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Business 2 Business Expo 2008 |
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Written by Lisa Robyn Lawrence
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Tuesday, 30 September 2008 |
 Fantasy Springs Resort Casino’s Special Events Center
September 26, 2008
Story by Lisa Robyn Lawrence
Photos by Allen Lawrence
Friday, September 26, 2008 the Palm Desert Chamber of Commerce held their 2008 Business 2 Business Expo at Fantasy Springs Resort Casino’s Special Events Building. There were 120 exhibitors and thousands of Coachella Valley residents, visitors and members of the Coachella Valley business community attended.
 The 2008 Business 2 Business Expo was hosted by Palm Desert Chamber of
Commerce and its members. What a colorful, inviting and well-produced
event this was as it had so much variety to and information about local
businesses to offer. There were food booths, golf courses, solar
energy, financial institutions, insurance companies, health care
related businesses, service businesses, nonprofit organizations, a
Porsche, and a big inviting customized red Jeep from the Jeep
Adventures Eco Tours. There were games and prizes offered to
participants for merely leaving their business card. The Porsche
especially tantalized participants and we caught two of the chefs from
an adjacent booth who apparently couldn’t resist looking inside and
checking it out. The Fantasy Springs Special Event Center was filled
with many excited business people and the general public exchanging
information, networking and just plain having a great time.
 Palm Desert Chamber of Commerce’s, Jay Chesterton, Chairman of the
Planning Committee for the 2008 Business 2 Business Expo said, “Each
successive year this event has grown by 20% in the number of businesses
who participate. This year the number has slightly exceeded this and
public attendance is expected to double from last year’s event.” “This
is fantastic, he continued, “ especially in the type of economic market
we are presently experiencing.” The Palm Desert Chamber of Commerce is
“the largest” Chamber of Commerce in the Coachella Valley.
Palm Desert Chamber of Commerce, Business 2 Business Planning Committee
Chairman, Jay Chesterton, is also the V.P. of Hotel Food and Beverage
at Fantasy Springs Resort Casino and was responsible for securing the
perfect venue location for the event. Chesterton also told us that it
was Palm Desert Chamber of Commerce Director of Communications and
Special Events, Andy Mueller who was the one who coordinated the actual
production of this event itself this year.
 I say great job to Jay Chesterton, Andy Mueller, and to the Palm Desert
Chamber of Commerce, Business 2 Business Planning Committee: Dominique
Shwe (The Desert Sun), Brent Wise (Westfield), Christine Hunter (Kiner
Communications) and Stacy Thetford (Thetford Web Development) for
making this event a success. And not to forget Jaime Perez & his
Staff of Classic Party Rentals for the Expo setup and Jay Chesterton,
Andrea Perez, and the entire staff and management, of Fantasy Springs
Resort Casino.
The Corporate Sponsors of the Palm Desert Chamber of Commerce 2008
Business 2 Business Expo were: The Desert Sun, Burrtec Waste and
Recycling Services, Idearc Media, Costco Wholesale, Radobank, Lamar
Outdoor Advertising, RR Broadcasting, 1st Bank, Westfield Palm Desert,
EZ 103.1, Fantasy Springs Resort Casino, Southern California Edison,
The Gardens on El Paseo, Pacific Western Bank, The Desert Radio Group,
Peterson Slater & Osborne, CPA’s, and Palm Desert National Bank.
 After all of the congratulation and praise for the great work they have
done which is so justly do the Palm Desert Chamber of Commerce and the
event planning committee members and all of the others who helped make
this a great day, the event was also fun and informative, we had a
great time and made many interesting and helpful contacts.
We went from booth to booth meeting and talking with representatives of
a lot of interesting businesses we inspected booths and met
representatives from (see photos in our slide show program, below) La
Placita Party Time; Alex Sandra Upholstery; Benny’s Bagles; we stopped
in at Robeks Juice of Palm Desert and sampled some of their fruit
smoothies and healthy eats, the smoothies, I might add it was a
refreshing taste treat; Judi Miller Associate Director of the
Children’s Discovery Museum a great place to take your kids; Judy Tobin
May of Big Brothers Big Sisters; Jim Kelly of Cork Tree California
Cuisine; Tina See from DesertArc; Steve Meeks, Main Kitchen Chef at
Fantasy Springs food booth where we shamelessly sampled all of the
delicious foods they presented; Israel Esmeralda, Special Events Coordinator, and Christine Davis, Human Resources Recruiter for Fantasy Springs Casino Resort Spa
representing the hotel and entertainment venues; we stopped in at the very
interesting Burrtec booth and learned a bit about recycling; Signs By
Tomorrow; Mobile Beverage Services and learned about how we could get
beverage catering at our next party; we stopped in at the Palm Springs
Life booth and chatted with their amiable staff for a while.
 We met Nicole Middleton who explained about Lamar Advertising Company
their outdoor advertising signs; Sara O’Flynn Marketing Director at The
Gardens on El Paseo explained their list of coming events that we know
we are not going to miss; we met with Mitch Cazier Director of Ranch
Operations and Wendy Anderson Reservations Manager for Desert
Adventures and inspected their magnificent Red Jeep; Chaz Allen of
Photo Colorgraphix showed us the incredible backdrops, mats, and other
artistic photographic marvels his company produce from your
photographs; we stopped in at Atheo to see their beautiful jewelry,
purses and accessories; we stopped to talk to a representative of the
College of the Desert Alumni Association; we met Margie Meyers of
Curves and checked out some of their newest weight loss products; our
attention was then taken by Mizani Designs.Com and we chatted with
Zaino Mizani about building websites, graphic art and some of the
newest and most sophisticated technology for getting your message out
on the web; Desert Cities Catering caught our attention, a name so
close to us as to leave us feeling like siblings, we talked with
Director of Sales and Marketing, Sheryl Costa about food and chocolate;
we stopped at the StemTech booth and chatted with Edwin Meyer and Christy Clark of STEMTech HealthSciences, Inc.; and with Patrick Gauthier
a partner in Kapalign Business Consulting and learned about their
fascinating approach to helping businesses to become more successful.
 Some other wonderful people old and new friends we meet are Ann Greer
of Virgina Waring International Piano Competition, Gill Mc Quillen if
Eagle Falls Golf Course, Diane Lynn, Account Executive EZ-103.1, Joe
Moe of JEM Creative Services, Inc., Sheila Ragle President of
Operations Coachella Valley Web Pages, Victoria Boddington, V.P. Public
Relations Talbert Development and The Shoppes Rancho Mirage and La
Quinta, Nonnie Workman of Creative Mist Systems, Joanna Chang Account
Executive, Southern California Edison, Jerry Bond Head Gold
Professional, General Manager Shadow Mountain Golf Club, and the people
at CVBiznetWork.com and Palm Springs Business Network who tirelessly
answered questions and made friends with everyone they talked with.
Believe it or not there were many, many other interesting booths that
we either did not have time to stop and talk with, or were busy as we
went by, may be next year.
While what we did might sound like a lot of work, it really wasn’t in
fact it was fun and we learned a lot about local businesses, where and
who to go to get some of the many needs we have to accomplish and we
made more than a few friends. It was a great afternoon and I for one,
am looking forward to next year and doing it again.
Thank you to Fantasy Springs Resort Casino for providing the venue and
being on of the Chairman’s Council Partners along with the other
sponsors. Special acknowledgment should also go to the Palm Desert
Chamber of Commerce, Chairman’s Council Directors, Canyon National
Bank, Casuelas Café, The Gas Company, The Lock Shop, Inc., Palm Desert
National Bank, and Southern California Edison.
For more of Allen Lawrence’s photos of the 2008 Business 2 Business Expo, click here.
For more information about upcoming events from the dynamic Palm Desert Chamber of Commerce, click here.
For future events at Fantasy Casino, click here.
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Lisa Robyn Lawrence |
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 30 September 2008 )
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