My Three Takeaways

As a student in the hospitality concentration, I chose to take Event Management initially because I see the growing demand of event professionals both in China and internationally. This course has been very informative and helpful, and the learning experience is even better than I expected - There are just so many takeaways that it is extremely hard to choose 3 from them.  Therefore, I decide to write about 3 main aspects of takeaways. 

1 An Overview of the Profession and the Industry

Unlike some of our classmates who are already event professionals, I was completely new to the Event Management field. The lectures, case study and textbook have given me a theoretical overview of event management process - From strategic planning, project management to financial management and marketing, etc. Then I had a further understanding of event management process from my informational interview with real-world event planner. 

What's more, the field trips and many other resources Dr. Levy recommended to us provide a macro view of today's events industry that involves the hotels, venues, food services and technology providers. Seeing how interesting it is to be an event professional and how promising this industry is, I cannot wait to start building my career experience with event management! 

2 Analysis of Events

The best thing about studying Events Management in Washington D.C. is that numerous events of all kinds are happening right next to you. And with increasing knowledge I gained from our case study and the CIC Manual, I began to look at the events in a different way. Every events I attend, volunteer or participated in planning, either on-campus and off-campus, is a case study to practice the classroom learnings. I demonstrated some of my observations in the blog posts, and I found it very helpful to spend time summarizing these observations, because these valuable learnings would fade away in my mind otherwise. 

3 Interaction with Classmates

Even as a graduate-level course, this course has been made meaningful and enjoyable at the same time thanks to Dr. Levy's thoughtful course design. Most importantly, I had the chance to interact with our classmates a lot compare to other courses I took this semester. I remember how we had fun playing that Bingo game, how we discussed in group with different classmates every time, and how we did the event planner/hotel manager negotiations - Dr. Levy even specifies that we should find a partner who we had not been familiar with the second time. 

What's more, everyone in our class is very friendly and helpful, and I have learnt from many of them tremendously. Growing up in China, I have never had a class with less than 20 people and I was actually quite afraid of speaking in class. But our class has a very relaxed and lively environment that helped me overcome my shyness and did my best to participate in class discussion.

One of the most well-spent nights of this semester!

Finally, a lot of thanks to Dr. Levy and every classmate in the Event Management course. I had an unforgettable study experience with you!