February Video Message From SFBA President, Kristen Seaholm

February 2021 Newsletter President Video Transcript

Hello, Everyone! And welcome back for another round of What’s Up With WIPA and the San Francisco Bay Area Chapter, serving the greater Northern California region. I am your president, Kristen Seaholm, and we have a lot to cover this month, so let’s jump right in.

On February 2nd, we held our first education meeting of the year, with CPA David Chavez, where we tackled everything Taxes. It was a very informational meeting and we are so grateful to David and Amy for taking the time to speak to our group! This video, along with the incredibly helpful slides, are uploaded and now live in the WIPA SFBA Membership Library. While this meeting was free and open to all, you must be a member to access the library – just one of the many perks of being a WIPA member.

Additionally, coming up on Tuesday, February 23rd at 4 pm Pacific Timing, you will not want to miss out as we host our first Icebreaker networking event of the year, led by our Rockstar Director of Programs, Laura Brezel. This wonderful platform provides us all an opportunity to speed network in a fun and relaxed virtual manner and kickstart some conversations that we may not presently have an opportunity to otherwise. This event is free and open to non-members. This is also open to all WIPA chapters so if there are any non-SFBA WIPA members that would like to work in Northern California, this is a great opportunity to further build your greater San Francisco Bay Area community. Registration is now open so be sure to sign-up below.

For those of you that are looking for a little more education in your life, look no further than the WIPA Membership Library where you can watch past educational events from any WIPA chapter. For this month, our fabulous Director of Education, Diana Cardenas recommends you check out Start Changing or Stop Winning, by sales guru Cindy Novotny, coming from the SFBA archives. This is a great topic that will truly help you put your best foot forward and definitely still proves relevant today. You can find the link to this video HERE.

As we continue to dedicate ourselves in creating a Culture of Belonging, our Director of Diversity and Inclusion, the one and only Chanda Daniels, has hand-picked Arlan Hamilton as our February and March person to watch. Arlan used the fact that folks in the tech industry underestimated her as the motivation to thrive. Now she is a highly sought-after D&I speaker, author, as well as an investor in the tech industry. Arlan’s Instagram handle is listed below so please be sure to follow and check her out. @arlanwashere

Moving onto Covid Safety, our Safety Expert Maggie Panontin-Young has been diligently keeping up to date in ensuring you all have the best information available. Covid19 has made us think about event safety in ways we haven't had to before and the future of events will result in a more prominent focus on safety & health and thus an added layer in the planning process. So, what exactly does that look like…?

  • We have Contract and Pre-event Communication
  • Health Screening or a Testing Component at events
  • Transportation
  • PPE – face masks, face shields
  • Hand sanitizing –stations, individuals
  • Restrooms – proximity to event, frequency of cleaning
  • Elevators – with reduced capacity, moving guests may take longer
  • F&B – current trends
  • Room set-ups and ventilation

Furthermore, I'm sure we all think we have safe work-habits but have you thought about how far that goes during events; how you and your team impact the whole? Things to think about might include:

  • -Do you know where the emergency exits are at the venue?
  • Do you know how to properly don and more importantly remove gloves?
  • Where are the fire extinguishers, first aid and/AED?
  • Do you know how to use a fire extinguisher?
  • How close/far is the venue to emergency help?
  • Do you know how to respond in an emergency?

WIPA-SFBA would like to provide our members on-going pandemic updates and tips as they unfold. We want to prepare you to think about safety beforehand so it's "automatic" when it comes to your events. Then, in the event of an emergency, you and your team can be part of the solution and not one of the "victims." Begin thinking proactively about safety so that you can react calmly and safely in an emergency and determine whether your event might benefit from a safety advisor or expert on-site or advising through the planning process. Be sure to check out the helpful links below for more information and stay tuned as we continue to communicate additional covid safety measure and updates.

Now, calling all Event Professionals – Have you filled out our latest survey – Where Are You Now? If you missed it in our January Newsletter, you have another chance! We want to hear from you and see how the WIPA SFBA community can support. So, please fill out the survey below and let’s stay connected!

Also, for our WIPA SFBA members, you’ll soon be hearing from our new Membership Dream Team, Victoria Vaden, Jerry Schultz, and Catie Watkins, as they introduce themselves and want to learn more about you so we can support and promote. Be sure to fill out that member survey sooner than later, so we can promote you and your fabulous work!

Which this leads me to our February Member Spotlight! This one is near and dear to my heart as she was one of the very first event professionals I met coming into the wedding industry, now 8+ years ago. Michelle Walker of Michelle Walker Photography has a heart of gold and the work to back it up. Definitely check out her full spotlight below because if you don’t know her yet, you definitely need to!

Well, everyone, that wraps up this month’s round of What’s Up with WIPA and the SFBA Chapter. If you aren’t already, please be sure to follow us on social media, to stay up to date on everything there is to know about our community and industry. And, if you are interested in learning more about a WIPA membership, please contact our Membership Director, Jerry Schultz, or any one of us on the SFBA Board as we would love to chat with you further and see how we can best support and promote you and your business. Other than that, thank you for tuning in, stay safe out there, and we look forward to seeing you at the February 23rd Icebreaker event!

Have a great day!

Kristen Seaholm, WIPA SFBA President

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