Project Purpose
Since January, I have helped my mentor, Hailey Hendricks, plan 2 events for her place of work. These events will take place for the organization she works for. Currently, she works for CCMC SpringHouse Village as their Lifestyle Director. I worked with Hailey and alongside her committee. These events were created in hopes of bringing members of the community together to build/maintain relationships with each other.
The Projects
Each event had a different theme and activity attached to it. The first event I helped with was a “Casino Night”. The event itself will be an opportunity to socialize through activities planned throughout the evening. The second event was a monthly potluck put together in celebration of St. Patrick’s Day.
Challenges
All of our communication in planning the events was over phones calls and text messages. Because Hailey lives and works in Utah, I had to learn from afar. Although we weren’t able to work in person, Hailey did a great job of teaching me and allowing me to participate in helping her complete task needed for the events.
Project Processes
I helped aid in the preparation of event planning. This included finding decorations, catering services, games, tables/chairs, music, and spreading the word through invitations, flyers, and social media. My main objective was to help research decorations and food, as well as help, create different forms of advertising. I wasn’t able to attend these events in person because they took place in Utah, but I did take part in most of the planning preparations.
Overview
Overall each event went smoothly. For Casino Night, there were many elements to plan before the event was to come together. Marketing and design for the invitations and the R.S.V.P. reminders. Decoration and food planning. Tables and chairs to order. Planning for prizes and giveaways for the raffles and game-winners Plus staying within the budget. For the Irish Potluck, this was the first one of the year, allowing them to get a better idea of what to expect and what to work on for the next time. They are trying to have potlucks on a month-to-month basis for members of the community to get to know each other. Overall they were happy with the turnout and preparations that went into planning the event.
Insights
I was able to learn what it takes to plan events. There are many different elements and objectives you need to plan while prepping for an event. It was a great opportunity to see something on paper turn into something real. Even though I worked more behind the scenes, I was still grateful for the opportunity to even get a glimpse of what Hailey gets to do on a daily basis.