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ALISON FAULKNER THE WILDS BLOOMINGTON, IN
Website: www.thewildsvenue.com |
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Alison Faulkner is the proud owner of The Wilds wedding and event venue in Bloomington, Indiana. Before devoting her work fulltime to The Wilds, Alison served as an Educator and Sales Manager for Global Fortune 500 Company, Canon Inc., and as the Vice President of Sales and Marketing for International Photography Accessories Company, GFIP Holdings. However, her most rewarding years have been spent in the wedding and event industry. She served as both a professional wedding photographer and wedding planner prior to pursuing the ‘wild’ dream of building a wedding venue unlike any other in the Midwest. A refreshing deviation from a local market saturated with DIY barn wedding venues, Alison proved that rural is not synonymous with rustic. Leveraging a combined background in sales, marketing, consulting, and business development, Alison quarter-backed The Wilds into one of the most sought-after wedding venues in a short four years. She is revered by couples and wedding industry professionals alike. Her success has also earned her opportunities in education and consulting, helping people build, launch and scale their own businesses. Once described as a “Swiss army knife of weddings” in a review from a bride, Alison was destined to be a pillar in the wedding industry. She is charismatic, astute, and able to talk knowledgeably on a number of topics, not least of which, the merits of a glass of good red wine and great company.
TOPIC
New Venue Owners Panel Discussion
SESSION DESCRIPTION
If you’re looking to open your own venue or are newly opened, then this panel discussion with new venue owners is for you. Our panelists are all within the first few years of opening, and they’ll participate in an open Q&A session about what it was like to start and grow their business – some in the middle of a pandemic! Attendees will hear topics such as about success and challenges, breaking in to the market, what lessons were learned, etc. This session will be hosted by a moderator, but attendees will be able to ask questions of their own for the panelists to answer. Hearing real life stories from venue owners themselves is always a great experience!
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
By the end of the presentation, attendees should expect to learn about:
- A new venue’s biggest successes or challenges
- What contract clauses were most important to include (or were added after experience!)
- What changes new venues are making in Years 2 and beyond after learning from Year 1
- What new goals are on the horizon now that the venues were successfully launched
