In addition to producing myriad corporate, school and social events, Toby and Rick Benton have helped hundreds of families create bar and bat mitzvah celebrations that are full of living energy. “We want to be an integral part of Jewish community resources,” says Toby, who is vice president of Living Energy Events and Productions, a company her husband, Rick, founded in 1989 in Michigan and expanded to Arizona in 2003.
To enhance their company’s role as a community resource, he Bentons invite their competitors to join them at an annual Mitzvahs & More Expo. “We have to sell ourselves at the event even though we own it,” says Toby. Toby describes the event, which is free to attendees, as “a creative, intimate show so people can come for a couple hours and really interface with every exhibitor.”
This year the expo is expected to feature some 70 vendors including event planners, florists, photographers, videographers, caterers, venues and out-of-the-box entertainment options. Living Energy reserves several booths for Jewish agencies and nonprofits to give them the opportunity to meet and interact with attendees.
Toby and Rick Benton each had nearly two decades experience planning and promoting events before they married last summer and added a personal dimension to their professional partnership at Living Energy Events and Productions. Photo by Casey Graham, I Do Photography.com Toby says they believe having community resources at the expo gives the event more of a “community feel.” And she says it is an opportunity to reach unaffiliated families, since many attendees “don’t go anywhere else Jewish.”
Toby is one of the few Certified Special Event Professionals in the state of Arizona. She earned the CSEP designation in 2009 from the International Special Events Society and now mentors other event planners and event industry professionals in the certification process. Rick is incoming president of the local chapter of ISES.
The expo earned prestigious ISES awards in 2010 and 2012 in the category “Best Event Innovation.”
Toby and Damita Curry designed the first event, Mitzvahs Made Simple, in 2010. When Curry left the industry to work in the nonprofit sector, she told Toby to run with the event. Living Energy spent 2011 re-envisioning and rebranding what became Mitzvahs & More in 2012. Florists, kosher caterers and other vendors don’t care if it’s a bar mitzvah or a wedding, explains Toby of the “More” in the title.
“We desire to be the ‘go to’ event production company for the Phoenix Jewish community,” says Toby. Of the Mitzvahs & More Expo, she says, “We are the ONLY event-planning showcase designed specifically to service the Jewish community of Greater Phoenix.” Initially the show focused entirely on bar/bat mitzvah celebrations to provide resources to families who were planning them. The concept was very successful, but there was no other event-planning expo where people could find vendors for their simchas – vendors that specialized in working with Jewish families, that is.
“It made perfect sense to us, as a well-connected and Jewish-owned event production company, to launch such an annual show and do so with a very creative flair,” says Toby.
The first year the expo drew 300 people, and last year 450 turned out. This year Toby expects more than 500 attendees, since this year’s Aug. 25 expo is near several synagogues and begins just as many Hebrew schools are letting out for the day.
The expo further supports the Jewish community each year with a raffle during the event. This year’s charity partner is Jewish Family and Children’s Service. Attendees can win prizes donated by exhibitors, who get more exposure as prizes are announced both at the event and on social media. “It truly is a win-win for all of us,” explains Toby.
“Rick and I are both Jewish – he is from Detroit, MI, and I am from Toronto, Canada,” says Toby, explaining their interest in serving the Jewish community. “We met in 2005 when I hired his company to provide entertainment for an event; then, in turn, his company hired my marketing consulting firm to help him … brand the business in Arizona. We have been working together ever since, and we got married last summer.”
“Both Rick and I make it a point give back to the Jewish community and enjoy being able to do so when we can. We are members at the Valley of the Sun JCC. I come from very
This is just the first box in the three page timeline/checklist that Toby Benton created to help families plan their b’nai mitzvah celebrations.
traditional Jewish roots, and we work with a large number of Jewish families in our business. My father was Israeli, and I grew up living in Israel each summer visiting family. Rick was raised in West Bloomfield, a very established Jewish community.”
Toby has two daughters from a previous marriage – Cailey, 21, a senior and pre-med student at George Washington University, and Amy, 18, who is heading to Tulane University as a freshman this fall. Both girls graduated from Pardes Jewish Day School, where Toby served as marketing director on the board for some years.
When the family moved to Arizona in 1998, Toby says that with Phoenix’s spread out and transient Jewish community, the family found it challenging to become part of the community until they found Pardes. They also joined Har Zion, where they maintained a membership for many years.
“I’m so thankful we had Pardes as an option,” says Toby. “They made a point of raising mensches.
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