I've always wanted to surround myself with knowledge and people who live and breathe event planning. My opportunity presented itself at the 2010 Special Events Conference in New Orleans, LA. The Special Event (2010) is the world's largest trade show and conference for event professionals (2010, The Special Event). TSE allows participants to make invaluable connections with thousands of key figures and colleagues in the events industry, experiencing education both inside and outside the classroom, choose from over 100 relevant conference sessions and training workshops taught by hand-picked speakers, and discover thousands of events. products and services at the show (2010, the special event). I was excited and nervous to attend this conference as it would be my first professional conference where the topic is entirely dedicated to events! I often thought that this would be an opportunity for me to attend this international conference and have a little place on the map since I was coming from Nashville, Tennessee. However, I met people from all over the world. There is one person in particular, Jane Yong. Jane was residing in Dublin at the time and attended the conference to learn more about American events. I exchanged business cards with many professionals, but I stayed in touch with Jane. And we often exchange ideas at events, job searches and weddings! I arrived early to see the sights of New Orleans and also to navigate the New Orleans Convention Center to avoid getting lost while transitioning to class. The conference location was two blocks from my hotel. Luckily, I didn't stay at the host hotel and chose to stay at the Marriott, which ended up being cheaper than the host hotel. During this week-long conference, it opened my eyes to a world of opportunities. I was excited to really dig into this opportunity. At the time of the conference, my mind was solely focused on business and event management as I was looking for ways to grow my business that I started two years ago. I wanted to find courses designed to give me the confidence and tools to meet more clients, learn skills that other people may not have, and explore ways to market on a small budget, and several courses were available to help me. me with this.