Open Mic Night at Politics & Prose Bookstore

Open Mic Night at Politics & Prose Bookstore

October 23, 2015

Performers shared their work with the audience and other artists

On Friday October 23rd, I attended an open mic night at Politics & Prose Bookstore in Washington D.C. It is a weekly event and was attended by roughly 25-30 people. The open mic night is held in the coffee shop portion of the bookstore, and there were performers of poetry, spoken word, and songs. The event started at 8pm, which is presumably a time when not as many people would usually buy coffee, so the event brings in customers to the shop. It is a relatively straightforward event to run. There was one man there taking the names of people who wanted to perform and calling them up when it was their turn. It was unclear whether he was a store employee or a regular volunteer. Other than that, the event attendees brought the entertainment. Everyone was able to do one song or poem, and then we went back to the start of the list for people who wanted to perform again. This ensured that everyone who wanted to was able to perform, and the well oiled system ran very smoothly. There was also a featured performer who performed three songs in a row in the middle of the event. 

Nothing says autumn in D.C. like listening to an open mic night
in an independent bookstore while drinking apple cider

The atmosphere was very relaxed and informal. All of the stakeholders, including performers, attendees, Politics & Prose, and the employees of the coffee shop, appeared to enjoy the event. I did not perform but enjoyed watching the performers perform something they were passionate about. 

Colonial Invasion

Colonial Invasion

Friday, October 16, 2015 at 8p.m.

Charles E. Smith Center

Panorama of Colonial Invasion before the show started

Colonial Invasion demonstrates the epitome of GW Spirit. It is the GW pep rally where the athletic and GW talent communities come together and put on a show. Parents, students, or anyone a part of the GW atmosphere are welcome to come. It is a lively #OnlyatGW moment that unfortunately is under-appreciated and under-attended. 

Capital Funk Performance

I received an email on Wednesday, October 7 from the main event planner asking if I could help emcee part of the event. Of course, I immediately responded yes (what can I say, I love the spotlight.) Lauren, the event planner, graciously responded with her excitement and said she would be in touch with more details. Time went by and finally on Tuesday, October 13, Lauren sent me and my emcee buddy, Nicholas, our script. Nicholas and I had a few witty back-and-forth before we introduced the next act: Capital Funk. Lauren asked to meet with us before the event to go over the lines. We met on Thursday afternoon and definitely made Lauren a little nervous because neither one of us had memorized anything yet. We practiced our lines a few times and received the basic information: what to wear, where to go, and when. All in all our meeting probably took about 15 minutes.

On Thursday night there was a full Colonial Invasion rehearsal, however Nicholas and I both missed it due to conflict. I heard it was pretty productive. Then, the big day arrived. Around 7:45 pm, I arrived at the smith center and headed to the backstage green room before my 8:30 pm call time. I saw GW Bhangra, the a Capella group: the Mother Funkers, ROTC, and other performance groups warming up. I did not see Nicholas. I took a seat in the back opened my laptop and began taking notes on the event. Time went by slowly. Around 8 p.m. I noticed that the doors had not been opened, people were still running around frantically testing mics, checking lights, and still no Nicholas. I didn’t see any other emcees either so I started to get a little worried that I was in the wrong spot.

Backstage before I went on 

Around 8:15p.m., the doors opened. Students and parents slowly shuffled in to seats along one side of the gymnasium. Still no Nicholas. Had Nicholas flaked? Was I in the incorrect spot? These thoughts crowded my mind and I began doubting my preparation. I tried to calm myself by rehearsing my lines—at least I had that under control.

Just as I was about to call Lauren, she busts through the door. Lauren calls for the Mother Funkers to take their spot at door two and she catches my eye. Very calmly, Lauren walks over to me and asks if I would please go sit in a different section. To this moment, I am not sure if that was a change or if I was in the wrong spot--let's leave it a mystery.

Josh and I as emcees

While Lauren and I made our way to the new section she filled me in on a couple other crucial changes. I would no longer be coming backstage when gymnastics ends but actually when President Knapp finished. I would be entering from door two rather than three. And finally, Nicholas had unfortunately fallen off his bike and was off to get x-rays. When I heard all of those token changes, I laughed and said the classic event planner line: the show must go on.

A shot of a piece of the gymnastics
floor brought backstage

And so it did. Thankfully after that brief, yet essential conversation things seemed to go a little smoother. Everyone, including the back-up emcee, Josh, was on-time to the very crowded backstage area. To go on a slight tangent: there were a couple of floor rearrangements during the show. The basketball court was the stage with pipe and drape covering one side. In the beginning of the show, there was a gymnastics floor laid down. After the gymnastics’ routine, the floor was picked up by the cheer squad, first ladies, and gymnastics and switched to a cheerleading carpet, all done under the distraction of the a Capella group the Mother Funkers. Once the Spirit squad finished, that floor was picked up and hoisted backstage during a Fight Song rendition done by some freshmen parents playing on the jumbotron. The final stage was the basketball floor. It was amazing how the transitions flowed into one another due to the different talent distractions.

Once I did my part as emcee, I was welcome to stay and watch the show. It was an exciting event full of dunking competitions, George dancing strangely to the side, and excellent event preparation demonstration as pieces did not go as hoped (i.e. Nicholas).

Colonial Invasion Stage. Pipe and Drape in background

I have gone to this event numerous times as an undergrad. I never fully appreciated it until this year when I worked it. Between the different acts and needs of the performers all while dealing with some not-so flexible or committed personnel, the show is truly a dynamic beast.

Like with any event, there were some major and minor issues. However each one was handled expertly. My main critique is we need to market this event better next year. Only one side of the stadium was filled, probably around 800 guests, and with all this talent in one night I feel the entire GW community should want to attend. Either way, I was so proud to be a part of such an incredible event that truly demonstrated the strength and patience an event planner must have. 

That’s all folks—Emcee Jacqui out! *Drops Mic* 

Digital Marketing: Strategic Inspiration from the Experts
October 14, 2015, 10:00 am to 4:00 pm
Virtual Event by American Marketing Association

Can you say you attended an event if you never left your apartment? After experiencing the Digital Marketing: Strategic Inspiration from the Experts virtual conference on Wednesday, I believe it is possible. I went into the event not knowing what to expect. While I received multiple build-up emails, I could not picture the promises made to me. How could I network online? How could I interact with the keynotes? What does it mean when they say chill in the lounge?

It was a surprising, enlightening experience! However, I had some trouble getting to the enlightening part. I was blinded by frustration in the beginning. My login would not cooperate. It took me about 7 tries to finally be routed to the conference. It was a little bit bad programming and poor consumer work. I would click the forgot my password button, which would link me to send an email, however the forgot-my-password-email was slow to come in. So I would believe the computer misrouted and would try again. This would resend another email and when the first email finally came in that password was no longer valid. It was a vicious circle of impatience.

When I finally made it past the evil login page, I was happily surprised. For a conference topic's linked to the digital world, the expectations were high. The main backdrop was a lobby of a conference with a menu screen. I had the option to go to the Presentations, Chat, Agenda page, or learn more about the company who created the website: Marketo. My first stop was to the presentations. I "sat" in on "What the Sex Pistols Can Teach You About Marketing." What I liked most about the presentation was how personalized it was. The screen was split so on the right side was the speaker's PowerPoint and on the left was the chat box. The speaker added his own pictures to relate his thesis to the viewers. I found his point that everything we are doing is really just software a little frightening. Think about it, I did, I am almost completely reliant on the software I use throughout my day: my music, my research, my homework. Almost everything is software, therefore the new marketing strategy has to take into account this new type of experience. Marketing is now a media presentation. What made the conference even more unique was there conversations going on throughout the entirety of the discussion. The chat was used for: questions for clarifications, reactions to viewpoints, and comments of where to find more information. Not only did this make the conference more interactive, but also a unique experience since you could not do this at a live conference. Oh, there was also a sidebar reminding to use your social media throughout the day. You could click a button and automatically link what you were sitting in on to your twitter account. It was nice to see the AMA did its marketing due diligence.

After the presentation, I checked out the lounge. The lounge was a place where attendees could go to have side conversations. While I just read what everyone was typing, people were having really useful conversations. The main topics were what marketing software people were using and asking for advice on a project. It looked like a giant instant messaging group chat. On the chat you could only see the name, but before you entered there was a list of attendees with their company. Having that information helped spark networking opportunities and, in my opinion, reminded me that there were real people on another screen attending too. I think next year they should take it a step further and have the option to start a chat with an individual. It would make it easier rather than having to find an email, leave the conference page, open your email and start the separate conversation there.

Unfortunately, I had to leave my post at the conference to go to practice. The day before, I thought I beat the system cause I was going to pull up the presentations on my phone so I could continue listening along right up until I had to leave. To my disappointment, the program would not work on my phone. The website on phone view looked like it was attempted to comply with phones, however someone ran out of time. I could log on to the chat, access the files of handouts and resources, but could not pull up the presentations.

Thankfully, I and American Marketing Association had a backup plan! All of the presentations can be found on demand until January 14, 2016. Thank goodness because I was able to get through a majority but not all of the presentations. It will be nice to return and relearn what was said during some of the talks.

I want to close with some of the other great presentations I heard: "How Reebok Uses Employee Generated Content to Amplify Advocacy," and "Attract More Customers with Inbound and Outbound Marketing." A definite unique, learning experience!

Taste your way in DC: "Taste of DC" 2015

I love food festival, because you can always taste your own way around. For me, last weekend at “Taste of DC” was to volunteer and get free admission in return, explore the vendors and DC restaurants, observe and get inspired! 

First, let's check out the video and take a tour!

Volunteer is the the most REAL job that grows from one’s heart.

Who says volunteer is not a real job? I always feel that volunteer is the real time to esteem myself, other than a full time job, I always have a strong sense of achievement when helping out! I really enjoyed meeting and talking with a range of people from different fields who came to help and attend the food festival, no one was forced to volunteer, but everyone was enjoying from his heart!

The event was not flawless.

Things are hard to be perfect, so is “Taste of DC”. I noticed three defects that are better to be improved:

1.  Fall of personnel risk. The venue was nice and surrounded by all the beautiful scenes of DC, however, there were delineators on the center of the road (Pennsylvania Ave NW) which became a barrier for the guest, the guests may get stumbled especially after alcohol!

2.  There was no line control in front of each vendor, it was sometimes hard to pass through the crowd. It would be better to set up a waiting line and let other guests to pass behind the line.

3.  The event was unsustainable in some way. Such as the huge barbeque machine of the smoked rib which released all the carbon dioxide to the air. I suggest the event planner should regulate on this next year.

You don't want to miss these restaurants in DC.

1. Luke’s lobster roll

I’ve been heard of Luke’s Lobster for so long, but this was the first time for me to try, the lobster meat was very fresh, sweet and firm, it deserves its reputation!

Address and website:

          PENN QUARTER
624 E St NW

         GEORGETOWN
1211 Potomac St NW

http://lukeslobster.com

2. Smith and Wollensky

A good thing about the food festival is you can get cheap bites from fine dining restaurants. I have tried the stake at “Smith and Wollensky” in New York City and it was definitely the best stake I’d ever had. The Restaurant is famous for many reasons and “Warren Buffett’s charity lunch” is one of them.

Address and website:

1112 19th Street NW

Washington, DC 20036

https://smithandwollensky.com/locations-2/washington-d-c/

3. El Chu cho

Isn't the name sounds cool? El Chu Cho is a Mexican, homemade and inexpensive restaurant. “Elote Callejero”, which is a street style corn on the cob, was recommended by one of our interviewees (you may have seen in the video). It was just delicious and I can’t wait to explore more in their restaurant!

Address and website:

3313 11^th St. NW

http://www.elchuchodc.com

Overall it was a good experience, and I will definitely come back to volunteer and enjoy next year! Last but not least, thanks for everyone who helped us with the video, and thanks for my roommate Daniella, we hit it off so well and we hang out every time with simple joy!

Take a Taste of DC

As a food lover, the last thing I would miss out is food festival. Last Sunday, I went to the Taste of DC with my roommate Bonnie. It was a 2-day event. We volunteered on the first day, Oct.10, so we got a free admission for the second day. When we entered, we got a stamp on the back of our hands. That little stamp proves that we’re over 21.

This event was held at Pennsylvania Ave. 3rd – 7th Streets NW. Walking all the way down, I could always see the Capital Hill. That was the most “DC” part for me, even more DC than the food here.

There were more than 60 DC restaurants and 10+ food trucks in this event. For me, it was a perfect chance to get a quick glimpse of food in DC. Since everything is something new to me, I’ve been through a hard time to choose what to try. Rather than finishing tasting items alone, Bonnie and I decided to share every tasting sample we got, so that we could try as much food as possible. We tried 7 kinds of food in total. Among them, the Tender Rib and the lobster roll from Luke’s Lobster were our favorite.  

I think the most interesting part in this event was the cooking stage. There were different chefs teaching people some simple and delicious dishes that could made at home. It was a special element in this event other than selling and buying. Some guests were even invited to the stage to take one-to-one training. For those attendees who got chance to take this free cooking class, an amazing recipe and practical techniques may be their biggest take-away from this event. I was not one of them though, I still think it was a good way to draw attention and leave a good impression.

I had a great time here, and went home with a full stomach. I’ve already started expecting the Taste of DC 2016. A staff told me that the anticipated attendees for only the first day is 20,000-30,000. I remembered there was always a long line in front of almost every food serving tent. When communicating with a girl, she told me that it was the third time she went to Taste of DC. Even though I didn’t conduct a in-depth survey about this event, I believed that girl was just one of a large mount of people who came to this event year after year.

Daniella (Danying)

Eat at Taste of D.C.

Taste of D.C.
October 11, 2015 12p.m. to 7p.m.
Pennsylvania Avenue between 3rd and 7th Street

WOW, going to need bigger sized pants after Taste of D.C. The food, the music, the weather all summed up to a wonderful afternoon in the District...let me walk you through it. After much humming and hawing over whether or not to attend Taste of D.C. this afternoon, my boyfriend, Jonah, and I agreed to make the trek off of our Foggy Bottom bubble to Federal Triangle. We committed to the event and purchased our tickets online, glad we did because we were able to cut the line when we arrived.

The sense of arrival was okay: many cow-herding gates as I like to call it, a simple banner, and some white tents. As we crossed the street to the entrance, Jonah and I understood we were headed in the right direction, however were unsure if we could enter from the right or left side of the street. I decided we should forge ahead on the path we were on, and I like to point out I was right. (Although, you could of entered from either side...excellent crowd control set-up.) We shuffled through the twist and turns of the gate to the first check point: ID check. Other than the man having trouble reading my Pennsylvania license we continued on with no problem. Second check: bag check and thankfully we know better than to bring a bag so again we got to skip the line. Third check: ticket scan. All in all, Jonah and I made it through the line in about 2 minutes.

Once we were inside, it was a little overwhelming. There we a couple of stands both food and sponsors shouting at us, people stopped in the middle trying to figure out what was going on, and tables. I think they should have pushed it back maybe a couple of yards so it was less in your face.

Jonah, hungry turning on hangry, quickly spotted a Plan B Burger hut and dragged the mapped-reading me over to the line. Holy cow, that was probably one of the best burgers I have ever had (pun inteded?). A classic beef patty with a sliver of cheddar cheese on a heavenly soft brioche bun, can I please have 10 more?  Satisfied with our first choice, we decided to walk along the road taking the paths less taken by pedestrians. See most people huddled to the left side of the road, while Jonah and I split to the right heading towards wine alley. It was a nice D.C. spot choice because the road made the visitor naturally circumambulate the area. Thankfully, because the map was a little confusing so it was easier to just roll with it. We passed all the wine, spirits, and beer tasting tents wanting to save our money for food and stopped next at an alcohol-infused ice cream food truck in front of the main concert stage. Yep, alcohol-infused ice cream, it was crazy good! Ours was a chocolate cookie core with vanilla and bourban ice cream coated in a milk chocolate shell, we split it 80% me and 20% Jonah.

We really enjoyed our spot in front of the stage where some indie punk band was playing so we walked a few tents back to The Pittsburgh Grill to grab a Cajun chicken and cheese sandwich, we both had our eyes on, to then return and eat while jammin'. It was maybe 1:00 p.m. and the grill already ran out! As Jonah decided between wings or a steak and cheese sandwich, I looked around to notice a bunch of other places had crossed out items on their menu. Strange being only one hour into the event. Did the event planner miscalculate how many people per tent a restaurant would get or was the restaurant ill-prepared? Either way for next time, I hope the counts are a little better.

Jonah decided on a steak and cheese, while a little greasy for my liking, it was pretty delicious with the hot sauce. We stood at our high-boy table and listened to the band for a couple songs until I decided I was ready for my free drink. Part of the admission fee got you one free drink ticket and a voucher to a bowl at Shophouse. The beverage tents were not hard to spot. I think I counted almost every 6 tents was a green sign marking the Beverage location. Since it was sponsored by Stella, both of us found it only appropriate to have one. We picked up our canned Stella (him beer, me cider) and were quickly hunted by Roadie rep who gave us a coozie. Those reps were on it, at every beverage tents--I think the event probably had 15 different brands of coozies going. I was happy, because my drink definitely would've gotten warm.

Next, we stopped at Uprising Muffin company, who doesn't love a mini muffin? Then the goodnessknows free samples (that's where our GW Athletics shout out is from). Finally, ended on a Jamaican restaurant where I purchased something called a Beef patty but looked like an empanadas. Jonah and I both agreed it was the best food we had there. Tired, stuffed and unfortunately out of money we made our way out about three hours later.

The Taste of D.C. was amazingly fun. My only negative was that it was so expensive. The admission was $20. Then the food was priced on top of it. While on the website it said food was $1 to $4, the prices were more like $2 to $8. However, it was a great time with great company so well worth it.

Volunteer at Snallygaster 2015

What is Snallygester?

On September 12 2015, I volunteered at a beer festival which is call Snallygster. This name comes from a fearsome and toothy mythical beast. In this festival, more than 300 incomparable craft beer and cider was unleashed. People who love beer, music and fine food would definitely love it. What distinguishes Snallygaster from other beer festivals is that it serves as the largest annual fundraiser for Arcadia, a nonprofit organization dedicated to creating a more equitable and sustainable local food system in DC area. Money raised in this event would be used to support the operation of demonstration farm in Alexandria, 2 mobile markets that make weekly stops to low-income neighborhoods.

People are crazy about CBS!

I arrived at 10:30 am that morning. After checking in the volunteer tent, I got my blue volunteer T-shirt. As what I was told, I headed to the LEVIATHAN zone, and was assigned in the third tent by my manager. There were 4 beers sold in one tent.

The Tent I Volunteer in

My task is to pour beer for attendees and collect their tickets (tickets serve as money used in this event, which would be included in attendee’s admission package, 1 ticket=$1). I was so lucky that day, because I got the Foundation CBS (Canadian Breakfast Stout)-the most famous and popular beer in the festival. It was sold out in just 1 hour! In the rest of the day, almost everybody stopped by our tent to look for this famous CBS, I have “ I’m sorry, CBS is gone/CBS is long gone, come earlier next year!”. For many attendees, CBS is the reason why they come to this festival. Why CBS is so popular? Well, it hasn’t been brewed in years, the last time it was distributed was 2011. Besides, CBS is aged in barrels that are first used to age bourbon, and then used to age maple syrup. That means barrels that are qualified for aging CBS only available two or three times a decade.

CBS

Great atmosphere, great people!

It was a rainy day on Sep. 12. When I got on the metro, I thought there may not be too much people attend this event since it was such a terrible day for an outdoor event. To my surprise, it was crowded for whole day on the yard where Snallygaster was held.

A Lot of People Came to Snallygaster Despite of Bad Weather

People Talking with Friends

In the afternoon, most people who attended Snallygaster got tipsy. They danced to the music, greeted and talked with friends, families and even strangers. They joined different teams to participated in games.

Band in Snallygaster

Game for Attendees

Standing for a whole day to serve people, I didn’t feel tired, because I was so impressed by this great atmosphere. People enjoyed beer here, at the same time, they had fun in their own way. When a guy staggered towards me with his beer hug, said, I run out my tickets, can I have more beer, I can sing for you. I know that what he treasured was not just the beer, but a wonderful day of having fun and relaxing.

It is the first time I experience a festival in the United States. I really had a great time here. I met new people in this event, Cortnie is what I think coolest one. She is so warm-hearted and volunteered in a lot of amazing events. I think I will sign up for volunteer in Snallygaster next year, because it’s such a good and memorable experience.

Cortnie and I

Natioanl Youth of the Year

I think I've had the most enviable volunteer experience in our class so far.  I am not paid, but I met lots of lovely kids, acquainted some media and NPO professionals, had a great dinner with nice wines, high-fived one of the Destiny's Child (not Beyoncé, sadly), and watched Denzel Washington giving a touching speech!

This amazing event is the National Youth of the Year Gala, an honor presentation event held by Boys and Girls Club of America. The National Youth of the Year is the Club's premier recognition program, which outstanding teenage club members from local clubs who compete their overall performance(leadership, academic and social services) with each other to be state winners, regional winners and the only national winner. The Club award more than $1 million of scholarship to the winners of different levels, and the National Youth of the Year winner announced at this gala will receive $145,000 in academic scholarships, a trip to Disney World and a brand new Toyota Corolla. 

Venue

The National Youth of the Year Gala takes place at the National Building Museum, a truly magnificent building built in late 19 century where many big events in DC are held, such as the annual Christmas in Washington Program with the President and the First Lady.

The National Building Museum, historically known as the Pension Building.

The main event venue inside this building is a square hall measuring 316*116 feet, with a small fountain and a few Corinthian columns which are among the largest in the world. It is quite spacious even for an event with over 500 attendees, and very easy to be broken out into areas for different purpose. Other than dining area, bar, and the kitchen area, and stage for the program, there is also a carpet that leads to where celebrities and VIPs pose for the media. I did not know there are celebrities before I came, so I was totally shocked to see these guys walking passed me on the carpet and even high fived me!

Kelly Rowland, Monique and Timothy Mosley(Timbaland)

Besides the main hall, there is also a VIP area upstairs and another dining room for the Club kids to have dinner.

The dining area at 4:30pm before guests arrive

Kitchen Area segmented for the catering company to prepare F&B

Sponsorship

Based on the upscale venue and size of this event, you can imagine that this organization has got some generous sponsors. There are 4 levels of sponsors for this event: National Partners, 4 long-term sponsors of the club; Gold Sponsors, 3 sponsors who contribute most for this event; as well as Silver and Bronze Sponsors. 

The sponsors names are printed on signage at both entrances of the event.

Activities

As volunteers I was required to arrive at 4pm. The dress code was cocktail/business for volunteers, and we were all given a cute little club logo to stick on our clothes. I helped with putting some brochure and flyers on every chairs, and then was “supervising” a team of 12 youth greeters as the welcome committee, basically to cheer them up to greet and high five every attendee walking past the carpet. The general activities include: Registration, the program, and dinner. The program and dinner starts simultaneously at about 7:30, and lasts for 2 hours.

The Youth Greeters wearing Mickey ears high five the guests and spread the joy.

The 2-hour program starts with a chorus performance of some club kids, followed by the introduction of comedienne Sherri Shepherd as Master of Ceremonies,  presentation of last year’s winner and the candidates for this year’s YoY, and lastly speeches given by the long-term sponsors and several outstanding alumni includes General McDew, Congressman Steny Hoyer and movie star Denzel Washington.

The dinner includes a salad, an entrée, and a dessert. As volunteers, we sat at a table together with some staff members in the main dining area. The table setting is absolutely lovely, the servers are attentive and professional, and the food is of great quality. It is also very thoughtful of the event planners to give a full menu specifying all the ingredients in each dish. The salad comes at the beginning of the program, and the entrée and dessert are served after the announcement of the YoY.  

Table setting of the general dining area

The event went smoothly the whole night without any kind of significant accidents. I got a little upset that we somehow did not get the dessert till the end, but guess what? The event organizers prepared a hand-written thank-you note and a Starbucks gift card in an envelope for every volunteer.

I almost felt ashamed that I could not have helped more when I opened this envelope!

As it is the first time I know about the Boy and Girls Club of America, I am really impressed by the stories of the outstanding teenagers, and I believe this club is doing a great job to promote the development of children who are in need. To sum up, this night was a lot more than what I expected as a “NPO Annual Gala”, thanks to the thoughtful event planners.