CAbi Event Goes HD

Last month, One Smooth Stone partnered with long time client CAbi to produce its biannual “Scoop” event at the Minneapolis Convention Center. The event gathered 2,400 women’s clothing sales consultants in a new, condensed format to minimize attendee expense and time away from home, while maximizing their time at the event. The new fall clothing line was launched in a general session featuring a 170’ runway flanked by stadium seating, creating an intimate feel for such a large audience.

The big change for CAbi at the July 2009 event was the decision to integrate a fully high-definition video projection and record system. The advantages to taking the “HD plunge” were many…

• Consultants saw the latest fashion on screen in GREAT DETAIL


• Footage from the fashion show was ready to be POSTED TO THE WEB immediately after the event…no converting, re-shooting or editing necessary
  
• Fashion show footage posted to the CAbi website allows customers to also see the latest trends in CRYSTAL CLEAR RESOLUTION
  
• Consultants who were unable to attend the event can view the fashion show and feel as if they are ACTUALLY THERE

Wanna see the footage? Check out http://cabionline.com/Fall2009/on_the_runway.html and judge the quality for yourself!

Fashion show runway with two high definition screens.

A model struts the runway, with her image in HD behind her.

Two HD screens were flown above the audience on each side of the runway. Attendees were seated in tiered bleachers to give the show a more intimate feel.

Incorporating Peer-to-Peer Learning into Your Events…

An interview with One Smooth Stone Founding Principal and President, Kevin Olsen, recently appeared in the on-site edition of One+ Magazine at MPI’s WEC conference in Salt Lake City. The article, highlighting the importance and relevance of Peer-to-Peer Learning, appeared the day before Kevin taught an interactive knowledge session on the topic. Kevin’s session defined Peer-to-Peer Learning, highlighted its benefits, and provided hands-on experience of how it is executed successfully.




Take a look at the article and learn more about Peer-to-Peer! Click here and navigate to page 8 to read the entire article.

Virtual Events!

Progressive technology and challenging economic times have led the events industry to develop new event models and innovative solutions. The result? Virtual events. Hosting a virtual component to your event, or creating a stand-alone virtual meeting, can be a great way to…

• Generate new sponsorship revenue
• Extend the life of your event
• Make attendance possible for those who cannot travel to a live meeting
• Provide ongoing educational content and updates to your attendees
• Execute a large event with extensive content for a fraction of the cost of a live meeting

One Smooth Stone has an exciting, dynamic and reliable virtual event platform to bring to the table. Take a look at this overview to learn more about our virtual event offering:

http://www.balancedesign.com/clients/OSS/VirtualEvents/071109/player.html

Interested in hosting a virtual event? Give Gary a call at 630.427.4222.

The One Smooth Stone family is growing!

On June 9, 2009, Steve Koppel (Vice President) and his wife, Allison, met their new daughter for the first time. They had flown to Korea just days before and were thrilled to leave the country with Genevieve Yoonjung Koppel, the newest addition to their family! Genevieve was born on August 21, 2008, and joins a brother, Adam, who the Koppels adopted from Korea in 2005.

Steve and Allison say that their favorite things about Genevieve are her adorable smile, happy disposition, and ability to sleep through the night. Congratulations to the Koppel family!

Steve takes Genevieve for a walk...

Brother-sister bonding time!

Allison, Adam and Genevieve

One+ Article about One Smooth Stone

One+, Meeting Professionals International's US-based magazine, published an article about One Smooth Stone's March event in Uganda for Opportunity International in their June 2009 issue. The article was highlighted in their "Connections" section, which appears in each issue and tells the story of a successful connection or partnership. Take a look at the images below or visit http://viewer.zmags.com/showmag.php?mid=wfpgdq&spid=-2#/page42/ to read the full article.

May 15th-Economics of Production Webinar

Thanks to everyone who joined us for our webinar last Friday on the "Economics of Production".  A pdf of the PowerPoint slides from our webinar can be downloaded here.

You can view video and audio from the webinar below.

If you have any difficulty accessing these files or need more information, please contact Bethany Johnson at bjohnson@onesmoothstone.com.

Stonie Serves Up a Life-Changing Lunch

Chefs for Charity

Each month, a One Smooth Stone team member hosts a “Chefs for Charity” lunch. The host cooks lunch and then everyone donates the money they would typically spend going out for lunch to the charity of the chef’s choosing. The impact of these special lunches is made even greater by the Foundation of One Smooth Stone (www.onesmoothstone.com/foundation/) matching the donations dollar for dollar!

This month Kimberly Medaglia (Vice President) chose “The H Foundation” (www.goombaybash.com/) as the recipient of all proceeds. Her grade school friend, John Rot, started this charitable organization with other business owners from the LaGrange, IL area after two of his co-workers passed away from cancer. All monies raised by The H Foundation go directly to Basic Science Cancer Research which allows scientists to pursue novel ideas for earlier detection of cancer. In 8 years, they have raised nearly $2.5 million, including over $500,000 in 2008 alone.

Strategic partners, clients and members of the H Foundation joined our luncheon to raise money and awareness. Kimberly’s homecooked meal for 30 people filled the tables and countertops of our kitchen with tapenade, white bean spread, chicken salad, pasta salad, salmon salad, cheese plates with fruit… and to top it all off - decadent coconut and chocolate cupcakes. Over $600 dollars will be donated as a result!!

Gathering friends and family close to us, reaching out to help those in need, and eating good food. Yep, that pretty much sums it up. Consider hosting a Chefs for Charity at your office!!

Digging in to the delicious lunch!*

Kimberly with The H Foundation co-founders David Rizner, Dan Chopp, & John Rot and H Foundation volunteer event planner, Julie Jandris

*photographs courtesy of Anne Vlk (http://annevlkphotography.com/)