Practicum 1
Introduction
Brazilian Jiu-jitsu is a popular martial art these days. It has grown significantly over the years in the United States and in the world. Anaconda Invitational was the first Jiu-Jitsu event in Rexburg, Idaho. It was held in the Romance theater. Eight athletes competed against each other to win $500 dollars. I was in charge of helping organize the event and advertising it.
Anaconda Fightwear is a small company that seals special clothing for jiu-jitsu. They were the sponsors of the event.
Objectives
The objective of the event was to promote Jiu-Jitsu in Rexburg. Anaconda Fightwear was the sponsor of the event. Usually, the sport takes place in a basement or a high school gym. The main purpose was to elevate the experience of the audience and athletes. The Romance theater was the perfect place to promote the event. Many people were not familiar with the sport. After the event, the audience was excited to learn more about the sport.
Event Prep
PAC Jiu-Jitsu is a gym located in Rexburg. The owner of the gym and I meet to write a list of the things we needed to create the event. We divided it into three steps to make the event happen.
Anaconda Invitational Posters
The first poster draft was directed to the athletes and the audience. The final poster is more complete because I added the logos for the sponsor and the local Jiu-Jitsu gym in Rexburg. Also, I included the Venmo account for the audience to buy the tickets.
Event Pictures
Anaconda requested pictures from the event. I took a lot of pictures.
Live Stream
The event was broadcasted through YouTube.
Competition Bracket
This map was a guide for the athletes to know the competition order.
Waiver for the Athletes
The event required the athletes to sign a waiver for the competition. It includes compensation, assumption risk, and Indemnification and release. Also, the waiver is a way to make the athletes show up for the event and participate with a higher commitment.
Kaleb Rizo
Kaleb Rizo was the champion of the night.
Testimony
Jessica was one of our super matches. (A super match is a fight that gives a break to the athletes that are competing.) Jessica competed against Rachel Gonzales. It was a great match. To see the match click the link below.
Copy and paste the link to watch Jessica’s match.
https://www.facebook.com/1741819716/videos/1585921995183425/: Anaconda Invitational
Challenges
One of the biggest challenges to create the event was learning how to plan everything to stay on schedule. Planning an event means that we will work with people. Unexpected cancelations or changes are part of it. It is essential to plan things with a lot of time and always think in a plan b, c, or d. Many times during the event process athletes canceled and I had to look for replacements. I learned to always have a plan b.
Project Process
I love Jiu-Jitsu because it is a sport that had helped me to grow a lot as a person. I decided to combine jiu-jitsu and communications together. PAC jiu-Jitsu owner always wanted to do an event to elevate the sport. I talked to him about it and we decided to make the event happen. We meet several times to plan the event. Anaconda was our sponsor. Also, we were able to meet different athletes from Pocatello, Salt Lake City, Boise, and Wyoming.
We focused on advertising the event on social media as much as we could. We had around 200 people assisting at the event. I will say we had a lot of success at the event. Most people were new to watching jiu-jitsu. It was a great opportunity to elevate the sport. Also, Anaconda was placed with the results of the event. They want to do an Anaconda Invitational every year in Rexburg.
My Experience & Insights
I realized that creating an event it is important to know a little bit of everything. I had the opportunity to apply different communication skills for the event. Such as poster design, writing, social media content creation, photography, and public relations. It is crucial to expand our network and communication skills because when it comes to an event we need a lot of people to make it happen.