Third Annual Future of America Gala

I had the opportunity to work at a non-profit hosted fundraising gala on September 25th. The gala was hosted by DPAF or David Pattinson's American Future at the Carnegie Institute for Science in Dupont.

The venue was stunning. Guests entered at the front under the portico (pictured above) where they were asked to check in and then pose for a step and repeat off to the side. Guests arrived in two stages: at 7:30 for the VIP reception and then in a general admission second wave an hour later. At least, that was the plan. In reality, guests arrived fashionably late at various times throughout the night. Upon arrival, VIP guests were ushered into the a  reception The highlight of the reception was the release of David's first published book which was unveiled and then handed out in goodie bags at the end of the night. 

The space was the perfect size for the crowd in attendance. It was big enough for everyone to be comfortable, offered plenty of space to get away from the hustle and bustle of the dance floor, and still had an intimate air.

Food was served at a buffet throughout the night as well as several open bars. The food seemed popular with guests, however there were very few options for special diets including one vegetarian and vegan choice and nothing for gluten free guests. The food choice could definitely have been improved. 

I worked throughout the entirety of the event helping with set up and clean up but I was assigned to registration for most of the night. This allowed me to work with several others (some GW students!) and have face to face contact with many of the guests. At the end of the night we handed out bags of merchandise from sponsors to all of the guests which was a bit of a struggle as many were drunk and did not want to have to carry a bag home with them. 

Overall, I would consider the event a success. It raised money for the non-profit and guests seemes to have a great time. That being said, I saw many areas of improvement, a few of which are listed below:
- general organization (set up and registration could have been run much more efficiently)
- food choice
- missed opportunity

The integration of technology for convenience sake would have been a high improvement and time saver at the gala.Registration was run with a printed list of guests names that did not account for last minute registrations and was badly organized making it difficult to quickly find guests' names. The use of an app and scanner to collect ticket information would also have been helpful and could be considered for next year. Another slight issue occurred when David paid his workers an hour before the event ended and over half of them left. As a result, clean up took longer. 

Barracks Row's Fall Festival 2015

On Saturday, September 26, I volunteered at the 2015 Fall Festival put on by Barracks Row… and it was a blast! The festival included many vendors and activities for all ages! Two of the main attractions were the Beer Garden for the adults and a Petting Zoo for the kids. The festival was crowded, but set up very well so it was not overwhelming. 

When I arrived at the festival, I headed toward the Barracks Row booth to get my volunteer assignment. When I arrived at the booth, I picked up my T-shirt and got my assignment for assisting at the petting zoo. To say I was excited would be an understatement!

When I got to the petting zoo, volunteers already stationed gave me instructions on how I could help. I had two duties throughout my time there. In the beginning, I helped monitor the gate. The Petting Zoo allowed for ten festival attendees in the gates for 5 minutes. After the 5 minutes were up, the next group of ten would enter. This method was very efficient as it got many groups in and out in a short period (kids can get fairly restless when waiting in line at a petting zoo). 

For my second duty, I got to hold a baby hedgehog for attendees to pet. It was so adorable! Watching the little kids squeal when they touched it was incredibly cute.

The people putting on the festival and the volunteers were extremely friendly. They provided me with answers to all of my questions and provided me with multiple ways of getting in contact with them if something went wrong. I would 100% volunteer again at the Barrack's Row Fall Festival! 

'Doing the Right Thing' at the MEET Conference

On Thursday, September 10^th I attended the MEET Conference at the Marriott Wardman Hotel in Woodley Park. Attendees at the MEET conference consisted of a mix of suppliers (hotels, CVBs, service vendors etc.) and meeting planners (mix of planners from associations and government mostly). The schedule of the MEET conference on Thursday was as follows:

• Keynote Speaker and Breakfast
• Educational Sessions
• Refreshment Break
• Education Sessions
• Networking Lunch
• Supplier Showcase (Exhibits)

I was unable to attend the keynote speaker/breakfast due to a work obligation in the morning but arrived in time for the first series of educational sessions. I attended the session titled “Doing the Right Thing When No One Is Looking’ presented by Garland Preddy of the Society of Government Meeting Professionals (SGMP). During this hour session, Garland posed several real and theoretical dilemmas to the audience regarding ethics in the field of event and meeting planning.  For example: A supplier (let’s assume a hotel) informs a meeting planner, that if she books their venue for her organization’s upcoming event by the end of the current month, the hotel will give her 50,000 personal reward points. What should she do? What if the hotel is a valid option for the organization’s event venue, and it was somewhat likely that the meeting planner would select it anyway? It’s also probable that no one at the meeting planner’s organization would need or have to know about the personal hotel points. No one would get hurt and all parties would walk away happy. Garland argued that yes, it does matter and crosses the ethical line.  If the organization were to somehow find out about the personal points the meeting planner could be fired.

She also asked us to think about ‘perceptions’ when making ethical decisions in the meeting and event planning workplace. Perceptions are reality, and if you are perceived as guilty... For example: the government scandal known as ‘muffingate’. A few years ago, the media got information about a government breakfast meeting at a DC hotel in which they paid $16 for a muffin. This caused a lot of uproar and led to the implementation of a more stringent policy for government meeting budgets. It later was revealed that the $16 was not just for a single muffin but for a whole breakfast package, but still to this day many don’t know that it was proven false. Garland’s overall takeaways were:

• Be familiar with your organizations code of ethics.
• Disclose offers of gifts and incentives.
• Don’t be afraid to decline an offer of gifts or trips.
• Educate your supplier to avoid embarrassing situations.

I found this session to be the highlight of my experience at the MEET conference and have been able to apply the takeaways to my current meeting planning position.

Oh! One last note: In the afternoon, I did some networking at the supplier showcase and talked with several vendors including:

• Meeting Planner International (MPI): A professional association for meeting and event planners. I ended up joining as a student member then next day (and my job paid for it!). 
• Visit Denver (My organization is working with them on our Annual Conference which takes place at the Denver Convention Center in May). I’m also from Denver J
• Montego Bay Convention Center (Jamaica): I learned the center is on the smaller side compared to the convention centers my organization uses for our annual conference.
• Unique venues: a cool website that helps link meeting planners to alternative meeting/event venues (outside of the typical hotel).
• A MTA alumnus! – I met Marina Soden, a 2011 MTA grad, who was nice enough to share some stories and tips about the program. She currently works as a meeting planner for a government/military organization here in DC.

 Joan Hisaoka Gala “Assisting Those Living With Cancer.”

On Saturday, September 19, I had the opportunity to attend the Joan Hisaoka Gala “Assisting Those Living With Cancer.” The event was at The Omni Shoreham in Washington, D.C. The event was a black-tie gala benefiting programs that help families that have been affected by cancer.

The gala was beautifully put together and was elegant. It catered completely to the higher income demographic they had invited to experience the event. Before we even arrived at the gala, the nonprofit sent a text to all registered attendees to download the BidPal mobile application and review the auction items. When we arrived to the hotel we were greeted by free valet parking and a VIP cocktail reception. There was a step and repeat adjacent to the registration table. The photographer gave us a card with information to obtain our photographs. As you entered the reception you were welcomed with premium champagne and wine. They served seasonal hors d'oeuvres created by the guest celebrity chef. The founder of the nonprofit, Bob Hisaoka, made his way around the reception greeting his guests and taking photo ops.

After the reception we made our way into the silent auction. David Aldo, a jazz artist that was flown in from Beverly Hills, serenaded us. In the center there was an ice structure where bartenders created a fruity signature cocktail and poured it through the structure into your glass. The auction had a large number of great items that took up the large space. The layout created a deal of bottlenecking in the areas with the more popular items.

We moved from the auction room to the main ballroom and the event started promptly. We listened to a heartwarming story of a young boy who has cancer and benefited from the programs that the nonprofit has funded. After touching our hearts, we were urged to help the organization reach their monetary goals. We watched live as people donated through the BidPal mobile application. As soon as we hit our goal, we moved to a seasonally prepared dinner with wine pairings. We ended the gala with a riveting live auction and a glimpse of the amount of money we raised during the night. Afterwards, we were as asked to attend the after party across the hall.

The gala was an elegant experience and had amazing people present. They had plenty of signage and enthusiastic volunteers. The only thing I would have done differently was to have the registration volunteers inform the VIP reception attendees where the reception was located. We walked past the hall where the reception was set, because the signage was situated below our line of sight. Also, there were two circumstances beyond their control. There was a wedding happening at the same time and the attendees blocked signage for the gala. We had to stop and scan the room to locate where we needed to be. At the end of the night both events let out at the same time and created some confusion in valet.

Attending to the Wedding Expo

On September 13, 2015, invited by Tracy, we five girls went to the Wedding Expo in the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. It was the first time that I've ever been in an expo in US. Every little girl is dreaming to be a beautiful bride and have a perfect wedding. Well so do I. Everything in the expo was interesting to me.

As I entered the trade show, I felt a real sense of romance.  The wedding cakes design companies are exhibited in the front line which seemly served as a welcome reception, make people feel warm and happy. The exhibitors were so nice and they kept asking us to try more flavors of their cakes.


After registration for the expo, we looked over separately. There were wedding dress companies, food and wine and other catering service, cakes designers & bakeries, ties designers, wedding photographers, hotels, valets, wedding planners and companies, etc who came to the trade show to exhibit their business and draw more customers.

This is the sample setting by wedding planning group in Grand Hyatt Washington. And it is also my favorite setting area in the entire expo.  This is the only luxury hotel brand i've ever seen in this expo which i developed high interest in it. I've chatted with the receptionist for a while and I acknowledged that they've planned and held for wedding events as a major business for their meeting and event department. They provide an elegant destination experience which gather all elements a wedding may needs such as site, banquet, accommodations, catering, floral arrangement, valet service, honeymoon plan, etc. The unique characteristic of a luxury hotel enjoys a high popularity among the customers. They satisfy all the needs and provide super convenience. Besides, the group has several famous wedding specialists.

Almost all exhibitors are friendly and kind to us. Even though we are not brides and we are not gonna have weddings, they still treat us well and show their business to us. The two girls in green in the photo were really cool. They have passion and enthusiasm, which make us feel that they have showed their cooperation culture and we really love it. Their efforts have been paid off that their show area were full of people and it was the crowded area among all the photograph business.

It was a great day and we all had fun. I hope I can join more events like this.

Wedding Expo in Convention Center

 Wedding Expo    Michelle Wang

On 13^th Sep, I attended a wedding expo in Washington Convention Center. This was the first time that I got in touch with the expo in a foreign country, which made me feel excited and fresh.

 

There were different kinds of booths in the expo. One of the popular kinds of booths was event planning and management, for instance, Guest House Events. According to different demand, it supplies a variety of consultations and planning with different prices. Another popular booth was supply of car. One called Bayside Limousines showed car reservation. It can offer limousines with various brands and for different numbers of passengers. It guarantees to be on time, to arrive in a shining, clean limousine and to provide a professional chauffeur. Furthermore, wedding flower was also a big booth. All In the Details Floral Design showed unique, custom floral designs and focused personal attention. In addition, there were other popular exhibition stands, such as for hotel, for photograph and The Tuxedo. All of the stands mentioned above greatly broadened my horizon that displayed a complete procedure of wedding.

What’s more, almost all the assistants there were patient and friendly to me. They not only offered me some snacks, but also answered each of my questions.

Finally the fashion show made me really impressive. Wearing fabulous wedding dress and suit, the models seemed confident and energetic. Not like the common fashion show models, they were more active and they danced exaggeratedly.

I really enjoyed the wedding expo and learnt a lot about the event. At last, thanks Tracy for offering me this chance.