Do you recognize this logo for Wish Upon A Wedding?  If not yet, you soon will.

First, a story.  I’m usually an upbeat fellow, but sometimes life happens, and I temporarily lose heart.  At these times I ask my friends how they stay motivated, and most people I know tell me they guide themselves with a few energizing words or sentences throughout the day.  Words to live by.  Does this work for you, too?

Call it “self-talk” if you like, several of these motivational aphorisms are running through my mind these days.  Here are two: “You make a living by what you get, and you make a life by what you give” and “Give first — it creates the pathway for receiving.”  Compassion and generosity are important attitudes for me, and I find “self-talk” like this keeps me focused.  You might try it, too, if you don’t already indulge.

Now, I’ve noticed that people’s attitudes about generosity seem to range from “I gave at the office” all to way to “It’s the best reason for being alive”, and Wish Upon A Wedding stands near the latter.  It’s a new organization, like the “Make A Wish Foundation”, but dedicated to fulfilling wedding dreams of people struggling with terminal illnesses.  Launched in 2010 by event coordinator Liz Guthrie, Wish Upon a Wedding celebrates the courage, determination and spirit of these couples by granting their dream wedding wishes.  The goal is having the chosen recipients inspire other couples facing similar situations to find hope and strength.

Plans are moving quickly, and currently twenty chapters are operating in the United States (Northern California, Orlando, Los Angeles/Orange County, New York, Seattle, Indianapolis, Philadelphia, Washington DC, the Carolinas, Houston, Tennessee, Atlanta, Chicago, and more), and international chapters are already “in the works”.

The wish-granting process is simple.  People in need apply to be considered, and all the services and products for their weddings are donated generously by top professionals in their fields, who apply to become donors.  Ceremonies will be scheduled across the country.

I’m SO proud to be a founding board member and National PR/Media liaison.  If you’re interested in helping Wish Upon A Wedding, please click here to learn more.  Please, please participate generously every way you can.

On another note (a little musician humor there), my most valuable asset is TIME, and I try to budget carefully.  Whenever I’m not entertaining somewhere, I’m often enjoying a networking event with my colleagues in the special event biz — whether at a casual mixer, or a professional business association meeting, or collaborating on a special project like Wish Upon A Wedding.

The Magnolia Jazz Band entertains somewhere nearly every day, and I’m always on the lookout for our next opportunity. If we can help you, please call us at 408-245-9120.  Visit MagnoliaJazz.com for our schedule, and catch us at a public event soon.  Our next public appearance is this Friday, March 5, 6-8pm, in the annual benefit reception for the Alzheimer’s Association at the Computer History Museum, in Mountain View.  See details on our website.

Thanks for reading my blog.  Please take a moment to share this post, subscribe, and send me a comment.

Do you “network”?  I do.  All the time.  Every week, the SF Bay Area boasts dozens of events where people meet to socialize and develop good working relationships.

I try to stay abreast of all the get-togethers involving people in the special events biz.  I know about enough of these meetings to keep me busy, but I’m sure I know only a slender slice of all the local activity.

I know about professional associations (like the National Association of Catering Executives – Silicon Valley, San Francisco NACE, the International Special Event Society – Napa/Sonoma, ISES-Northern California, Meeting Professionals International); groups organized around a particular field (like South Bay Photographers & Wedding Professionals Get Together, Bay Area Wedding Network); small groups of colleagues who meet to socialize and exchange ideas (like The Fab 5); and numerous special events to celebrate Grand Openings, Launch Parties, and Open Houses.  There are more — please tell me about all the events I’m missing.

This is such an exciting time!  Just this week I attended two inaugural get-togethers in the South Bay — “The 411”, organized by Nicole Lisanne, and “South Bay Photographers & Wedding Professionals Get Together”, organized by Orbie Pullen and Andy Mark.  Recently I attended the Wish Upon A Wedding launch party at the Villa Montalvo, in Saratoga, and tonight I’m swinging by the IZZY Magazine launch party there.

I look forward to the day when Bay Area special events professionals can choose among several of these events every day they’re not already working somewhere. Wouldn’t you like that?  I think it would be a delightful, hassle-free way to stay fresh, meet new colleagues, and keep existing friendships strong.  And it looks like that day may be closer than you think.

On their website, Silicon Valley NACE is keeping a master calendar of all these Bay Area networking events.  Would you please contact us to add any we’ve missed.

Between my music and my networking, one way or another I go to a party nearly every day.  The band’s next public appearance will be this Sunday, February 28, 11am-4pm, in the annual wedding showcase at the Crowne Plaza Cabana, in Palo Alto.

Here are two photos from last Thursday.  We entertained at the Doubletree Hotel, in San Jose, for the annual banquet of the Silicon Valley Engineering Council.  These guys keep Silicon Valley growing, and we’re always glad to help celebrate their success.  Thanks for your photos, Michael Wright and DJCline .

I’m always on the lookout for our next opportunity, and if we can help you, please call us at 408-245-9120.  Visit MagnoliaJazz.com for our schedule, and catch us at a public event soon.

Thanks for reading my blog.  Please take a moment to share this post, subscribe, and send me a comment.

Here we are last January 17, entertaining at a stylish wedding reception at Bonny Doon Vineyards Cafe, in Santa Cruz.  (Congratulations Nicole and George Wu), and thank you for your dramatic photos, Akiko Nabeshima.  With so many guests from out of town and overseas, this group preferred their conversations to dancing.  We received many enthusiastic compliments, and everyone there enjoyed a memorable evening.

What a striking room!  Exciting to be in that space, the acoustics are excellent, the staff is SO friendly, and I can hardly wait to return.  We’ll be entertaining there again for Valentine’s Day Dinner on Sunday, February 14.  It’ll be a wonderful, romantic evening.  And dinner — well, stand back: with their award-winning chef, they’ve received over 125 great reviews on Yelp.  For more information and reservations, please visit their website or call 831-425-6771.  If you’ll be in or around Santa Cruz on Valentine’s Day, I hope to see you that evening.

Two weeks later, we’ll be entertaining at another public event in the Bay Area.  This time it’s a fabulous wedding showcase on Sunday, February 28, at the Crowne Plaza Cabana Hotel, in Palo Alto.  This showcase will feature a Wedding Fashion Show, 25 Top Area Vendors, a Custom Cocktail Creation Lounge, Tasting of Scrumptious Food, Green Wedding Planning Tips, Gorgeous Décor Inside & Out, and Fabulous Prizes (including free photography & overnight stays) announced during the Fashion Show.  For additional information and a discount coupon, email weddings@cabanapaloalto.com

I’ll blog about this showcase again as the date approaches.  What an afternoon this will be!  Stop in if you’re even thinking about a wedding, and say hello.

We’re entertaining somewhere nearly every day, and I’m always on the lookout for our next opportunity. If we can help you, please call us at 408-245-9120.  Visit MagnoliaJazz.com for our schedule, and catch us at a public event soon.

Thanks for reading my blog.  Please take a moment to share this post, subscribe, and send me a comment.

Here we are on February 13, 2009, entertaining at an elegant cocktail reception in the lobby of Mountain View’s Center for Performing Arts.  Photo courtesy of Second Harvest Food Bank.  That was almost a year ago, and we’ll be back next month for this year’s awards ceremony.  It’s always a wonderful evening, and we’re proud to be included.

In the meantime, we’ll be playing at several special public events soon, starting with Valentine’s Day Dinner at Bonny Doon Vineyards and Cafe, in Santa Cruz.

Last month we played at a stylish wedding reception for our first time there, and it looks like we’ll be returning often.  Valentine’s Day will be an evening to remember — romantic music, stunning atmosphere, award-winning chef, and over 125 great reviews on Yelp.  For more information and reservations, please visit their website or call 831-425-6771.  If you’ll be in or around Santa Cruz on Valentine’s Day, I hope to see you that evening.

Two weeks later, we’ll be entertaining at another public event in the Bay Area.  This time, it’s a fabulous wedding showcase in Palo Alto, and I’ll blog about it in a few days.

We entertain somewhere nearly every day, and I’m always on the lookout for our next opportunity. If we can help you, please call us at 408-245-9120.  Visit MagnoliaJazz.com for our schedule, and catch us at a public event soon.

Thanks for reading my blog.  Please take a moment to share this post, subscribe, and send me a comment.

Here we are, all over town, entertaining at recent special events.  Beside the dance floor at a rustic wedding reception in Woodside (thanks for the photo, Lauren Cohn-Frankel), wedged into a corner for a cocktail reception aboard a yacht on San Francisco Bay (thanks for the photo, Tom Thrasher), up on a balcony for an elegant garden wedding ceremony in Carmel Valley (thanks for the photo, Anna Kuperberg), and onstage at a Roaring 20s party in Palo Alto (thanks for the photo, Joy Apple).

What’s with all the variety?  Well, looking with the right perspective, there’s actually very little variety.  Basically, in my opinion, a party is a party is a party.  And I’ll elaborate on this in a moment.

First, let me tell you a story about the first time I learned something new.  One day long ago, the clouds covering my mind parted a bit, the sun beamed, and I understood a little more.  Life was better.  It was so exciting!

Perhaps it actually happened this way the first time.  Perhaps not.  No matter — it was good for me.  These days something like this happens all the time, because my deliberate plan is to learn something new every day.

Stay with me.  In fact, I’m thinking it would be great if everyone acted this way, even if only occasionally.  I may be wrong, but I assume people benefit from learning something new.  But my assumption may be wrong.

I actually KNOW very little, so I go through life relying on my assumptions left and right.  And I believe that every assumption I make blinds me to some issues and illuminates others.  I think I’m on pretty firm ground here.

How about you?  What do you REALLY know?  How much of whatever you do rests on maybe shaky assumptions?

Making assumptions is a sure-fire way to make our way in an ambiguous world.  They can be a great help, but they carry a great hazard if we mistake them for “The Truth”.  For instance, if you ask me a question, and I guess wrong about what you really mean, I can offer only one or two right answers but hundreds of ways I can go astray.

Where am I going with this?  Here: Whatever you do, begin at the beginning, look for what you’re unsure of, and recognize what you’re assuming. I always try to recognize my assumptions, especially about my weddings and parties, so I can avoid “jumping the gun” and confidently marching off in the wrong direction.  I know I will always manage to deal with every situation well, if I can avoid trying to solve the wrong riddle.

However you make a living, you can’t go wrong if you start with the fundamentals every time.  So, what’s basic to every special event?  As I see it, just two things: people and an atmosphere — something to see, hear, smell, taste and feel.  These are what we plan with, anticipate, enjoy, and remember afterwards.  Everything else is details, and of course these details are what makes each event unique.

All my professional life, I’ve been helping people by arranging and performing the musical details.  If I’ve entertained at 10,000 events, there have been close to that many unique “constellations” of details.  Each in his/her own way, every event professional understands this and deals with assembling details every day.  You might find it useful to occasionally regard your own work from the perspective of “starting with the basics and assembling details”.

Works for me.  All the time, I’m arranging details for our coming events.  We entertain somewhere nearly every day, and I’m always on the lookout for our next opportunity. If we can help you, please call us at 408-245-9120.  Visit MagnoliaJazz.com for our schedule, and catch us at a public event soon.

Thanks for reading my blog.  Please take a moment to share this post, subscribe, and send me a comment.

Sunday, February 28, 11am-3pm
Wedding Fair & Open House
Crowne Plaza Cabana
4290 El Camino Real, Palo Alto

Enjoy the trio entertaining at the Crowne Plaza Cabana’s annual wedding open house. Taste their fantastic food, sample items and talk with their favorite vendors, take a tour of the space, step into the swanky cocktail lounge and select your own custom cocktail, watch the wedding fashion show and ask questions of the panel of wedding experts. For more information and reservations, please visit their website or call 650-628-0164.

Two topics in today’s post.  First, what a cute kid!  I loved my Cub Scout uniform.  It was probably not my first uniform, certainly not my last.  Do you wear a uniform?  It can be useful to think we’re always wearing one.

Whatever we wear is a uniform that reminds us about who we are, what we believe, and how we’ll keep our promises.  Much has been said and written about how our self-image influences our behavior.

Despite warnings about “judging a book by its cover”, I find my attire also informs brides-to-be and event planners about how I think and what they’ll expect me to do.  However you make a living, whatever you do, this is likely to be true for you, too.  Like it or not, our friends, clients, and colleagues always need a full and correct impression of us.

Several examples of this quickly come to mind.  You too?  In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Polonius advised his son “the apparel oft proclaims the man”.  49ers fans will remember that Jerry Rice’s uniform was always perfect, reflecting his flawless work ethic.  And remember John Malloy’s best-seller of the 1970s, Dress for Success, and all the “spin-off” books and programs it still inspires?

When I’m “on” a job, I wear either a fresh tuxedo or jacket & tie to nearly every engagement.  When I’m “off”, I always wear Dockers, a sport shirt, and my black Rockports — unlaced.  That’s my casual uniform.

How about you?  What are your uniforms, and what messages are you sending?

What makes a uniform is not only WHAT we wear, but also HOW we wear it.  Style as well as substance, and I’ll save that subject for a future post.

Now on a completely different topic, yesterday (New Year’s Day) and last Friday (Christmas Day) I checked email early and turned off my computer by 9:30am.  A Facebook-free family day!  My wife and I were delighted — surprisingly so.

We’re both self-employed, and we find “taking care of business” can become SO consuming, we overlook the family too much.  So Family Day needs to be a strong habit.

We both have a tendency to make quick, bold decisions about significant issues.  On the other hand, sometimes we’re so cautious we procrastinate and fail to make big decisions about other important matters.  Sound familiar?

With both traits working, we often drive each other crazy, and I’m thinking “Family Day” will be more important — and therapeutic — as the year goes on.  We’ll see.

For now, I’ll be trimming back my social media for a few weeks, risking “computer withdrawal” in favor of some strategic business planning and more Family Days, and then “re-booting” my system.

In the meantime, the band still entertains somewhere nearly every day, and I’m always on the lookout for our next opportunity. If we can help you, please call us at 408-245-9120.  Visit MagnoliaJazz.com for our schedule, and catch us at a public event soon.

Happy New Year and thanks for reading my blog.  Please take a moment to share this post, subscribe, and send me a comment.  I’ll reply promptly.  Ooops, there I go again, I’ll reply in two weeks.

Heard this one?  Hoping to fly at last, John leaps off the top of the Empire State Building, despite dire warnings from his friends.  As he plummets past the fortieth floor, he thinks, “So far, so good.”

The moral:  It’s nice to be optimistic, but, hey, plan ahead and watch where you’re going. Like it or not, you’ll probably wind up where you’re heading.

Look around.  December is a fascinating time, because everyone reviews the past year and anticipates what’s to come.  Most of us take this opportunity to plan ahead and watch where we’re going.

Yes, we’d be smart to do this often throughout the year, but if it’s an annual exercise for you, please give yourself a few minutes now to review where you’ve been, what’s working well and what’s not, where you hope to be in a week, a month, and a year, and how you plan to get there.

I have high hopes, and so should you. How do you spend your time? Whatever keeps you busy, there’s reason for optimism.  For me, I know that people will continue to celebrate landmarks.  Many people will have birthdays this year.  Many will celebrate weddings, wedding anniversaries, and holidays.  Many companies — yes, fewer than in some recent years — will celebrate something.  Producing their millionth widget or reaching another major goal, or adopting a new program, or inviting clients to an open house showing off their newest renovation, or just managing to stay in business during a challenging time.

From here, the new year is looking good.  For most of us, opportunities will abound, and advantages will be ours for the taking.  Let’s be optimistic.  Let’s be bold and think big.  Let’s prepare for unexpected opportunities.  But let’s be realistic, expect challenges, and plan to work hard to meet them.  Let’s lose some old habits, keep the rest, and develop a few new ones.  Let’s work to make our new times successful, and find ways to enjoy all of them.  Sound good?

These days, everywhere you look you’ll easily find a ton of predictions for 2010 and beyond.  Big changes are surely on the way — depend on it.  They’ll affect you, so prepare for great new scientific advances in technology, transportation, energy, and communication.  Expect economic developments in finances, employment, housing, and sales.

I’m sure you can specify many more developments that will be life-changing for you.  I’m enjoying reading and hearing all these predictions (here’s another article I just read), and wondering how to make them work for me.

Thanks for giving me a few minutes.  Actually this little pep talk is aimed at me, but you’re welcome to all of it.  Meanwhile, the band still entertains somewhere nearly every day, and I’m always on the lookout for our next opportunity. If we can help you, please call us at 408-245-9120.  Visit MagnoliaJazz.com for our schedule, and catch us at a public event soon.

Thanks for reading my blog.  Please take a moment to share this post, subscribe, and send me a comment.  I’ll reply promptly.

Here we are chatting with a guest at last month’s “Soup Kitchen Dinner”.  Thanks to Stacie Tamaki for the nice photo — more pictures on her blog.

In recent weeks, several of my best colleagues (Nicole Lisanne, Amy Frugoli, and Andrew Hsu) wrote wonderful, detailed accounts about the benefits they bring their clients’ celebrations.  I recommend you read their thoughtful comments.  And browse through their blogs, to find plenty of keen observations and helpful insights.

But first, a story.

I just don’t get it!  Poor Tiger Woods got involved in an auto accident the other day.  Or so I’m told, and the rumors began flying 15 minutes afterward.  I didn’t witness the event myself, and eye-witness accounts are notoriously unreliable anyway, so please don’t mistake my words for the truth.  I really don’t know first hand what happened.

Who does?  You?  Certainly not the people who offer their eager listeners opinions that begin with “Here’s my take on it…” or “Reliable authorities have reported…”

I believe no one knows exactly and completely what happened, or why.  The participants and spectators have a vested interest to report whatever shadowy version suits them.  No matter how sincere, they can’t escape their bias — it’s the way they look at the world.  And whether or not we accept it, the rest of us are totally in the dark, as usual.

Yet here we are, standing in a hurricane of groundless speculations claiming to illuminate the unreported mysteries.  Why are so many of us acting this way?

I just don’t get it!  You have an answer?

Well, maybe the simplest answer is the best:  We just like to wonder about the unknowable.

If so, why does it matter?  Woods is a remarkable athlete, always will be, and except for temporarily tarnishing his reputation with all this temporary attention, I think wondering is harmless in this case.  The notoriety will cost him some and reward him some.  Just like most of the celebrity scandals you’ll recall — about the deaths of JFK, Anna Nicole Smith, and Michael Jackson, or the trials of Charles Manson, O.J. Simpson, or Bernie Madoff, we’ll never know the truth.  If we really MUST have an answer, then we believe whatever we believe.

Whoa!  Here I am, speculating about the unknowable, too.  But my certainty rests on how little we’ll ever know, rather than on the details of what most likely happened or could happen with Mr. Woods.

That’s OK, in my opinion.  I’m comfortable accepting that there are some things I can never know, and I’d prefer not making something up, just to have an answer, right or wrong.  Flying blind is no problem here, because I think whatever we believe won’t matter, and a crash landing has no significant consequences.

However, flying blind through life is a serious problem whenever the consequences of our decisions count.  Sometimes we really need the voice of experience to guide us, or the eye of an expert to see what we’re missing.

Can you guess where I’m heading?  Sure, I’m talking about where I’ve devoted so many hours of my professional life — celebrations, especially weddings and parties.  For over 34 years I’ve seen countless examples where the vision of a professional expert either created a perfect event or prevented a catastrophe.  And others where flying blind led to a disaster.  Everyone has stories, right?

Everyone is an expert at something.  Most of my colleagues are experts at some aspect of creating a special celebration — whether they manage the entire project, or capture images in a video or a photograph, or present sensational food, from appetizers to desserts, or create a stunning atmosphere with decor, flowers, music, and lighting.  They are the experts every successful event requires, and without them things easily go wrong.

So when someone plans an important event, they could ask a pro to assure everything goes perfectly.  Or they could wonder about things they simply don’t know and hope for the best.  That is, fly blind and risk crashing.

I love participating in successful events, and I hate having to solve preventable problems, so that’s why I always look forward to working with a team of pros.  By the way, the band still entertains somewhere nearly every day.  I’m always seeking our next opportunity, and if we can help you, please call us at 408-245-9120.  Visit MagnoliaJazz.com for our schedule, and catch us at a public event soon.

Thanks for reading my blog.  Please take a moment to share this post, subscribe, and send me a comment.  I’ll reply right away.

Here’s a question for you.  Who do you know who does weddings?

“Look, I’m the only one here who actually does weddings.  The rest of you — event planners, wedding coordinators, photographers, videographers, caterers, florists, or DJs — just help.”  So jokes my friend, Rev. Layne Kulwin, and he’s a minister, so I guess he’s right!

Lots of us are aboard the bandwagon of claiming to “do” weddings.  I’ve been there, too, and I’m finally jumping onto a different bandwagon.  For months now I’ve been hearing that online video isn’t going to be the next big thing — it already IS the big thing.

Hope I’m not too late, but at last I’m starting to collect little candid video clips from our “on the job” performances, and the best ones will show people enjoying our music. I’ll post them on my website, and right now this one is on my blog.  Click on it!

This is the first video in my collection, taken by my friend Rich Amooi, while the trio was creating a soft background at a casual benefit dinner party last Thursday.

Now you’re able to see and hear us in action.  Well, there’s plenty of music to hear, but not lots of action to see, actually.  We play sitting down, and I like to tell people that when the San Francisco Symphony stands up to play, we’ll do it, too.

So if you ever have a little video clip of us, please email it here or have me download it or send me the URL on YouTube.  I’ll post it right away, with a link back to your website or your blog, to send you some traffic as a “thank you”.

In the meantime, Happy Thanksgiving!  The holiday season is nearly upon us, and the band still entertains somewhere nearly every day.  I’m always seeking our next opportunity, and if we can help you, please call us at 408-245-9120.  Visit MagnoliaJazz.com for our schedule, and catch us at a public event soon.

Thanks for reading my blog.  Please take a moment to share this post, subscribe, and send me a comment.  I’ll reply right away.