More than 10.1 million U.S. firms are owned by women, and approximately one third of all Minnesota businesses are women-owned including Mid-America Events & Expos, producers of the upcoming Body Mind Life Expo and the Seniors Spring Show.

 These expos are intentionally created to have a strong appeal to women, because they also make most of the buying decisions.

We attract them to our shows with a great line-up that includes fashion shows, healthy living seminars, live entertainment and local celebrities. Because many of the companies participating in our shows are woman-owned, making a personal connection with other women during these events is a powerful way to help their recovery. They need a platform to get in front of thousands of potential women buyers to that they can to start filling their sales funnel.

We completely understand when clients say they don’t have time to organize or staff an event, because every event involves a lot of details.

We’re a little more than one month out from the 10th annual Body Mind Life Expo, and our staff is busy processing booth applications, confirming speakers and seminars, arranging media interviews with our show participants and finalizing venue details at the Minneapolis Convention Center. We’re also sending emails and postcards to invite our past attendees, and finishing up a 4-page spread about the event that will run in Edge Magazine.

At Mid-America Events & Expos we do this for a living, and we’ve got our processes in place. But if you’re trying to coordinate an event, and do your regular job too, it can be a real juggling act! 

If you need help planning or staffing an event, call us. We thrive on this stuff!

**By Lindsay Helgeson, Communications Specialist,  Kocina Marketing Companies** 

  Several times a year, I am able to work with clients who have a strong motivation to support and better our local communities. These past several months I have been lucky to work closely with several clients in this way…one of them is WomenVenture (www.womenventure.org):  WomenVenture is a thriving, local resource for those who would like to grow in their career or build a new business. The organization rooted itself in Minnesota 31 years ago, offers services for both women and men, and their resources seem boundless. Each autumn they have a large conference-fundraiser at the Minneapolis Convention Center with career workshops and speakers, which has grown to become the largest business conference for women in the Midwest. This year they treated attendees to the advice and life stories of three of Minnesota’s most influential women leaders: Marilyn Carlson Nelson, Senator Amy Klobuchar, and Gloria Perez, of the Jeremiah Program.   I truly, TRULY loved my job as I helped to create media awareness about this event and the helpful classes that WomenVenture offers to those in the community who are looking to grow their career potential - especially in this economy. It was exciting to work with the talented committee who leads this conference, with the course leaders who watch their clients grow, and to prepare successful clients who are watching their dreams come true for their upcoming interviews. How fun to explain these stories to reporters and editors!  How exciting to hear the reporters’ voices warm up as they could envision what this story might mean for their viewers, listeners, readers. What a treat for me to watch these stories come alive on the nightly news, on the morning shows, over the airwaves, and splashed across the pages of our daily papers. The biggest bonus: knowing that WomenVenture was able to get the word out to those who desperately needed to hear it this year.  

We love the Holiday season here at Kocina Branding & Marketing Companies.  With Thanksgiving just hours away, we thought we would take a minute to show our appreciation. 

Here are a few of the things our team is thankful for this year:

-“…for my co-workers- they’re amazing and dedicated.”

-“I’d go crazy without our graphic designers.  They make my job so easy.”

-“I’m thankful that our MarketSmart Academy has been so successful!”

-“…the wild success of our Girlfriends Expo & Getaway last weekend! Our team, the vendors, speakers, emcees, sponsors and patrons were amazing!”

-“…that we have had the opportunity to work with such great companies and organizations this year.”

-“…for my healthy, happy family!”

-“I feel blessed to work with such strong and inspiring people.”

We’d love to know what you’re thankful for this year.  Share with us on our facebook page! http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kocina-Branding-Marketing-Companies/93694901057

Have a great Thanksgiving everyone!

The holidays are approaching which can be a very daunting time to contact the media because this is the busiest time in the media calendar.  Here are a few pointers when calling the media around the holiday season:

1)  Take the time to create new stories to take advantage of events, holidays and seasonal activities.

2)  Remember the lead time for each media venue: radio, print, and tv-they all run on different schedules so figure out the best times to call and pitch them fresh ideas for the holiday months.

3)  Call and find out who handles the holiday gift reviews and get your product in the right person’s hands!

We’ve had a good stream of people attending the Kocina Market Smart classes.  The people walk through our office and stop by our desks and ask us questions about p.r.  It’s fun meeting new people and adding them to our twitter list!  Our next class is on Nov . 24 from 8:30am - Noon re: Developing a Brand Palybook-this is the class nobody should miss!!