Raising Your Professional Profile and Expanding your Business Offerings
Sally Webb
Our Fabulous April Educational Speaker
Please join us
It's our first time at North Ridge Country Club
One of the world's most experienced and highly regarded event producers, Sally is founder, managing director and chief executive officer of The Special Event Company. She brings a unique and commanding perspective to event creation and production, having pioneered some of the industry's most innovative developments. Sally's creativity, passion and attention to detail are well known. Many of her faithful and growing clientele have been with her over two decades, a tribute to her leadership and the proven performance of her team.
Sally has produced events internationally for more than 20 years, and has won many awards for her work, including the prestigious International Event Professional of the Year award for 2004. She is a founding member of the International Special Event Society in Europe and has served on the International Board of Governors, as president of the UK chapter, as well as European regional vice president and chair of the Past Leaders Council. A frequent lecturer on event creation and production, Sally is also a member of the faculty of Temple University, Philadelphia where she is a current Executive in Residence
Sally started her career in sports sponsorship and media relations, and formed The Special Event Company as one of the first event management companies in the UK.
Sally's North American launch in the historic Carolina Theater in Durham.
...Site of 2010 Triangle NACE Golden Wisk Awards
Post Meeting Announcement:
Fairytale Wedding Giveaway at The Sutherland
by Angie Wright, Communication Chair
The Triangle chapter of NACE hosted the second Fairytale Wedding Giveaway on March 9th. The spectacular eighteenth century Sutherland Estate and Gardens, located in WakeForest, was the site of this special event. Christine Linn & Robert McArthur were chosen as this year’s recipients. Christine has stage 4 breast cancer which has metastasized to her liver and brain. Her neurosurgeon has given her 6 months to live because one of the tumors in her brain is inoperable. In addition to this tragic situation the site they had originally chosen for their wedding has gone out of business causing them to loose half their wedding budget.
As NACE members and guests arrived at The Sutherland they were greeted by servers from Mitchell’s Catering. which provided the food and beverages for the evening, offering them butleredhors d’ oeuvres ofchevre, spinach and bacon stuffed button mushrooms, reuben profiteroles and butternut squash and apple cider bisque sips. Beverages for the evening were strawberry lemonade, white wine, champagne and iced beer.
The Groom’s Terrace was the site on property for the wedding ceremony. As guests found their seats they listened to prelude music provided by Sea Sound Studio Entertainment. The bride, Christine, entered wearing a beautiful ivory designer gown provided by Alexia’s Bridal Boutique.The groom, Robert, wore a traditional black tuxedo provided by Savvi Formalwear. The marriage ceremony incorporated a sand ceremony which included the couple’s 3 children to symbolize the blending of these two families. Ed and Becky Sansbury were the officiating ministers.
The reception was held under a lovely clear tent with perimeter white lighting. When guests entered they found the tables draped in peacock blue and lettuce green linens. Classic Party Rentals provided the tent and all the rentals for this event. Floral centerpieces and all personal flowers were designed by Michael McLamb, owner of Fleurtations Weddings, and included hybrid delphinum, green fugis, blue and green hydrangea and white gerbera daisies accented with green hypericum berries. All flowers were donated by Cleveland Plant and flowers.
For the business segment of the evening Christie Cook, Event Professional Chair, introduced Grace Beason owner of Grace Leisure Events. Grace gave an overview of her company’s philosophy of event planning and design. She was also the wedding planner for Christine and Robert’s wedding. Amy Greene, Programs Chair, then introduced our educational speaker for the evening, Ivy Robinson of Ivy Robinson Events. Ivy spoke on how to align your company with the right charity. She emphasized this alliance should not only benefit the charity but also your company.
After our newly wed couple, Mr. & Mrs. Robert McArthur, was introduced into the reception the cocktail hors d’ oeuvres stations were opened. The three themed stations were Southwest Savories, Asian Grilled and Chilled and Down Home Comforts. All provided by Mitchell’s Catering. Sweet Memories Bakery created the castle shaped wedding cake which was chosen by Christine. After dinner the cake was cut and served to all.
Joe Bunn of Bunn DJ Company then called the couple to the dance floor for their first dance. The newlywedsimpressed all the guests with their dancing skills learned from their dance lessons provided by A Step Gold. After everyone enjoyed dancing the night away it was time for the bride and groom to say good night. All the guests lined up on either side of the long brick walk and sent Christine and Robert off with festive sparklers. Waiting at the end of the walk was a classic Rolls Royce provided by Raleigh Wedding Cars. The Rolls Royce whisked the happy couple to Durham for their complimentary wedding night stay at the Washing Duke Inn & Golf Club.
The event photography was captured by Katie Hamister of Katie Hamister Photography and Brian Mullins of Brian Mullins Photography.
News Release:
Event Professional Spotlight:
Grace Leisure Events LLC is a full service wedding and event planning company founded in 2005 by Grace L.P. Beason. Grace Leisure Events specializes in the planning and coordination of social events, corporate events and fundraisers, and is available for full service planning, “day of” coordination, or hourly consulting.
After graduating from Kenyon College with a degree in Art History in 1998, Grace began her career at the internationally-renowned Christie’s auction house in London. In early 1999 she moved to New York City to pursue event planning. Her first job was at The Knot, Inc., the nation’s leading multi-media wedding resource, where she acted both as Event Coordinator and Associate Editor of The Knot Weddings Magazine. Later she moved on to Susan Bell Special Events, where she planned large-scale fundraisers for organizations such as the Memorial Sloane-Kettering Cancer Center, one of the world’s premier cancer centers, and City Harvest, the world’s first non-profit food rescue program. Grace continued her career as a Wedding and Event Planner for celebrity planner Marcy Blum, the author of Wedding Kit For Dummies and Wedding Planning For Dummies, who has twice been named “Best Wedding Planner” by New York Magazine.
Notable events in Grace’s career include planning her first destination wedding at a castle in England for a Taiwanese family at the age of just 25, and working alongside Marcy Blum at Billy Joel’s 2004 wedding at his Long Island home. Grace has collaborated with Ms. Blum on several articles about wedding planning for Modern Bride magazine, and continues to work with Marcy Blum Associates on various events in New York and other locales when her schedule allows.
Grace moved to North Carolina in January of 2004 to accept a job as an Event Planner at the award-winning Catering Company of Chapel Hill. There she coordinated events for organizations including Duke University, UNC, and the North Carolina Preservation Society, as well as weddings and social events in Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, and Greensboro.
Grace has been featured locally in Wake Living magazine, The Bride’s Book, The Knot North Carolina, Durham Magazine and Chapel Hill Magazine, and nationally in Modern Bride and Elegant Bride magazines. In 2009 she was featured nationally on TV on the CW Network’s wedding reality show, For Better or Worse. Also in 2009 she was awarded Best Wedding by the Triangle Chapter of NACE.
Grace is a member of the select Little Black Book of exclusive wedding vendors on the award winning wedding blog, Style Me Pretty. She is also a member of the Triangle Chapter of the National Association of Catering Executives (NACE) and is the founder of L’Orage, a local nonprofit group.
Classified Ads
2010-07-20:
Director of Catering – The Carolina Inn
WHO WE ARE:
Destination Hotels & Resorts began in 1972 with the development and management of condominium resorts. Since then, we have grown to become consistently ranked as one of the top ten hospitality management companies in the country (ranked by Hotel Business Magazine) with more than 7,100 employees, over 7,000 hotel rooms and condominium units, and more than $2.2 billion in assets under management. We are a wholly owned subsidiary of Los Angeles-based Lowe Enterprises, a privately-held, national real estate organization active in commercial and hospitality property investment, management, and development. Since its inception, Lowe has been responsible for more than $8.5 billion in assets nationwide.
Destination Hotels & Resorts is unique in the lodging industry in that our primary mission is to create value for guests, investors, and associates in each of our hotels and resorts. We do this by developing an innovative, customized business plan for each property we manage and combining it with the sales, marketing, and operating resources of a company many times our size. This lodging industry expertise, together with the real estate savvy of Lowe, has allowed us to bring an owner's perspective to the hotel management business.
Destination Hotels & Resorts is one of the industry's leaders in the management and marketing of high-quality independent properties, many of which we successfully converted from major brand affiliations.
OUR CULTURE:
Destination Hotels & Resorts fosters a creative, entrepreneurial and energetic work environment where people come to work and have fun. We value passionate people who love to be challenged and desire the freedom to contribute to the overall success of the organization. Your role will be integral to the success of our company. We strive to create a work place culture that values family, work life balance and community. We help develop our associates and provide support for them to grow their careers with DH&R. Our associates are proud to work here!
THE CAROLINA INN, CHAPEL HILL, NC:
The Carolina Inn is a historic hotel located in downtown Chapel Hill, NC. Historic charm, modern amenities, gracious service, and memorable food blend beautifully at The Carolina Inn, a AAA Four Diamond Award Winner & Member of Historic Hotels of America.
We are conveniently located on the doorsteps of the University of North Carolina, in the heart of downtown Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The experience is one of world-class service, elegantly appointed guest accommodations, superb dining, outstanding meeting and banquet facilities, and an expert staff. The Carolina Inn is looking for a qualified individual to join our prestigious team as our Director of Catering.
PURPOSE OF THE POSITION:
Department leader who fosters a sales culture of driving revenues and maximizing property revenues. Strong focus on selling skills and a sense of customer urgency that meets the goals of the organization and surpasses customer expectations. Directs the day-to-day Catering department to achieve the property mission and revenue and service goals. Meets or exceeds department budgeted revenues, booking pace, and forecasting accuracy.
BASIC JOB FUNCTIONS:
• Guides department in the creation of a marketing plan and its deployment to discover new business opportunities in the social and corporate catering community. Develops tactics to find new customers and retain them. This includes tangible efforts in prospecting, sales calls, entertainment, and site inspections.
• Utilizes the tools of sales productivity reports, post-event surveys and letters, daily banquet event orders/pricing, set-up reports, manages night reports, to measure the effectiveness of training.
• Leader of Catering Sales with assigned markets, and insures both quantity and quality of sales and execution is commensurate with leadership.
• Ensures each member of the department executes all four business cycles (sales, pre-planning, execution, and post-event) at or above standard.
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This Just In...Mark Day Finally Does a Newsworthy Newsletter!!!
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Raising Your Professional Profile and Expanding your Business Offerings
