EVENT-UAL EVOLUTION

 

The Place To Be

 

The Place To Be

Photo: jamestgelske.realtor

It seems I was not alone when, two years ago, I decided to make a move to Fort Lauderdale, Florida.  This fair city has recently earned honors in two polls, Huffington Post and Hopper.com, ranking top cities around the United States and Fort Lauderdale ranks a very respectable #4 in both.  Yep right up there in the top 10 of “Most Popular Summer Destination”.

As if that was not enough SmartAsset.com ranked Fort Lauderdale as one of the “Top 10 Most Affordable U.S. Travel Destinations” based on a three day weekend stay for a family of four. 

The tourism industry here is already doing very well and this sure to increase if past figures are an indication.  After all, Fort Lauderdale has had 65 consecutive months of growth, record occupancy levels, unprecedented tourism tax revenue, and the city is set to eclipse the 15,000,000 visitor mark by year’s end

Photo: showmanagement.com

This is certainly great news for the special event industry, the figures show that 4,300 jobs were created in the second quarter of this year!

Accessing the results from the Florida Department of Revenue the city is well ahead of the national average and is now improving faster than the nation’s economy on a whole.

All of this shows well but, how are things going so far as people moving, relocating to the Fort Lauderdale area?  Well this is very unscientific and is my own study…In the two years I have lived here, the majority of people I have met have only been in the area for less than three years so, I am not alone in thinking that this is the place to be!

 

We offer three kinds of service
GOOD-CHEAP-FAST

Truer words could not be spoken, or printed!
In today’s economy (WOW is that phrase getting old) everybody is looking for a deal. This could not be truer than in the event industry. Corporations, as well as individuals are holding onto the dollar until the last possible minute. Then faced with a deadline fly into action making panic calls and expecting event professionals to hop to and create miracles at a moment’s notice.

“I want fresh, I want new, I want excitement and I need a full proposal by tomorrow at noon!”

Of course we want your business and we are in the service industry to provide service. BUT, READ THE SIGN! As a designer it is my goal to provide you with your complete wish list but it cannot be done overnight without having time to fully research all of my resources.

GOOD service CHEAP won’t be FASTGive your designer time seek out the best product at the best price, this takes time, but, it will save you money.

GOOD service FAST won’t be CHEAP Without adequate time in normal hours, overtime comes into play as well as second guessing certain costs such as labor and materials. Without the time to figure these I will always estimate high. Another danger is that important items may be overlooked; say a generator or heaters for an outdoor event. This is not a good thing for you.

FAST service CHEAP won’t be GOOD
It takes TIME and MONEY to create an exciting and creative event, to rush this and cut corners will ALWAYS show.

I do want to add one more thing: Please be honest with your time-line. I was asked to put together a four day event with very specific needs, with only forty-eight hours notice. The client had, had, had to have it by that time. That was July, the event is in January. I spoke to the client rep in mid October and they still had not made a decision. Honestly, I could have done a better job with the design, with the pricing and with how I felt about the event had I been given a better time line in which to work.

One other way to look at this; think how great you look when you have an upcoming date and have the time to prepare the perfect ensemble...time to make choices and edit your style.  Now, think of how you look and feel if you wake up and realize that the power went out and you are late to work.  You throw on the closet thing you can find and slam out the door.  The result is that you feel off and out of kilter all day.  No one wants that feeling at their event!

I want to thank my Friend Doc Waldrop of Full Circle Lighting for sharing this photo taken by Chris Bernini.

 

Posted by: Jpatrick McCann Jpatrick Designs

WILT IT AWAY

WILT IT AWAY



Why oh why do restaurants continue to throw this wilted salad mess on a perfectly good plate of food?  This always looks, to me, like maybe some former patron did not finish their salad and so I got the leftovers!  Why not just serve a clean plate of attractively arranged food that was requested? 

The Comeback Kid

     Well Now, A lot has happened since my last blog post!  Most importantly a major move from Atlanta Georgia to Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Facilitating this move was a job offer from Joseph Vella and his company C2Eventz. 
     Another thing that occurred is, I rediscovered this blog!  I Had purchased a new laptop and with transferring data I had lost the link to it so, I will be getting back into posting on events and other cultural happenings.

     To get started here are some thoughts on Florida Design.

      I am settled in now and have totally embraced the South Florida Lifestyle.  The free and easy spirit here reflects the easy rolling of the ocean waves on a typical day... just go with the flow.

      My favorite design esthetic here is the Mid-Century modern style.  It is clean, non fussy and done correctly, it has a very simple elegance, done wrong it  can be down right kitschy!  Even though moving from Atlanta brought about scaling back on furnishings (moving from 3,700 square feet to 1,200) I still found when I got here that a lot of what I had just did not work.  So I sold or donated and started over with basically a clean slate.  Below are a few photos of my current lifestyle.

Now that I am back I am hoping to develop this site and offer useful advice to all of you.

CHEERS,

JP

"What Is That?"

"What Is That?"

I am absolutely amazed that there is still catering appearing on buffets with no description as to what it is.

In today's world of food allergies and the increased number of vegetarians, vegans, and "fruititarians" and other fad dietary trysts, it surprises  me that any facility, or caterer, would place food on a buffet without letting guests know what they may be putting on their plates and into their bodies.

I recently attended a function and the wife of a couple in front of me asked the question as her husband placed a fried ball of something on his plate;

 "What is that"
He picked up the small morsel, took a bite and replied.
"I'm not sure but it is pretty good."

Great to know that Mystery Food can be "pretty good" but that was luck, some grub can leave a really bad YECH on your palette if you choose to go into unexplored,or explained, gastronomical territory.

Come on Caterers and facilities, let's get with the program and get some labels on those buffets.

Might be nice to get away from the chafing dish too but, I won't go into that right now....

Cheers and good luck in the uncharted seas of buffet exploration!

 J Patrick McCann

Wedding Day Traditions

OLD SOUTHERN TRADITION WORKS!!  My bridal couple for today (11/10/12) was determined to have their wedding lakeside. 

A month ago they buried a bottle of bourbon (Makers Mark) at the wedding site, at Lake Lanier's Legacy Pointe, to bring good weather for the Wedding day and sure enough; after cold rainy weather this past few weeks....Today the forecast is sunny with a high of 71 degrees!

J Patrick McCann for J Patrick Designs