Win a Pro-Am Spot at the Reno-Tahoe Open!

Do you like to golf or know someone who does?  How about playing with a Pro?  Well, here is your chance for a spot in the Pro-Am event at this year's  Reno-Tahoe Open.

For any linen rental order over $100 confirmed for an event during the month of JUNE, we will automatically enter your name into our contest.

Not only will you receive one entry for an amateur spot in the Pro-Am event taking place Wednesday, August 1st at the beautiful Montreux Golf Course, but 2-Nights hotel stay at The Eldorado Reno Hotel & Casino, VIP Pavilion passes for each day of the event, an invitation for 2 to the Pairings Party, and 2 Wine Walk tickets.

 

Can color effect the mood of your next special event?  What dynamic do the colors used in table linens and décor create for the success of an event?

The colors incorporated in planning a meeting or event play a very important role and can dramatically affect the moods and emotions of those guests attending as well as influence certain physiological reactions.

Click here to read on and find out how you can successfully set the tone of your next event just by choosing the appropriate color theme!

BIG NEWS!! Creative Coverings is expanding our team at the national office in Reno, NV. We'll be setting up interviews for this coming week for Linen Specialists! If you or anyone you know is interested please forward a resume to kate@creativecoverings.com for consideration. Thank you!

Click here for full job description...

Social Media forums offer so many great options for connecting and networking; however, it is really important to know some simple rules when using places like Facebook on a personal and a professional level.

Andy Ebon, is an event professional with expertise in educating wedding professionals on all things marketing & social media related!  He recently shared a great article with us that give some quick and basic tips on what you should and should not be doing if you are utilizing social media to network your business.

Here is his "crash course" on Social Media Etiquette:

 

Social Media offers many great options to connect, reconnect, and network. It also provides any number of ways to offend, annoy, and irritate friends, family, and peers. Here are some do’s and don’ts to keep you in good favor.

When using social media for business, don’t ramble on about mundane personal tasks. Few people care that you went out for a ham sandwich, dropped your child at soccer practice, or are making a visit to the dentist. Mixing a little personal with business (about 20/80), particularly with some tasteful humor, is fine, but keep it interesting. Bonus points for photos of pets.

Stay away from religion and politics... particularly on your Facebook news stream. No matter what your position, it will offend some percentage of your connections. Being passionate about issues is a wonderful thing, but not in a business context.

Often we forget that the worlds of Facebook or Twitter users overlap. No two people have the same circle of friends or followers, rather they have connections in common. And, depending on how you have configured your privacy settings, it may allow friends of friends to see what you post. Depending on what you post, that can be a problem.

For example, you’re out on the town with a few of your peers, who are also personal friends. You post a few photos of members of the group, living it up. Other peers, not included in this social outing, may feel left out. It can look quite cliquey. If the photos aren’t from an industry event, it’s a risky post. How do you feel, when you’re left out?

Privacy Settings

Revisit your privacy settings and be certain you have the right limitations on access to your content for all social media sites... Facebook in particular. It’s not just a question of offending someone. It can be an issue of posting too much personal information, making you vulnerable to identify theft.

The development of Facebook, and now Google +, allow you to create business identities, separate from your personal profiles. Perhaps it’s time to consider it. Making the separation, and migration, to create distinct profiles, personally, and for your business, may be the best way to consciously channel activity. Yes, it’s a hassle, but taking that step helps keep you clear on which voice you are speaking with.

Public vs. Private

Too often, a person makes a public post, and we chime in. It may be that the original post should not have been public. Think before you answer a post with another post. Maybe it’s more appropriate to send a private message. Don’t compound someone else’s mistake.

The Competition and your Peers

Don’t critique the competition, no matter what your privacy settings. That’s a dangerous road, even in a private conversation. On a social media site (or in an email), you never know who will share it. If you’re not comfortable seeing your words on a billboard, don’t post them, message them, or email them. (Please reread this directive until you’ve committed it to memory).

One Rule To Live By: Just because you can do it, doesn’t mean it’s a good idea!

Starting with email, message boards, text messages, and now social media, it’s instant-communication, all the time. Slow down... take time to think.

Don’t just think about your words and message. Ask yourself if you’re using the best medium, the proper degree of public/private visibility, or whether you should send the message into cyberspace, at all.

The best advice is to put yourself in the other person’s shoes and proceed with caution. Do that, and you’ll be perceived more positively, by all who are interested in what you have to say.

Visit The Wedding Marketing Blog to follow Andy and to find out where in the world he is speaking and educating!

Pinterest: A Great Tool for Event Professionals

Have you used Pinterest?  Did you know that it is the latest in social media as well as a fabulous visual tool for event professionals?

Pinterest is a virtual online pinboard with almost 12 million users who are creating collections of themed based images.  In some cases it is even more effective than Facebook!

The mission of Pinterest is to "connect everyone in the world through 'things' they find interesting." And, there is even an App for it!

Click here for some tips & tactics for small-business success on Pinterest.

From wedding ideas to fashion and home decor you can create and share image boards of great ideas! It is the latest hype and a perfect way to visually "speak" with others in your industry!

Here is a great article recently published by BizBash: Four Ways Event Professionals Are Using Pinterest and a great YouTube video for those of you in the wedding and special events industry who would like to optimize your search engine results utilizing Pinterest!

Make sure to start following Creative Coverings on Pinterest too!

Do you know how important your social media strategies are to potential clients, especially brides?  Do you keep your website up-to-date with great photos and blog posts and are you utilizing your Facebook page consistently?  Well clients who are researching your services might be passing you up and moving along to the next company simply because the product or service you provide isn't visually available to them via the web!  Alan Berg, who has 20+ years in wedding related marketing, recently published a great blog based on a discussion with a panel of current brides.  Click here to read on...

It's Fashion Week and Pantone has released its Fall 2012 Color Report which is calling for a mixture of darks, brights and neutrals this year!  We are excited to mix-n-match to create some fabulous linen color palettes for you utlizing these colors ~ check out our our photo album titled "Fall 2012 Hot Color Combos" on our Facebook page and tell us what your favorite color combinations will be this year or post them here too!

Not only is Tangerine Tango the hot color of the year but Peach is making it's way back into the fashion and wedding scene!  We were thrilled when we were recently asked to participate in the annual Weddings in Woodinville event just outside of Seattle, WA and loved covering the Peach & Kiwi themed space!  Kimberly from Style Unveiled created a fabulous blog about the event ~ click here to read about it and to get some great decor ideas for your next wedding or special event!

Creative Coverings was recently asked to provide some tips and trends information for Scheme Events "Scheme Loves" blog series.  We were thrilled to be featured and loved the final write-up so we thought we would share it ~ click here!  They just recently celebrated their 1st Birthday too - make sure to check out their portfolio as well as color and theme ideas!

It's 2012 and the Year of the Dragon!  January 23rd will mark the Chinese New Year official celebration and we certainly hope the upcoming year is going to be filled with energy, enthusiasm and vitality for all!  And, of course, we will provide you with fabulous linen options to suit all of your theme and decor needs.  Click here for our top linen picks for the upcoming Chinese New Year celebration!