By Christine Stoesser
Deb Lewis has two words of wisdom as 2010 draws to a close: “Stay focused.” For many women, full-on holiday feasting and fast-paced family gatherings combined, ‘focus’ may have shifted its meaning in the action-packed weeks just past. “If you stay focused, things happen for you,” Deb says as she and I sip hot beverages on a chilly winter afternoon. Her words whip the sugar plums out of my head; I need to reprioritize in the new year. Who better to take tips from than a woman who has made a living giving Toronto a sense of organization?
In 2006, Deb founded CityEvents, one of Toronto’s top event planning services and online events calendar. Because she has a background in marketing and had always gravitated toward the events side of the field, events promotion and planning made sense. “Toronto has a lot of clutter,” she says knowingly. “People want information from trusted sources. People are looking for things to do, but not everyone has the time to find these things themselves.” Deb holds a degree in Consumer Studies from the University of Guelph and a post-graduate Diploma in Sport and Event Marketing from George Brown College, where she has instructed in Special Events Management. She also maintains a blog at www.deblewis.ca. “I like to let people know what they have access to, or at least [let them] be aware what is going on in their own community,” the Toronto-area native says of her work.
What makes a party great? “You plan for perfection, but things come up,” advises Deb. “Perfection can be different things for different people. For me, it’s when everything runs smoothly and everyone has a good time.” She does have a ‘top three’, however:
Other details, like the décor, general atmosphere and of course, the food and drinks, are important as well, but Deb’s top three are main items to consider if you want to throw a successful and memorable event.
Deb’s experience in events management and her ability to identify what may be missing from the marketplace is what inspired her and an entrepreneur friend, Kendra Court, to found FastLane, a speed networking group in the GTA. “We found there were a lot of stale networking events,” explained Deb, and the duo quickly began brainstorming on how they could make networking fresh and current. FastLane, founded three years ago, meets quarterly and partners with companies such as Dermalogica to create useful events where participants receive image consulting and makeovers and are then treated to a digital photograph of themselves from a professional photographer. “The need is for people to be networking in person, but they need to be networking online as well,” she explains. “[Employers] may be checking your online profile before you’re even being called for an interview now,” she says.
Community is certainly of great importance to Deb, who has worked with many not-for-profit organizations such as the TRIDEC mentoring program, Rotary International and the Sunnybrook Foundation. Volunteering, she says, is “great for people who might not know what their hearts want to do.” She recommends determining where your interests lie and using a match agency like www.altruvest.org, which pairs professionals looking to contribute their time and expertise with charitable organizations in need of executive leadership.
Deb offers advice to budding entrepreneurs and events planners: to entrepreneurs she says, “Enjoy the freedom of directing your future. Be prepared for all the other areas of life that business will seep into. Be prepared to find some work/life balance.” To those interested in events management, she encourages proactivity: “be prepared to be responding in an immediate manner. Don’t sit around to react, you may not get the next gig. People want everything done yesterday.”
Deb happily reports that business was good in 2010, up from 2009 when people were more controlled by their budgets. “I don’t think anyone should be too comfortable, though,” she says of 2011.
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