Jenna Leak: What I Learned as an Event Planning Intern

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Whether it’s playing with baby goats at a new site tour, working with two German Shepherds lying under your desk, or watching Cassie walk in the office with a 3-foot tall M&M character, TCG provided everything but an ordinary day in the office. Each day was full of new experiences and challenges that only helped me gain an appreciation for the industry. Being an event planning intern was anything but a walk in the park, but the knowledge I obtained made it worth it.

I came into this internship simply wanting to learn more about the planning process for an event on any scale. I learned all of that and more. From creating color-coordinated table linen tags to brainstorming themed event elements in the Creative Room, I was able to see everything that goes on behind the scenes in the world of an event planner. My internship involved everything from working on basic office tasks to coordinating how an event runs in real time, and each experience helped shape me for the future.

Spending the past three months as an event planning intern made me realize how much I had yet to experience in the industry, even after having a previous internship and taking courses in school.

At first, I had my heart set on weddings, and wanted an internship with a wedding planner. However, when that opportunity never arose, I considered a different path that would still give me a similar experience. I never once dreamed I’d end up with a company that produces events for non-profits and corporations – to me, it sounded boring and dull. Boy, was I wrong.

Within less than a month of working for TCG, I saw how large and incredible their events can be. Even the smallest details made a huge impact. While working onsite at a non-profit event, I was amazed by all of the levels of entertainment in place. From start to finish, there were out-of-the-ordinary elements including a woman in a champagne dress, a sway pole acrobat, a speed painter, and even a celebrity riding in on a motorcycle.

 Event Planning Intern Takeaways:

  • It’s a lot of office time. Majority of the internship, I found myself sitting in front of a computer, researching vendors, looking up décor, or even making vouchers for an event.
  • The office time is important – there are a million moving parts that can be easily missed. Planning an event down to the minute helps prevent things from going wrong onsite.
  • It pays to take your time and triple-check things. Word templates and the printer hated me 50% of the time. But it’s better to learn the lesson on paper rather than during an event.
  • Non-profit & corporate events can be beautiful, fun and exciting. Most of the time, they can be cooler than weddings.
  • It takes months of hard work to pull off events that are over in a matter of hours.
  • There are a ton of different ways to manipulate design and transform spaces. An event planner’s creativity isn’t just decor and themes, envisioning the way guests will interact in the room.

Aside from gaining knowledge and experience, all I wanted in an internship was to feel like part of the team.  That’s exactly how I felt during my time with TCG. My experience allowed me to branch out from the wedding world, feel welcomed, and make my internship worthwhile.

 

Check out our current internship opportunities here!

Volunteering and the Work Place

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Volunteering and the Work PlaceVolunteering together as a team can be a great way to build morale while giving back to the community. In addition to boosting morale, it helps individuals step outside their comfort zones and encounter new situations. Unfamiliar circumstances are inevitable in business so this can be a great team exercise to help employees think creatively.

At TCG Events, we incorporate volunteering into our regular work responsibilities. Each month, a team member is assigned the task of organizing this experience. Our most recent experience gave us the opportunity to enhance the children’s play area at Thompson Child Development Center. We planted shrubs, grass and added stepping stones to create a more inviting atmosphere for the children. Thompson Child Development Center provides education, treatment and care for children who are suffering and focuses on the well-being of children and their families.

Past TCG volunteer experiences include working with the Salvation Army, gift wrapping, serving food at soup kitchens, gardening with the Urban Ministry, organizing the library at Charlotte United Christian Academy, and many others. Each month, we look forward to welcoming a new opportunity and challenge through our volunteer efforts. If you are looking for a way to become involved, click here to find out how.

Next time you’re looking to get out and give back to the community, consider volunteering as a team with your co-workers. It’s a win-win!

A Tribute to Event Planners

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Here at TCG, our team understands the need for some humor to make it through day-to-day craziness. Our friends at Leading Authorities created this video as a tribute to meeting planners around the world. As fellow event planners, we can attest to having said most everything in this video. As you watch this, remember fondly the events you planned this year and the crazy extremes that we event planners go to in order to make it happen.

 

Real Life Event Planning vs Fiction

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Planning Events in Hollywood vs. Real Life

Sometime during the 80’s, “Event Planner” became a real job title. Hollywood can be thanked for the real tipping point of marketing event planning as a profession. Meg Ryan appeared as an event planner in the film, Hanging Up.

Then, Jennifer Lopez made wedding planning look glamorous in The Wedding Planner. The opening scene had J-Lo’s character carrying an emergency kit strapped to her body while she prevents a wedding nightmare: a disappearing priest and a father of the bride meltdown. (Our “kit” is a two layer toolbox with wheels – definitely not fitting under a suit jacket.)

Then the pinnacle moment for the event industry came on The Sopranos (All Due Respect episode), when AJ said he wanted to become an event planner. Tony and Carmela banter in confusion about the exact nature of the job. Shortly after that, event planners started popping on reality shows like The Hills, The Apprentice and The Bachelor.

Now entire television shows are devoted to the behind the scenes world of event planning. There are already “celebrity” event planners such as Preston Bailey, David Tutera, and Colin Cowie.

Not What It Seems

The downside of this media recognition is that a well-planned event doesn’t make for great TV. Many event planners on television are portrayed as unorganized, flighty individuals who flit around in great shoes while attending the party they halfway planned. This television personality provides a nonsensical view of the job under the guise of “reality”.

Unfortunately the unrealistic view distorts the consumer’s experience as well. Television shows use product placement to lower costs. Many times when the cost of the event is flashed on the screen, it isn’t including the sponsorships. Great events can certainly be done for $20,000, but consumers’ reality turns to fiction when shows claim to have a party for 200 people with a full bar, heavy hors, decor, floral, specialty rentals AND entertainment for $20,000.

In real life, planning an event requires an enormous amount of paperwork, devotion to detail, and attention to logistics. Most event planners (including some of our own!) are smart control freaks who crave adrenaline rather than fame.

Goal Setting: Balancing Achievement Between Your Career and Personal Life

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Visualizing Sweat

We’re sure you’ve attended numerous meetings and seminars where goal setting was the topic of conversation. So why is it the topic of our blog this week? Well, we recently attended a meeting with a unique spin on effectively setting and following through with your goals in all facets of life by simply using your five senses.

We learned it’s important not to set goals in only one area of life. Goals should be distributed evenly between career, physical, family/social, and spiritual aspects of life. At TCG we strive to be well rounded individuals by setting goals as a team in these various categories such as, volunteering each month, having a monthly book club to enrich our brains, setting specified sales goals, consistently living up to our mantra – Event Differently, and our most recent endeavor, training for a half marathon in April.

We were intrigued to discover that when creating goals, studies have shown that translating each goal into specific and thoughtful images and utilizing our five senses, allows for successful goal accomplishment and follow through. Coincidentally, this is the same exercise we do when brainstorming event concepts.

Take a minute to visualize yourself achieving your goal. Now picture yourself in the moment. What sounds do you hear? What are you holding or touching? Are there any specific or unusual tastes in your mouth? What are the sights and smells around you?

Doing this exercise, perhaps repeatedly, allows you to get a feeling for how amazing completing your goal will feel and hopefully will be a constant motivating force.

Though, I’m not sure how pretty this visualization exercise will be when applied to our half marathon…

Happy goal setting!

Our Interns Don’t Fetch Coffee, But They Might Walk a Pig

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Becoming a TCG Events Intern

Each semester we invite a new group of interns to join us at TCG Events. We go through numerous resumes and interviews before choosing two to three unique individuals to join our team.

We begin the process by scanning resumes for a couple of key elements. Are you a current student or looking to enter the job force to gain experience as a graduate? Do you have any event experience or skills that can relate to the production of events? Our key to successfully hiring interns is to immediately interview candidates whose resumes interest us.

Each interview begins with one very important question – what do you think about event planning? An answer of, “I think event planning is glamorous!” in any form, is the kiss of death for even a favored candidate. We simply dread this response because our job is far from glamorous and this unrealistic perception sets everyone up to be disappointed. We want to ensure the interns we choose are ready to become apart of our team – we are looking for hard work, determination, and creativity.

You will go through new and unique experiences, possibly even taking a pig on a walk. Seriously.

Being an intern at TCG will help you decide if this event planning career path is for you. It will become very apparent if this is what you want to do or if it’s just not your cup of tea. An internship can open doors to a career either within the company or connections you make along the way!

Want to start your event adventures with us as an intern? Check out this page.

Planning in Everyday Life: A Personal Benefit

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Why Plan? A personal benefit

Planning is our business. It allows us to bring imagination to life, to build the incredible and unforgettable experience of a TCG event. But There is also personal benefit to planning.

Consider how much more productive you could be if you just take 10 minutes each night to plan the next day.

What are you goals? Eating healthier? More free time on the weekends? Getting to the gym? Here are a few examples how 10 minutes of planning can increase your personal productivity:

Healthy Eating

Use your 10 minutes to pack your lunch. With a pre-packed, healthy lunch, you take the thought, work, and temptation out of the equation. Not to mention bringing your lunch can be much cheaper in the long run! Have lunch meetings? Plan to bring some energizing snacks  to get you through those morning and afternoon lulls.

Weekend Free Time

Use your 10 minutes to research online services to help you get your errands complete. Harris Teeter’s Express Lane allows you to shop online and pick up your packaged groceries from the store like a drive-thru window. Walgreens allows you to auto-refill your prescriptions and will ship them to your home for free. Most banks will allow you to deposit your checks into the ATM or from an app on your phone.

The Gym

We all know we’re supposed to get there, but how do those annoying gym fanatics do it? In your 10 minute planning throw together your gym bag, download some energizing music, or search for a fun group class online. An additional benefit to help motivate you – working out can increase your energy levels, which can also help your productivity personally and in the workplace!

Thinking ahead and planning for the unexpected is our business. However, taking that skill and applying it personally can garner some major benefits.