Friday, October 10, 2008

The MacCallum House & Green Weddings in Mendocino


I attended a dear friend’s destination wedding in the lovely town of Mendocino. The majority of the events took place at the amazing MacCallum House. The town of Mendocino paired with the venue of the MacCallum House is a lovely option for a green destination wedding in Northern California. The hotel restaurant and bar specializes (and damn near perfects) organic and local cuisine and culinary cocktails. The dill and other spices in my Bloody Mary the morning after nearly sent me over the edge.

A large, Raj-style tent was erected in their front lawn and the décor the hotel spearheaded was elegant and simple with draped paneling, hanging chandeliers offering both incandescent and candlelit dinning. The hotel let us dance and celebrate into the night only shutting us down at the same time as their bar, at 2am – a rarity for most hotel destinations that usually close events down by midnight.

For guests who did not stay at the MacCallum House, there were many options within walking distance at all price points from 2 to 4 star accommodations. Camping was also available for the more adventurous guest.

The location offered carpooling and wine tasting options to and from Mendocino through one of my favorite regions – The Anderson Valley. Shuttle/Wine train service was also available from San Francisco (or other metropolitan areas) to Mendocino with stops at wineries, cheese shops and farms along the way.

Sunday, October 5, 2008

Raffle-4-Riders


Raffle-4-Riders is a Twirl Management created program that acts as a rewards system for event attendees who ride their bikes or public transportation to your festival, conference, trade show, etc. Showing the ticket stub or the bike claim ticket from Bike Valet and an honor code for walkers at the Raffle-4-Riders, attendees are eligible for a raffle with prizes from various local businesses and restaurants.

We rolled out the concept at Spirit of Japantown 2008 in San Jose California with great results. Despite the heavy downpour that day, our marketing to take alternative transportation was rewarded by over 200 visitors to the booth for the duration of the one day festival. Our prizes included gift certificates from Jamba Juice, Sports Basement, Bicycle Express, Naglee Park Garage, and Farm Fresh to You.

For this roll out or goal was to partner with the Silicon Valley Bike Coalition but due to late procurement of sponsorship this did not happen but is slated for this years festival on September 26th, 2009. It is a great program to work in conjunction with a bike valet partner and a transportation sponsorship. This rewards alternative transportation to your event and an opportunity to incorporate a different variety of sponsorship and donations.