Spring Industry Night 2018

We were so pleased to have the first Vancouver Island Wedding Industry Association Industry Evenings in the spring of 2018! We really wanted to have an opportunity for both north and south Island Wedding Professionals to attend so one session was held in Victoria at the Olympic View Golf Course and another at Tigh-Na-Mara Resort & Spa in Parksville. The evenings were highly successful and we received a lot of suggestions for topics for the future (which is really helpful!).

Our first topic of the evening was How to Handle Business Disasters Professionally (Cause We’ve All Been There) – this was handled by Kelsey Goodwin (KGoodPhoto) and Jon-Mark (Jon-Mark Photography) in Victoria and Steve and Courtney Julien (Julien Photography) in Parksville.  This section was, by turns, both serious and funny as real situations were discussed and sample emails studied.

The second discussion was Quoting Your Services by Melissa Welsh of Pixel Cents and Melissa Welsh Photography  – this was very popular as Melissa was frank about costs and personal time as well as financial goals.

After a quick coffee and goodie a round table discussion was hosted by Laura Kalcsa at both sessions entitled ‘How to Make Editorial Shoots Work for You’ featuring experienced editorial creators. Erin Bradley, Lynda Bull and Emma McCormack graciously shared their experience and stories in Victoria. Parksville featured Chanel Skye of Sublime Celebrations, Olivia Cross of Lavish Engagements, Karen Bezaire and Tammy of Blue Lily Event Planning. Stories ranged from stunning successes to some of the worst episodes possible!!!

Last, but not least, the time of year brought us to TAXES! Jamie, of Aloha Friday CPA, shared tips on business taxes and how to make them work along with facts about how to file properly.

We were so glad to have some amazing sponsors provide some yummy at both sessions. The Victoria guests enjoyed cookies by Laura from Schur to Please, sounds by Ron from Hi-Way Productions and a fun photo booth by Mirror Me Photobooth with hosting duties cared for by Laura of West Coast Weddings Magazine. In Parksville guests enjoyed treats by Bite Me Baking and hosting duties were wonderfully cared for by Steve and Courtney Julien.

The next set of Industry Days is set for Feb 2019 where we plan to have a creative them for the sessions