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Yesterday, as was presenting my seminar: Blogging Your Way To Business Success, I repeated a comment, made in one of my seminars at the NACE Educational Conference in Philadelphia, this past August.

An attendee commented: “Brides remain the same average age, about 27-28, but the longer you’re in the wedding industry, the larger the age gap. As you age, it can feel like the bride is getting younger.”

I thought that was an interesting perspective. It has impact both in my blogging seminar, and particularly in the seminar on New Social Media.

If you entered the wedding industry at 30, and are now 45 (for example), a 27-year old bride seems pretty young. As it relates to technology, brides and young professionals have been immersed in computers, mobile phones, PDAs, and all the accompanying business and social applications.

You have to age, chronologically, but you shouldn’t allow yourself to get left in the dust, technologically. I could see the fear in some people’s eyes, but they were there, trying to enhance their knowledge.

One other comment I received a few months ago, from an attendee in his early 30’s (paraphrasing): “You know your internet and marketing stuff, real well, for an old guy.” I thought that was a back-handed, but wonderful compliment.

So the challenge is: Are you falling further behind, or are you taking the time for continuing education to stay mentally-youthful (if that’s a word)?

Technorati Tags: blogging, brides age, continuing education, NACE, New Social Media

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written by Andy Ebon \\ tags: blogging, brides age, continuing education, NACE, New Social Media

Today, I have the pleasant task of presenting a seminar on blogging, and a dinner presentation on new social media, in sunny and beautiful Ventura, California.

As I write this post, I’m able to gaze out the picture window from the bar (coffee only, equal, and non-fat milk) across the green lawn, shrubbery and palm trees to the deep blue Pacific Ocean, and morning fog in the distance.

The wide variety of greenery, surrounding the lawn, masks Interstate 10, and its traffic noise. Barely audible, it sounds more like a waterfall than a highway.

Last evening, I had dinner with a close friend, who is a catering manager (imagine that). She has a wonderful job, at a great property, but suffers from something many of her peers do, all over the United States: understaffing.

Oh, she, and her staff, are getting it done, but it’s not pretty. When last interviewed by personnel, she made a very subtle and telling comment. “I never see the sun, anymore.”

She works in a stunning part of the country; the world in fact, and doesn’t see the sun. Translation and interpretation: She gets to work early enough, and leaves late enough, that there is little contact with the elements.

When taking a catering manager to lunch or coffee, I always made it a point to take them off-property, if at all possible. Primarily so I could have their full attention. I never imagined that they had become so cloistered that sun-depravation was now an issue.

Certainly, my friends in Las Vegas, working in city-size casino hotels, suffer some of the same symptoms.

So, while you’re working on relationship building, take a catering manager off-property, and get them reacquainted with daylight. You have no idea how much they will appreciate it.

Technorati Tags: blogging, daylight, New Social Media, Pacific Ocean, renewal, sunshine, Ventura NACE

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written by Andy Ebon \\ tags: blogging, daylight, New Social Media, Pacific Ocean, renewal, sunshine, Ventura NACE

Wedding Marketing Blogger, Andy Ebon, is on the road again. This time he’s headed to the Pierpont Inn, in beautiful Ventura, California The view from the Pierpont is so picturesque, one can see the Pacific Ocean just a few hundred yards away.

Andy will be presenting a 2-hour blogging seminar, beginning at 3pm on Tuesday, October 28th to members and guests of the Ventura Chatper of NACE. That same evening, he will be giving a shorter 30-40 minute presentation about exploring New Social Media.

There is still space available, both for the seminar and the general meeting. For details, just visit the Ventura NACE website.

Technorati Tags: Andy Ebon, blogging, New Social Media, Pierpont Inn, seminars, Ventura NACE, Wedding Marketing Blogger

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written by Andy Ebon \\ tags: Andy Ebon, blogging, New Social Media, Pierpont Inn, seminars, Ventura NACE, Wedding Marketing Blogger