The Hall Of Fame: It's Filled with Food, Fun, Love AND the People I've Met!

By Pauline Parry

Since February, my feet haven’t touched the ground. In part because I’ve been traveling across the country for events and speaking engagements, but mostly because it was then that I was inducted into the Event Solutions Hall of Fame. My wildest dream came true! I take my place next to people to whom I admire and, when I was first starting out, looked up to and admired. Of course I still do admire them and the award has been a wonderful opportunity to thank them and the many other people within this industry that I’ve met along the way.

Here is a video that Aaron Kaniecki on the Good Gracious! team took during the show. It starts off a little hard to hear, but it gets better. And, you should know that it's about 11 minutes long, so when you have the time, kick back with a glass of wine and enjoy!



If you find that you can't hear the video, or can't spend the time and want to simply hit the high points, I've excerpted that for you here, although between you and me, it's not as fun reading it than it is watching it!


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It all began when I first attended my first industry conference, The Special Event, in 1983. I didn’t know anyone, yet I came away with names like John Daly, Paula Le Duc, Andrea Michaels, Ray Thompson, Janet Elkins, Cheryl Fish, Joann Roth, Steve Kemble and David Tutera to name a few. These were (and still are) leaders in the special events industry. It was at this conference that I absolutely knew the event industry was where I wanted to make my mark.

Years later it was by chance that Mike Roman from Catersource came into my life. I was asked to stand-in for another speaker and I remember having to talk about food to go, not really my main focus as a caterer. But whatever I said, the audience liked it and I was invited back and have spoken for this growing audience for the past 18 years. Phew!

Around that time I became aware of the International Caterers Association and met Deb Lykkemark and Michael Harries from Culinary Capers and became great friends. This was the time that Jack Milan, Tim Lundy, Linda West, Frank Puleo, Joy Wallace, Mara Routh and so many more came into my life and they add so much to the fabric of who I am and how I do business.

So many associations (guess that actually has a double meaning)! Then there is ISES – the International Special Events Society. When I was president of the Los Angeles chapter, ISES became a large part of my life. It was during this time I met that David Merrell, Jeff Goldblatt, Bob Estrin, Steve Hand, and Richard Aaron. Each and every one of them helped shape my working life.

And now here I am president of the Wedding Industry Professionals Association (WIPA)! I love a wedding and I thought I could be part of one more thing to bring our industry to higher recognition. Once again I am among great professionals, this time in the wedding end of the events industry. People such as Marcy Blum, Rebecca Grinnals, Ali Phillips, Therese Hubbs-Cole, Tracey Moore, Cheryl Fish, Carol Rosen, and Richard Carbotti are all fabulous professionals who care and have the passion of what we do.

In a way, all these people are my team, but nothing beats a great team of people who work side-by-side every day. For Good Gracious we have the three M's -- Martha, Mary and Margarita, Vice President, Accountant and Executive Chef, respectively. They have been with me since Day One. There is Joanne Purnell, our Chef de Cuisine, and my daughter. She is following my footsteps but I am proud to say she is definitely making her own foot print. Dan Smith is creating his own identity with event design and shaking up great cocktails. Then there is Aaron, our other Brit, my nephew, here to embrace the event world. He is a good lad hoping to stay in the states forever. Patrick Sullivan, Desiree Patterson and Michelle Nowak are GG’s rising stars. As you can see I am not alone in the work I do. They are the team that makes the magic happen.

At good gracious we have a tag line that says “It is all about food, fun and love!” That sums up my story…

The food: I love everything about the creating, the taste, the flavors the gathering around the table, the presentation and every essence of food!

The fun: It’s about watching everything come alive -- the people, the lighting, the entertainment, the floral, the decor and all the energy.

The love: I love being surrounded by the leaders who were part of making the industry what it is today. I love observing our future stars. I love this industry. And I love having this award! I thank everyone for it, particularly Carolyn and John Baragona from Event Solutions.

As my dad would say: "I'll you what! I love you all!"