Celebrate 2018

Yesterday I held a gorgeous mini-masterclass with Mary Ronis and I thought it was about time I shared some pictures and details with you of our Celebrate conference from back in May – long overdue!

On May 27 I was delighted to host the 2nd “Celebrate” conference in Sydney. We had vendors from all around Australia – flying in from Perth, Melbourne and Brisbane and even one business owner who flew in from New Zealand – along with many fabulous Sydney based business owners.

Each of these attendees were able to enjoy and soak in some wonderful learnings and ideas from our experienced speakers. Sydney put on a beautiful day where the sun was shining and attendees could enjoy water views and views of the harbour bridge from our venue at The Deckhouse in Woolwich.

In this post I will share snaps of the day, thanks to our photographer Captured by Kirri.

A special thanks to the wonderful Shelley of Paper Face Party who styled and created the florals for the day and assisted with the concept of the look and feel of the venue! Links to all vendors involved can be found at the end of this post.

The day kicked off bright and early at 8:30am and as attendees arrived they picked up these gorgeous name tags by Eve and Co Stationery which were created for each attendee with their name and business name to assist in the mingling and networking process:

As part of the day I wanted to encourage the attendees to be able to connect and get to know the other businesses attending – so as part of that we had a table where everyone could leave their business cards and take others home! Signage was also by Eve and Co Stationery:

As we only had 2 hours to setup – we decided to keep the setup simple, stylish and sophisticated without going too over the top! I always want Celebrate conference attendees to feel as though they have stepped into an inspiring space for the day that they can relax in – away from their busy lives!

Attendees each received a swag bag filled to the brim with items from Life’s Little Celebration members! The bags came all the way from Perth thanks to Chumblebee Chumblebee and they looked *so* swish! Attendees were really spoilt with the contents of edible items and partyware inside.

Another special touch were the acrylic signs with 3D gold lettering that we used as part of the centrepieces – thanks to Alison Caroline Designs ! All the gorgeous florals were by Shelley of Paper Face Party:

The front of the venue was styled with mesh props from The Treasure Room and balloon decor by Jess of Floating Designs. The large acrylic sign was by Alison Caroline Designs.

We wanted to create lovely pops of colour and something which was on-trend and sophisticated while still being fun (and quick to set up in our very short time frame) !

One of the main focuses of the day of course was the knowledge shared by our valuable speakers. Our speakers were so open to questions and to talking to attendees before or after their session as well giving people an opportunity to gain some one on one information.

Sarah Cichy of Piccolo PR shared her PR tips as well as valuable information on how to get influencers to feature your products. She also spoke about the importance of knowing and sharing your brand story.

Mary-Anne Amies of Wise-up Marketing smashed out an amazing session covering everything social media. Her session was filled with practical “apply-now” tips and she also emphasised the huge importance of sharing the”real” you on social media in order to connect with your followers and showing more of the process and behind the scenes of your business to help your customers get to know your business and understand what they are paying for.

Belinda Bow was the perfect presenter for our after lunch session – with her vibrant personality she got us inspired on the topic of Marketing. She also got everyone up and talking during her “workshop” activity where people had to partner up to speak to others in the room about what their business was “really” about.

Everyone was a little star struck when Katherine Sabbath presented and shared her story as well as her must-know tips and lessons she has learned along the way. Katherine was very generous also with her time, speaking to many afterwards and delighting many by bringing along her pop-up book for us to view.

The day was truly a wonderful day of learning AND connection. It was a great day of people putting faces to names and building new relationships! Here are some photo of our attendees meeting and mingling:

As part of the day we setup a fun photobooth also using props from The Treasure Room, Balloons from Floating Designs and photo props from Ruby Rabbit Partyware and Alison Caroline Designs. This area was used to get some fabulous shots of our attendees!

After all the inspiration from the day I wanted attendees to take home a concrete piece of inspiration and hence this year we set up a “Quote Bar” with gorgeous quote cards by Eve and Co stationery in gold foil lettering for each attendee to choose 2 from:

I was truly so happy with how Celebrate went after many months of planning! It was truly such a wonderful atmosphere and people walked away with valuable knowledge and ideas to apply to their business, while also making new connections and enjoying some time to work “on” their business.

It is hard to summarise ALL the valuable information presented however one of the main themes which came through in all the presentations was ways to be authentic in your business. They all emphasised the importance of building real connections and also humanizing your brand – whether it be through social media, marketing or PR! This was not “planned” however the fact that all speakers had this common thread showed the importance of this area of our business.

Some of the testimonials from the day included:

“I thoroughly enjoyed the day! A beautiful venue & setup, fab networking opportunities, plus informative & engaging speakers. Tanya organised a well planned & positive day for industry people across Australia to attend. Excellent 5 star day!”

“Well done Tanya on organising yet another A class event. I have come away so motivated, inspired and focused. The speakers were very knowledgeable, yet so real and humble. Spending the day with so many talented and supportive business women was such a highlight. Sign me up for next year!!!”

“The perfect event for those in the party industry to be inspired to take their business to the next level!”

“What an amazing day it was and I felt very inspired being in the same room as other vendors who are way bigger than I am! I took away a lot of valuable information that will help me grow my business.”

At the end of the event attendees also walked away with their swag bag filled with goodies from our Life’s Little Celebration members:

So to end with…I want to thank all those who attended and were a part of this event! A huge thank you to our sponsors as well as those who contributed to the day and to the swag bags! Celebrate couldn’t occur to the high level it does without your support!

So will there be another one in 2019? Watch this space!

Vendors involved:

Styling and florals: Paper Face Party

Photos: Captured by Kirri

Graphic Design: Pretty and Print

Props: The Treasure Room

Partyware/photobooth props: Ruby Rabbit Party

Name badges, quote cards, signage: Eve and Co Stationery

Balloons: Floating Designs

Centrepiece acrylic toppers and acrylic sign for backdrop: Alison Caroline Designs

Swag bags: Chumblebee Chumblebee