Latest / Wedding Pros who are ready to grow - with Becca Pountney / Behind the scenes of Wedding MBA with Shannon Underwood!

Transcript

Behind the scenes of Wedding MBA with Shannon Underwood! · Wedding Pros who are ready to grow - with Becca Pountney

• 0:00
  Shannon: You've already got that customer.
• 0:01
  If less people are getting married, that means it's simple math.
• 0:05
  If you want to continue to make.
• 0:07
  A good living, you're going to have to make more money from each wedding
• 0:11
  if there's less weddings overall.
• 0:12
  So we definitely help you do that both on the education side and then
• 0:16
  also on the exhibitors for sure.
• 0:20
  Becca: I'm Becca Pountney, wedding business, marketing expert,
• 0:23
  speaker, and blogger, and you're listening to the wedding pros
• 0:26
  who are ready to grow podcast.
• 0:28
  I'm here to share with you actionable tips, strategies, and real life
• 0:31
  examples to help you take your wedding business to the next level.
• 0:35
  If you are an ambitious wedding business owner that wants to take your passion
• 0:39
  and use it to build a profitable, sustainable business, doing what you
• 0:42
  love, then you're in the right place.
• 0:44
  Let's get going with today's episode.
• 0:47
  Today I'm joined by Shannon Underwood, Vice President and Conference
• 0:51
  Director of the Wedding MBA.
• 0:53
  If you've listened to my podcast previously, you'll have heard me talk
• 0:55
  all about that big wedding industry conference I attended in Vegas last year.
• 0:59
  Well, that was Wedding MBA, so I'm thrilled to be chatting with
• 1:02
  Shannon for today's episode.
• 1:04
  With 200 exhibitors, over 150 educational seminars and thousands
• 1:08
  of attendees, this event for wedding pros is the biggest in the world.
• 1:12
  Today, she's going to give us a little sneak peek behind the scenes of what
• 1:15
  goes into organizing such a huge event and why it's worth all of you attending.
• 1:20
  Shannon, welcome to the podcast.
• 1:22
  Shannon: Thank you so much for having me.
• 1:23
  So happy to be here.
• 1:26
  Becca: I am so happy to have you on here.
• 1:28
  I will never forget.
• 1:29
  We met when I came out to Vegas and I said to my friend, I was like, I'm going to
• 1:33
  look out for Shannon who runs this event.
• 1:36
  And the first person I bumped into when I walked in to register for my badge.
• 1:40
  was you.
• 1:40
  and, it was a pleasure to be there.
• 1:42
  It was a pleasure to come out to Vegas.
• 1:44
  Anna, I'm really excited for my audience to meet you today and to
• 1:48
  find out a little bit more about Wedding MBA and what goes into
• 1:52
  organizing such a huge, amazing event.
• 1:55
  So take me back.
• 1:56
  How did Wedding MBA start?
• 1:58
  When did it start?
• 1:59
  And how did it start its life?
• 2:00
  Shannon: Wedding MBA started 17 years ago, actually in Phoenix.
• 2:06
  So our first wedding MBA was at the Phoenix convention center.
• 2:09
  And we had about 300 attendees, maybe two exhibitors.
• 2:15
  I don't know any exhibits really the first year we might've had our own booth.
• 2:20
  And it was.
• 2:23
  It was small, but we were figuring things out and hush, it was so exciting that we
• 2:30
  just had to continue doing it each year.
• 2:32
  Becca: Love that.
• 2:32
  And what's so funny and will be funny to my listeners is you talk about it and you
• 2:36
  say, you know, we started 17 years ago.
• 2:38
  It was so small.
• 2:39
  There's only 300 people.
• 2:41
  I can tell you, Shannon, that the biggest conferences here in the UK,
• 2:45
  we only have about 150 to 200 people.
• 2:47
  So to us, 300 people already sounds like a huge amount of people.
• 2:52
  So tell us, so 300 people in the first one.
• 2:56
  Now, what do you expect typically at a wedding MBA?
• 2:59
  Shannon: We expect between 5, 500 and 6, 000 attendees and we'll
• 3:05
  probably be about 225 booths or so, so it's gonna be a big one.
• 3:10
  Becca: What an amazing expansion.
• 3:12
  So where did the idea come from?
• 3:13
  Why did you decide to do that first wedding MBA?
• 3:16
  Why did you decide to do an educational conference?
• 3:18
  Shannon: You know, it's interesting.
• 3:20
  We are a family run business and my parents, Had gotten their start in
• 3:24
  wedding photography and videography.
• 3:27
  Actually, that was my dad's first job starting in high school.
• 3:31
  And so they actually had run a videography convention.
• 3:36
  It was called wedding MBA.
• 3:38
  But totally different audience many years before that.
• 3:43
  So we had felt like at this point, there was room and need for an all industry
• 3:50
  conference where the education really got ramped up with our start in bridal shows.
• 3:57
  We noticed there were a lot of really talented, talented wedding
• 4:00
  pros that just weren't making money.
• 4:03
  They weren't staying in business.
• 4:05
  We would see these sad stories of someone that was just so creative
• 4:09
  that just really couldn't monetize their creativity and their hard work.
• 4:13
  So that's really what inspired us were our exhibitors at the time.
• 4:17
  And we had America's largest bridal show that we had sold, you know, some years
• 4:22
  back now, but that was our inspiration.
• 4:25
  Becca: And so you started out in Phoenix and obviously now the events in Las Vegas.
• 4:29
  So at what point did that change happen?
• 4:31
  And, and why Vegas?
• 4:32
  Shannon: Why Vegas?
• 4:33
  We just really outgrew our Phoenix area both just the facility in terms
• 4:39
  of being able to see enough people and then just things to do, there's so many.
• 4:44
  So much to do in Las Vegas and we really felt like if we were going to
• 4:48
  make this thing big, we needed to go somewhere where everyone wanted to be.
• 4:52
  We needed an international destination and Vegas is definitely that right spot.
• 4:58
  Becca: Yeah, absolutely.
• 4:58
  Although I found when I flew out because I flew out to Vegas last year,
• 5:01
  I flew on a Friday night and I had my laptop because I wanted to do some
• 5:05
  work on the plane and everyone else on the plane, it felt like was on a
• 5:09
  or bachelorette party coming over.
• 5:12
  from the UK, and there's me, like, sitting, doing my work on the plane.
• 5:15
  So it's definitely the party city, but It was a great location, a great place
• 5:20
  to be able to come and a great place for people to meet because I was talking
• 5:24
  to people who'd flown from all over the world and you know, even people from
• 5:27
  within the States, it almost taken them as long as it did for me to fly over.
• 5:31
  So it's a perfect destination for us.
• 5:34
  We fly to, the English love Las Vegas, the English fly to Las Vegas all the time.
• 5:38
  Oh, I love it.
• 5:39
  So there's lots of people.
• 5:40
  Shannon: Oh, I love it.
• 5:42
  And it's fun to compare the flight out versus the flight back.
• 5:46
  Like our wedding MBA attendees, they feel really good about themselves
• 5:49
  because they're there more for business and they kind of stay
• 5:52
  away from, you know, the craziness.
• 5:54
  They have fun, but it's not too crazy, but they always sort of laugh at
• 5:59
  people as they're going home, right?
• 6:00
  Like they go out, they're so excited and then they come back and they're just.
• 6:03
  Yeah.
• 6:04
  are just tired and hungover.
• 6:07
  So they're sort of looking at him and laughing and saying, I learned a lot.
• 6:12
  What did you, what did you do?
• 6:13
  So yeah, we, I totally get what you're saying.
• 6:16
  Becca: It was, it was a, it was a great trip.
• 6:18
  It's a great city and a great place to be and a lot of fun.
• 6:21
  And obviously a lot of wedding inspiration there.
• 6:23
  Again, lots of people come out from the UK to go and get married in Vegas.
• 6:26
  I know last year there was a, you did a, Awesome.
• 6:28
  People did a tour of the chapels in Las Vegas as well.
• 6:31
  So, you know, it's, it's the place that people think of when
• 6:34
  they think of weddings too.
• 6:37
  Shannon: Absolutely.
• 6:38
  Becca: So over the years, Wedding MBA has obviously evolved
• 6:41
  from what it was originally.
• 6:43
  As you look forward to this event coming up in 2025, where have you got to now?
• 6:47
  What are your aims with the business and how do you see this year's events?
• 6:51
  Shannon: Everything's changing, right?
• 6:53
  So I think that our attendees feel a lot of pressure to get better quality
• 6:59
  leads to close those leads because things have slowed down a little bit for them.
• 7:04
  So education becomes increasingly more important.
• 7:09
  For that reason, they see more competitors pop up, whether it's another venue down
• 7:13
  the street or another planner that they're trying to compete with, or a DJ that
• 7:18
  just decided to do this as a side job.
• 7:20
  They really are feeling that pressure to really, I think, ram things up.
• 7:24
  So Wedding MBA is there to help.
• 7:27
  They're there to help both on The education side, and then also the
• 7:31
  exhibit side, you know, what is it that we can offer on a wholesale side that
• 7:35
  might be able to be added to packages so that you can monetize, you know,
• 7:40
  you've already got that customer.
• 7:42
  If less people are getting married, that means it's simple math and we want to
• 7:45
  continue our lifestyle and, and continue as a wedding pro to continue to make.
• 7:52
  A good living.
• 7:53
  You're going to have to make more money from each wedding if
• 7:56
  there's less weddings overall.
• 7:57
  So we definitely help you do that both on the education side and then
• 8:01
  also on the exhibitors for sure.
• 8:04
  Becca: And I'm sure you see attendees coming back year after
• 8:07
  year after year because there's always something new to learn.
• 8:10
  There's always something new to see and I talk a lot about helping people be 1
• 8:14
  percent better than their competitors, like finding the new things, finding the
• 8:17
  new inspiration, looking at what they do.
• 8:19
  So, you know, I'm guessing your people that come back, they come back because
• 8:24
  they're always learning something new and it's worth them attending year after year.
• 8:27
  Shannon: Absolutely.
• 8:28
  And we're starting a new fun pilot program this year where we're
• 8:32
  doing some hands on education, which we're really excited about.
• 8:36
  We're starting it in a smaller way this year, and then hopefully for the following
• 8:40
  year, it will be something really big.
• 8:42
  So I think there's increasing evidence that people want to do things that are
• 8:47
  hands on and so exciting and just to kind of be part of the presentation.
• 8:53
  So you'll see a little bit of that.
• 8:55
  This year with some contests we have going on and then some live
• 8:59
  hands on demo, which will be so fun.
• 9:02
  And then you'll see if things go well, which I think that it will, then you'll
• 9:05
  see a continuation and expansion of that moving into the following years.
• 9:10
  Becca: Love that.
• 9:10
  That sounds very exciting, and I'm looking forward to seeing more about it.
• 9:14
  Now, people may be wondering.
• 9:16
  Who goes to Wedding MBA?
• 9:17
  Is there a certain sector of the market?
• 9:20
  Is it people from all over?
• 9:21
  You know your audience better than anyone else.
• 9:23
  Who are your typical Wedding MBA attendees?
• 9:26
  Shannon: Our average attendee has been in business for seven years or longer.
• 9:29
  They're a wedding professional.
• 9:31
  So any of those core categories, they're not just one.
• 9:34
  I mean, venues and planners are our largest groups, but we get everything
• 9:38
  from Florists to caterers, to photographers, to DJs to officiants,
• 9:44
  really anyone that you can imagine that's part of the wedding day, right?
• 9:49
  So those are our biggest groups that come to wedding MBA.
• 9:53
  Becca: Okay, so every different kind of edit type and one of the things I
• 9:56
  thought was really smart when I came out and I loved it on that again on
• 10:00
  that first day when I checked in and everyone gets their lanyard and just
• 10:04
  explain to everyone how the lanyard system works so that you can identify
• 10:08
  the other people that do what you do.
• 10:10
  Shannon: Absolutely.
• 10:10
  The lanyards are color coded.
• 10:12
  So if I say a caterer, I'm going to be able to meet other caters just by
• 10:18
  looking at the color of the lanyard.
• 10:20
  And then there will be a key when you check in.
• 10:22
  I'll say this color means this type of vendor and you'll
• 10:26
  be able to see it yourself.
• 10:27
  So it's a great way to just start open conversations with people, whether
• 10:31
  they're in your category, or maybe you want to know more about another category.
• 10:35
  So it's an easy way to identify.
• 10:38
  Becca: I think it's so smart.
• 10:39
  It's such a simple way, but it's a great way for people to network.
• 10:41
  So some of the people I've been talking to here from the UK who are thinking of
• 10:45
  coming out they, they want to connect with planners who are planning weddings out in
• 10:50
  the U S and so I'm like, well, it's great.
• 10:52
  Cause you can come in and you can just look around the room.
• 10:54
  And if you spot that color lanyard, you can go right up to them and you will
• 10:57
  automatically know that they probably are a planner or a wedding planner.
• 11:00
  Or if you want to meet a venue, a photographer is a
• 11:02
  really, really smart system.
• 11:03
  And I think if people make the most of it, they can make some
• 11:06
  incredible new connections as well.
• 11:08
  I'm sure you see people making relationships and business
• 11:11
  connections all over the place.
• 11:12
  Shannon: They do.
• 11:13
  And I think it's so much fun because sometimes someone will, will pick
• 11:17
  someone and just say, how's it going?
• 11:19
  You know, they'll, they'll meet someone that has the same vendor
• 11:22
  category and they'll kind of Exchange email addresses is pretty common.
• 11:27
  And then just.
• 11:28
  Really talk to each other throughout the course of the year and say, Hey,
• 11:32
  you know, what are you doing about this?
• 11:33
  Or what do you remember about that?
• 11:35
  And there's also great ways to connect with our speakers.
• 11:38
  I feel like they're very accessible.
• 11:41
  They're really put you in a position where you feel at ease and you
• 11:44
  feel comfortable and we're doing a speaker meet and greet this year.
• 11:48
  So it will make it easier to make those face to face connections.
• 11:52
  And.
• 11:52
  Our speakers really want to help.
• 11:54
  I mean you know from experience they really want to help people and they
• 11:57
  want to meet you face to face because they're up there on that big stage but
• 12:01
  they actually want to make that personal connection too so our speakers are a
• 12:04
  really great resource for attendees too.
• 12:07
  Becca: Well I love that you bring up the speakers because that's what I
• 12:09
  was going to speak to you about Nick.
• 12:11
  So I've been to a lot of conferences, I've spoken at a lot of conferences and
• 12:15
  I think one of the downfalls sometimes of some of these conferences is that the
• 12:18
  education is poor, that there's education isn't very good or people stand up
• 12:22
  there and they'll talk about how amazing their business is but it just makes the
• 12:26
  people in the audience feel kind of bad.
• 12:28
  And when I came out to Vegas last year, I was blown away
• 12:32
  by the standard of education.
• 12:34
  I think you have the best educators in the industry, the people that I've
• 12:37
  had on my podcast, the people that I really rate, every single one of them
• 12:41
  pretty much is there in that room.
• 12:43
  And I think the education is the best education that you're going to get in
• 12:47
  the industry anywhere in the world.
• 12:48
  So talk to me because I know that's important to you.
• 12:51
  How do you ensure that level of education year after year after year?
• 12:55
  And how do you get people to keep coming back?
• 12:57
  Shannon: Absolutely.
• 12:59
  I think the hardest part about my job is saying no.
• 13:03
  So for us, we have a lot of speakers that apply, but there's a lot of
• 13:08
  people out there that are not ready.
• 13:10
  You know, they might be ready at some point, but they're not ready or they're
• 13:13
  just not of the wedding MBA mindset.
• 13:16
  So we look for people like yourself, Becca, that are really looking to
• 13:20
  give Actionable content and make it easy to follow and easy to understand,
• 13:26
  but by talking up to the audience and not down to them and not making
• 13:29
  it a commercial or an ego boost.
• 13:31
  And so our speakers are just really vetted.
• 13:34
  So if they're not of the same mindset is us, it's a no.
• 13:39
  And.
• 13:40
  You wouldn't believe how many people want to be speakers.
• 13:42
  It's incredibly high.
• 13:44
  I thought everyone's supposed to be scared of public speaking, but it seems like
• 13:49
  that's the most common question I get.
• 13:51
  But to protect our audience and their investment and their
• 13:54
  time, it's really important.
• 13:56
  That we find people that give actionable takeaway items that they
• 14:00
  can bring back to their hometown and really implement immediately.
• 14:05
  Becca: And I really respect you because I know it's difficult to say no to people,
• 14:09
  but actually that's what makes your event run year after year after year because
• 14:12
  people know if they're gonna, you know, come out to Vegas, and I've told that to
• 14:15
  the people from the UK, they're coming.
• 14:16
  It's a big commitment for them to leave one country, fly across
• 14:19
  the world, and come to Vegas.
• 14:21
  But I've said to them, I can guarantee you that it will be the best education
• 14:26
  you will get in the world, because I know how important it is to the
• 14:29
  organizers, to Shannon, to everyone.
• 14:31
  Ensure they have the best people in the room.
• 14:33
  And I think it's great that you set that standard.
• 14:35
  I know that you spend a lot of time on it.
• 14:37
  I know you look at it every single year and make sure
• 14:40
  you're giving people the best.
• 14:41
  But there's a lot of sessions as well.
• 14:43
  There is no way that people could go to everything.
• 14:46
  No, no.
• 14:47
  That's why they have to come back every year.
• 14:48
  Shannon: Right?
• 14:49
  It was fun when you and I first met.
• 14:51
  I, you had a like.
• 14:54
  I'm, I'm anticipating a big fan club for you for this year because
• 14:58
  you have these groupies that were like, is that, is that, and you were
• 15:02
  just picking up like your lanyard.
• 15:04
  I mean, it really, it left a lasting impression on me when we first met.
• 15:09
  So you've got such a strong reputation.
• 15:12
  I'm so excited to bring you out to Lettingham BA.
• 15:16
  Becca: Well, I hope so because I, sometimes I wake up at night and
• 15:18
  think, is anyone going to come and sit in the English girls talk or are
• 15:21
  they all going to be somewhere else?
• 15:23
  Shannon: Oh, yes.
• 15:25
  They love the English girl.
• 15:26
  Yes, they do.
• 15:28
  Becca: It's going to be a lot of fun and it is, yeah, you do such
• 15:31
  a great job at the education.
• 15:32
  Now for people that are thinking of coming, and I know this was
• 15:35
  the case for me last year when I obviously had never been before.
• 15:38
  I'd seen about it online.
• 15:39
  I'd read about it.
• 15:39
  I'd spoken to people about it.
• 15:41
  But when I first looked at the program and first saw the sheer size of it, I
• 15:45
  just had this huge sense of overwhelm.
• 15:48
  So if there's people listening who are kind of thinking of coming, but they're
• 15:51
  feeling so overwhelmed with the size of it, do you have any tips for them about
• 15:55
  how to get the most out of the event?
• 15:57
  Shannon: Your guide is really that downloadable program.
• 16:00
  So I think even just going on to the wedding mba.
• 16:03
  com website, clicking on schedule, and then you'll have a downloadable.
• 16:06
  It's 25 pages, but you'll have a downloadable version
• 16:09
  that we take a lot of care.
• 16:12
  With so you'll see three bullet points about each of the classes.
• 16:15
  That's really an advertisement to like, what is this class about?
• 16:19
  Is it for me?
• 16:20
  So I focus on those three bullet points with the classes and don't feel
• 16:24
  like you have to go see everything just really focus in and what's
• 16:27
  most important to your business.
• 16:29
  Now, you know, maybe you're doing a real focus on social media.
• 16:32
  And so then you kind of narrow down that group or maybe you're
• 16:35
  looking at lead generation or sales or trends or whatever it might be.
• 16:40
  I would look to that focus.
• 16:42
  The good news is within the specialties, you don't have to make a choice.
• 16:46
  So if you are a, you know, gown and tux, you know, company owner,
• 16:51
  you would actually just go to those classes during that timeframe.
• 16:55
  You don't have to.
• 16:56
  Do, but we actually, we have a lot of companies that do more than one thing.
• 17:00
  They might be a florist.
• 17:01
  They might also be a wedding designer, a planner.
• 17:04
  And that's great too.
• 17:05
  So then maybe they're jumping in and out of rooms, but for the
• 17:08
  specialty classes, it's basically like two types of education and one.
• 17:13
  You've got a specialty coursework and then you have the general classes and
• 17:17
  for the specialty, typically you don't have to make a whole lot of choices.
• 17:21
  So it doesn't feel as overwhelming.
• 17:23
  But for the general classes, you will have to go through and just
• 17:27
  kind of look at it up in advance.
• 17:29
  But I do recommend people to look up the speakers in advance too.
• 17:32
  You know, if they see a speaker's name on there, To follow them on social media,
• 17:36
  see if they like, you know, the angle and the perspective that they have.
• 17:40
  And that can also help them to make a better decision on classwork.
• 17:44
  Becca: Yeah, that's a great idea, actually.
• 17:45
  And I, again, I would recommend that to people.
• 17:47
  Go check out the Wedding MBA podcast, because they do a great
• 17:49
  job of interviewing a whole bunch of different speakers.
• 17:52
  And by going and listening to those and hearing about the
• 17:54
  topics, you can then decide, is this speaker resonating with me?
• 17:57
  Does this sound like I want to hear more from them?
• 18:00
  or actually maybe I'll, I'll go to a different class.
• 18:02
  And I also back up exactly what you said, Shannon.
• 18:05
  I think the more prepared you are before you come, the more
• 18:08
  you'll get out of the event.
• 18:09
  So this was me last year.
• 18:11
  I checked into my hotel in Vegas and I sat on my bed with my printed
• 18:15
  schedule and a green highlighter pen.
• 18:18
  And I literally went through every page of the schedule and Thought,
• 18:21
  who do I want to chat with?
• 18:22
  Who do I want to meet?
• 18:23
  Which topics are of interest to me?
• 18:24
  And I went through with my highlighter and I highlighted everything I wanted to go
• 18:28
  to, but it really helped because then I kind of had a vague plan of, I want to go
• 18:32
  to this room and then I'm going to go to this room and then I'm going to go here.
• 18:35
  Then I'm going to take a break.
• 18:36
  So I do think it is, although you can just pop into any session.
• 18:39
  I think if you want to get the most out of it, planning ahead.
• 18:43
  Otherwise, you talk to people, and I had this even when I was out last year, and
• 18:46
  they're like, oh, I missed this session.
• 18:47
  I didn't realize they'd already spoken.
• 18:49
  And, and the, the moment's gone.
• 18:50
  So get your highlighters out, everyone.
• 18:53
  Get your, get your schedule.
• 18:56
  I love it.
• 18:56
  Highlights.
• 18:56
  I love it.
• 18:57
  Now the other big part of the exhibit of the wedding, BA is the exhibition.
• 19:02
  And again, I think this is a huge part of the event.
• 19:06
  I feel like I didn't explore as much as I could have done last year because I was
• 19:10
  running from room to room meeting people.
• 19:12
  So if people are coming and there are some great exhibitors, how do
• 19:15
  you think attendees can get the most out of that exhibition hall?
• 19:19
  What should they be doing?
• 19:20
  Shannon: I think the best form of action would be on the first day, so November
• 19:26
  13th, on that first day of exhibits when they open, I would definitely
• 19:31
  walk through everything, but I'd probably take notes and take photos.
• 19:35
  That's a good recommendation.
• 19:37
  I have sometimes you forget things and then you want to connect and I
• 19:41
  have every year where someone will call me in a panic and say, Oh my
• 19:44
  gosh, I met this amazing vendor.
• 19:45
  And we help, we hope to connect them with them afterwards, but it
• 19:49
  does help if you take photos of the boost you're most interested in.
• 19:52
  And then on the second day, Use that second day that exhibits are
• 19:56
  open to walk through exhibits.
• 19:59
  And then we also have these 10 minute show floor talks and they're given
• 20:02
  by our exhibitors specifically.
• 20:04
  So if there's something you really want to know more about, maybe it's a
• 20:08
  CRM or a new linen line, or, I mean, it was just a lot of variety on there.
• 20:12
  You might want to sit in on some of those classes.
• 20:14
  They're more hyper focused, so you're not going to want to go to all of
• 20:17
  them, but there are some definite ones you might want to pick and choose.
• 20:21
  Becca: Yeah, and I found, especially last year, some of those smaller stage
• 20:24
  talks in the exhibit hall, if there was a piece of software that I was
• 20:28
  interested in or a computer program and they maybe had a 10 15 minute session,
• 20:32
  it just gave you an opportunity to go and hear more about that software
• 20:35
  and think, is this interesting to me?
• 20:37
  And then if it is, maybe I can go have a longer conversation
• 20:40
  with them back at their booth.
• 20:41
  So again, get your highlighters out everyone, go through those talks because
• 20:45
  there are some, there's some gold in there and I think you, you do need
• 20:48
  to look through and see what's there.
• 20:50
  And I think the thing is that that's really important and again, anyone
• 20:53
  listening that's going to the event for the first time, I would really
• 20:56
  encourage you to, before you go, Think about what your goals are for the event.
• 21:01
  Like, what is it that you want to get out of it?
• 21:03
  And be really clear on that.
• 21:04
  Because I think when we turn up at an event and we don't know
• 21:06
  what we want, it doesn't always turn out how we wanted it to be.
• 21:09
  But when we turn up at an event and we think, right, my goal this year
• 21:12
  is that I want to connect with this speaker and this speaker, or I want
• 21:15
  to find a new piece of software to help my business run more smoothly.
• 21:19
  Or I want to find the next big trends that are coming into the industry in
• 21:23
  the US so that we can bring them back to the UK and do them here first.
• 21:26
  All right.
• 21:27
  So if we know what we're going for, then we can plan our trip.
• 21:31
  around that.
• 21:31
  And there's a variety of reasons you might want to go.
• 21:33
  I mean, if you're English, just the chance to come to Las Vegas tax
• 21:37
  deductible is a great reason to come.
• 21:40
  And at the same time, it's a chance to meet people.
• 21:42
  I mean, one of the reasons I came last year was, I think it's the only
• 21:46
  time when all those smart wedding educational people are in the same
• 21:51
  place because they're based all around the world, all across the States.
• 21:54
  And you won't see those people in the same room.
• 21:57
  all together at any other point in the year.
• 22:00
  Shannon: That is so true.
• 22:02
  I know that people will say that they run into more people from like their hometown,
• 22:07
  but wedding MBA then because you're always so busy when you're in the thick of it.
• 22:11
  So you get that face to face networking time, which is really neat.
• 22:15
  And then sometimes people will.
• 22:17
  organize evening events to get together with their sort of
• 22:20
  micro groups or small groups and that's another great opportunity.
• 22:24
  Becca: So talk to me a little bit then about the social side of Wedding MBA
• 22:27
  because we've talked about the education, we talked about the exhibition, but
• 22:30
  you do have a social side of it too.
• 22:33
  Shannon: We do.
• 22:34
  We have a party on November 13th.
• 22:37
  It's at the Hard Rock.
• 22:38
  So you're getting two in one on that one.
• 22:41
  There's no charge to get in.
• 22:42
  You just wear your lanyard so people know who you are.
• 22:45
  And we can really see everyone in there on that seat because
• 22:49
  you're like dancing and talking.
• 22:52
  I'm sitting but the kickoff party will start.
• 22:55
  It's from 6 to 7.
• 22:57
  We'll actually have the speaker meet and greet.
• 22:59
  So that's a little bit more low key.
• 23:01
  We'll have some nice instrumental music playing in the background
• 23:05
  and just an opportunity to just kind of shake hands with the people
• 23:09
  that you're probably following on social media or podcast or wherever.
• 23:13
  And then at 7 o'clock till midnight, it's a DJ takeover party.
• 23:17
  So what that becomes is just a lot of fun.
• 23:20
  There's a lot of dancing, a lot of networking just a lot of enjoyment of
• 23:25
  other people that are in the industry and being able to have a good time with them.
• 23:30
  So that's the biggest event because it's for everyone.
• 23:33
  But we do find that a lot of people also organize, you know, additional dinners
• 23:37
  and other fun meetups along the way too.
• 23:41
  Becca: Yeah.
• 23:41
  And again, you have a Facebook group, don't you?
• 23:42
  A Wedding MBA Facebook group that I joined last year, where if people
• 23:46
  are attending, they can join that.
• 23:47
  And I noticed that a bunch of social events were posted on there.
• 23:50
  So is that a good place for people to connect?
• 23:52
  Shannon: Absolutely.
• 23:53
  It definitely starts getting, I think, more active the closer you
• 23:58
  get to the event, but absolutely.
• 24:00
  Definitely join there.
• 24:01
  A great place for updates is also just the wedding MBA to like our page for
• 24:06
  Facebook or to follow us for Instagram.
• 24:09
  So if we have other kind of fun things that you should know about,
• 24:12
  or maybe an exhibitor that's brand new to us, things like that, that's
• 24:15
  a great way to get updates also.
• 24:18
  Becca: Amazing.
• 24:18
  I'm really looking forward to your speaker meet and greet this year.
• 24:21
  I think it's a great opportunity.
• 24:23
  I think it's a really great idea.
• 24:24
  I'm definitely going to make sure that I'm there.
• 24:26
  So if you are there in Vegas, come find me at the speaker meet and greet.
• 24:29
  And for those of you that are not familiar with Vegas, because again,
• 24:32
  when I was planning to come last year, all of these things, I didn't know.
• 24:35
  So the hard rock is right there on the strip, right in the middle.
• 24:38
  But what it's, I didn't realize till I, just before I came is that You can
• 24:41
  get to the convention center really easy in Las Vegas from the Strip.
• 24:45
  So you can go to and from the convention center to the Strip just on the monorail
• 24:49
  or by Uber and it isn't that far away.
• 24:52
  I know people worry about, should I stay by the convention?
• 24:54
  Should I stay on the Strip?
• 24:55
  I would say wherever you stay, it's not that hard to get from one to the other.
• 24:59
  So you can have a little bit of Vegas time if you want, or you can stay in the
• 25:02
  quiet by the convention center, but the Hard Rock's right there on the Strip.
• 25:06
  So that's a little bit of the Strip experience on that note.
• 25:09
  Shannon: It is.
• 25:09
  And we do have a list of a lot of hotels that we've negotiated.
• 25:14
  Really good.
• 25:14
  I'm very proud of the prices.
• 25:17
  If you look on the wedding MBA site and just click on hotels,
• 25:20
  there will be hot links to a lot of choices are also be price points.
• 25:24
  So, it just makes that planning process just a little bit faster and
• 25:28
  easier and the monorail is great.
• 25:30
  You're right.
• 25:31
  Monorail is the way to go if you just want kind of an easy way, but yes,
• 25:36
  Uber and Lyft work, work out well too, especially when you're going
• 25:39
  from the airport to your hotels.
• 25:41
  Becca: Yeah, I used the Monorail a lot last year and my step count in Vegas,
• 25:44
  like you lose weight that week because I walked so many steps because everything
• 25:49
  is so huge, not just Wedding MBA, like literally everything in Vegas is massive.
• 25:54
  Now, Shannon, obviously you believe that continuing education.
• 25:59
  is important.
• 26:00
  That's why you put on this event every single year.
• 26:04
  But why do you think it's that important?
• 26:06
  Why should wedding businesses pay attention to their continued development?
• 26:10
  Shannon: I think it's circular.
• 26:11
  So you as a business owner, if you're investing in yourself and
• 26:16
  improving in yourself and your business, It will come back to you.
• 26:21
  It will come back to you from other people referring you business
• 26:25
  because they're going to say, wow, I haven't seen that before.
• 26:28
  Like who thought of that?
• 26:30
  It will come back to you on new leads because you're going to be doing better
• 26:34
  posts, maybe better copy on your website.
• 26:37
  It comes back to you.
• 26:39
  So although you're putting it into yourself and you do have to take
• 26:43
  the time out of your busy schedule, I promise you it will pay off
• 26:49
  both emotionally and financially.
• 26:51
  I think it's good to have a little bit of a break to see a more aerial
• 26:55
  view of your business because you're so in the thick of it.
• 26:57
  Sometimes you get so caught up in things you don't see See business
• 27:02
  opportunities that might be just sitting right there in plain view.
• 27:06
  And then also just having the tools and abilities, you know, we might want to do
• 27:11
  some great things for our business, but we might not know how, and we might not
• 27:15
  have the budget to hire an individual specialist for each aspect of that.
• 27:19
  So then you become that specialist and during your downtime or
• 27:23
  off season, it's a great time.
• 27:26
  To really, instead of just waiting for the next wedding to be setting
• 27:30
  yourself up to make more money and be more profitable when you are busy.
• 27:35
  Becca: Absolutely.
• 27:36
  And it's a date to get in the diary.
• 27:37
  It's a date to look forward to after a busy wedding season.
• 27:40
  And you can see that it's a place where people are just happy to come
• 27:43
  back to you, happy to reconnect.
• 27:45
  Get some new ideas for their business.
• 27:46
  And I can see myself why people come back year after year after year,
• 27:51
  because they have such a great time.
• 27:53
  So if you're listening to this and you're thinking of coming out to Wedding
• 27:56
  MBA, I am sure you can tell from this episode, I encourage you to do it.
• 28:00
  I think it's.
• 28:01
  One of the best things you could do for your wedding business this year.
• 28:04
  If you do want to get your ticket, you can get them on the wedding MBA website.
• 28:07
  I'll link to it in the show notes and make sure you use my coupon code.
• 28:11
  Use the code Becca B E C C A because you get a really great
• 28:14
  discount when you use that.
• 28:16
  And if you've got questions, you want to find out more, do reach out to me.
• 28:18
  I'm going to be talking.
• 28:20
  On the stage, all about the subject of judgment.
• 28:23
  So the talk is called, Oh, snap.
• 28:24
  And we're going to be talking about how people make snap judgments of
• 28:27
  you and your business and how we can make the right first impression.
• 28:31
  So if you want to come hear this English accent out in
• 28:33
  Vegas, I hope you'll join me.
• 28:35
  In my stage talk, and I'm sure Shannon will be popping ahead in
• 28:39
  to my room at some point as well.
• 28:41
  Shannon, it's been so fun having you on the podcast today.
• 28:44
  Now I always end the podcast with the same question, and it's this.
• 28:48
  What's one thing you wish you'd known sooner in your own business?
• 28:52
  Shannon: Creativity used right can be profitable.
• 28:57
  Becca: Creativity used right can be profitable.
• 29:00
  Shannon: Yeah.
• 29:00
  I mean, the other way to maybe say it is.
• 29:05
  You can profit from your creativity.
• 29:08
  Becca: Absolutely.
• 29:10
  Shannon: I think sometimes we don't invest enough time and looking at new
• 29:14
  perspectives and ways to approach things.
• 29:17
  And we could actually be turning down some business opportunities because of it.
• 29:22
  So use that creative brain that you have.
• 29:25
  and use it to make more money and offer more for your
• 29:29
  business and for your clients.
• 29:31
  Becca: Absolutely.
• 29:32
  I 100 percent agree with you.
• 29:33
  There's so many creative people out there and you absolutely can make money
• 29:36
  from your passion and be profitable and go to Vegas, see us out there and
• 29:41
  learn all about how to do it better.
• 29:43
  Shannon, it's been so much fun.
• 29:44
  Thank you so much.
• 29:45
  I'm so excited to see you back in person in November.
• 29:49
  Shannon: Thank you.
• 29:50
  We can't wait to see you on stage Becca.
• 29:54
  Becca: I love that conversation with Shannon.
• 29:56
  Didn't you, you guys all know from listening to the podcast how
• 29:58
  much fun I had in Vegas last year.
• 30:00
  So I do hope that you'll consider joining me this year.
• 30:03
  If not, take a look and try and get it in your budget.
• 30:06
  For the year after, because it really is worth attending.
• 30:09
  And for all of you who know, I've been planning to get my book written
• 30:13
  by the time I'm in Las Vegas.
• 30:14
  So for me, the time is ticking down because I can see the
• 30:17
  dates getting closer and closer.
• 30:19
  And I hope you'll all be there to celebrate with me too.
• 30:22
  I'll see you next time.