And Just Like That, I’m An Event Planner!

As one of my final graduate school classes, I decided to take a course called “Event Planning” and last week, we hosted the inaugural IMC Connect! event, and if I can say so myself – it was pretty amazing!!

Since January, my classmates and I have been working tirelessly on throwing the School of Journalism and New Media’s first conference focusing on building connections between researchers, academics, and working professionals. We welcomed 12 speakers from industry stars like Chick-fil-A, FedEx, Carnival Cruise, Home Depot, and more as well as scholars from the University of Alabama, the University of Florida, Texas A&M University, the University of South Carolina, and even some from our own backyard for the two-day event.

Three months went into planning the event and before I knew it, the event was over. While I have had some experience in event planning, I learned quickly that planning a sorority function for ~600 college students was nowhere near the same experience as planning an event for industry professionals and scholars.

We were divided up at the beginning of the semester into teams – these teams would be who we worked with throughout the semester to plan and execute the event. Another group of teams were formed based on strengths in either design, copy, or logistics.

I was a designer and ‘boy am I glad’ to have some strong designers in that group. We designed every little detail from the event flyers, programs, welcome signage, presentation designs, name tags, name tents, and social media posts to the ‘Welcome’ and ‘Thank You’ stationary in each of the guest speakers’ gift baskets. We set the tone for the event… visually!

With six different designers, right off the bat, we decided to use the University’s brand colors, fonts, and common themes throughout our designs. This made it so easy to create cohesive designs that flowed seamlessly throughout the event, and I learned very quickly that Canva Pro is an amazing tool and definitely money well spent (LOL)!

On the day of the events, I helped with setting up the secondary location which was in the School of Journalism and New Media’s Overby Center, room 249. Another student and I set up the tables, table cloths, food tables, etc. and laid out where the small details like water bottles, air diffusers, and PowerPoint presentations were to go.

Then, I went and picked up one of our guests, Dr. Debbie Treise, from the Memphis airport and drove her back to Oxford. While I was initially nervous about spending an hour alone in the car with a professor of such caliber, I was relieved and honestly grateful that Dr. Tresise and I hit it off immediately and conversation flowed easily throughout our carride.

After dropping off Dr. Treise at the Inn for her to check-in and freshen up prior to our dinner, I ran into the banquet room to sneak a peek at the setup for the next day’s events. I was immediately impressed with all that the Inn had already done and got excited for the next day’s festivities.

Thursday night’s dinner at the ISOM House was fantastic and I think it was the perfect way to kick-off the event. For some of the guests, this was the last item on their ‘to do’ list for the day, where it was the first for Dr. Treise and I. We were immediately welcomed by some of the ISOM House staff and once Dr. Treise had a very full glass of wine, we went around the house and explored its charm and history.

Slowly, other guests, their student guides, and University faculty members began trickling in and the evening was filled with conversations on the historical home, delicious food, good wine, and even better company. ISOM, while a beautiful historical home in the heart of Oxford, does lack parking which to my surprise wasn’t as much of an issue as I thought it would be. Thankfully, just a few chuckles about it and then the conversation moved onto other topics.

When it came to the dinner itself, our guest speakers were sprinkled in with University staff and a wonderful welcome toast was delivered by Dr. Weinger. The ISOM staff was attentive but not disruptive and overall, I think everyone enjoyed the evening. While lots of attendees had traveled in that day and had worked throughout the day, the evening ended around 9 p.m. and “see you soons” passed around the rooms.

Friday morning quickly arrived and I picked up Dr. Treise from the Inn around 7 a.m. and brought her to the Overby Center for breakfast and networking prior to the day’s full activities. Small puzzles were laid out on every table and guests were encouraged to finish their puzzle first to receive a prize! Dr. Treise looked at me and said “we’ve got to win!” and I remember chuckling and then diving in (LOL).

When the IMC Curriculum Jam began later that morning, I excused myself and headed back to the Inn to help set up the ballroom and sign-in tables outside the main venue. Quickly, I realized I didn’t have all of the answers that the Tech/AV man needed at the Inn and I felt like I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off. We needed pillows for the guests chairs, moderators needed their microphones, the guests seats needed to be in order, the order that was on the presentation Welcome slides needed to match the order the speakers were seated in, name tents had to be present, flowers needed to be added to the previous evenings floral arrangements that were delivered… it was all happening and it seemed like it was ALL happening at once!

But one thing that I quickly learned was the difference between the “doers” and the “I’ll let them handle it-ers”. Me – I am a “doer” – and for the next 4.5 hours, I was running back and forth getting name tents, picking up lost keys, grabbing guests extension cords, making sure things were orderly, that guests/speakers had water bottles to sip on during their panel sessions, restocking supplies, taking photos… the list goes on.

Before I knew it, my shifts were over and I had to leave to go and work for my internship. I remember sitting there later that afternoon and saying “Wow, I’m proud”! Of course there were things that could have been done differently and I know to us event planners in the class might have seen some ‘fires’ that needed putting out, but overall, to our guests, our speakers, and our school, the event was a great success!

Key Takeaways:

One thing that I learned throughout this event planning process is that I am a planner and I like things to be a certain way. That definitely does NOT mean that “my” way is the best way, however in my opinion, when it comes to planning an event that not only represents you, your professor, your class, your school, your University, and your degree, there needs to be a standard set for the level of work that you are doing.

In a class of 20+ graduate level students, there shouldn’t be 8-10 that do all of the work. Some people have natural strengths that others might not and I think it’s good to use those strengths, but the others should continue doing other work. I was disappointed to hear one of my classmates say that they had barely done anything to contribute towards the event and they were almost proud that they had “skidded” by… I’ve learned that there are going to be people like this everywhere and I try to not let it bother me, but sometimes it just sticks with you.

I have been fortunate enough to attend professional conferences and events during summer internships and I think in every event, there are going to be things that are done well, things that could be done better, and things that just downright fail, and that’s OK.

For the next IMC Connect!-- I think it is important to stress the amount of time, effort, and energy it is going to take into putting together this event. For me, I knew what I was signing up for from the beginning, but I think it was difficult for others and so they just gave up on participating. I also think the event should include students more – maybe in the panels or in the downtime between sessions? But I think there was a gap this year between the graduate students in the class putting on the event and the undergraduate students who just attended for a class field trip.