We-cap from 12/10 Expo Planning Committee

We had a great meeting Monday night and have some ideas and information to share with everyone:

1. We have a spreadsheet and are tracking all the services that we would like to offer makeover participants. Of course, we want to highlight we2e members as much as possible before pulling in businesses outside the group. We'll be passing a sign up sheet at the December holiday party so that you can let us know how you might be able to promote your businesses and support the event.

2. We really need to drive sponsorships! The Expo is a fantastic event that is an easy sell for area companies. We know how busy everyone is, so we wanted to put an incentive in place for helping us raise sponsor dollars. So, here is the plan - anyone who brings in a Tier 1, 2 or 3 sponsor will receive a 5% commission on the amount they give. $500 = $25, $1,000 = $50 and $5,000 = $250. This should make it a lot easier for all of us to take time out of our schedules to pitch the Expo to friends and associates. We really appreciate all of your help and commitment to the event!

3. We have a fabulous idea for January's meeting. (Jan. 14th at 6:00 pm) It will be a NEW YEAR - NEW YOU KICKOFF PARTY. We are looking into locations, but hope to meet at the St. Julien so that everyone can experience the space firsthand. We will have makeover participants join us at the event to welcome them and help them get enthusiastic about their life transformation. If any of you have potential sponsors - this will be the event to invite them to! We will have a table set up to talk to anyone interested in the Expo and we will be signing people up and collecting sponsorships. It will still be our usual fun, networking time for we2e, and we are going to have a board for everyone to post their New Years Resolutions.

4. At our NEW YEAR - NEW YOU KICKOFF PARTY we will hold a drawing for a mini-makeover that will include personal training, a resume re-write, acupuncture, a photo shoot, coaching, spa treatments, etc... It will be an amazing package worth many hundreds of dollars. Anyone ready to commit $10 or more to the Expo will be entered in the drawing!

5. We will be getting the makeover participants prepped to start after the holidays. Our January shindig will also be their welcome and launch. Nicole Irlbeck and Lisa Hunter will be acting as liaisons to keep everyone on track. Thanks to all of you who have already volunteered to help these wonderful women shine! We'll be in touch after New Years to start coordinating.

Please always feel free to get in touch if you have questions or want to give input on the Expo.

Trish Thomas

By the way, the planning committee won't be meeting again until January 7th, so there will be a few weeks of silence while we relax for Christmas. :)

on my own and thankful

In the wake of Thanksgiving, I would like to thank you all for the support over the past year and a half (or something like that). It is with great pleasure that I announce my official resignation with my corporate job this week - my last day will be December 28th - hooray!
I am excited (and a little nervous) to join the ranks of you and be a true woman business owner - on my own. I look forward to many more years of sharing ideas and successes. 2008 is MY year!

Alli Bozeman
Bozeman Collaborative, LLC
...
Bozeman Blog
BirdDog Blog
Handmaiden Blog

we2e weCap: 11.05.07

Greetings, we2e! Welcome to your regular Expo Planning weCap, where you'll get a quick run-down and expanded planning information concerning the 2008 New You Expo. The weCap is a clearinghouse for creative ideas and planning, so leave your love letters, suggestions or constructive criticism in the comments section below.

The Nitty-Gritty:

• The Expo is a go for May 4, 2008 at the lovely St. Julien.
  
• Sponsorship has compiled a tentative list of sponsors below and needs YOUR ideas, contacts, and support.
  
• Expo planning is in full swing, so get ready for updates and information on how you can help...read on for details...

It's a Go!
The contract is signed and the Expo is a go for May 4, 2008 at the lovely St. Julien Hotel! The tentative schedule is: Expo 2-5 p.m.; cocktail hour 5-6 p.m.; gala/finale/keynote speech 6-8 p.m.

Winner Update
Soon, winners of the New You Makeover Contest will be contacted by Lisa Hunter or Nicole Irlbeck, who will be working as liaisons throughout their transformations. A welcome luncheon is being planned to orient participants and get the makeover process rolling...Christine is checking with Julia at The Kitchen to see if they'd be willing to host the luncheon in exchange for sponsorship.

Sponsorship Update
Speaking of sponsorship, Trish, Heather, and Christine have met separately to discuss sponsorship (more on the outcome of their meeting soon!). Sponsorship needs YOUR help and ideas! We'll be relying on the ladies of we2e to tell us of juicy leads, must-have sponsors, and share contacts who can help make the Expo a success.

The tentative sponsor list includes:

• Wine: The St. Julien will allow donated wine at the event (Bookcliff Vineyards; Augustina?)
  
• Food: We'll need a cash sponsorship to pay for cocktail and gala eats served through the St. Julien
  
• Flowers/Decor: We're considering a partnership with Fiora Flowers
  
• Photography, Printing and Signage: We're hoping to approach Mike's Camera for equipment, cameras, backdrops, and support for our documentary/editing team; we'll also need a vendor who can print signs to be displayed during the expo and provide programs, promo materials, etc.
  
• Print Ads: We'll be approaching the Boulder Daily Camera, Boulder County Business Report, and Boulder Women's Magazine about advertising space for the Expo
  
• Clothing: We hope to find a fabulous sponsor to outfit our makeover participants in clothing for the gala/finale piece of the Expo

Marketing Madness
We're ready to move forward with our marketing plan for the Expo. Erin and Juli will be coordinating on Web work and rolling out the marketing plan and will have updates on what we need from the group soon.

Great Meeting Tonight - Website Tips

Hey all,

Excellent to see all of you there tonight. In the spirit of talking about how important it is to blog here are my notes from tonights meeting. Please also feel free to contact me or leave posts on my other blog http://julzink.blogspot.com/ or email me at juli@the-io-group.com with questions on web design or whatever.

Here are my unedited notes.

Ten Website Tips

1. Do a website worksheet. This will help you define your site, how you would like it to look, feel, function.
2. Start a blog. Search engines love them. Update it regularly Blogger, Typepad ($5-$30 a month), Xanga
3. Get as many people as possible to link to you. Make sure they are legit links
4. Write articles pertaining to your field and then get others to link to them or post them on your site.
5. One word google. On the google home page is a link called business solutions.
   Add a google map to your site
   Put your site on Google Maps business listings, Appear on Google Maps for free,
   Visit our Local Business Center to create your business listing. Add hours, photos, coupons and more.
6. Decide if it is more important to have search engines find you, or have a flashy site, both, or somewhere in between.
7. My personal taste is to keep it simple. It can have an intricate design, but the navigation needs to be very easy.
8. When looking for a hosting company, see what they offer and what you can expand into (i.e. a shopping cart, on-line store, e-marketing resources)
9. Use stock photography when you can. Unless you have a full time photographer at your beck and call, it would be great use of your resources.
   

Questions from the group
1. I would like to know the least expensive way to make changes to my website without having to bother my designer everytime I want a little change. (And pay her every time for something simple.)

Learn HTML and you can edit in notepad or word pad, or ask for a content management system. It will be more expensive but might be worth it.

2. Could you talk a little about “shopping carts” and how they work? Do you have to stock your own products or do most manufacturers allow you to order directly from them?

This is relative. You do the shipping so you can ship it to them from wherever. Usually I would recommend shipping something off with your own packaging and branding and if it is something you are going to sell quite a bit of I would imagine that you could get a discount on it and stock it yourself.

Depending on what you are looking for in a shopping cart though, are you hoping to run a store complete with inventory and wanting to store your client information for future visits, which also allows for direct specific marketing, or are you looking to sell one product and not very much of it.

Depending on that answer you will also need to interact with a merchant account or use a solution like paypal, but you will pay a certain percentage of each sale regardless.
The different shopping cart solutions out there are paypal which is pretty widely recognized and quite easy to work with. Miva Merchant, osCommerce.

In the end it sounds like Amazon is a great solution. Design the front end so it looks like your store and let Amazon handle the back end.

3. Hi. Our website is a template based site that allows for html "skin" to be altered. we are having a heck of a time getting anyone to do this for less than $6000 to start...a cost we just don't want to incur. any suggestions?

It shouldn't cost $6000 and it can be done through css (cascading style sheets). Come on in and we will talk to you about it.

Once again thanks to all who came tonight.

Juli

New Client For Julie Dimos

Julie,

My mom is looking for a web designer for her law firm. I showed her your WE2E site and she liked it, a lot. Will you email me?

Thank you,
Jennifer Egbert

we2e EXPO INFO

I'm posting this on behalf of Masyn -

Welcome everyone... we have some new adds to the group whom are receiving their first go around of info and all of us veterans that have 2/3 meetings under our belts. Yeah! To all the newbies... if you didn't receive the first set of notes or simply feel you would like them... I am more then happy to forward them on so you may get a little more familiar with what we have covered by the next meeting.

I want to thank everyone for being extremely patient with me and picking up the ball as I have only been in town a total of four days over the last two weeks. Now that I am back... I am hoping to be the fabulous facilitator I know is somewhere in here.
So onward and upward....

LAST MEETING 5/14...
1) We decided on five categories for the "tradeshow" portion of the event and they are: Beauty, Wellness, Environment, Wealth, and Relationships.
Next... we will need all of We2e to decide which header they would like to be in. This meeting is scheduled for June 25th at UP (Urban Pearl).

2)Casting Call: this is for the models we will be selecting for whole life makeovers.
Who: Any woman 21 years of age or older in Boulder Cty can enter, 10 selected, must be able to sign an agreement of participation which includes a commitment over the next three months to their team and that they document their experiences in writing or video among other things.
What: Send a self-addressed stamped envelope and a 250-500 word essay answering the question "Why are you ready for a Whole Life Make-Over?"
When/Where: Have their essays postmarked or emailed by 6/15/07 to % of Urban Pearl, 1537 Pearl Street, Boulder 80302 or emailed to (we2e's email
address). Selection and notification by 6/25/07. Then we will meet with
address we2e
members interested in participating on 6/25, get committments and divide up in teams and assign contestants to them by 6/29/07.
It is my understanding that
a) Rachel is working on a jpeg/pdf single piece and a press release for us to have out to our contacts with the above info to start the casting call.
Next... once available it will need to spread to all of our contact databases.
b) Trish has prepared a participation agreement and is having it review by an attorney. Next... we will have choosen contestants by 6/29/07
c) and Juli is working on creating a logo and web page for the event that will hopefully be up this week. Juli... can we have a way for We2e people to log on and go to our blog or view notes on meetings that regular viewers can't see... or is that crazy? I was thinking of a way that people could look back on notes and things we have covered. Just a thought... unless it is a pain and will hold us up.
Does that sound correct to everyone that attended so far? If not, please add on.

NAME DISCUSSION...
So there is a lot of discussion over what to call this event... SOME thoughts were...
We2e... Experiential Expo, Symposium, Convention, Exhibition, Marketplace, and Production I have attached a very rough draft of an xls sheet of the day and timelines... as we have discussed... the day includes the following elements... a keynote, tradeshow, symposium, giveaways and the whole life makeover contestant finale.
Personally, I like using the full word Exposition (and its meaning) and Symposium. I am in agreement with a couple people that it is not a gala...
Erin- since you are the writer, any thoughts? Plus we might want to consider what year two etc looks like with the name... meaning is this the first annual.. yada yada. Can everyone get back to me with their requests by Tuesday evening and I can forward that on to Rachel, Trish and Juli?
Obviously... we need to name it by tomorrow no later then Wednesday... so if you feel strongly - please let me know....

NON-PROFIT....
So we have only had three suggestions so far.... two votes for Dress for Success one for Work Options for Women both Denver companies and then one for Boulders Safehouse. Is there any others anyone wants to add or should we make a decision and move forward?
Rachel has worked with the Director of the Dress for Success program and although it is in Denver it might be good to have the comfort of a proven working relationship for our first time out of the box on this. Thoughts everyone?

NEEDS...
So as we have discussed... our needs are as follows...
1) Rachel is working on jpeg single sheet and press release
2) Trish has the contestant participation form
3) Juli is working on the web page and logo... Erin name suggestions?
4) We need a videographer great with editing asap
5) Intern... anyone?
6) Heather: Do we need to get these notes to the group too or will we just update them on 6/25?
7) Agenda items for next meeting

FUTURE MEETINGS...
Our next meeting is Monday, June 4th 5:30 at 3094 Edison Court, Boulder
80301 (you can mapquest it). I am in the first row of townhomes on the East side of Edison Court. Park and walk in.
PLEASE be on time so we can leave on time... we try to stick to an hour and I will be sending an email with agenda items shortly... so please let me know if there is anything you would like to add.
Then they are as follows...
6/11/07 5:30 Edison
6/18/07 We2e's scheduled group meeting at Rachel Donaldsons house
6/25/07 5:30 Expo mtg for all We2e participants at UP. 1537 Pearl Street Then July's scheduled is yet tbd.

Yeah Team!!!
If I got anything wrong - please let me know... otherwise I look forward to tons of emails and even more cc's.
Peace n Love
Masyn

small business lawyer?

does anyone know who the small business lawyer was that attended the marketing session at my, Rachael's, house was? I'm seeking her services. Otherwise, does anyone know of a good one to help set up a business' structure who is seeking investment monies and offering percentages of their company in exchange etc.??? Thanks ladies!
rdonaldson@productdenver.com

Of course flowers

Of course- Ooh La La would love to contribute bouquets for the women to walk the runway!

Let me know what you think...

Also- I know the hot topic is this event but I was hoping we may be able to get a little round table/forum going on some hot topics for you all business wise...

One thing Ooh La La has been faced with is bringing on new staff/more staff- for all you independent women out there that have moved on from the one women show- care to give some advice on when you knew it was time?

GREAT idea

Ladies, that is a GREAT idea...both the party and the Expo. I would love to be involved/participate. Regina, if I have you shoot me post-wedding can I wear my dress to your party too? So fun!

Kerri Yates
www.eudokeo.com

expo etc

hi ladies,

i'm interested in the expo idea for sure. when are you thinking? spring?? would love to be involved. i have the jules smith jewelry collection on hand. and of course, photographers - one local - .......not to steal any thunder from the photogs in we2e!!!

keep me updated on any initial meeting.

best,
joni

posts

yes, yes, please load pictures! so masyn--shall we set a time/date to talk "expo" ideas at your place?
r

Perfect!!!!!

We could add that to the Expo Day... the evening culminates in a fashion show... real women... real (wedding) dresses... maybe modern make overs... with one lucky - maybe even surprise - couple winning something together...
I am still down with the thought that this could be a Saturday event... start around 1 or 2... booths set-up... 3/4 expert speakers... round table break out groups... into an evening event with music/dancing... a fashion show... and a grand prize something...
Of course this is a common event for groups to do... so if we could take it out of the box, that would be fresh and new.... especially for us Young We2e's.
Peace n Love
Masyn

Just throwing out an idea...

My assistant and I were talking about how fun it might be to throw a party for all of my past brides and invite them to pull their wedding dress out of the box and don it one more time. We could do a photo shoot of all the women, as well as offer a mini makeover to each and share funny/horror stories of the different weddings and potentially put together a fun "a bride's advice for brides" booklet to handout.

This probably doesn't make much sense, but in the spirit of brainstorming, I thought it might be fun to do some sort of fashion show with real brides - past & present and have all the attendees wear old bridesmaid/groomsmen attire & bring never-to-be-worn-again formal attire to donate.

I realize that this doesn't necessarily open the forum for all the other businesses in our group that are NOT wedding related, but, like I said, just an idea to get it all rolling.

No matter what, I'm so excited about helping formulate some fabulous event and would love to be a part of the planning committee! I would love to meet at Urban Pearl or wherever to start kicking around ideas. I'm pretty flexible for meeting times as long as they're planned in advance.

Incidentally, is it appropriate for me to add a couple photographs that I really like of people in our group? I've never been a part of a group blog so not sure about the etiquette. But I love this photo I took of Heather at a crazy event we did up in Cheyenne, WY just after Thanksgiving:

Here's a funny picture of Heather & I from that night:

And one of my favorite images of the "surprise" photo shoot I did with Rachael and her twins:

Regina, Recherche Photography

an event

i'm in, urban pearl crew. let's do an event. check out www.fashiondenver.com. i'm one of the judges. maybe we could do something similar or do a makeover something on top of this or...??? i love a good adventure. an expo sounds so interesting. who else is in?

Great Night!!

I have to say... it was a fabulous and inspiring evening. I am with ya... I think it is a great idea to have an event. I am thinking expos, breakouts, speakers - well rounded to speak to our lives, and of course a party. Open to the public, great location - fun and playful etc. Whose game? We're in! Lets start the planning committee... first meeting... my house? Although, who can follow up Rachels lovely abode... p.s. Thank you so much for hosting! Peace N Love

event marketing...yes?

What a great meeting! Thank you everyone for your enthusiasm, food, donations for DFS, and ideas. Jeff and I compared notes and it seems that a recurrent idea was an event of some sort (charity related?) that we could all contribute to. mmm. Sounds really interesting. Anyone out there spark to that idea as well? Ideally, it would be an event where we would also get some great press and exposure. Thoughts?


Jeff and I are here to field any marketing questions that come up as a result of the meeting tonight + if you need/want the handouts emailed to you, just let me know.

marketing tenets

marketing at its core essence--how we get the word out about our business and ourselves. There are so many ways these days, many of which are self-service, not requiring a marketing agency. However, the craft of getting the marketing right does still require the same tenets as an agency or pro would use.
(1) Know who you are. Brands are emotional links to products and services. They are built in your target's minds. They are built via consistent messaging over time that finds a way to burrow into their psyche. As such, your brand should carry through to every touchpoint you have with your consumers/target, including yourself.
(2) About those consumers/target. In order to stay focused, you must know who your audience is and where they're going to come from. It makes marketing decisions much easier and clearer.
(3) The marketing plan. It really does help to get it all on paper and go through the thought process. It can change, certainly, but to keep your budget tight and insist on results you need to have a plan.
(4) Execution. Tactics. This is your presentation of your brand to the world. Insist that they be right. The right colors, the right fonts, the right paper, the right images. And make it easy to get in touch with you.

More at our meeting on Monday 2.12, 6p, my house. Can't wait!
>>LINK: one of my favorite resources<<