Project Purposes
The overall purpose of this event was to build a place for student to come and network with one another. This was a chance for student to come and meet more people from where they are from and build connections that last past college. This was also build to help student find internships in Arizona and experiences back home for many of them.
The Project
The project was a lunch-In at at the Career Center. Any student from Arizona was invited to come and network. We had the opening time for people to come grab pizza and meet each other. We then did group games with a Kahoot about Arizona and the winners got prizes. Follow the games we had a senior missionary couple from Arizona Zoom and and talk with all the students. Their entire purpose is scouting out internship opportunities in Arizona for BYU-Idaho student. This was a chance for everyone to connect with them and have them as a resource for the future.
The goal of the whole event was to give Students from Arizona a chance to meet each other, make friends, build connections, and learn about an amazing tool for internships. Leaving the event we hoped they would all have a lot bigger and better networks that would help them not just then but for the future as well.
Challenges Encountered
Challenges was a big part of getting this event planned. One of the biggest struggles at the beginning was finding a group to help me put this event on. I needed a space large enough for everyone to fit and a group that could help provide food to make it a lunch-In. After reaching out to many different clubs and offices on campus only one responded.
Following all the work and meetings, the next challenge arose, communication. The contacts that I had at the career center stopped replying to me. I lost complete contact with the main people who were suppose to help me with the event. This was right before the event was suppose to happen so we actually had to end up canceling the event.
Project Processes
For this event we had lots of processes planned. The first part of this event was getting the word out. It was a very unique event because we needed to reach a specific audience not just the whole campus. This was our first process, sending the info to the correct people.
Next was the actual event, planning what would happen on that day. For this we decided pizza from the crossroads which was super easy. the food portion, simple. Next how to engage everyone with each other. For this we decided the kahoot and having them work in teams. Winners got prizes and each team was able to have networking opportunities right then.
Ultimately we needed to plan an event that student would leave with more tools in their pocket for the future. With this we ties in the Senior Missionary Couple from AZ and had them Zoom in to connect with all the students. With this we had the perfect room with a TV and good audio to accomplish this task.
Overview Of Experiences
Overview of the experience I had was a rollercoaster. At first It was all excitement to get everyone from Arizona together here at BYU-Idaho. Then it was stress to find the group that would help me put this on. Then excitement again when I found the group. Finally, stress again when the group stopped any contact with me. Overall, it was actually a really good learning experience for me. Definitely an event that helped me with a lot of Takeaways in the next section.
Takeaways
The takeaways from this event are many and first off, to have a plan B. For many day I was emailing clubs and offices on campus asking for help with this event. Out of all of them I only had one respond to me and because of this I took it and ran with it. It never crossed my mind to keep reaching out to more offices just in case. In the long run my event was canceled because I didn’t have a back up plan.
The next takeaway from this is the importance of communication. From the beginning of communicating with the group that was helping me I should have gotten phone numbers or just overall best way of contacts. Doing this early on could have eliminated my biggest issue from this event planning.
Another takeaway is when coming to a group and asking for help to write out a full proposal to give them. I and the idea solid in my head but asking around could have been a lot easier if I attached a document with my emails out. I could have sent a proposal to all the clubs and offices that better explained my idea and event. This could have helped me get more responses and options.