Dianna Shitanishi has opened Hawaii Weddings and Events, a
new event-planning company. She is the former director of
catering and conference services at the Kahala Mandarin
Oriental Hawaii.
Shitanishi, 42 has coordinated more than 800 weddings and
special events during her 20 years in the hospitality
industry. She has planned President George W. Bush’s
Honolulu layover visit, a press conference for golfer
Michelle Wie and a number of other events for Hawaii’s
business executives.
She has
also worked in numerous positions at Waikiki hotels and
airport hotel properties.
Why I
started the business:
I’ve always dreamed of having my own business and I love
event planning. It allows me more flexibility with my
schedule to spend time with my children.
Immediate
priority:
Developing my business and creating new theme
events.
Essential
Business Philosophy:
Everything is about quality and servicing the guest and
making sure they get the experience that they anticipate –
putting customers at ease through the evening planning
process.
Best way
to keep competitive edge:
Continually learning. I go to educational conferences every
year to keep up with current trends.
Best
business decision:
Starting my own business. It allows me more creativity. I
have the opportunity to not only work at one property now,
now I get to work with different people in the industry.
Worst
business decision:
It’s not having my own office, because there are some
clients who expect to meet at an office.
Long-term
challenge:
We’re looking at expanding to the Neighbor Islands, so
developing that market will be a challenge because I’m
physically not there and also because of the tight labor
market.
Biggest
problem in the industry:
Not everybody is reputable. Just making sure that you’re
getting value for the price that’s paid and ensuring you
have quality goods.
Strategy
to overcome industry problem:
Educating your clients as to what things to look for. As
far as my business, I’m a firm believer in not putting all
of your eggs in one basket. So it’s working with a number of
individuals and companies and diversifying.
Goal yet
to be achieved:
Continuing my public relations efforts. That’s something
that I’m slowly working on.
Favorite
way to spend free time:
Watching my kids play sports.
Stress
reducer:
Walking and spending time with friends.