Latest / Wedding Pros who are ready to grow - with Becca Pountney / Lessons learnt at Wedding MBA!

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Lessons learnt at Wedding MBA! · Wedding Pros who are ready to grow - with Becca Pountney

• 0:00
  Becca: People say that everything in Las Vegas is bigger,
• 0:03
  brighter and beyond expectation.
• 0:06
  And having spent a week there, I can tell you that that's absolutely true.
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  And even the wedding industry is bigger, brighter and beyond
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  expectation when it comes to Las Vegas and being a wedding MBA.
• 0:18
  I'm Becca Pountney, wedding business marketing expert, speaker, and blogger,
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  and you're listening to the Wedding Pros Who Are Ready to Grow podcast.
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  I'm here to share with you actionable tips, strategies, and real life
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  examples to help you take your wedding business to the next level.
• 0:34
  If you are an ambitious wedding business owner that wants to take your passion
• 0:37
  and use it to build a profitable, sustainable business, doing what you
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  love, then you're in the right place.
• 0:43
  Let's get going with today's episode.
• 0:46
  I spent the last week out in Las Vegas attending Wedding MBA.
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  If you've never heard of it before, it's essentially the biggest wedding
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  industry conference in the world.
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  Last week, 5, 800 wedding professionals descended into Las
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  Vegas for this year's conference.
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  There were 5, 800 people in a room and I absolutely loved it.
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  Think photographers, DJs, celebrants, florists, cake makers, venue owners, and
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  some of the most incredible speakers that you're ever going to hear in the industry.
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  It was magnificent.
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  It's been on my bucket list to get over to wedding MBA for quite a number of
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  years now, and it did not disappoint.
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  I loved it.
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  You know that I love being in a room with other wedding pros.
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  You know that that is where I thrive and it definitely did not disappoint.
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  So in today's episode, I wanted to share with you some of my experience out at
• 1:35
  wedding MBA, some of the things I learned, and while I was out there, I recorded
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  some people giving their thoughts too.
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  So I'm going to share those with you later on in this episode.
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  So first up, why did I decide to go to Wedding MBA?
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  Well, first of all, I wanted to go and experience the event.
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  We have nothing of that size or scale here in the UK, and I'd heard that it was
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  big and I'd heard that it was amazing.
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  And so I wanted to go and get inspired, see what's going on in the
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  education world, in the wedding world.
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  out in the United States and see how much further ahead
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  they are than here in the UK.
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  I wanted to relish the opportunity to be in the room
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  with so many other wedding pros.
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  I knew I could make some great connections and chat with people.
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  And the other kind of a little bit selfish reason really was that I knew so many
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  of my educator friends, people who've been on this very podcast that you've
• 2:23
  heard, were all going to be in Las Vegas.
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  on the same week.
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  Now they are based all over the States and therefore it's hard for
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  me to ever meet them in real life.
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  So the fact that all of my online friends were going to be in one city
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  for one week of the year, it was an absolute no brainer for me to go out
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  there and give them all a massive hug.
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  I hugged everyone.
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  I loved it.
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  It was so good to meet these people in real life, hang out
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  and realize on the podcast.
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  I'm a big believer of being in the room.
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  So the first takeaway that I want to share with you from Wedding MBA
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  was the importance of getting out of your own house and being in the room
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  with other wedding professionals.
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  I know there are some incredible online summits.
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  I love online summits.
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  I love being part of them, but nothing.
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  And I mean, nothing beats being in a room and being able to hug people, being
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  able to chat to people, being able to talk over a cup of coffee or over a
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  croissant, it's so much better than just being stuck behind your computer online.
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  So my first takeaway is that if it's been a while since you've been out to
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  a networking event or been out to a conference, I really recommend that
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  you get out your comfort zone and go.
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  Now lots of people said to me, you really traveling the other side of the world to
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  go to this wedding industry conference.
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  Do you really need to go all the way to Las Vegas?
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  to do this.
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  And my answer having been is absolutely yes.
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  I would have traveled double the length of time to get there because to be in the
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  room with that many inspiring people to talk about business was so, so worth it.
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  The networking and the people you meet at an industry conference is another level.
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  So my first thing is if you have not been to something for a little while.
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  And you're realizing you're spending more of your time
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  inside than outside networking.
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  Then I want you to find an event to go to next year.
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  Perhaps that's a networking event.
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  Perhaps it's a wedding expo, or perhaps you should come out to
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  Vegas with me next year as well.
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  One of my favorite parts of Wedding MBA was the expo.
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  I actually spent a lot of time in the expo more so than in
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  some of the educational talks.
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  Because one of my aims for going out to Vegas was to find out what software
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  is going on out in America that maybe some of my UK wedding pros, you guys
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  could use in your businesses that would make your business easier.
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  Now there were over 250 exhibits in the expo.
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  So there was plenty of people to talk to a wide mixture of different
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  people, but there were so many different software companies.
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  So I spent my time going around talking to the different software companies,
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  trying to find out what they Did, what they were helping people with and how I
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  thought it could help you back in the uk.
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  Now, some of those softwares are not yet available in the UK sadly, but they
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  are looking to it, and I think after my conversations with them, hopefully
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  it'll go up there to do list as well.
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  But I think it's really important for all of us to keep on top
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  of trends, to keep on top of.
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  software to find out what's coming and how we can do better in our
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  businesses, because it's easy to get stuck in a rut and to do things
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  the same way all of the time.
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  uses the same piece of software.
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  Actually, there are things out there being designed all of the time that are going to
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  make your lives easier, your jobs easier.
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  So it's really important to get on top of those.
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  And I'll be sharing some of those different pieces of software.
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  Some of the people I met.
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  over the coming weeks on the podcast and on Instagram and in my Facebook
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  group, especially as and when they're launched here in the UK.
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  But it's a reminder really to, if there's a job you're doing a lot of the time in
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  your business, look at whether or not there's someone out there or something out
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  there, a piece of software that can help you with that, make your life easier and.
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  Automate it.
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  And again, get out there and do your research because I was amazed at how
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  many pieces of software there are out there that I didn't even know existed.
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  There's some other parts of Vegas that really stood out to me and were a good
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  reminder to me in my own business and hopefully will serve as a good reminder
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  to you in your business as well.
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  Do you ever feel like you're posting on Instagram, posting on
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  Facebook, writing emails to people?
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  For putting stuff out there, being visible online and you feel like no one sees
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  it or it maybe feels like just the same people are seeing it over and over again.
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  The same few people are commenting.
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  Your mom's always there with the first like, and sometimes you feel
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  like, why am I even doing this?
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  Is there any point to this?
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  Is this helping me in my business?
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  Is anyone seeing all of this helpful information that I'm
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  putting out there, or for me, is anyone listening to this podcast?
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  Now I know that we know that there are people because I can look at
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  my podcast figures and I can see numbers in the hundreds or thousands.
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  I can look at my Instagram or my Facebook post and you do the same,
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  and it'll say, 500 people viewed this.
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  But we don't really quantify that in our heads.
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  I think it's hard for us to imagine 500 people looking at it, and sometimes
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  we can get a bit downhearted and feel like we're working really hard
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  and no one is taking any notice.
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  Well for me, Las Vegas was an incredible confidence boost in an unexpected
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  way because I landed in Vegas.
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  I had a great weekend.
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  I went down to get my badge and I was collecting my lanyard on the first
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  day and all of a sudden this voice just went, are you Becca Pountney?
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  So I looked at her and I was like, yes.
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  Yes, I am.
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  I'm Becca Pountney.
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  How do you know who I am?
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  And she said to me, I love your podcast.
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  I've taken your courses.
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  I just love everything you do.
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  I'm so excited that you're here in Vegas.
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  I'm so excited to meet you.
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  We had a big hug.
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  We had a big catch up.
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  And it was a real reminder to me that actually people do see what we do.
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  People do see that we're visible, even in unexpected ways.
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  And actually, as I went around the conference, I met loads of people
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  that had listened to my podcast or had heard my teaching, or had heard me as
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  a guest on other people's podcasts.
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  And it was a real reminder that actually, yes, just because people aren't always
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  commenting or sending us an email saying that they're listening to us, or they're
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  not necessarily liking our posts even on social media, it doesn't mean that they're
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  not watching, learning, growing, being.
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  Being inspired, understanding.
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  And so when you're feeling a little bit downhearted about your own
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  visibility, remember every bit of visibility counts and people are
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  seeing it and people are inspired.
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  And trust me, your clients will go and they will Instagram stalk you.
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  They will look all over your website while they try to work out whether or
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  not they want to work with you or not.
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  So just because they're not liking those posts or just because they're
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  not commenting on those posts doesn't mean that they're not looking at them
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  and making a judgment on your business.
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  So if you're feeling a little bit down, a bit like before I went to
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  Vegas, just remember this story and remember actually people are
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  out there and people are looking.
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  While I was out in Vegas, I met with loads and loads of different wedding pros.
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  I was interviewing people for this very podcast episode.
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  I was chatting to people everywhere I went.
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  I was talking with the speakers.
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  And one thing that really struck me was the importance
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  of that continuing education.
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  There were people in that room that had only just gone into business, there
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  were people in that room who had been in business many, many years, there were
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  people in that room who were speaking and had been in business for many, many years.
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  However, there is always something new to learn.
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  There is always something new to bring into your business.
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  Whether you're on the stage or whether you're brand new to business, you may
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  have an idea that nobody else has, and you may have a gap in your business that
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  nobody else has, and that is why it's so important in your business and in your
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  wedding industry to keep on investing in education, to keep on learning and to.
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  be a sponge.
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  When you go to a conference like that, you know, there'll be sessions
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  that are more helpful to you than others, but just because they're
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  not helpful to you doesn't mean they weren't helpful to somebody else.
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  And it may just be one tiny little nugget from one little speaker that
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  you implement into your business that can transform absolutely everything.
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  So if you feel like you've maybe.
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  lacks a little bit when it comes to your own personal development, continuing
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  education, then again, it's a reminder to you that you never know everything.
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  None of us ever know everything, and there's always more to learn.
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  So make sure when you look forward to 2024, as you start to plan out next
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  year, that you're ensuring that you have got that educational piece to your
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  business, that you are keeping up with trends, that you are keeping up with
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  social media and marketing, that you are.
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  Going to conferences, listening to podcasts, doing trainings, being in
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  memberships and keeping yourself up to date because every single one of us has
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  more that we can learn and more ways that we can improve and develop our businesses.
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  The other part of that is that we need to make sure that we're
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  doing and not just learning.
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  I think it's really easy to go to a conference and sit and absorb and hear
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  what the speakers are saying and hear what people are telling you and hear what
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  the exhibitors are saying to you and then going home and just cracking on with life.
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  Actually, if you don't implement anything that anyone says,
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  nothing's going to change.
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  As I always say, if nothing changes, nothing changes.
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  So when you do invest in education, when you do learn something, it's
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  really important you then work out, okay, what are my steps with this?
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  What are the action steps that I'm going to take now to make this a
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  difference in my business, which things from these talks can I take away and
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  think, yeah, I can run with that.
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  I'm going to take that piece of information and this is what I'm going
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  to do so that when you get to the same time next year, you can reflect and
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  think, okay, I went to that conference.
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  I learned this and this is the impact it's had on my business because these
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  are the number of things I changed and these of how they've helped me to grow.
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  So again, if you are investing in personal development and education, you
• 11:31
  also need to make sure you're taking.
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  action.
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  Now, as I mentioned earlier, one of the things I did while I was out at the
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  conference this year was to go around the room and chat with my speaker
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  friends to chat with random people that I bumped into in the crowd and
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  ask them about what their big takeaways were from this year's conference.
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  I knew that lots of my listeners weren't able to be there in person.
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  So I wanted to hear from other people, the little nuggets, the little things
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  that they'd been learning, what they'd gained from being there at Wedding MBA
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  so that they could share them with you.
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  So in a moment, I'm going to hand over to all of them.
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  They're going to introduce themselves and they're going to talk about what it
• 12:09
  is that they learned over the last week.
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  Now, please do bear with me with the sound quality.
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  As you can imagine, I was recording on my phone in a conference of 5, 800 people.
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  There was lots of background noise.
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  There was lots going on.
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  So not all of the sound quality is perfect.
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  But I think what they're saying is more important than the sound quality.
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  So try and not let that distract you.
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  Buckle in and let's hear what everyone has to say about what they
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  learned this week at Wedding MBA.
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  Emma: My name is Emma Cockerham with Infinity Events based
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  out of Memphis, Tennessee.
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  And the biggest thing that I learned here at the Wedding MBA is about timeline
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  genius and how it can enhance my business.
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  Alan: Hi, it's Alan Berg here at the Wedding MBA.
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  And the one thing I want you to take away is.
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  You need to follow up at least one more time than you're doing right now, because
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  if they haven't told you, no, it doesn't mean that they booked somebody else.
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  And if you don't ask, the answer is always no.
• 13:03
  Andrea: Hey, I'm Andrea Shah and I'm a copywriter for wedding pros.
• 13:06
  And this year at wedding MBA, one of the favorite things that I learned,
• 13:10
  Was from Paulina Yang who talked about how luxury is all about selling
• 13:15
  a fantasy and all of your marketing content needs to reflect that
• 13:19
  Gracie: Hi, I'm Gracie Silva, and I am the Boho Chic Dreams floral designer
• 13:23
  owner based in Santa Barbara, California and one thing that I learned today at
• 13:29
  the wedding MBA and over the last few days is that make sure to be authentic
• 13:33
  and be to your clients and find vendors that support their goals and their
• 13:40
  visions and, , design authentically.
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  I think being authentic is probably the most important thing.
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  Kathy: I'm Kathy from I Do Decorating and Rental Service, located in Wisconsin.
• 13:54
  My biggest takeaway from Wedding MBA so far is that I need to be more
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  organic in our hosting on social media, doing time lapse videos.
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  photos, gathering lots more information while we are at work.
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  People want to see the behind the scenes.
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  Info as much as the end product.
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  Celia: Hi, I'm Celia from the Wellbeing Farm in Lancashire, UK, and I have
• 14:22
  come over to the Wedding MBA to just learn new things, to be completely
• 14:29
  surrounded in inspiration, what's going on in the States, to see the
• 14:32
  new food and drink trends coming out.
• 14:35
  The AI session was incredible being delivered from a U.
• 14:40
  S.
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  perspective.
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  And my goodness, is this worth coming to
• 14:44
  Ben: what's up the UK worlds?
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  This has Ben here from
• 14:47
  photo booth.
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  That's G I F Y Y Y.
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  Three Y's there.
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  All right.
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  What I love about wedding MBA is meeting amazing people like Becca.
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  It's a networking, it's getting around, it's seeing what's up and
• 14:59
  what's going on in the industry.
• 15:01
  Yeah, I really appreciate that.
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  And that's, that's an important part of your business is to be connected.
• 15:05
  Jasmine: Hi, I'm Jasmine.
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  I'm representing my company, Jasmine and company.
• 15:09
  We're a wedding planning firm in Orange County, California.
• 15:12
  Let's see the biggest takeaway I have from wedding MBA is not only the motivation
• 15:16
  and the inspiration to take my business to the next level, but I think I've got.
• 15:20
  Some real actionable items and tools to make it happen.
• 15:24
  Janae: I'm Janae from Cake and Crumble, a gluten free luxury wedding
• 15:28
  cake company in Seattle, Washington.
• 15:31
  And I think what I am learning most about being at the wedding MBA is
• 15:36
  how important networking with other vendors with other tracks is because you
• 15:41
  really learn more about their stories, what they do at the wedding and the.
• 15:48
  part that you play in that story.
• 15:50
  So a wedding planner is building a story for their clients and for the guests,
• 15:56
  and you are one of the storylines.
• 15:59
  And so how can you best work together?
• 16:02
  And I think the more that you know about what other vendors are doing, the
• 16:07
  more you come across as an authority in your own field for your wedding couple.
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  And when you, when you seem to be an authority on the subject, they just trust
• 16:18
  you and they let you do their thing.
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  They stop questioning you.
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  They stop nickel and diming you and they just want what you have.
• 16:26
  And so I appreciate, of course, everything that I'm learning from, you know, the
• 16:31
  cake and the catering and any food industry bits, but I'm really soaking
• 16:36
  up a lot of the information that's coming from planners and florists.
• 16:40
  and photographers and just really, really that engagement and recognizing
• 16:46
  that we're all in this together.
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  We all have the same failures and the same fears.
• 16:52
  Connecting with other people has been just a fantastic
• 16:55
  experience and I love being here.
• 16:57
  Jenny: Hi, my name is Jenny McAlpine and I'm a wedding planner in
• 17:01
  Kelowna, British Columbia and Canada.
• 17:04
  I'm here for my seventh time at wedding MBA and This time, one thing that
• 17:11
  I really wanted to focus on was how to automate more, how to have less
• 17:16
  overwhelm in my life, more calmness, more clarity, more organization.
• 17:21
  And that is my biggest focus this year.
• 17:26
  Joshua: My name is Joshua.
• 17:27
  I'm the manager of the Goldsboro event center from Goldsboro, North Carolina.
• 17:31
  I'm here at the wedding NBA.
• 17:32
  I think my biggest takeaway from all of my sessions so far as I know
• 17:37
  that my business is just going to thrive even better than it has been.
• 17:41
  So the first thing I'm going to implement when I get back to my
• 17:44
  venue is going to be more, real life pictures instead of just stage pictures.
• 17:51
  Leah: Hi, this is Leah Weinberg from Oduberg Law and Legally
• 17:54
  Set reporting from Wedding MBA.
• 17:57
  My biggest takeaway from the conference is to charge your worth.
• 18:01
  We all bring something unique to the table and understanding your value is critical.
• 18:06
  And don't worry about what other people are doing.
• 18:09
  You do you, charge accordingly.
• 18:11
  And I promise you, you're going to hit that point in your
• 18:14
  business when you can just.
• 18:16
  sell your, you know, your value, you're confident in your business and you're
• 18:19
  able just to sell yourself really easily.
• 18:22
  Leslie: Hello, this is Leslie from Morningside Inn in Frederick, Maryland.
• 18:26
  And, this has been a great show.
• 18:27
  We've learned a lot.
• 18:29
  And I would say my biggest takeaway is easily to pay more
• 18:34
  attention to the numbers of our business to do more analysis.
• 18:39
  On, when we're selling weddings, how we're selling weddings and, the
• 18:43
  package pricing that we're offering.
• 18:46
  Margeaux: Hi there.
• 18:47
  I'm Margeaux with the Wedding Summit Series, a free online
• 18:51
  summit for wedding pros.
• 18:52
  Join our money edition, December 4th through 6th, free online.
• 18:58
  I spoke in the planner track about my worst.
• 19:01
  Client ever and how it's skyrocketed my business when I hope people take
• 19:05
  away from my talk and wedding MBA in general is That whatever you
• 19:10
  are experiencing as a wedding pro.
• 19:12
  I know it feels like it's only happening to you, but it's not It's
• 19:17
  happening to all of us client angst is up concerns about money are up.
• 19:22
  We are all experiencing it So I hope people walk away with some tips and
• 19:27
  strategies to help combat that And know that you are in a community of
• 19:32
  wedding pros that are here for you.
• 19:34
  Anna: Hi there, I'm Anna Coates, the editor of Marry Me Tampa Bay.
• 19:37
  We are a regional publication in Florida.
• 19:40
  My biggest takeaway from Wedding MBA is the continuing education.
• 19:44
  It's so important to realize not just what's happening in your
• 19:46
  area, but what's happening in the wedding industry in general.
• 19:48
  And Wedding MBA is the perfect avenue for that.
• 19:53
  Hey there, I'm Megan Neely with OFD Consulting.
• 19:55
  I'm a wedding publicist.
• 19:56
  And more recently a wedding MBA speaker.
• 19:59
  And there's so many takeaways while I'm here, but I think the biggest
• 20:02
  thing that I've been pushing and I hope people understand is it's
• 20:04
  all about visibility for next year.
• 20:06
  Right now, we're in sort of uneven times and I want people to embrace
• 20:10
  visibility strategies, whether that's pr, marketing, social media.
• 20:14
  Take a look at what you're doing, audit your efforts, and just
• 20:17
  really prioritize being visible in front of the right markets.
• 20:22
  Renee: Hi, it's Renee Dalo.
• 20:23
  And, I have a bunch of businesses.
• 20:25
  Which one do you want to know about?
• 20:25
  Moxie Bright Events, Talk with Renee Dalo, Better with Renee Dalo.
• 20:28
  One thing I want people to take away from what I talked about today or this
• 20:32
  week, for planners, I want them to take away that the timeline is a collaborative
• 20:35
  document and it is not a dictatorship, but it is a community document.
• 20:41
  Sarah: Hello, I'm Sarah from Sarah Does SEO.
• 20:42
  I'm going to be speaking on the wedding MBA stage later today.
• 20:46
  My biggest takeaway from MBA so far is that wedding pros.
• 20:50
  Should start using many chat to start automating some Instagram responses.
• 20:56
  Terrica: Hey, I am Terrica, a wedding industry educator, coach, and speaker.
• 21:01
  The one thing that I want you to know about wedding MBA and using
• 21:05
  everything it is that you have learned.
• 21:07
  It's that you're worth it, whatever it is that you want to do your gift,
• 21:11
  your art that you provide to tell the love story of your couples.
• 21:15
  You are worth every penny that you charge and more.
• 21:18
  So please invoice them for it.
• 21:21
  Meredith: Hey flower friends.
• 21:22
  This is Meredith from the flower cart in Carrollton, Georgia.
• 21:25
  I'm so excited to be here at wedding MBA.
• 21:27
  The most I'm taking back from this.
• 21:29
  Is pricing transparency.
• 21:31
  Can't wait to bring it back home to Carrollton.
• 21:34
  Jessica: My name is Jessica Bishop and I'm the founder of thebudgetsavvybride.
• 21:38
  com and host of the Bouquet Toss podcast.
• 21:41
  And this is my first time attending Wedding MBA.
• 21:44
  And I would say my biggest takeaway is just the value of in person networking
• 21:48
  and building relationships with other talented wedding pros in this industry.
• 21:53
  It's just invaluable to get that face-to-face.
• 21:55
  Time to make those connections.
• 21:58
  Jonathan: Hey, my name is Jonathan Eammon.
• 21:59
  I'm the host of the Venue Rx podcast and also the CEO and founder of WEVA which
• 22:05
  is a wedding and event venue association and, really excited to be here.
• 22:09
  Becca: And what's the one thing you've taken away from wedding NBA or you want
• 22:12
  people to take away from wedding MBA
• 22:14
  Jonathan: wedding mBA is a really.
• 22:15
  Awesome opportunity to connect with people, you know, of course, there's
• 22:18
  amazing seminars and sessions and things like that you can attend.
• 22:21
  But I've really found value out of the connections that I've made
• 22:24
  for the people that I've met.
• 22:25
  And that is something that I think is really special and something
• 22:28
  I hope people take away, as they meet people in the halls and in the
• 22:31
  exhibit hall and all the conferences.
• 22:34
  Haley: Hey y'all.
• 22:34
  My name is Haley and I'm with Lion Hills Vineyard right outside Atlanta, Georgia.
• 22:38
  One thing I learned from Wedding MBA is that it's not just one size fits all.
• 22:42
  You have to figure out what works best for your couples.
• 22:45
  Make sure to follow us on Instagram to see our beautiful couples and
• 22:48
  wedding inspo at Lion Hills Vineyard.
• 22:51
  Thanks y'all.
• 22:52
  Shannon: Hi, this is Shannon, the conference director and vice
• 22:55
  president of the Wedding MBA.
• 22:57
  It's a wrap right now.
• 22:59
  We are so excited because we had the best wedding MBA ever.
• 23:03
  We had 5, 800 attendees that all met each other with close to 240
• 23:09
  booths, so breaking them down right now, and it was a huge success.
• 23:13
  I think the best thing for me are the people, all the people that you
• 23:17
  meet, the people you connect with and what you learn along the way.
• 23:22
  Becca: I loved it.
• 23:22
  Thank you, Shannon, as well for finishing off the podcast in style.
• 23:26
  She does an incredible job pulling this huge conference together,
• 23:30
  and I know that she's already starting to make plans for 2024.
• 23:34
  I hope that you've enjoyed hearing a little bit more about my experience
• 23:38
  out in Las Vegas, what I learned, what I felt inspired to share with you,
• 23:42
  and also to hear from the speakers and the attendees and Shannon herself
• 23:46
  about what they learned at Wedding MBA.
• 23:47
  Hopefully there's something.
• 23:48
  In there for you.
• 23:50
  I hope to be back at Wedding MBA next year, hopefully sharing my marketing
• 23:54
  knowledge with each and every one of you.
• 23:56
  And you know what?
• 23:57
  I think some of you should come with me next year.
• 23:59
  So watch this space for more details on next year's trip to Las Vegas.
• 24:04
  I'll see you next time.