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I was asked to be a guest blogger for Eryn-Faye, Canada’s Passion Coach recently. When Eryn-Faye called she asked for my help in helping her reading plan their perfect Valentines Day date. Here’s what I had to say.

As an event planner at Amuse Consulting with over 10 years experience I’m the first person friends and colleagues call when they need to plan the perfect experience for that special someone. When Eryn-Faye called and asked for some advice on planning the perfect Valentines date I knew exactly what to say, it’s all in the planning!

Here are 10 of my quick tips for ensuring a successful date that is sure to wow your loved one.

The restaurant date:

1. Pick a restaurant you both have enjoyed and you know provides great food and service. Don’t try a new restaurant for the first time, you may or may not get the service you hope for.
2. Choose your table ahead of time. When making your reservation actually go into the restaurant and request the specific table you want. Perhaps you want a bit of privacy, maybe you want to ensure you are away from the entrance and the kitchen. The trick is to ensure the table you request makes the night about the two of you and not what’s happening in the rest of the restaurant.
3. Choose the menu ahead of time. Pick everything from the wine, the appetizers, main course desert etc… if you are not a “foodie” ask the restaurant to help you. The goal is to make your date feel pampered and also let’s them know that you’ve paid attention and really know their likes and dislikes.
4. Order your date’s favourite flowers and have them delivered with your Valentines Day card to the restaurant. Make sure you put the name the reservation is under on the card so they know what table to put them on for when you arrive.
5. Build anticipation… you’ve picked the restaurant, your table and the food now you start to tease your date with just enough info to make them wonder what you’ve planned. Let them know you have a date but give them nothing else, not the time, the place, anything.
6. Valentines Day morning start off with a cute and funny Valentines Day card. Include some of the details for your upcoming date. Let them know what type of outfit to wear and what time they should expect to be ready for.
7. Valentines Day after work it’s all about being stress free. Make sure that everything has been prepped in advance for the return home, candles are strategically placed, favourite mood music playlist has been created and is all set to go. When you arrive home it will only take two minutes for the mood to be continued.
8. Dress for success. The adage usually applies to work and career but it applies just the same here. Make sure you look your best, smell good, and have your hair cut the day or two before.
9. The perfect Valentines Day Gift isn’t about how much you’ve spent, its about how much thought went into it. With all the planning you’ve done on the dinner the gift should also be thoughtful and meaningful. One of my favourites costs nothing, relationship gift certificates! Create a few gift certificates that your date can redeem at a later time. Things should include experiences that your date often asks for but are not always possible due to busy lives. For example “a candle lit scented bath”, “a romantic massage”, “a home made dinner for two” are just a few of the possibilities. Be creative and make them specific to your loved one.
10. Most importantly be authentic, real and be present! The greatest gift we can give someone is to be in the moment with them and to give them our full attention.

Hopefully these will give you some inspiration in creating your perfect date.  If you choose to cook a meal at home see how the tips would be relevant and adjust accordingly.  The principles are the same.

Over the past 8 months I’ve invested time into the “new” world of social media; Twitter, Facebook Fan Pages, YouTube etc…. Without a doubt Shane Gibson and Stephen Jagger have been a huge part of the success I have achieved in my understanding and implementation of this new tool for business. Whether you are an entrepreneur, employee, board member of a charity or just curious save your self some time and get Sociable. It will demystify the world of Social Media and give you some great tips and tricks on how to successfully integrate it into your best practices manual.

I believe in this book so much Amuse Consulting signed up as the first sponsor for the upcoming launch of the book. Click below to order a copy of yours today. If you’d like to attend the launch event (Jan 28th at V in Yaletown) and meet Shane and Stephen in person please click here to register.

I originally wanted to write a blog post today about some of the events happening in Vancouver during the Olympics. As luck would have it Vancouver Blogger star Rebecca Bollwitt (or better known as Miss604) wrote a great Blog on the Cultural Olympiad. So with her permission here is an excerpt from her blog. Feel free to click on the link below to read it in it’s entirety.

Vancouver Cultural Olympiad 2010

Posted: January 14th, 2010 @ 10:30 am
Posted by: Miss604
5 Comments

Vancouver’s Cultural Olympiad has been taking place over the last two years, gearing up for the main event in February 2010, it features performances, art installations, concerts and more.

From January 22nd until March 21st sub-festivals such as CODE and Juste pour rire, will make sure the Cultural Olympiad is jammed-packed with action.

They have hundreds of events taking place in dozens of venues around Vancouver, including outdoor expositions. If you’re not sure what to search for yet in the event listings, here are just a few highlights.

The contemporary concert series in Vancouver:

January 22nd Phoenix with You Say Party! We Say Die! at the Orpheum. Tickets start at $32.50.

February 15th City and Colour & The Rural Alberta Advantage at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre. Tickets start st $32.50.

February 16th New Songs, New Voices with Jason Plumb, Meaghan Blanchard, Romi Mayes, Dan Mangan at the Roundhouse Community Arts and Recreation Centre. Tickets $12.

February 17th Feist & Gonzales “Piano Talk Show” at the Orpheum. Tickets start at $37.50.

February 19th Stars with Hey Rosetta! at the Orpheum. Tickets start at $37.50.

March 12th Gomez & Chad Van Gaalen at the Orpheum. Tickets start at $32.50.

March 18th Martha Wainwright & Jorane: Chanteuses modernes at the Commodore Ballroom. Tickets $32.50.

March 20th Raphael Saadiq & India.Arie at the Orpheum. Tickets start at $42.5

For the complete blog post by Miss604 please click here.

So yesterday’s blog article on the Olympics generated quite a bit of private comments to me about the #1 concern which is how to effectively get around the city during the Games.

These are the 8 Tips and Tricks I recommend.

1. Check out the http://travelsmart2010.ca/ website for all the up to date Transit information, maps, trip planners, travel alerts, & business preparedness tips + road closures.

2. Did you know that if you have an Olympic event ticket this is also good as your transit pass for the day! That’s free unlimited transit for the entire day of the event you are going to! Includes everything but the West Coast Express.

3. For non Olympic related activities/errands/work consider travelling into the downtown core before noon. Most Olympic events taking place in Vancouver and Richmond are scheduled to start after 12 noon.

4. Translink is also offering 6 week Limited Edition transit passes. These are available now and are valid from Feb 8, 2010 to March 21, 2010.

5. If you have a smart phone and are on Twitter follow them. Translink will be real time monitoring these sites and information gathered will be fed to the dispatch center. Jhenifer Pabillano, Online Communications Advisor for Translink is also a great resource and is responsible for the http://buzzer.translink.ca/ Blog.

6. If you have an IPHONE download the free Translink APP. It is a bit clumsy but all the schedules are updated and it utilizes the GPS in the phone to help you find stops near you. You can find the APP by entering TRANSLINK in the APP Store search. Best of all it’s FREE!

7. Depending on your departure to final destination points give yourself some extra time. This way you are not adding any additional stress on yourself and it will ensure less “transit” rage.

8. Smile and be helpful to locals and tourists alike. A smile is infectious and will help in lowering transit tension.

What are your thoughts and ideas about getting around Vancouver during the Olympics? Please let me know what you think. Look forward to your comments.

So we are 30 days away from hosting the Olympics here in Vancouver and everyone seems to have an opinion on whether it’s a good or bad thing for Vancouver. Well here’s mine.

Regardless of my initial position it is now a done deal and I feel we should embrace it and take advantage in whatever way makes the best sense. So that means let’s stop our griping and let’s have some fun! With so much happening in the city it’s a once in a life time opportunity.

Here are some tips and tricks to make the most of what’s happening.

1. Working and traveling into DT – this is a big one. If you commute to DT for work you may want to ask for some options. Would your company allow you to telework? Can I adjust my work hours to void the commute crush (did you know most Olympic sports start at noon or later? This means if you work from 7-2pm you’ll avoid most of the traffic mess)? Are you able to carpool or take public transit (Translink has worked hard to make this information available on one site. All you need to know about car pooling, trip planning, schedules etc it is there. Also if you have an IPHONE check out the APP store for the free Translink App. I use it all the time!)?

2. Take in the sights sounds and energy that is going to be happening all over the Lower Mainland. There will be lots of great events and pavilions happening all over the Lower Mainland and up to Whistler. When I searched there are at least 34 events that are free during the month of February in the Vancouver area alone. Also don’t forget the live site at David Lam Park, Georgia and Beatty and of course the Richmond O Zone which will have Holland House (better known as Heineken House).

3. Party it up. the City of Vancouver has extended patio hours for restaurants to 1am. Just imagine the amazing people you will be able to meet all without having to get on a plane. the world is coming to us so let’s get out there and meet them. Support our local businesses and get out there and enjoy!

I welcome your feedback and I’ve attended quite a few 2010 preparedness events. So if you have any questions about getting around don’t be shy, ask.

I’m not sure if it’s a Vancouver phenomenon only but I constantly hear frustration from clients and friends about people that have RSVP’d for a party or an event and then they don’t show up!

Sometimes there are great reasons for not showing up. Family emergency, work emergencies or being placed in jail by the police are just a few. For the rest of the no showers it boils down to one of three reasons. 1. They got a better offer 2. They only said yes in the first place to avoid explaining why they weren’t interested in attending and 3. They forgot to enter it in their calendar so they forgot &/or double booked themselves.

I can’t help with the first two reasons, that’s a case of manners and etiquette, but I do have some solutions for reason #3.

Solution #1 Use an online registration tool like Eply, Eventbrite or Karelo (these are just a few). These online registration systems allow you to capture all their information plus the added bonus of a click button that allows the registrant to export the event details to their calendar program! Done. Date, time and location all entered!

Solution #2 Send out an email blast the morning of the event reminding your guests of the start time and location. The only draw back here is that they still might have double booked themselves already and emails only have a 20% open ratio.

Solution #3 A brand new text alert service available through Quick Mobile that allows you to text your registered guests at the time of your choosing with the script of your choosing. At a recent event I hosted we sent out the message reminding guests of the time, place and a reminder link to the host’s website. How many calls have you missed at the event from guests calling to ask the address? Well no more! This service is “user opt in” targeted and most importantly very cost effective + text messages have a 98% open rate.

There are no excuses for not showing up to an event once you’ve RSVP’d anymore. For more information on online registration services or text alerts please contact me for more details.

I was recently asked to help out local businessmen and authors Steve Jagger of Reachd and Shane Gibson of Closing Bigger find a venue for the upcoming launch of their new book Sociable.

The first questions I asked were: 1. How many people are you expecting? 2. What is the demographic profile of your guests? and 3. What’s your budget?

The answer was the new Earls in Yaletown’s V . V can accommodate stand-up reception parties of 300 people, is located in the heart of Vancouver’s hip upscale heritage district of Yaletown and based on the date and time of the event they were willing to negotiate an acceptable minimum that met both my clients’ needs and the needs of the venue.

V boasts the reliability of the Earls brand but with a twist. Designed with a more modern feel V boasts a full service designer bar (can we say flights of Vodka!) a dedicated kitchen just for V, complete multimedia access with 8 36-inch LCD screens, prewired for AV presentations, wireless mics and headsets + PC and Mac hook ups for presentations Plus a whole lot more.

So keep your eyes and ears peeled for details on the upcoming launch of Sociable at V. you’ll be able to keep up on the latest in social media and dining experiences all at the same time.

To find out more about V contact Amuse and we’ll gladly take you on a tour.