Event Experience
I have sought out many volunteer event experiences in order to gain hands-on knowledge about the execution of events, from set-up to tear-down and everything in between. Read about each experience in detail below!
TOTAL NUMBER OF EVENTS: 10
TOTAL EVENT HOURS: 56
Downtown Bryan Zombie Ball & Pub Crawl
October 21st, 2017
6:30 - 10:30 pm 4 hours PURPOSE: 5th annual pub crawl featuring costume contests, zombie makeup application, drink specials, and more to celebrate Halloween and promote many of the bars and restaurants in downtown Bryan TASKS: - Organize zombie makeup station - Apply base makeup to attendees at makeup station - Greet and socialize with attendees - Work registration table, including checking in pre-registered attendees, completing ticket sales, putting wristbands on attendees, handing out pub crawl passports, and checking IDs KNOWLEDGE GAINED: - Giving volunteers a general idea of what to wear to the event is very helpful and ensures a consistent look among all volunteers. - Hosting a special event (like this pub crawl) while a regular event is still scheduled to take place on the same night (the venue's weekly salsa night) can be confusing for guests and overwhelming for volunteers and staff. - When a material is essential to attendees being able to take part in your event (in this case, the pub crawl passport), definitely overestimate how much will be needed. Pub crawl passports ran out before registration was scheduled to end, disappointing would-be attendees and causing minor profit loss. |
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Fall Bridal Show and Benefit
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September 17th, 2017
11:00 am - 4:00 pm 5 hours PURPOSE: Bridal expo for local brides to get ideas and information on vendors for their ceremony, reception, and honeymoon TASKS: - Greet guests - Check in pre-registered guests - Hand out surveys and wristbands - Give directions KNOWLEDGE GAINED: - When an event has a hard start time (in this case, 12:00 pm), guests will still try to come early and get in. It's important to have a plan for how to deal with early guests, whether it's having a place for them to wait or simply locking the doors until the start time. - Allowing volunteers the time to go walk around and experience the event themselves for a short time (in this case, around 10-15 minutes) can make them feel appreciated and give them a welcome break. - Clear signage explaining different queues (for this event, one for pre-registered guests and one for guests needing to buy tickets) helps make the guest experience less stressful and confusing. |
Wedding Reception
April 29th, 2017
6:00 pm - 12:00 am 6 hours PURPOSE: To honor and celebrate the marriage of Amy and Kevin TASKS: - Refill guests' waters - Transport wine glasses to and from event location - Clean up dishes and glasses from cocktail hour - Pass out champagne and wedding cake to guests - Tear-down of event, including clearing tables, stacking chairs, breaking down tables, rolling up carpets, and removing trash KNOWLEDGE GAINED: - Always overestimate the amount of plates and stemware needed for an event and be sure to have them set aside so that a shortage does not occur. - Having one designated person leading tear-down and delegating tasks would quicken the tear-down process and make it more efficient. - Using tiny symbols on each guest's place card to indicate their entree preference makes it difficult for waitstaff to tell who has which dish in a dimly lit room. Using something more obvious, like different colors of place cards, would resolve that difficulty. |
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Wine & Chocolate Pairing Classes
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April 22nd, 2017
1:00 - 8:00 pm 7 hours PURPOSE: To teach attendees of Messina Hof's Wine & Roses Festival about how to pair different wines and chocolates for the best flavor combinations and to promote Messina Hof wines and food products TASKS: - Assist with the Wine & Chocolate Pairing classes by setting tables, pouring drinks, setting out chocolate truffles, refilling water pitchers, clearing dump buckets, and changing table linens between each of the 5 hourly classes of 100 guests each KNOWLEDGE GAINED: - When you are repeating an event several times with little time in between to reset, some level of trial and error is required in order to figure out how to make tear-down/setup quickest and easiest. - Lots of communication is key! During the 20-minute reset times, staff members were constantly talking, asking questions, and asking for assistance. - There is no task that is beneath anyone. At some points during the day, the owner/CEO of Messina Hof was assisting event staff with setup and tear-down, throwing away people's trash and sweeping floors right alongside us. |
Spring Wine Release Dinner
April 21st, 2017
3:00 - 8:30 pm 5.5 hours PURPOSE: An upscale, five-course dinner for VIP Wine Club members to promote the 7 wines being released by Messina Hof in Spring 2017 TASKS: - Design/format menu for event - Design table display featuring new wine releases - Assist with floral decoration - Greet guests and check them into event - Answer guests' questions about the evening - Refresh guests' waters - Clear guests' plates KNOWLEDGE GAINED: - When having a large event with many staff members assisting, assigning specific tasks to staff ahead of time would help eliminate the issue of tons of people standing around wondering what to do. This event involved "too many cooks in the kitchen" - many staff members crowding the food prep area not knowing what they should be doing. - Having the chance to use my creativity to design menus, table displays, and decoration for an event makes me feel really excited and invested in it. - When serving many glasses of wine to guests in one sitting (in this case, 5 glasses of wine), cutting the serving size for one glass in half can help guests avoid over-intoxication and enjoy themselves responsibly. |
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Waggles & Wine
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April 4th, 2017
10:45 am - 5:15 pm 6.5 hours PURPOSE: Outdoor event allowing attendees to bring their dogs to the winery, enjoy cool drinks including Wine Slushies, and mingle with other dog lovers TASKS: - Set up event space - Make directional and informational signs for event - Greet attendees - Serve beverages - Ring up attendees' beverage and dog treat purchases - Tear-down of event KNOWLEDGE GAINED: - Providing enough water (for both people and animals!) as well as shade from the sun is crucial at outdoor events. - Checking to make sure equipment (in this case, the Wine Slushie machine) is functioning properly well before the event begins will help it run most smoothly. - Signage is very important! Guests, especially first-timers, can have difficulty finding the event site even if you think its location is obvious. |
Winemaker's Birthday Bash
March 5th, 2017
10:00 am - 3:30 pm 5.5 hours PURPOSE: To celebrate the founder's 70th birthday and Messina Hof Winery's 40th anniversary TASKS: - Organize and sort VIP nametag lanyards - Greet guests as they entered event - Sign in guests and hand out lanyards - Relay event information to guests - Fill guests' wine orders - Assist in the tear-down of event (linens, tables, pipe & drape, decor, etc.) KNOWLEDGE GAINED: - Having a well thought out registration area is crucial! Guests WILL notice (and get annoyed) if things are not run efficiently or in an organized fashion. - Orienting event volunteers with where people and attractions are located within the event is a good idea, since they are the ones that will likely face the most questions from guests. - Having the head event planner delegate/assign tasks to volunteers and employees during event breakdown can help it go much more smoothly and quickly. |
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Murder Mystery Dinner
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March 4th, 2017
3:00 - 10:00 pm 7 hours PURPOSE: In-house event promoting Messina Hof wines and allowing members of the community to have a fun, theatrical night out TASKS: - Design/format menu for event - Set up event space - Set dinner tables - Greet and sign in guests as they entered event - Pass out name tags and character information - Serve guests drinks and food courses - Clear dirty dishes - Clean up tables and floor after event ended KNOWLEDGE GAINED: - Hosting themed events (such as this Luck of the Irish murder mystery dinner) and giving guests ample time to prepare costumes/characters for them can lead to a really lively event! - Having open seating at an event like this can lead to guests pulling chairs up to other tables, leaving odd gaps in seating, and not being able to sit with the people they'd like to sit with. Asking guests if they have a preference as to who they'd like to seat near ahead of time and creating a seating arrangement based on their requests may mitigate such issues. - Some guests can be rude or hard to deal with, especially when alcohol is involved, but it is the event planner's job to keep a professional demeanor and not let it affect her mood. |
Spring Bridal Show & Benefit
February 26th, 2017
11:00 am - 4:30 pm 5.5 hours PURPOSE: Bridal expo for local brides to get ideas and information for their ceremony, reception, and honeymoon from local vendors TASKS: - Greet and check in guests - Give directions to guests - Give out surveys to brides - Direct vendors to booths KNOWLEDGE GAINED: - Helping event volunteers feel involved (in this case, through giving us a thorough orientation and handing us mini bridal veils to wear) can really make them feel happy, motivated, and invested in the event. - In events that will have a big "rush" (like right when this event opened at noon), using ample signage and creating clear paths/queues directing guests to the pre-registered area or ticket purchasing area can help keep registration easy to understand for guests and under control for event staff. - Providing maps or directories to guests at expo events is necessary, since many guests are looking for specific types of vendors or even one specific vendor itself. |
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Wedding Ceremony & Reception
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February 23rd, 2017
5:45 - 9:45 pm 4 hours PURPOSE: To honor and celebrate the marriage of Kristi and Rodolphe TASKS: - Set up reception space - Set up ceremony space - Help set out appetizers and drinks - Serve guests their meal - Keep guests' tables clear of dirty dishes - Answer guests' questions - Help cut and pass out wedding cake KNOWLEDGE GAINED: - The fast-paced, multitasking aspect of working an event causes the time to fly by! - There is a skill to being attentive to guests' needs but also relatively out of sight. Guests should be able to find a member of event staff at any time if they need something or have a question, but staff should also be very careful not to upstage the guests (in this case, the bride and groom). - Guests may be demanding or very particular; having a good sense of understanding and remembering that they just want the same thing you do - a successful event that their fellow guests enjoy - can help one maintain a positive attitude. |