Speaker Spotlight: Sean Low, President of Preston Bailey Designs

We are delighted to be sharing an industry FIRST with the attendees of engage!08: the encore.

For the first time ever, Sean Low, President of Preston Bailey Bailey Designs will be sharing his unique perspective on the BUSINESS behind the magic of one of the most recognizable wedding industry names - the one and only Preston Bailey. 

We were so honored to have Preston join us to speak at the first engage event - Sean attended as well and many attendees had the chance to get to know him and were able to talk with him about how to take their successful, creative businesses to the next level and beyond. When I approached Sean to see if he would be interested in participating in this next event he agreed on the spot - turns out he was also inspired by everyone who he met and has a TON of advice, insights and ideas to share from the business-side of the ultra-high end wedding industry.

A bit of background on Sean Low:

• A Magna-Cum Laude graduate of the University of Pennsylvania with both an economics degree and as an attorney who was admitted to the bar in both New York and Ct.

• He spent many years on Wall Street as an investment, real estate and finance attorney and walked away from it all to follow his dream by founding his own successful Manhattan-based catering company called "Red Wine with Fish?"

• In 2003 he was offered the incredible opportunity to become the first President of Preston Bailey Designs and what success followed is legendary in the global wedding industry. In the past 5 years he has masterminded the unprecedented rise of Preston's brand around the world.  From New York to Dubai - Arkansas to Jakarta - Los Angeles to the Grenadines - Cartegena to Paris and beyond, Preston Bailey is now known around the globe as one of the premiere wedding designers of our time.

•  Sean has been the business brain behind the creative genius and as Preston openly shares with other colleagues in the wedding industry, has transformed every aspect of his operation to ensure maximum efficiencies, uncover new and diverse opportunities, establish significant financial strength - all while providing exceptional service to some of the most demanding clientele in the world.

• He has negotiated licensing deals, partnerships, book deals, speaking engagements and further diversified Preston's brand with companies like Sandals Resorts, 1-800 Flowers, Bulfinch Press, Macy's, Waterford, Bloomingdales, Style Network, Oxygen Network and more.

Sean will share specific strategies on how to take any wedding business to the next level, uncovering and negotiating partnerships and licensing opportunities, the importance and opportunities of diversifying your business, elevating your level of clientele - and getting paid what you are really worth {and beyond!}.

His session promises to be one of the most powerful and truly impactful of the entire event and will deliver content and insight that is unparalleled in the wedding industry!

Announcing: engage!08: the encore

Following a SOLD OUT event in June 2008 with 85 luxury wedding professionals attending from 17 states and 5 countries, leading wedding industry expert Rebecca Grinnals of Engaging Concepts presents engage!08: the encore.  

Set for October 14th, 2008 at the spectacular Ritz-Carlton Orlando Grande Lakes this high-impact b2b luxury wedding business symposium will include appearances by The Knot founders Carley Roney & David Liu, cake diva Sylvia Weinstock, WeddingBee founder Bee Kim, CBS The Early Show producer Jill Meister, Sean Low-President of Preston Bailey Designs and wedding PR guru Eda Kalkay and will include discussions on:

• Building a global wedding brand
  
• Diversifying your business
  
• Targeting [and managing!] the affluent bride and groom
  
• Insights into the mindset of millennial matrimony
  
• Blogging and leveraging new media
  
• 'Romancing' the bridal and lifestyle media
  
• Turning your passion into profit

Real, honest and interactive including an "Inside the Wedding Studio" style Q & A session with Carley & David on building the most powerful wedding brand in North America while balancing it all as a husband and wife team and parents of 3 young children! 

A candid discussion with wedding cake diva Sylvia Weinstock, fresh off the set of hot show "Gossip Girl" will 'dish' on starting her company at age 50, going global, and the real story behind those signature glasses!

President of Preston Bailey Designs, Sean Low, the business mastermind behind one of the most successful global wedding names in the world will share specific strategies on how to take your wedding business to the next level, elevating your level of clientele - and getting paid what you are really worth {and beyond!}.

Special guest speaker, Simon T. Bailey is back by overwhelming demand. Internationally reknowned author of "Release Your Brilliance" will lead an inspiring and motivating session guaranteed to examine your potential, insight, genius, innovation and ideas - just waiting to be released.  Truly transformational!

Plus:

"Queen Bee" herself, Bee Kim, founder and editor of ground-breaking wedding blog WeddingBee will share her story on her meteoric rise from bride-blogger to wedding industry innovator and include tips on blogging for your business,  how to find your authentic blogging 'voice,' developing an audience, what vendors need to understand, getting featured on other blogs and the real deal on monetizing what you have created.

CBS The Early Show  lifestyle, entertainment and weddings producer Jill Meister will share the inside scoop of working with mainstream media, TV pitches that cut through the clutter, what makes a compelling wedding television segment and how to position yourself as a repeat guest. 

Celebrity publicist Eda Kalkay {David Tutera, Emeril Lagasse, GetMarried, The Marings and more} will provide secrets to creating authentic *buzz* to get the attention of bridal and lifestyle media  and how to make PR really pay.

Not to mention an incredible opportunity to network and 'engage' with the who's who of the luxury wedding industry!

Visit the engage!08 website for more details on the event and to register today - space is limited by design to maintain an intimate experience - this event is not to be missed!

It's Official!!! {Or, a Solution for the Square Pegs...}

Background on engage!08 {warning::long but worth it I promise!!!}:

After many, many years of dreaming, planning, researching and just plain talking [incessantly!] about this concept - we are finally doing it and taking the plunge! The official 'emma-powered' email blast has gone out and so there is no turning back -- engage!08 is here!

We are thrilled to finally make this happen. Why? Quite simply - in my 17+ years in the wedding industry there has never been anything like engage!. Never. And I have tried - with some better experiences than others - I have tried, mostly in vain, to attend wedding events and shows and conferences over the years to make them 'work' for me. But it always seems as if I am trying to put a square peg in a round hole!

Either the events are really focused for the consumer and I am there to try and network, learn about new trends and generally educate myself but in reality taking up valuable time and attention that should be spent on the real target - the bride. Or, they are related 'industry events' for catering or event or photography professionals with a [very] minor focus on marketing to the wedding industry as a whole. Some are targeted to the wedding professional but are too broad in scope and focus on the novice or mass-market professional. Or they are hospitality or travel sales and marketing conferences - and don't even get me started on those...weddings are truly the 'black sheep' of that group....sigh!

I have tried it all - and so have many, many other amazing and talented and successful wedding professionals looking to educate themselves on the tricky art of marketing, selling and servicing the wedding industry. I have met countless other luxury wedding professionals in all aspects of the business who are dying to learn more, meet more and do more with 'like colleagues' who are focused on the high-end weddings in this crazy, fun, "glamorous" field that we have all chosen.

One of the focuses of this first engage! event will be to help wedding professionals have their 'passion meet profit.' Because if there is one thing that this industry has no shortage of - it is PASSION! Passion at every level. And the profit part - well I know that as creative professionals at our core - we could all use a bit of focus on that...*wink!*

I want to celebrate that passion and really help the best get even better! The power of collaborating, sharing ideas and partnering together is priceless.

I am honored and beyond thrilled that my long-time friends and industry legends, Preston Bailey and Marcy Blum have graciously agreed to come down to Celebration to be a part of this first engage! - words cannot even express how excited I am about that. The president of Preston Bailey Designs and one of the most brilliant minds in wedding marketing and brand building today, Sean Low, will also be on hand which is very cool.

Over the years, whenever we are together, we discuss our businesses and the industry as a whole endlessly. I always come away from these exchanges re-energized, motivated, inspired and renewed - thinking about things in a whole new way. I want to try and capture the essence of some of those conversations and share the insights from them with others.

Special guest speaker Simon T. Bailey - a former Disney colleague of mine and now international best selling author of "Release Your Brilliance" published by Harper-Collins - will lead an inspiring and motivating session guaranteed to examine your potential, insight, genius, innovation, and ideas – just waiting to be released. Truly transformational!

Susan Moynihan, editor-in-chief of "Destination Weddings & Honeymoons" magazine [and former Travel Editor of Modern Bride!] is on board bringing invaluable insight into the mind of today's destination wedding bride and also sharing some insider tips on getting the attention of editors in this overcrowded environment!

And 'new' cyber-friends who I personally am really excited about meeting in person, Liene Stevens of BlueOrchidDesigns and new blog TheSmartPlanner and Christine Boulton of ThinkLikeaBride.com will be joining us as well for what is sure to be a lively and highly informative panel discussion on leveraging new media and blogging to build your wedding business!

And of course - if you know me, read my Blog or have ever heard me speak...you are aware that I am NEVER at a loss for words regarding the business of the wedding industry. It has been my passion and my life for almost 18 years and I have SO MUCH to share - the hardest part for me is going to be decide what topics get covered and what concepts are included!! No easy feat for sure!

Wow - it is going to be an amazing, energizing and impactful day. And it will be special because it will be the first of its kind - so those of you who can take the [precious] time to join us will not be sorry.

Kathryn Arce [who is going to make this all happen!!!] and I invite you to call 407.566.2298 or email us at engage@engagingconcepts.com with any and all questions. One of the best aspects of engage!08 is going to be how intimate it is - how up close and personal, how interactive and how customized the messages and topics are going to be for YOU - the participant. That being said - space is limited by design - so if you are thinking about signing up - don't delay!!

Looking forward to an 'engaging' day together and to the square peg FINALLY fitting in the square hole!!!

Rebecca