ONEHEART OC and OC Human Trafficking Task Force

I am pumped! I just got back from the monthly meeting for the OC Human Trafficking Task Force and it was so awesome to see other people and organizations who are so passionate about combating human trafficking. There were over 40 people in the room from all over Southern California from various non profit, student, religious, and law enforcement organizations!

The main reason I attended this meeting was to promote and ask for community support on a human trafficking awareness event that I'm coordinating, which is taking place in January. The event is being held at the UCI Student Center on Friday, January 9. See flyer below - flyer courtesy of Johnny Lee from Talent One Media. It'll be a night of art, music, spoken word, dance, photography, as well as educational information on human trafficking. I encourage everyone to attend! It'll be a great night of education, entertainment, and empowerment!

Anyways, after the meeting, I had at least 8 different people from various orgs come up to me to offer leads on performers and get more information on how to support the event. One staff member from Golden West College was even interested in re-creating this type of event at Golden West and he wanted to get advice and my planning services. How cool would it be if we could do this on each college campus in SoCal? So many college students would become aware and hopefully empowered around this issue. It's a movement of its own.

I am really excited about this event! I am also learning so much about human trafficking. People often think that it only happens in other countries, but did you know that each year over 15,000 people are trafficked into the U.S.? They are then forced to work in salons, factories, massage parlors, etc. Human trafficking is a common crime in Orange County too! There was just a bust in Westminster recently I believe.

So I like to end my posts with advice or lessons learned when I plan events - kind of like an advice column for event planners or anybody who needs to coordinate special events. In this particular case, I say:

• If you are planning an event for a non profit organization or a cause, learn about that org/cause - you have to fully believe and be behind the cause too if you are going to plan an event for them! Otherwise, you're just a phony!
• Networking and making connections is SO important in the event planning business. I don't have to explain this one do I?

Alright folks, check out the event flyer below. Hope to see you there! Oh and also check out www.ochumantrafficking.org. Lots of great resources and info on human trafficking in OC there.

A couple things

1) I know this blog is NOT pretty nor creative. This is a makeshift website/blog until my actual professional website is up. I'm hoping to get the domain - www.eastwesteventproductions.com. Long, but easily remembered right? Timeline for the launch of the website is hopefully March 2009.

2) When people ask me what my dream job is? I answer: event planning. Why? Because I love seeing people having a good time. I don't like being the center of attention, but rather, I like to do behind the scenes work that allow others to enjoy themselves. Ever since college and even high school I've enjoyed setting up get togethers with friends, social outings, day trips, birthday parties, banquets, etc. Almost right after I graduated college, I fell into jobs doing marketing, which consisted heavily of event planning. At Lollicup Corporate, I organized trade shows, Grand Opening celebrations, company events, and conferences. Now at Microsoft, I coordinate all kinds of workshops, seminars, business luncheons, and product launches. These experiences and jobs continued to fuel my passion for events - so I thought, why don't I take what I've learned and start my own business? I really want to use my gifts and talents to help people and organizations to have a good time instead of being bogged down with the details. One desire is to help non profit organizations put on events at low cost or no cost for my planning services, that way they can focus more on their cause!

3) I have not quit my full time job. I am still a Marketing Coordinator at Microsoft doing mostly corporate event planning. This is just a business that I'm doing on the side. I try to spend 10-20 hours each week on plans and projects for East West.

4) Many thanks to the people who pushed and supported me in starting this company up - of course my event planning mentor, Ngoc Nguyen (check her website out at: http://www.skyboxeventproductions.com); my boyfriend, Andrew Brewer; members of Newsong NOC church; my small group members, Sam Song and Art United; and my family.

Jeanie Wang + Sherwin Yen Wedding in Dallas, TX

This weekend I had the privilege of attending and coordinating one of my close childhood friends' wedding in Dallas, TX. Jeanie and I have known each other since elementary school and when she asked me to be her wedding coordinator, I was ecstatic! It is really a great pleasure to take part of the preparation of someone's big day, especially someone I know and love so dearly.

The wedding was amazing and I really didn't have do to too much - Jeanie and Sherwin pretty much planned and lined up everything for me. All I really had to do was show up. Annabelle Mansion was a beautiful site - a breathtaking, very Gone with the Wind kind of feel.

To see photos from the wedding, please visit: http://www.table4photography.com/jeanie+sherwin

As you'll see, Table 4 photographers Jason and Andrew did an excellent job! Their work is truly amazing! Props to Andrew for doing the table greetings with me - visiting 15 tables in a tight space was difficult, but we were able to get the pictures done without a hitch.


Some advice and lessons learned from coordinating this wedding:

• Even though weddings are stressful, you are only as stressed as you allow yourself to be. As a wedding coordinator, always present yourself as composed and unwavering. You want to provide the best service possible.
• It is best not to bother the bride and groom if you encounter any hiccups with logistics on the day of. If you can resolve it yourself, go ahead and do so, then inform the bride and groom on the situation and resolution. You don't want to stress the bride and groom out if you don't have to.
• Just as long as the bride and groom enjoy themselves, then you know you have done a good job.
• It is important to remind the bride and groom to provide food for their vendors - photographers, videographer, DJ, catering staff, band, etc. They work hard to make the wedding day a success.
• Picking a venue and staff that understands the bride and groom's cultural or social customs is essential. Just because the venue/staff does not understand those customs, does not mean they can just throw it out the window. Make sure the couple is happy with what the venue can provide to satisfy the bride and groom's cultural wishes.
• Having more than 3 coordinators/assistants (venue coordinators AND wedding coordinators) can get chaotic for a medium sized wedding (150 guests) at times. To avoid chaos and confusion, make sure all coordinators/assistants know all the details and time schedules for the wedding day.

Congratulations Jeanie and Sherwin! You two are a perfect pair!

It's finally here!

After 4 years of just talking about starting my own event planning business and no action, as of November 2008, I finally decided to file the paperwork for a sole proprietorship. It's actually not as difficult to start a business than people think - but of course, there are more steps involved with a Partnership, LLC, or Corporation.

With that said, I now present to you...

East West Event Productions officially commences business on 11/15/08. Definitely a momentous event in my life! Post on why I chose event planning as a career and how I came to this stage to come soon.