ON HIATUS

Friends - Thanks for stopping by the AEP blog.  It's been quite awhile since I posted, so please forgive me. I've decided to put the AEP blog on hiatus for awhile.  The event industry has taken quite a hit with the recession. I know some planners that have been laid off, some events that have been cancelled or postponed, and many that are struggling with low ticket sales.  I was laid off myself about 7 months ago.  Event work for now seems to have dried up as companies cut back to the core essentials of their business.

A research company in LA contacted me recently to get my input on the event/economic turndown. I shared what I knew and they told me about how hotels are struggling with low blocks and sales.

All this coupled with the low flow of traffic I've received through the blog the last few months bring me to the decision to go on hiatus.  I choose "hiatus" because I would like to continue posting when the event industry picks back up.

You can keep up me while on hiatus through my Facebook page.

Meanwhile: I hope the events that you host bring great and meaningful times to your guests, and fulfilling work for you!

David Hassell

SOME FAVORITE PHOTOS OF THE SEASON

My daughter as "The Spirit of Winter"

Beautiful Trees 

The AEP & Family

"These Are A Few of My Favorite Things"

From our house to yours - I hope you are having a merry Christmas-time wherever you may be!

Here are a few things (in no particular order) that make my Christmas bright:

SOME FAVORITE MUSIC 

Vince Guaraldi's "Charlie Brown Christmas" - I've spent many late nights listening to this while working on a big Christmas show that I used to produce.

Donna Summer's "Christmas Spirit" - I was not so much of fan of Donna's earlier disco stuff, but on this project - the woman can SANG!  She "tears it up" - in a worshipful, holiday sort of way!

Enya's "And Winter Came" - A new family favorite this year from the lady who sings/plays all 500 tracks on a song by herself.  This is alot like her other albums, but lends a nice backdrop for home activities.

PANETTONE!

This Italian fruit-bread is great toasted with a good cup of joe.

My wife usually gets one of these for me early each December.

To me it says "Christmas Time is here".

DECORATING

I love decking out our house, our church,  my wife's school - wherever -  for Christmas.  God seems to have given me a knack for it, and it's part of how I say "Happy Birthday" to Jesus.

YANKEE CANDLES

Man!  I think they have about 20 new scents for this year!  My kids and I like to waste time smelling and critiquing the scents at the Yankee Store.  This year, we're using "Mandarin-Cranberry" at our house.

SNOW! (See photo)

We get about 2 decent snows here in Tennessee each year, so we get really excited about snow - especially around Christmas!

MY KIDS! (See photo)

Sweetest children in the world - my kids!  (I know you'll beg to differ, but it's true!)  Seeing Christmas through their eyes brings out the kid in me.  It's wonderful to be able to pass down our faith and traditions to our kids at Christmas.

CHRISTMAS MUSICALS

I have a love/hate relationship with them.  I been involved with them my whole life in some way.  They are wonderful, but if you're in one, it can kill you - time & energy-wise.  I used to produce the "Christmas @ the Ryman" Show for my old employer, but thanks to the accountants who guard the bottom line, those days are gone.  I hope that you are able to celebrate through a moving Christmas Musical this year.

JESUS CAME.

The Bible says Jesus came "In the fullness of time".  I wish I really knew what that meant. I have pondered that for a long time.  For me - I  know that Jesus meets me at the time of my need, "just as I am" as the old song says.

Mind boggling - The KING of the universe choosing to come to us through a simple young girl - in a smelly stable.  So confounding, yet, so approachable to everyone.  Jesus came as the ultimate gift from God to us.

WITH ALL THESE THINGS AND THROUGH ALL THESE THINGS WE CELEBRATE!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JESUS!

The AEP Glossary: What's Your "CQ"?

Doing creative-based work for many years has made me make up alot of my own terms. If you worked with me, you may hear me say things like "Hose down" the room, or "Tweak the order".  With this post, I'm going to begin sharing some of my terminologies and the meanings - and - how they may help you in your work.

Today, I want to talk about what I call "CQ".  NO- it's not "GQ"!  "CQ" - as defined by me stands for "Change Quotient".   I've realized over the years that everyone has their own change quotient or "CQ" as I call it.

Some people have very little to almost no CQ.  I and many creatives have a very high CQ.

The CQ concept is about how much change you can envision and tolerate.

I've often been brought into (long) meetings to discuss ideas on how to make changes to programs or products that need a fresh start.  Now - with my high CQ level, I'm usually sitting there re-inventing / re-envisioning what we could do to breath new life into something.  I've learned the hard way that usually, the folks sitting on the other side of the table from me are thinking "David - You could guide us in changing the background of our Powerpoint slides from blue to red"!  (Oooooohhh - how EDGY is that!!!) 

As simple as it seems, this was a very powerful revelation for me.  Not everyone can visualize or envision the same way that you may be able to.  I learned to ask some questions early in the meetings that would help be determine the various CQ's represented in the room.  I was able to speak more specifically and intelligently to the issues presented when I did so.  I learned to take people more gradually through the change process so they could more easily absorb it and be less frightened of the process and outcome.

I hope this is a little helpful concept for you as you do creative work.

What's your CQ?

17 Things NOT To Do At An Event

I wish that I would have written this great post - 17 Things NOT To Do At An Event. 

But alas,  it was written by Michael Broome - a motivational speaker with Premiere Speakers Bureau.  There's a LOT of truth in this humorous, dead-on article.

AEP's Read & Learn!

Halloween Fun

The AEP is finally back in town, back in the saddle and will post some fun stuff over the next few days.

We are getting ready for Halloween at our house, having fun with some costumes.  Here are some of my favorite costume shots.

Where it all began for the AEP

Today is my dad's Birthday.  Eugene Hassell turns 80 years old.  

Born in 1928, he grew up poor in rural Kimbrell, Alabama. His dad (James Cleon) was a WWI verteran.  One of the "Fighting Wildcats" (but I'm not sure of any details other than that.) His mom (Myrtle Iva-lou) was of Irish descent from the clan of McDougal.  His grandpa - my great-grandpa lived to be 107 years old.

My dad worked hard all his life.  He still does today.  He's currently restoring his 1952 Ford Crown Victoria.  It was the first new car he ever bought.  And - he still owns it!

Dad taught me the value of a job done well.  Especially if it was for someone else.  He taught me to stick with it - even when you wanted to quit.  He toughed out 35 years of hard work as a steel worker, AND 35 years working in the National Guard before retiring from both.

Dad was in charge of supplies for the National Guard.  That means organizing and inventory of thousands of items for his unit. He is a natural organizer.  Never loses anything.  I think my organization and attention to detail came genetically thought him. I never asked him to teach me to organize.  I just watched him do it my whole life. It's certainly come in handy and been part of my success in the various jobs I've held.

I've had my moments of not understanding my dad, but I know that he loves me and I love him.

This weekend, the Hassell's are taking a road trip to Noccalula Falls State Park in Gadsden, AL to throw a little party for my dad.  After that, I'm going to spend the week with my parents at their house and do some painting for them.

Happy 80th Birthday Gene Hassell!  May you have many more!

Love from your son, David

A Word 'Bout N'awlins

The AEP is glad to be home from the N'awlins (New Orleans) mission trip.  My church sent about 60 men to help in a variety of projects.  Some helped rebuild a church, some did drywall, some worked in a community food pantry.  

I - the AEP - LAID TILE!  I spent the weekend on my knees laying tan 18" X 18" tiles for our homeowner "Kathy" (shown at the left).  

My team and I really enjoyed watching her reactions as she saw her home take a giant leap toward her living in it. I worked with my teamates: Wade Conway, Alan Pickerell, Troy Jennings, Tyler McNutt and a young dude named "Chase". We all became good buddies as we mortared, grouted, and cleaned.

I had never laid tile before - but now - HEY, if you need some tile laid, the AEP needs some work! :)

It was good to pray with Kathy and help her get a few steps closer to living back in her home. 

Let me ask if you would pray for her too.  She's been taken advantage of by a couple of contractors that owe her work for money she's paid them.  There's alot of scamming going on in New Orleans these days as folks try to hire contractors to help them rebuild.

An Event Idea I picked up while in the "Big Easy" was "SNO-BALLS".  Basically, grown-up snow cones made with shaved ice and a huge variety of flavored syrups.  Some of the more popular flavors were yellow-cake batter, chocolate mint, white chocolate chip and orange dreamscicle.  They even had some custom syrups called "batman" (orange mango), "Joker" (mixed berry), "Robin" (?) and other character-named flavors. You could also get your sno-ball with a scoop of vanilla soft-serve buried inside. It would be great fun to have these at a more informal event.  If you have a local contact for shaved ice, you could easily make this work out.

On The Road with The AEP

I will be on the road the next few days.  I'm going to New Orleans on a work/mission trip. 

I'll be with about 60 of my closest friends from my churches men's ministry.

If I run across something interesting on the trip, I'll do a brief post from my iphone.

Back early next week.

Happy event planning!