first big event

as some of you may or may not know, i was in LA for a week to work on an event that my company has been planning for the past few months. . . bigB put me in charge a she knows that i want to get into event planning. . this meant being the point person for coordinating all the logistics and details. it was a major undertaking, circumstances were not ideal (changes in personnel, difficulty with financing, etc), and this was my first time planning anything on such a large scale.

luckily, i was so busy trying to plan the event and stay on top of my normal responsibilities that i didn't have time to freak out, only to plow full steam ahead.

sunday through wednesday, i worked on finalizing last minute details, overseeing the budget, handling RSVPs, working with vendors to make sure we were ready to go by friday.

wednesday, the rest of the team arrived in LA. . .or i should say they trickled in. bigB had a delayed flight and arrived wednesday morning. DJ, who has been my right-hand, arrived in the evening and i picked her up at LAX. debs and i, were supposed to arrive at the same time as DJ but their flight was delayed due to storms passing through NY. DJ and i met bigB at the sky bar for snacks and a drink. we were all exhausted though, so none of us made it to a second round of drinks, instead we headed out to city of industry. debs and I ended up arriving at 6AM the next morning.

thursday, DJ and i worked on getting the programs finalized and printed, purchasing food for the crew and VIPs, setting up the venue, etc. several set backs occurred over the following days: (1) after we already paid for the program printing, we were informed that one of the sponsor logos was incorrect and therefore we had to reprint everything, the programs, fix the banner, etc, (2) after notifying all the competitors that they had to arrive at 6-7 AM rather than the previously scheduled 8AM check in, we were told that the studio would not open its doors before 8AM!, (3) the judges changed the rules midway through, (4) the studio didn't have any water fountains, etc. .

yet despite the madness, we managed to pull it off. the competitors were amazing- there was a earnest sense of comraderie, mutual respect, and some great talent! the venue looked great and all the decorations we ordered arrived on time! we had a full house in terms of audience members. we kept everyone well fed. the vibe was upbeat and we kept things running at a fairly smoothly. the turnout for the cocktail reception was excellent and there were no major catasrophes.

i remember standing on the backstage, monitoring the audience, and seeing it all come together and feeling a huge sense of satisfaction. . . and being amazed at what our team was able to put together with such limited resources and time. . altogether, the experience reconfirmed my aspirations and excited me about the future.