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AACWP Educate 2018 Recap

          

Continuing our annual Educate forum, this year we focused on learning all about social media and how it can help our businesses and careers!  Held at the Four Seasons Resort and Club Dallas at Las Colinas, our members and other industry colleagues learned about and discussed a variety of social media topics, specifically: Instagram, Facebook, and how to stand out in our technology-driven world.

To start the morning, we met our distinguished panel of speakers, from which attendees had the opportunity to choose four of the six topics to attend in breakout sessions. In the afternoon we broke for lunch and enjoyed some delicious #throwback inspired food stations – who doesn’t love Taco Tuesday!? Funky Town Donuts and Yelibelly Chocolates satisfied our sweet tooth with liquid nitrogen ice cream and unique doughnuts almost too cute to eat. The unicorns were a huge hit and made it onto many an Instagram feed that day!

          

     

At the end of the day everyone came back together for a final panel with all of our lovely speakers. Each gave a quick summary of their topic and presentation for everyone as a reminder  and for attendees who did not visit their breakout session. Afterward we had a Q&A session for the remainder of our day to discuss the topics further with the whole group. For a quick snippet of our topics of the day, please enjoy below.

 

Laura Druck and Katie Lane – LaneLove Paper Co.

We all see those beautiful stationary photos on Instagram, but how and who do they get styled by? Flat Lay styling, the stylized presentation of stationary, actually takes a lot of practice and patience. Laura and Katie have created a kit to make styling oh-so much easier! Check out their Mini Styling Kit, available for purchase on their website www.lanelovepaperco.com. And in case you missed their presentation at Educate, they offer individual and group classes!

 

Tracy Autem – Tracy Autem Photography

Tracy spoke about the importance of Instagram marketing and data collection. When we post images, some pictures get more likes than others and rather that collecting that data manually, Instagram already does that for us. Using that data to understand what our clients like will drive us to post content our clients engage with and gain new ones with sincere interest. She also encouraged us to put ourselves in front of the camera, not just behind it, as clients genuinely want to know who they are working with.

 

Erin Hooley –  Bailey’s Blossoms

The creator and owner of Bailey’s Blossoms, Erin is the poster woman for how Instagram changed her business into an overnight success. She shared her journey with how Instagram radically increased her sales by implanting simple ideas such as giveaways, contests, and engaging with her consumers. One major tactic she focused on was the Five Whys. Ask yourself why you do what you do and then ask yourself why four more times to get to the root of your business and what you should be sharing through social media. Once you understand the why, you’ll then understand what to share. She also encouraged us to not just “like” a post, but comment and engage. The more you engage, the more you will stand out and people will take interest.

 

Frankie Simmons – Mindset and Visibility Coaching

Social Media expert Frankie Simmons uses her talents to help businesses and entrep犀利士
reneurs discover their ideal voice and presence online through social media by working through mindset blocks and personal obstacles keeping them from their full potential. Frankie shared with us steps and tips to overcome our own hurdles and build an identity that connects with our ideal customers and helps us help them accomplish their goals. Starting out with her leader statement template “I help (who you help) do (what you help them do) with/without (how you help them do it, some of your values)”, she then listed a variety of questions to meditate on to bring understanding to why we do what we do, what we love about what we do, and what draws people to us. Through internal reflection, Frankie showed us that we can better understand who we are reaching with our social media and how to market ourselves to bring in the people we want to work with.

 

Trish Dove – Beatbox Portraits

Not only is Instagram about what pictures you post, but what your feed looks like. Often times when clients are looking at who they want to hire for their wedding, they turn to Instagram to look through their collection of work, not just one photo. Trish with Beat Box Portraits shared that there are six steps to creating a consistent look to your Instagram feed: choose a grid layout, pick a theme, pick one filter (and use it on every picture!), space your photos, color coordinate, and use lots of images with natural light. By creating a stylish feed you can draw the eye downward so the potential client continues to scroll and engage.

 

Chelsey Arnal – Events & Experiences/Thoughtful Traditions

Chelsey taught us how to create a social media marketing plan and create content to fit your entire month or even year. First, start with an objective and goal. Ask yourself, who are you trying to help and what part of your story, as a company, does it help? Second, audit your current plan. How does your social media channel compare to your competitors? Being present where your clients are is important. For example, if they love certain florists, make sure you are also following those florists. Knowing what your clients engage with can help you to create content that will encourage more engagement with them as well. Third, gather information and materials to share. Fourth, create a content calendar. Think about what pictures you are going to post successively to create a consistent feel throughout your feed. Fifth, evaluate and adjust as needed to ensure your followers are engaging.

     

This was a day full of fun discussion, serious learning, and time spent with friends. At the end of our day the feedback was great from attendees, with many wishing we had a second day to discuss everything in more detail! And because of this we will likely have more great opportunities in the coming months and into 2019 to learn more about these topics…

 

Thank you to everyone who joined us!

 

Four Seasons Resort and Club Dallas at Las Colinas

Chelsey Arnal - Events & Experiences

Katie & Laura - LaneLove Paper Co.

Frankie Simmons - Mindset and Visibility Coaching

Tracy Autem - Tracy Autem Photography

Erin Hooley - Bailey's Blossoms

Trish Dove - Beatbox Portraits

Beautiful Event Rentals

Connor Pearson - Pearson Escapes

Courtney Hanson - Courtney Hanson Photography

EZ Party Time Rentals

Funky Town Donuts

LeForce Entertainment

Premiere Photo Booth

PSAV

Yelibelly Chocolates

 

Categories: Education, Events

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About AACWP

AACWP is a non-profit association primarily focusing on the education of wedding planners. Our leadership consists of current members providing support, resources, and networking for wedding planners, as well as professional development, certification, and continuing education.


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