Continuing Education: International Live Events Association (ILEA)

A lot of businesses ask me where to focus their time, money, and more on with regards to propelling themselves forward. My answer has been and will always be yourself.  Whether it’s spending money on marketing programs, print advertisement, or education, you want to make sure that the money that you’re putting into your business is showing you a return on your investment.

For me, the best place to do that is International Live Events Association (ILEA).  When I was working for House of Maya, I was an ILEA member, working with the communications committees and more, and now that I own my own company, it only made sense to continue my membership (I just renewed!).  I’m happy to announce that I’ll be the Vice-President of Communications for the 2016-2017 year starting July 1!

Not only do you have the opportunity to meet with amazing vendors in the event industry on a monthly basis, but most meetings have a fantastic educational component behind them.  May’s was all about wine – and we got to sample wines with each delicious course from The Oyster Farm at King’s Creek!

It was so much fun – we took a bus over to the Eastern Shore (it was my first time on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge after 29 years of living in Hampton Roads that I can recall), got to know each other better, networked for a bit, got new headshots, and then learned the ins and outs of wine and wine pairings from Matthew Wallace of Roanoke Valley Wine Company.

May is the membership drive.  We’ll be getting together on Wednesday, May 25 at Courtyard by Norfolk Marriott from 8am-4pm and Supper from 4pm-8pm to chat with anyone who might be interested in joining ILEA.  We hope to see you there!