Miss Dancing Queen

Performer: ABBA Mania
Venue: Hart Auditorium
Date: September 17, 2010

Q: How do I do this on my own?!
A: I don't. We took 8 volunteer students to assist me in event management, attend weekly meetings, form a marketing campaign, read a book and look for performers for next semester and receive school credit for it. (I will blog about that later.) So I had them all to help at the event but I needed an assistant that night so I had a friend come and help and I do not know how I would have done it without her!

Q: How do I feed 25 people!?
A: Bajio's! Bajio's is a local Mexican restaurant that has SUPER good food. I ordered their salad buffet and it was a hit! It went a looooong way and the performers loved it. At my events I feed the performers, my helpers and the tech crew and so making everyone happy is a little daunting. I struck up a pretty good deal and was able to feed them all for under $9/person! And they even delievered. For a "tip" I gave the cater tickets to the show. That made him really happy :) For dessert I got a big bag of Swedish Fish and put it in cups on the table. It was PERFECT because the original ABBA band is from Sweden.

Q: How do I dry a pair of leggings?!
A: With a "dryer". About 30 min before the show one of the performers ask me if we could dry a pair of her leggings..."Uhhh...I can do that." I was too busy handing out assignments to my board and putting together my intro script so I figured that we were in the Hart building (where the gym is) and told my assistant to go to the locker room and ask to use the dryer. She came back with them dry! *whew* I asked her how she got them dry and she said that they wouldn't let her use the dryer and so she went into the bathroom and used the hand-dryer! Genius. She was so helpful!




Towards the end of the show I escaped to go to the bathroom and catch some fresh air to get rid of my headache and as I headed back in I heard my name being called over the speakers. They were getting ready to play their last song and they wanted me to come up on stage to thank me!
So-this little girl name Mallory thinks they are talking about her and she goes up on the stage and so they ended up inviting all the little girls and then me and my assistant went up there and we sang and danced to "Dancing Queen". It was so fun! (See the video on my youtube channel.)

This was so a great concert! The tribute band were wonderful to work with and very appreciative of all I did. They even called me a few days after to say that they had made it safely and that they were very thankful for all I did. How gratifying?? It was worth every second.

Principle #1: Ask for HELP! Having others help you and delegating is a great way to BE a leader.
Principle #2: Leave everything you do better than you found it. I want to set new standards of hospitality and management for the CenterStage program and leave it better than I found it.

Miss Bob the Builder

My blog is currently UNDER CONSTRUCTION. Yep. Don't judge its current state because I have just been pressing buttons for the past hour.

I want to make it super personalized but very professional and applicable to it's purpose, which is to display the events that I have planned and projects I am currently working on. I need help. Please leave comments with any instructions, ideas, websites, or criticisms (if they are nice).

I am also willing to let someone go in and work on it if they please...

Let me know. I am a desperate woman and I have goals to meet with this thing!

Thanks.

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.

Miss Director

I now start my new adventure in event planning! My new job this semester is known as the best job on campus...I am the student director of Center Stage. The Center Stage Performing Arts Series features concerts and entertainment for BYU-Idaho students and residents of surrounding communities, including Rexburg, Idaho Falls, Pocatello, and Jackson, Wyoming. Artists they've had in the past are....The Beach Boys, 1964 Beatles Tribute, David Archuletta, Paul Cardall, BYU Young Ambassadors and many more well knows artists!

Background on how I got this job...I was in the library designing a poster with a friend for an off campus event and this guy next to us asked if we were in the event planning class. I said I wasn't but that is what I want to go into and he explained that he did too and so we started chatting. He told me he had this job on campus being the director of the Center Stage events. I had previously just met the current director only a week or so before this so I was kind of familiar with the position. He told me it was paid and a lot of work but that they may be looking for applicants so I should apply.

The next day I took in my resume. I got a call a few hours later and set up an interview for the next day. The interview was very interesting. I wasn't sure if I still wanted the position and they said I would have to drop a few of the volunteer activities that I was currently part of. I was nervous about it, I stated what I can do and what I would like to do and left. That was Friday, and on Monday I received an email offering me the job. I took it! It has been a great adventure so far.

Principle #1: TALK TO EVERYONE. If I wouldn't have conversed with that guy and asked about the job or what he was doing, I would have never got this job. I have mentioned this before but NETWORKING IS KEY!

To see who is coming this semester check out our website! http://www.byui.edu/centerstage/

(Disclaimer: This blog is obviously super late, I am behind on all the frills right now.)

Miss Walkie-Talkie

Me and Isaac! BFF's :)

Me and the mascots!

Cooking Demo. Super cool.

Best Mascot Friends Forever!!

Author of Leven Thumps, Obert Skye, reading to the children!

One of the stages. My friend Stuart designed all the signage. He is great.

Set-up the day before. You can see those rain clouds coming through!

The day before the event. 3 cars, 1 van and a huge truck later...

So the Book Festival happened! I was recovering this week but I think I am healed now, finally. How do I feel? Words can hardly describe. I think I felt every emotion that exists in my body. Every sense and every whit was: Book Festival. I couldn't think of anything but that! I don't even remember going to the bathroom, thinking about the next day, scratching my nose...nothing!



S.W.O.T
Strengths-Booking great authors and presenters.
Weaknesses-Communication.
Opportunities-Experience GAINED.
Threats-Lack of impact in community, maybe?

Miss Checklist

Here is the signing schedule for Saturday! In addition to this, all the authors and artists that are presenting are also signing. Check out http://www.readtoday.com/ksl-book-festival/.

It's crazy to think that we could work 7-8 hour days and be constantly working on details of the festival. Today at the end of the day we kind of looked at each other and took a deep breath of relief. We think we have thought of everything! Today I even thought about making up clipboards for each stage manager so they will have everything that they need to run the stage. Little details like that are what is going to make this event go really well.

Principle #1- Checklist's are pointless until you check it off! There is power in being able to cross something off :)

Miss Project(s)

The stickers, bookmarks and programs I copied and am currently cutting out. Whew. It is a gem.
How many projects am I working on?? Possibly 10 or 9. No joke! Excuse my messy desk but I had to document how non-stop busy I have been the past few days at work.

We are of course getting everything finalized for the Book Festival which is one Sat. from 10am-6pm (PLUG) If you are in SLC or in the Utah area, or if you love me (yes, I just pulled that on you) then you will come! We are going to have so many great authors come and cooking demos with samples and a giant mouse will be walking around. It will be great. I will post the author schedule and stage schedule tomorrow.

Today I made about 20 plus calls to different schools around the U.S to offer a free presentation by Obert Skye, author of Leven Thumps. I hardly got a hold of people but I practiced some good sales skills. He is a great author and is promoting reading and using your imagination. (http://www.abituneven.com/)

Principle #1- Practice BEFORE you preach. I ran over in my mind a few times before I would pitch to each phone call because I didn't want to ruin professionalism! Tone is important too. I didn't want to get robotic or seem like I was selling something. I needed to fight for the cause. I have learned something about myself. If I believe in something, you don't need to convince me to sell it, just show me the info and once I believe it, my heart will sell it for you. This is why I would personally like to stick with one company instead of working in a firm.

Principle #2- Take notes and always stay tuned. With this book festival we have had so many details come up that we didn't ever expect because we are pioneering our way through it. My handy-dandy notepad has been helpful and constantly thinking about the event helps too. Becoming an effective note taker came from my 11th grade history teacher. She taught us how to letter and number outline notes. Thank you Mrs. Wong.