Summit Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Program and Agenda? What can attendees expect?
We are currently finalizing an entire "re-imagination" of the 2019 Summit based on last year's feedback as well as the inspiration to take it to a whole new level for its second year, including an all -day session, entertainment, a professional keynote industry expert speaker, featured workshops, and dedicated multiple "fireside chat" rooms with Expert Mentors in each room to facilitate and offer expert advice. The 2019 State of the Santa Barbara Wedding Industry promises to be the best one yet.
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What if I can't afford the Summit Pass Fee but really want to be there?
The Summit Pass is priced for incredible value: it is a full day of food, entertainment, dedicated educational content, a featured internationally-renowned wedding business key note speaker, featured smaller workshops and multiple mini Fireside-Chat breakout sessions, each hosted by an Expert Mentor providing an intimate coaching session to its attendees. The 2019 Summit also offers unparalleled networking and opportunities for community-building. That said, these are challenging times and the Summit was founded on embracing the Santa Barbara wedding community- everyone. If you want to be there and can't financially, we may be able to help you with partial or full scholarship. Please fill out our online Financial Aid/Scholarship Request Form . All requests will be treated with strict confidentiality and the dignity they deserve.
Is this also a Venue/Vendor Showcase?
No. There are plenty of those happening everywhere these days, and we love them as much as everyone else. While you will get to see some of the design work of our incredible design sponsors, this Summit has one purpose and mission: to bring everyone together with a dedicated focus on incredible education and collaboration, entertainment, delicious cuisine, moving an industry forward, connecting to one another. Anything else would dilute its purpose.
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What is the difference between the Expert Mentors and Sponsors?
Expert Mentors were hand-selected by Summit Founder Kerry Lee Doehr as representing some of the top-notch, long-term, successful wedding business leaders in our area. They will be facilitating the individual break-out "Fireside Chat" sessions as experts in their field. Their unique insight and reputations for sound, ethical, and stellar business practices as well as longevity is invaluable and serve as a foundation for the audience-collaboration portion. | Sponsors are those individuals or businesses who have contributed in some way - either partial or in-full "in kind" services or product, or monetary donations - to support the implementation of this event.
These are two mutually-exclusive "positions" and not contingent on each other or even necessarily related.
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How do you become a Think Tank Panel Expert?
It is by invitation only. Here is some background: The current panel of experts were hand - selected because of their extremely long-term , successful businesses. They represent various niches in the wedding industry and have a special attention to the Santa Barbara area, and are mostly Presidents/Founders/CEOs. While there are many who are talented and could be chosen for this panel, the current panel was chosen based on the 20 years of personal experience of observation, general reputations for excellence and innovation for staying relevant through the years and as such, are leaders and mentors in our industry. The Think Tank Panel experts will anchor the audience-led collaboration (Session Two) of the Summit, but everyone- including the audience- will attend and lend their unique expertise during the audience collaboration portion.
How do you become a Sponsor?
By deciding what it is you would like to contribute. We have a Sponsorship Page with some suggestions, but we are always open to creative ideas. The most popular Sponsorship is the "Community Partner Sponsorship" which starts at $100, gets your marketing materials into Swag Bags day of the event, some pre-event marketing but best of all, supports our Financial Aid/Scholarship Fund, which allows fellow event partners in our community who are struggling financially to attend the Summit. You get to market your business and also benefit another event partner in need. Everyone wins.
How can I be involved in the Summit?
Drop us a line with what you are thinking. We'd love to continue the conversation!
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How did you decide to do the first summit for the Santa Barbara wedding industry?
As a 3rd generation Santa Barbaran with one of the longest-standing Santa Barbara event planning businesses, Summit Founder Kerry Lee (Dickey) Doehr has been in the trenches of our local industry observing the radical changes taking place, participating in the dialogue and unique needs happening in our local industry & community that are unprecedented in wedding business history. The industry is changing on a national level due to many reasons, one of which is that today's wedding clientele is changing. After spending years working for a national wedding brand name during the height of the wedding business explosion, she had an insider's track "information line" for all things wedding business nation-wide and traveled extensively, connecting with many heavy hitters in our industry. After the Thomas Fire and Floods took an already-difficult time in our industry and added a whole other devastation dynamic to Santa Barbara, Kerry Lee saw the deep, unique niche need to bring everyone together with a special experience: one that would provide custom research she has done on the national wedding market, the local wedding market and culture, as well as include the top leading wedding business leaders who have enjoyed longevity & success leading a Think Tank Panel discussion on which every guest in attendance gets to collaborate and participate in the Second Session. The ultimate goal was to reunite an industry, define what is going on so it's understandable, design what will carry your wedding business forward based on that definition, and lastly and most importantly: evolve, so that one is not a victim of the evolution taking place, but moves forward in the midst of it, staying relevant. And that is the theme of this Summit: Define. Design. Evolve. | Part of Kerry Lee's other series "The Fireside Series", this Summit is set around cozy fires with some delicious wine and light edible fare plus her signature "Little Black Box" with an upscale luxury gift. Attendees are sure to walk away with significantly more value than what they paid for.
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Got a question we have not answered? Drop us a line .