2015 Fudan Washington Forum

Last Friday, I volunteered and attended the 2015 Fudan Washington Forum, an annual event held by Fudan University Alumni Association in the US addressing significant sino-american issues. This year, collaborated with Greencourt Capital Inc., the forum focuses on "The Driving Forces behind Economic Growth", and features speakers who are corporation executives of many related field, such as Weili Deng, General Manager of Capital Operation Department, Shanghai International Group; and David Mayhood, President of the Mayhood Company. 

Volunteers at the check-in table

This event interests many Chinese professionals as well as local ones who work with the Chinese society in the Washington D.C. Metropolitan Area. Most part of the speeches are given in English, while some are in Chinese with a simultaneous interpreter. It is a paid entry with early bird price $35 and GA price $45, and $20/$28 for students. However, in the first day that I worked as volunteer, I found that about half of the attendees are invited instead of bought tickets.The event planners are very thoughtful about giving a detailed instruction with a map for attendees to find their ways to the venue. Due to the road construction, the building is not quite easy to find, and the map helped me a lot to find the venue.

Give out of Forum Agenda and sponsor companies' brochures at check-in.

The 2-day forum starts with discussion about "the visible and invisible hands behind the high-speed growth of Chinese economy" and "Innovation and Entrepreneurship" on the first day. The second day focuses on the Chinese investment in US real estate market. 

German X. Jimenez, CPA from PWC talking about global tax management

Mr. David Mayhood talking about real estate market in the Washington D.C. area

Something I found very interesting at the reception is that besides some tasty Chinese food, there are hot water and apple cider provided - for those who do not know, Chinese people have a habit of drinking warm water rather than cold water. I asked the service coordination from catering company about it, and she told me that she made many changes in the details to accommodate to the Chinese tradition. There was not any food that needed to be grabbed by hand except the tortilla chips, because the Chinese people do not like eating by hand. 

Ms. Stephany Yu gave closing remarks after the reception.

A big surprise at the event for me is that I met many alumni of our MTA program! One of the event planners, Yi Lu, who works as Senior Associate at Greencourt Capital is a 2011 MTA and 2015 MBA alumnus of GW School of Business. The Service Coordinator from the catering services company is a 2014 MTA alumnus. I also met Wei Wang, a 2015 MTA graduate who is taking multiple jobs as event planner. Talking to them and listening to their study and career experience, I learnt a lot about networking and job seeking, and I felt very proud of our program. 

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Top Three Learnings

Throughout the semester, I learned a variety of a helpful tips I can take with me into my career in the event management industry. However, three learnings, in particular, stood out:

1. Risk Management

Before this class, I always knew that risk management was an extremely important aspect of event planning. However, I have learned that my understanding of risk management was very basic and not nearly as extensive as it should be. This class has taught me that risk management is an “ongoing process of assessing risks that may threaten attendees, the meeting/event, the organizer, or partner-supplies, and applying the appropriate measures to manage the probability and consequences of such risks.”  Risk management is not simply considering high probability and high-risk scenarios, but it is also the consideration of smaller and less likely risks.

2. Negotiating

Negotiation has never been my strong suit. However, this class has provided me with a stronger understanding of the dos and donts of negotiating. Through the multiple in-class role-plays and assigned readings, I feel more confident in my ability to negotiate successfully. My top negotiation takes-aways were the following:

1. Know your “nice to haves” as well as your “must haves” 
2. Don’t rush into making a decision
3. Understand the other party’s hopes/needs
4. Aim to minimize conflict, reduce resistance, and achieve a win-win outcome

3. Informational Interview

In my opinion, the informational interview project was one of the most important elements of the class. This project pushed me to reach out to an event professional and create an extremely important connection that will help me advance in the industry. From researching the position to the actual interview, I was able to learn so much about event and meeting management. Clare’s insightful answers and amazing advice provided me with a firsthand account of the industry, more than I could have gained through simply taking a class or reading a book or journal.

Top Three Takeways From This Semester

This semester has been filled with role-playing, field trips, case studies and of course, lots of reading!  Looking back, I would say my top three takeaways are:

1) Strategic Planning
Although, I have been a meeting planner in DC for the past five years, I often forget about strategic planning for my events. In the back of my mind and the minds of colleagues, I think we create objectives for each event, but we don't share them with each other or write them down. I know now that objectives for each event need to be specific and measurable through KPIs (Key Performance Indicators). I also realize through the Project Management exercise, in which we created the Gantt chart for the next Haskayne BBQ, that it's important to measure your objectives periodically throughout the planning process as well.

2) Social Tables
Our class field trip to the Social Tables office was my favorite because I had no idea the cloud based design software existed, or at least I thought. I like that it's the ideal hybrid of all the existing design software systems in that it's easy to use (after the brief video tutorial) and interactive (since it's cloud based). In my opinion, I would use the software more if I was not a meeting planner for an association but instead on the other side of the event, working as an event planner for a Destination Management Company or DMC. On that note, as an association meeting planner, I would certainly love to work with a company that offered me access to collaborate and give feedback on event designs that they created for my events. I also think Social Tables would be incredibly useful if I were working on the hosted venue side of event planning, such as the Special Events Director of a Smithsonian museum (which also happens to be the position of the woman I interviewed for our information interview project). On a final note, soon after our field trip, I realized that Social Tables was already in my life. I worked with the Hyatt Regency on a panel discussion event in mid-November, and it turns out they used Social Tables to provide me with all of the layouts for my meeting spaces!

3) Informational Interview
The most impactful takeaway I received from our Event Management course, was from my informational interview with Linda Hicks, Director of Special Events at the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum. Linda has over 27 years of experience in the event planning field in DC. She generously gave me an hour and a half of her time to answer my interview questions and share stories and tips. A few of her many tips were:

1. Be careful to whom you give rental discounts for event space. When Linda first got to the museum, they were giving away too many museum rental space discounts to regular clients, which resulted in a huge loss of revenue. Soon after being hired, she implemented a new system so that only the million dollar donors received a discount - a system which surprisingly was met with little resistance.
2. It's a small field! Linda stressed to be sure to network and attend new social events regularly to get to know others in the field because everyone knows everyone (especially those in upper management). 
3. Don't talk too much during a job interview: Linda said the top thing job applicants do wrong during an interview is talk way too much without really saying anything. She suggested to really make sure you listen during an interview as well. 

Overall, it was a great semester that opened my eyes up to what I can do better at my current position and how to take steps towards advancing my career.

A night out with the HIP Network-Tracy Pope

Through our GW email listing, I receive one such email from Jackson Lassiter, for an opportunity to attend a local organization’s event. Hospitality Industry Professionals Network, Inc. (HIP).

This organization is a professional network for influential Gen Y/Millennial (in addition to Boomers) Association & Corporate Planners and Suppliers who are eager to challenge the status quo and answer the new business challenges of today. Through a series of strategic events, year-long conversations and innovative educational series, HIP Network aims to align new ideas and fresh perspectives within the meetings, events, travel and the hospitality marketplace.

They’ve hosted over 84 networking events since they were founded in 2008 and provide educational opportunities to event planners in the industry.

HIP Network produced 50 events, 39 of which have been in the DC area and attended by more than 10,000+ industry professionals and helped facilitate 40,000+ planner and supplier connections.  

I attended an event the coined "First Look" that took place on November 18^th, 2015 at Pennsylvania 6 which is located on I St NW, Washington, DC. This recently renovated spot offers the best raw bar and as they say "One of the best restaurants in downtown DC". It offered an opportunity for planners to network as well as showcase the venue so that we can see its versatility. I know they want us to lure our clients to this awesome spot. Very nice indeed I must say but for me, no real parking opportunities!

They provided free appetizers, all raw and a selected list of wines and beer. I indulged in some of the food (smoked sliced ham and shrimp cocktail) with green olives because there isn’t much I will eat raw… that was sufficient for me and I took in some wine although I am not a wine connoisseur so I don’t care for it unless it tastes like a sweet drink. I sat at a table that boasted many event personnel who worked for the Government and thought that was awesome that they get to work for the Government and do events. One lady I met worked for the U.S. Department of Interior and she was funny, had us all cracking up like we were in a comedy show!

I had a great time finding out what these people do for the Government in relation to events and of course, I had to ask for job opportunities. 

Because this was on a Wednesday night, I ran over time and was slightly late for my Statistics course. Hopefully one day soon before I retire form the Federal Government, I can get to serve in this capacity as an event manager. I may consider joining this group for other opportunities to network even though it is not a national organization but it is free {the magic word :-)}.

http://www.hipnetwork.org/

Volunteering for Female Veterans - Tracy Pope

The Washington DC Veterans Administration Medical Center hosted a “Ladies Night, a Women Outreach Event” on November 20^th 2015. 

“Ladies’ Night”, is the medical center’s annual outreach event for women Veterans.  It is an opportunity where female Veterans living in the DC metropolitan area can come and take advantage of information and services that help them get on a proactive track to a healthier life.

Ladies’ Night offers the veterans an up-close look at the new Women’s Health Center equipped with 2-D and 3-D mammography and an opportunity to experience the Medical Center in a comforting environment. This year’s event also offered health screenings, flu shots, informational booths, music, lite fare and whole health therapies such as acupuncture, Reiki and meditation. The services were offered in the Atrium of the VA Medical Center.

Because there are many female veterans in the area who have not yet enrolled for VA health care or don’t have healthcare at all, this opens the door for them to get services to keep them informed and healthy. This major outreach event introduces female veterans to the DC VA Women’s Health Center, VA Benefits and VA and community resources.

I volunteered with the military sorority, Kappa Epsilon PSI who played a key role in assisting the VA on this event by handing out information, directing traffic flow of guests and recruiting female veterans to join the military sorority organization. 

I really enjoyed my volunteer time giving back to those like me who have served their country. It saddens me knowing that there are veterans who are homeless, don’t have proper medical care or who don’t know there is help available to them. 

Opportunities like these help to diagnose illness some may have or provide services like a mammogram, pap smear or even something as nice as a manicure and pedicure, something they may not have otherwise received had this service not been available. I deeply enjoyed this experience and camaraderie and have vowed to join the sorority to serve when I can.

http://www.washingtondc.va.gov/WASHINGTO
https://www.facebook.com/womenveteransinteractive/posts/639306332838903

MTA Fall 2015 Colloquium

On Friday the 20th of November I participated in the MTA Fall 2015 Colloquium. The event was presented by the student run organization Tourism For Tomorrow. The topic for this evening’s debate was Community Involvement, Stakeholder Management and Human Rights in Tourism. Even though it was a cold Friday night, a fair amount of people had shown up – probably also because this event had a hidden agenda to honor Dr. Kristin Lamoureux, Director of International Institute of Tourism Studies at GWU, who are moving to a new position in NYC. For this event she was the Discussion Moderator, and was accompanied by Seleni Matus, founding member of Sustainable Destination Alliance for the Americas (SDAA), and Dr. Jane Henrici, independent researcher and consultant within the field of gender, diversity and socioeconomic policy and programming.

From the left: Dr. Kristin Lamoureux, Selini Matis & Dr. Jane Henrici

Matus’s presentation mainly evolved around the interesting work she had done with SDAA in the Caribbean. SDAA’s work has brought forward just how difficult it is to create a truly healthy tourism industry. Even though the industry has been focusing on becoming better, greener and more sustainable over the past decades, the result of SDAA’s work showed that there is still long way to go. The biggest problem seems to lie in balancing the expectation between visitor demand, the need of the local (tourism) industry, while still respecting and supporting the local cultures.

Dr. Henrici’s talk on the impact of tourism and socioeconomics changes on gender inequality was very elaborate, and grew beyond the impact of tourism.  However, one important takeaway from her presentation was that tourism and the socioeconomic changes it bring to a community, have a much bigger impact on the internal relationship within a community, then I first expected. Individuals and sectors may be put in competition with one another when tourism grows, which can disturb the harmonies in a community. 

Dr. Henrici's presentation on gender

The discussion between the panelists were cut down to only a few questions, since the event started 20 minutes late, and the last half hour of the session was dedicated to honoring Lameoureux. 

Achievement Award given to Dr. Lamoureux

However, one interesting question evolved around how tourism stakeholders could successfully encourage community engagement in order to create sustainable tourism. Dr. Henrici mentioned, that for many members of a community, there is no incentive to spend time on community engagement since it takes time away from other important daily tasks – this is especially true in poorer communities. Matus mentioned the important of creating a neutral environment for the stakeholders and find a neutral initiator. Many stakeholders have different expectations and needs, which can lead to more discussion than engagement.

The takeaway from the discussion, from my point of view, is that we have al the right ideas and initiatives to create sustainable tourism. However, the field seems to be much more complex than first acknowledged, and human behavior plays a big part of this complexity and makes it more difficult to foresee and handle.

Top Three Lessons

Top Three Lessons from Event Management Course

Throughout this semester, I have learned about all areas of planning and organizing events. A few things stuck out in my mind as being the most helpful.

1. My first main learning is in the area of risk management. It is important to think through all possible risks of hosting an event and not just the obvious ones. You have to identify the risk, analyze the risk, plan for the crisis, and respond to the crisis. Well, hopefully you only have to do the first three. It was helpful to look at the case studies and brainstorm about all of the possible risks with my classmates to see their perspectives about what can happen. It is always useful to have more than one person looking at the possible risks of an event, and I learned a lot from the way they approached it. 

2. The second top learning I had was from our field trip to Social Tables. One slide they presented was on journey mapping which encourages you to look at all aspects of the event. There are 8 stages: announcing, attracting, anticipating, arriving/entering, experiencing, engaging, exiting, and extending. These stages represent all of the attendees' experiences to do with the event. When I am planning events in the future, I will make sure that I am considering all of these aspects and not just the experience during the main part of the event. 

It was enlightening to see Social Tables employees so passionate about what they do.

3. My third main takeaway has to do with our semester long informational interview project. I learned that if you ask in a professional manner, people are willing to help you! In the past, I have always shied away from requesting informational interviews because I felt like I would be taking up too much of the other person's time and they would not want to do it. I will be more likely to reach out to people in the future because I had this successful and positive experience.

IAEE D.C. Chapter Pre-Expo! Expo! YP Kickoff

I attended IAEE (International Association of Exhibitions and Events) D.C. Chapter Pre-Expo! Expo! Young Professional Kickoff on the roof of 815 Connecticut Avenue. The event was hosted by Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, they were promoting Expo! Expo! IAEE's Annual Meeting & Exhibition. Many of the young professionals in attendance were from associations located in the DC area and this would be their first time attending Expo! Expo! I inquired what Expo! Expo! was about and was told it was one of the best events they ever attended. It's referred to as the "show of shows" since it's the annual meeting and exhibition for IAEE. More of the young professionals are able to attend this year since it will be at the Baltimore Convention Center. One of the draws for the young audience is the ability to see the trends in events and exhibition management and the discounted educational workshops. In addition, I was told they have grown to appreciate the chance to network with individuals and organizations from all over the globe. A lady in attendance spoke about the importance of networking and this was how she able to land her job at her association. She didn't set out to work in exhibitions, but the position "found" her. She loves her job and it's ability to allow her to move and expand. She encouraged us to apply for an internship with her organization and what to look out for. 
The networking event was done well and attracted a nice crowd of motivated young people from the DC area. I came into the building unaware of what Expo! Expo! was and without motivation to attend. Now I am looking to see if I can attend at least one day.

 The iconic Las Vegas logo.

 The amazing view during the networking event. I would come again just for this!

 Wonderful spread of dessert, cheeses, and fruit.

PCMA Webinar

PCMA Webinar

On November 11 2015, I attended a PCMA webinar entitled "Predictions for the Events Industry in 20 years." The webinar was free - you just had to register. The webinar was given by Dan Berger, the CEO of Social Tables. It had a video component in that we could see Dan speaking from his office in DC as well as slides that Dan was changing to go along with his presentation.

The set up of the online webinar

Even though virtual meetings don't lend themselves to as much engagement as in person, there are ways to engage your audience and make them feel included. There was a box set up for chat between all of the participants and a separate box to submit questions only to Dan. He encouraged the attendees to write comments in the chat box to him and one another. There were also polls and around 80% of the attendees were participating in them.

Various polls throughout the webinar engaged the participants
and made them feel like participants rather than audience members.

A big advantage of having a meeting such as this online instead of in person is that people were able to listen in from all over. At the beginning, attendees wrote where they're from in the chat box, and there were people from DC, Boston, Virginia, Australia, Pennsylvania, and Vancouver, just to name a few.

Any time you are using technology, there is a possibility for technical glitches. Dan's video froze briefly toward the beginning of the webinar, but he typed in the chat box that he has an awesome tech, and sure enough within a minute the system was working again. Dan communicated to all of us that they were working on the problem, and they were able to fix it very quickly.

At the end of the webinar, Dan had a question and answer session as well as gave his contact information. Anyone who wanted to find out more about what he spoke about would have the opportunity to do so. After the webinar ended, the program immediately took you to a short survey about the webinar to get prompt feedback on the system and the presenter. The survey was easy to fill out. Participants are more likely to fill it out immediately because they are still thinking about the program rather than if it was emailed to them the next day when they would have to open a new web page and think about their experience again.

The 4.01k Race for Retirement

In recent years, outdoor running events have become quite more popular. These events usually come with an interesting theme - For instance, The Color Run is a run for 5km with staff spraying different colors on everyone in each kilometer; or simply for charity purposes - such as the Arlington VA Turkey Trot, the purpose of which is to benefit the local charities in Arlington. 

I like the idea of running with family and friends, but what kept me from going to these event was that the ticket to go to one is usually over $30. So when I see the campaign on the metro about the FREE 4.01k Race, I did not hesitate to sign up!

The 4.01k Race for Retirement is fully sponsored by the Prudential Insurance Company. As the name indicates, the company wants to raise people's awareness to save for their retirement with this race. A post-race festival with food trucks, games, and a free concert are provided right after racing as well.  

Prudential donate $25 for every competitors who signs up for the event to 1:1 Fund, a charity that helps low-income families to pay for college by matching their savings dollar to dollar. 

Venue Overview(With Socialtables Floor Plan!)

Venue Layout

The 4.01k Race was held at an open area named "Festival Ground" beside RFK Stadium, which is metro-accessible by Orange, Silver and Blue line. Free parking is also provide in some part of the stadium's parking lot. 

The racing tracks were irregularly shaped, surrounding the areas for in-race support and after-race activities includes:

• Concert Stage 
• Staff Resting Area Tents
• Emergency Medical Services Area(Ambulances and tents)
• Water & Nutrition Bar Give-out Tents
• Food Trucks
• Dining & Resting Tents
• Activities Area(Game tents and a photo scene)

I used socialtables to add some details to the official map. The floor plan can be accessed by this link:
https://app.socialtables.com/?event=818221

Risk Management

The event encountered a less favorable weather for outdoor events - raining. The event planners, however, are well-prepared! Everywhere except racing track and the audience area in front of the concert stage has tents over head. While we were waiting in the line, some event staff came to distribute raincoats to us(with Prudential's Logo so it must be prepared before hand). 

Abundant tents were prepared for this rainy day.

Another challenge for the event is the checking in. From the final donation number to 1:1 Fund of $400,000, we can roughly estimate that the number of people signing up for the event is over 15,000 - That is a huge attendee number even for a metropolis like Washington DC. Even if we estimate half of the people took their "rain check", it is still over 7500 attendees! No wonder the line is still reaching the other side of RFK stadium by the time I arrive at there - It was already about 10am, which should be the scheduled time to stop checking in. 

A long line before entering the venue.

I waited in line for about 30 minutes, and getting a sweatshirt, a number tag, a backpack and a wrist band from different tents took about 10 minutes, then trying to figure out where to start as well as walking to the start point took another 10 min. In the end, I actually started running at about 10:50. I think one of the reasons that contributed to this problem is that people prefer to stay in the tents to finish putting on the sweatshirts, number tags and raincoats as it was raining, so the crowd was moving very slow. 

         

Undoubtedly, emergency medical service is a must for such a big event. There are 4 Lifestar ambulances and a big medical service tent near the entrances ready for any medical situation. 

Ambulances and a medical service tent were set not far from the entrance.

Technology

The 4.01k Race gives each racer a smart wristband which can be activated by using your smartphone to scan it, so your name will be assigned to the number. After activating it with your google account, every runners' location can be tracked during the running process, and their system will automatically record your start and finishing time. 

The wristband is useful while participating in the after-race activities too! The staff members who took pictures for you just need to put their phone near your wristband, and then you will receive an email with the your pictures. 

I was very amazed by the wristband feature. Meanwhile, it does not seem to be very expensive, because it is only a simple fabric band with a small plastic chip attached that can be sensed by smart phones' NFC function. For the first time, I truly feel that the new technology in events is happening under my nose!

The wristband does not really look very high-tech, but it works!

Event Design & Marketing

There are also many clever design and details that make this event stand out. At first glance, running and retirement planning don't seem to be very relevant right? But the event planners connect this event perfectly with the theme of retirement planning as well as the marketing of the Prudential brand. 

Firstly, the racing track are segmented by many checkpoints, which are called "Course Questions" in the event map. They are basically Yes or No questions like "Are you ready for "Could you save a little more?" and the left side is Yes, right side is No. These "doors" runners have to pass are just a symbol of the choices the runners have to make sooner or later - And we all start to realize, for retirement plans, that the sooner we think about it, the better.

Runners ran through course questions on the race track. 

Also, the after-party is definitely more attractive to people of all age groups than just running and learn about retirement planning! Powered by pandora, the concert features "DJ Sam" playing dance and pop music in the beginning, then the announcement of donation of the company in the middle, and at last 2015 Grammy nominee Aloe Blacc. I saw people of all ages and families with baby strollers, and the event planners made it ADA accessible too, including special parking space, accessible restrooms and wheelchair viewing concert section. 

R&B singer Aloe Blacc was performing "The Answer is Love" at the concert.

What's more, the 4.01k Race features the theme of the event into many small thoughtful details. The raincoats come in a bag printed with the word "Be protected for whatever the future might bring". Many food trucks have their "race-day special menu", such as the tasty "investment club" crepe i ate at Holy Crepes. Even the water everyone got at the finish line is named "Liquid Assets". And of course, the prudential logo and font is used everywhere through out the event. The details are what make an event flawless!

Summary

Finally, even though I went home with my shoes soaking wet, I do not regret spending the day at the 4.01k Race at all! This special event raised people's the awareness of retirement planning simply by bringing around the joy of running and asking people to pledge for saving more. For the Prudential Insurance Company, i think this event could be a better promotion for its public image than a million-dollar tv advertisement! Just as the wristband said, "You run. We all win."