to interact with so many of them in one place for the fraction of the cost of a magazine ad made the decision to join ISES a no-brainer. I hope to continue building these relationships while exploring ways that I can give back to the industry that has blessed me with the ability to make a living and support my family by going to parties every weekend!

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The Scoop

• How can there be scoop unless you let someone know? Feel free to email our VP of Communication anytime to put information in “The Scoop”. Email Carrie O’Brien at carrie.obrien@ptrinc.com. Use “ISES Scoop” in the subject line…….and fire away!

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Download your ISES Member Logo

To download your ISES Member logo and the official logo usage policy, please click here . You will need your member ID number and password to access this section of the web site. (http://www.ises.com/source/security/member-logon.cfm)

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