Needless to say, it is time to formally close this blog. It has been an incredible way to stay accountable to all of my start-up goals, but now it is time to move forward.

I do plan to include a blog in my corporate website (www.everylastdetailevents.net) once I am able to build and launch that, so you haven’t heard the last from me yet!

Until then, all the best!

To be more specific, I started this blog as a personal forum for sharing my journey from a life in the corporate world to a life on my own. As I continue to grow in that pursuit, my day-to-day becomes less about taking steps to build my business and more about the actual conduction of business (which, in all honesty, is just not as interesting or worthy of publication).

For the time being, I will continue to post relevant topics of a business-building nature. But once I feel confident that my business’s foundation is set (hopefully soon!), I’m afraid that will be my time to step back from this canvas. I do have plans to continue blogging, though, just from a different perspective. This future blog will be more about insights into strategic meetings management (the focus of my event planning firm) and less about me personally.

From time to time, he will receive word about special events, tastings, and things of that nature. Often, I reap the benefits of such opportunities by filling in a coveted “and guest” slot on the invitation list. Not a bad position to be in, I must say.

Still, since I am in the business of hospitality/events, I am able to carry my own weight at many of these events and avoid feeling like a total moocher. Last night was just such an occasion.

Along with about 20 others, we enjoyed a wine and menu tasting event at the newly opened Saskatoon in Buckhead (Atlanta, GA). The restaurant’s management and their PR firm treated us to several rounds of appetizers and wine pairings in exchange for our candid feedback. Though I was intimidated by the musings of wine experts around me, I chose to approach the task from an event perspective, focusing on how I thought the wine and menu would appeal to a group.

All in all, I feel the restaurant has a really unique product on their hands (they specialize in wild game). However, I wasn’t overwhelmingly impressed by their offerings or their service. They are doing exactly the right thing, though, in seeking the opinions of those best in a position to offer constructive criticism. I hope that they do take into consideration the suggestions provided last night, and I look forward to returning and seeing the restaurant on its way up. Who knows – maybe I’ll have the opportunity to bring a group there myself one day.

Starting this week, I will be compartmentalizing my activities into five major categories: General Business Administration (tasks to keep the operations side of business running), Professional Development (including education, research, reading, etc.), Event Planning (work related specifically to my Every Last Detail planning firm), Communication/Writing Services (work related specifically to my involvement in Write-Choice Services), and Organizational Involvement (anything I’m doing within my professional associations). Further, I will dedicate one day of the week to each category, assigning General Business Administration to Monday…and so forth to Organizational Involvement on Friday.

Inevitably, pressing projects will arise that take priority on any given day, so this schedule is entirely flexible. But my primary goals remain to improve my weekly productivity and implement a structure that keeps me moving forward each week in all areas of my career. (And a nice side effect, I’m hoping, will be a little more sanity).

GaMPI’s 2010 Meetings Exploration Conference certainly delivered on this account. What I gained yesterday and today more than offset the cost of participation (under $100) and the time away from my desk. It even made the torturous 2.5-hour trek home today across Georgia’s congested, snowy roads worth the frustration (it would normally take me about 45 minutes). Now that’s saying a lot!

As a member of GaMPI, I appreciated the summit’s opening address by current president Kate Lastinger emphasizing chapter accomplishments and future goals. We then heard from a panel of experts on the state of the industry and a look ahead into 2010/2011, which EVERYONE agreed would usher in a more encouraging business outlook. (Whew!)

Later that day and during today’s agenda, I joined various breakout sessions covering a diverse range of topics. Walking away with seven pages of notes and innumerous to dos, I felt refreshed, re-energized, and recommitted to my business goals. I’ll post about these later in more detail. Suffice to say, I received a lot of great insight and information that will serve me well.

In addition, I enjoyed some fantastic networking. How nice to spend time with old friends, connect with fellow planners, and meet with potential vendors and partners. Hopefully, I gained some clients in the process as well!

MEC’s theme this year was “Emerging Strategies for Success,” and I left today with emerging strategies in two big categories. First, on an industry level, I gained a clearer picture of how innovations in meeting planning are opening doors to greater partnerships and rewards. Second, on a personal level, I translated what I learned into opportunities for my business to grow. And I am confident that bringing both perspectives together will no doubt pave the way to success.

For this year’s summit, titled “Emerging Strategies for Success,” GaMPI has done an outstanding job of bringing together wonderful programming (keynote speakers, breakout sessions, etc.), intriguing exhibits (including a “Technology Playground” and tradeshow-style forum), and access to meetings industry partners on the supplier and planner side – all for less than $100.00. It’s a tremendous opportunity for anyone involved in this field.

I spend some time yesterday really mapping out my plan for the event. The next two days are an investment of my money and time, so I want to make sure that I get as much out of the experience as possible.

Primarily, I looked at the concurrent breakout sessions to determine my personal agenda. Often, there were some tough decisions to make, so hopefully GaMPI will supply participants with information disseminated at all of the presentations. My focus, however, had to be capitalizing on strategies for building my independent planning business, like sessions on social media, entrepreneurship, and goal setting.

It should be a very valuable experience, and I’ll be sure to post some on the great people I meet and insight I learn.

Once I received an e-mail from their office notifying me that my Name Reservation application had been approved, I went back to their website and completed their online survey to create and file my Articles of Organization and pay the initial filing fee. The entire process today took about 15 minutes, and I received my Certificate of Organization immediately after the survey was complete.

Keep in mind, I proceeded with this course of action only after extensive research and advice. And since the setup of our entity is more basic in nature, I did not have to go through a lot of work establishing an Operating Agreement before filing the Articles of Organization (though I am in the process of drafting one for practical reasons).

Don’t worry…I didn’t arrive at this decision without any advice. I have consulted with my CPA regarding the best legal entity for me to create based on my business needs, so I am confident that an LLC is the best choice for me. That was Step 1. In addition, I discussed my options with a few different attorneys, and got critical advice on that end as well. That was Step 2.

Step 3 is the “How” process. As mentioned previously, I did a lot of research on LegalZoom’s website. Today, I spent several hours doing additional research into creating LLCs in Georgia, specifically on the Secretary of State’s website. Their Corporations Division does an incredible job online of detailing the requirements and steps involved with this legal issue, and I feel very good about proceeding solo from here.

I have already taken the first steps toward LLC-hood: I submitted my Name Reservation Application online. As long as nobody is currently doing business under the name “Herrig Holdings, LLC” (I will be alerted by e-mail within 24 hours if my name has been accepted), I’ll be ready to take the next steps tomorrow.

Specifically, I took some critical next steps to finalize my logo. A fellow independent corporate planner referred me to The Logo Company, a global graphic design firm that I feel really has a niche with start-up entrepreneurs like me. They are very reasonably priced ($150 will get you a logo, after as many rounds of edits and revisions as you need) and easy to work with (you are on your way after a brief phone conversation). Best of all, if you end up hating everything they’ve sent you, they will issue a 100% refund.

Luckily, I don’t think I’ll need to take them up on that generous offer. Within two days of my initial consultation, I had seven designs from seven designers to choose from. Pretty great service! Too bad I couldn’t mimic their expediency with my reply, because that preliminary round arrived in my inbox on January 15, and I just now sent back my comments and revisions.

Judging from their first response time, I should have another round of options later this week. And barring any unnecessary delays on my end, my logo should be finalized by mid-February.

For example, Monday afternoon Tammy (Executive Events, LLC) and I paid a visit to a new industry contact we made: Michelle Gainey with StudioWed. About a year ago, Michelle saw her vision become reality when she pulled together other talented vendors in the event planning arena (she also owns Lemiga Events) to create this amazing collaboration. Essentially, StudioWed offers brides- and grooms-to-be a more manageable wedding planning experience by consolidating their vendor needs in one place. It’s one-stop shopping for weddings!

Tammy and I kept hearing Michelle’s name at the Atlanta Occasions event on January 7 and knew we had to meet her. Luckily, we three happened to leave the event at the same time and made plans for a more lengthy discussion. So Monday, Tammy and I headed to the StudioWed showroom and meeting space in Atlanta.

My first impression was how beautiful the space was! There were carefully crafted mini-exhibits featuring StudioWed’s vendors all over the front room. And in the back was a very informal sitting area – perfect for a brainstorming chat. There was even a kitchen equipped to carry out in-house catering tastings! Honestly, I was wishing I could get married all over again in order to employ Michelle’s brilliant team.

But for now, I was interested in learning more about Michelle, her business, and how she took her wedding planning to a whole new level by investing in this franchise and such a powerful vendor network. The transition, for her, was easy – one born of the desire to deliver greater customer service. Along the way, both she and her vendor partners have realized increased visibility, buying power, and client referral bases. Not a downside in sight.

So, the question now is, “How can I learn from Michelle’s example and apply the model to corporate planning?” Michelle was very open about our pulling from her vendor team for any events we would be planning, so that is a no-brainer. But I’d love to extract something more. Could we build a similar vendor network for our businesses? We wouldn’t need a physical space, per se, but we could certainly have a virtual one.

Next steps will be for Tammy and me to think about vendors that we have loved working with in the past and develop a joint database of vendors on whom we can consistently rely. After that, we can begin to approach them with the concept of a stronger partnership…ways in which we can work more effectively together and be a stronger asset in each other’s businesses. Only great things can come of such connections, that’s for sure!