The Special Event Conference

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I always wanted to surround myself with knowledge and people that live and breathe event planning. My opportunity came at the 2010 Special Events conference in New Orleans, LA. The Special Event (2010) is the largest tradeshow and conference in the world for event professionals (2010, The Special Event). TSE allows attendees to make invaluable connections with thousands of key event industry notables and colleagues, experience education both inside and outside of the classroom environment, choose among over 100 relevant Conference Sessions and Training Workshops taught by hand-selected speakers, and discover thousands of event products and services on the Tradeshow Floor (2010, The Special Event).

I was excited and anguished to be attending this conference because this would be my first professional conference where the topic is all about events! I often thought this would be an opportunity for me to attend this international conference, and have a small place on the map since I was flying in from Nashville, TN. However, I met people for all over the world. There is one person in particular, Jane Yong. Jane was residing at the time in Dublin, and attending the conference to learn more American events. There were many professional that I exchanged business cards with, but I have remained in contact with Jane. And we often exchange ideas at events, job search and weddings!

I arrived in early to take in the sights of New Orleans, and to also get a jump on navigating the New Orleans convention center to avoid getting lost as I transition to classes. The location of the conference was two blocks from my hotel. Fortunately, I did not stay in the host hotel, and choose to lodge at Marriott, which faired out cheaper than the host hotel.

During this week long conference, it opened my eyes to a world on opportunity. I was excited to be able to really dig deep into the opportunity. At the time of the conference, my mind was solely focused on Business and Event management because I was looking for ways to grow my business that I started two years ago. I wanted to find courses that was designed to give me the confidence and tools to meet more clients, garner skills that other personal may not have and explore ways on how to market with a small budget, and there were several classes that were available to help me with this.

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