'Lunch Kit' For WEVA's Jan. 9 Bridal Consultant Initiative Now Available
December 19, 2005
Sarasota, FL - To coincide with the annual start of the new wedding season, the week beginning January 9, 2006 has been designated as "Take A Bridal Consultant to Lunch Week" by the Wedding & Event Videographers Association International (WEVA). The special “Lunch Kit” developed by the WEVA Public Relations Committee and provided for the exclusive use of WEVA members is now available for immediate download in the members-only section of the association website, said WEVA International’s Director of Association Communications Dan Argenas.
WEVA's Bridal Consultant Lunch Kit can be located by clicking on the “Downloads” link at the the top right-hand section of the password-protected WEVA Forums section of the association website. WEVA members can access the site using their individual WEVA Forums ID,” Argenas said.
“WEVA’s special Bridal Consultant Lunch Kit forms and scripts will show WEVA members step-by-step how to find bridal consultants that match their business interests, what to say in written correspondence and over the phone, tips for a successful lunch, and includes important industry news hand-outs. The templates and scripts in the Kit are a guideline to help our members communicate the exciting new developments in professional wedding videography. Also in preparation for the bridal consultant initiative are the results from the new WEVA 2005 Nationwide Survey of Brides, which are being prepared for members to download the first week in January,” Argenas said.
WEVA Public Relations Committee Chairperson Kris Malandruccolo noted that WEVA's goal is, “to empower fellow members with the tools to make that first contact - which is the first step in raising industry awareness as well as gaining valuable exposure for your business. It has been proven that relationship-networking is very successful for increasing business, and is a low-cost alternative to other forms of advertising.”
Along with Malandruccolo, the WEVA Public Relations Committee members include, Al Ritondo, Personal Touch Video (NJ); Natalie Neal, Glass Slipper Productions (PA); and Mike Nelson, Remember When Video Productions (UT). Suggestions for this current nationwide initiative and ideas for new association programs are welcomed by the WEVA Public Relations Committee and can be emailed directly to Malandruccolo at Kris@ElegantVideosByKris.com
WEVA's 2005 Nationwide Survey of Brides
“The new WEVA Bridal Consultant Initiative is perfectly timed being in conjunction with the unfolding of the 2006 wedding season, and the results of the WEVA 2005 Nationwide Survey of Brides," said WEVA International Chairman Roy Chapman who noted the biggest period of wedding announcements traditionally occurs over the Christmas holidays.
“The first week after New Year’s always begins the kick-off of the new bridal season. Brides will start making calls to book their wedding professionals, including their videographer and wedding consultant,” Chapman said.
“The WEVA 2005 Nationwide Survey of Brides will have important news for the professional wedding video industry and the bridal media, as well as bridal consultants, since the survey was revised at the request of the WEVA Public Relations Committee to include some key questions directly relating to wedding consultants. We believe local consultants will want to be among the first to learn the survey results, and our members will have that information to share when they meet with consultants for lunch starting the week of January 9th. WEVA is the only national organization to commission and provide nationwide survey data of newlyweds, and back it up with the tools and techniques that wedding videographers can immediately put to use in their own markets -- and do it all at no additional cost to our members," Chapman said.
Over two years ago, WEVA International commissioned its first, and groundbreaking, nationwide survey of newlyweds to determine their true beliefs about the value and lasting impact of professional wedding videography. The quantifiable results have been published in the national bridal media and used by WEVA International members to market their services more effectively.
Impact of WEVA Survey Upon Videographers
“We studied the first WEVA Survey of Brides and used that data to completely rethink our video marketing strategy. We made many significant changes that have proven to be highly successful for our company,” said WEVA International member Mike Nelson, owner of Remember When Videos and a WEVA Creative Excellence Competition Award recipient. “We now offer over 40 products to our brides and many of these are purchased after the wedding day,” said Nelson who employs a 13-member staff at his wedding and event video production business in Salt Lake City, UT.
“Using the WEVA Survey results I was able to get the attention of the Chicago Weddingpages magazine and others in both our local and national media. The magazine was very interested in getting the nationwide data and in updating their information about professional wedding video,” said WEVA member Kris Malandruccolo, owner of Elegant Videos by Kris (Carol Stream, IL). “The result was a multi-page article in Chicago Weddingpages that highlighted the WEVA Survey as a national trend-spotter, and featured my own business and video services for local coverage. Chicagoland WEVA members were also listed in the article. From that one article, my business has already earned several thousand in weddng video booking fees,” said Malandruccolo, who subsequently took the reigns as chairperson of the WEVA Public Relations Committee.
“Now that DVD has replaced VHS and with the advent of HD/widescreen entertainment, and now iPod video for hand-held viewings, WEVA International has undertaken this 2005 follow-up survey to assess changes in the bridal marketplace relating to professional videography,” said Chapman.
“WEVA International’s first Nationwide Survey of Brides was conducted by telephone interviews and focused on many key areas of wedding videography,” he added. “It was the most extensive survey of newlyweds and their views about video ever conducted. Using the new 2005 survey data we'll be able to combine results from both the past and present surveys to provide our association members with the industry’s first-ever, ‘moving indicators’ showing how wedding videography, professional videographers, and new industry trends are being perceived among today’s brides.”
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WEVA News is a service of the Wedding & Event Videographers Association International (WEVA). The largest trade association for professional wedding and event videographers, WEVA International is dedicated to advancing the professional interests of videographers worldwide through continuing education, technical support, group benefits, advocacy committees and professional development training. For more information regarding professional videography and WEVA International activities and membership, including Wedding & Event Video Expo 2006 (August 2006) contact the association office at 941-923-5334 or email: info@weva.com |
