Miss Novice

Performers: Jon Schmidt with cellist Steven Sharp Nelson
Venue: BYU-Idaho; Kirkham Auditorium
Date: September 10th-11th

I couldn't have asked for a better first event to host. Working with Jon and Steven was a blast! They were so funny and easy to please and the performance was awesome. Both shows were sold out!

I started prep at 2 pm after my classes and I went until 1 am that night...It was crazy.

Hospitality Requirements:

• Dinner (2 nights)
  
• Meet & Greet
• Merchandise Sales
• Hotel (2 nights)
• Transportation

Solutions:

• Friday Dinner: We fed the performers and tech crew New Fongs (local Chinese Restaurant). I got a variety of meats and rices and was able to negotiate down to $100 for 13 people! For dessert we got pumpkin and raspberry lemon bread from Great Harvest. Kind of random but everyone loved the combination and I will be made fun of for life because of it I am sure. I filled up a cooler with soda and water. Saturday Dinner: Rumor has it that Jon loves Wingers sticky finger salad. I thought it would be a simple solution for dinner. I ordered 2 hours before pick up and asked if it was possible to get a salad and 2 platters of wraps. They said it would be fine and I said I would be there at 6 because I had to be somewhere by 6:15....by 6:45 I had the food and I was STEAMING! I will NEVER use them for catering ever again. AND, they didn't even apologize. Sorry to bash Wingers in Rexburg, but you are kind of lame.

(Ps-I have NOT been given a budget. I asked and he said, 'use your best judgment...' Good thing I know how to get more for less! People love when you go to them for catering. They will do anything for you! You bring in the biggest chunk of money they will see all day. Negotiate... )

• For meet & greet and merchandise sales we set up the room next to the venue with tables in a 3 sided square. People entered through one end of the room and followed the tables to pass by the merchandise and then see Jon and Steven. I had volunteers help me with sales and the ticket office with the event coordinators (my previous job) help me with crowd control. The concert ended around 9:30 and we were there till almost 12 on Friday...it was crazy! These fans LOVE Jon and Steven.
  
• We booked them a hotel at the Marriot Springhill Suites for Friday and Saturday. Jon was staying in Pocatello because he had to get to his sons football game in the morning so he wanted to get a head start. I offered to take them out to eat (on CenterStage of course) and we went to Applebee's with a few people and Steven and the tech guy, Garrin. Too bad I got terribly sick or else I could have enjoyed it better :( That is a whole other story which I don't consider 'blog worh
  
• As for transportation, I ended up having to do a little hosting on Saturday. I felt better waking up in the morning and we went to a movie and to lunch in Idaho Falls and had a blast! Then I got them back so they could get ready, took them to sound checks and then I ran around Rexburg and got ready in and hour and 1/2 time. Whew. That was a miracle.

I worked 10 hours each day and slept really good on Sunday....so worth it! The shows were FABULOUS and they loved their crowd. I wonder how we could control or increase the chances of another crowd like that? ...

PUBLICITY+AMAZING PERFORMERS=ENERGY!
Principle #1: Observe. The guy who had my job last semester came to the show on Saturday to help me out and I told him that I just needed him once and then I would be good to go. I WAS! I observed everything he did and asked a lot of questions. On Saturday night I felt completely confident. This job is interesting because I am not really being regulated much. I decided many things and I am able to make decisions and do much of the actually event management. It is such a dream!

Principle #2: Make it your own! So I decided to add my little touch on my events and get them cupcakes from The Coca Bean here in Rexburg with a little thank you note attached. Jon and Steven were very grateful and I had quite the experience.