Alizé

Alize is one of our clients, whom we held an event for in Miami beach last week. I was working on the model's uniforms, getting the clothing items, shoes and branding to create the final 'look' for the event. This was a challenge because the coordinator waited until last minute to send this to me for purchasing and we ended up running into some problems. Since a lot of our shopping for model outfits are done online there is never a guarantee that it will arrive in time and in store shopping it is usually difficult to find the amount of items in the sizes and colors we need all at one location. The first dilemma we encountered was that we would have to hit 5+ stores to fulfill the numbers of several of the items. Next we found that several items we had picked out were now discontinued and no longer in stores, which called for last minutes changes that had to be sent for approval from the client before we could make a purchase (frustrating!). And finally, the day before it was discovered that almost all of the shoes were the wrong sizes due to confusion in sizes when ordering converse shoes which are sized differently than normal shoes...errr!

Many phone calls and questions and emails later we got the shoes, but the models did have to work with the fact that the stores in Miami didn't carry half sizes.

A few frantic and stressful days, but it all turned out great so I was so proud of our efforts!

New peeps in the office

As quickly as we saw the effects of this economy eat away at our company, we are now seeing significant improvements to our situation! We went from zero events on the calendar to 15+ confirmed events that we are all happily working on now. This fortunate turn of events has also caused us to bring on some of our freelancers (Teeter, Kyra & Alex) into the office full-time and it has brought back the fun & full feel to the office (yay!).
They are all very different so it was definitely a quick learning experience of how differently each one operates and how the interns had to adapt when working with each one, as we do with the other event coordinators in the office. We gained one that is a nit-picky, serious, but tries to be nice; another that is an over-excited, over-eccentric, over-explainer; the last, who is super-chill, super nice, always awesome and appreciative (she's obviously my favorite).
I have decided that each person that I work with is a lesson in themselves because every one of them is different, yet we have to learn how to work with them all.
So here's to lessons from the office!

Just a few of my favorite things...

Jobs require many different things of us. Some we love, some we hate, but all of them we do.

In my internship I have become very fond of what we all like to call 'Brainstorms' (These are announced in the office more to the tune of "Brrraaaaainnnnn Stooorrm!").  

At MKG, there is nothing I love more than Brainstorms (except maybe dessert vendors who brings samples!).  It is so refreshing to be in our conference room as creative juices flow and build and mold into unique & impressive realities that make our events different from all the rest.  I am always amazed at the ideas/concepts that come out of those meetings whether its engineering a way to do something phenomenal on a tight budget or developing an outrageous spectacle with no budget restrictions to hold us back!  The results are always new, always creative & always impressive, which is why two heads are always better than one, and 12 heads are better than 2!

Whatever the idea, our goal is always to attract attention!  Cool examples:

-> For a sunglasses brand holding a VIP launch party we envisioned an outdoor space covered in reflective materials that make it necessary for everyone to rock their shades at this super cool event.

-> For a luxury car brand showcasing a new model we threw around ideas like covering the ceiling of the venue with the actual autobodies; simply put: cars on the ceiling.  Or having an online RSVP where they design their own version on the car (color, interior/exterior, etc.), then the invite would give a psuedo- location of the event where they would end up parking, next an entourage of the car brand's new model cars would arrive to pick up the guests and each one would be the exact replica from their online car design from the rsvp.

this is why I love this industry (& this internship)!

Active International

Last week I was a part of the on-site production team for a retail marketing summit event for our client, Active International. The objective of their meeting was to facilitate a dialog, between the head marketers of large companies such as Kmart & Coca-Cola, discussing marketing strategies and the integration of new digital media to be used to their advantage. The summit showcased one of Microsoft's newest products, the Microsoft Surface (pictured above). It looks like a coffee table, yet it works similarly to an iphone, with a touch screen & numerous applications were all on an completely unbreakable surface (VERY fun to play with!)! It's so hard to even explain because it does so many incredible things... check out the promo video here.
Back to the production side of things, we were faced with a challenge leading up to the event. Our client wanted 16 floral arrangements to be done with a budget of $250... HAhahaha! That will get you 2 or three if you're lucky! So it was my job to solve this dilemma without spending anymore than the alotted amount. We opted to make our own (which is still hard on that budget) and began brainstorming for inexpensive designs and materials/flowers and then I was off to the Flower District. Our final product was a cyclindrical vase filled 1/3 of the way with white gumballs (my penny-pincher idea!!), next a layer of wheatgrass (soil, roots and all) and finally one single white spider mum tucked in at the outer edge of the grass.
Here's our sample arrangement (it has pebbles substituted for the white gumballs).
The final result was so cute!! And we did all 16 pieces for under $80!! AMAZING.

Only if they IMPRESS us...

We have these things called 'capabilities presentations,' where companies set up a time to come in and present to us (I actually like these). They show us what their business offers and how it would benefit our company. While these aren't always exciting, they are always useful for us to compare with the businesses we currently use to ensure that we are getting the best price for the service/product. We're open to new things... maybe even THEIR new thing, but only if they impress us!
For example, a freight shipping company came in last week to market themselves and highlight the benefits of working with a smaller business for freight & shipping since we do A LOT of shipping of large items for events. As you can see, not so exciting. BUT we had another capabilities presentation with a small company called Mélangerie Inc., which specializes in extremely creative gifts, memorabilia and event details for all occasions. They offer a myriad of services including gift consultation and design, gift packaging and presentation, event identity design, invitation and announcement design, custom event favors and details, custom event websites, custom memorabilia, and custom correspondence. I was amazed at some the cool & unique ideas they have produced... and I'm not the only one. You may have seen them (or their gifts) since they were featured in Target's Red Hot Shop, which show cases up-and-coming & innovative small businesses. The Red Hot Shop sold Mélangerie's oragami-inspired gift wrap packs.
Or may you've seen those 'Home Green Home' gift bags filled with products for greening your home... their idea (someone else just paid money for it)!
These don't even being to scratch the surface of the creativity that I saw from their capabilities presentation, but they're definitely some of my favorites!  You can check out more at the Mélangerie website.

Sad Day/Happy Day

Last week came with a startling beginning of lay-off's and salary reductions across the board at MKG. Within the first hour at the office, four of our co-workers (moreso our friends) were emptying their desks and heading home for the last time. There was no warning ahead of time, but it was a situation that is not so unexpected these days. Our event schedule for January & February was great given the nation's financial decline and our numbers were nearly the same as last year's, which gave everyone here a feeling of hope and immunity during such a downturn. The reality was that as we flipped the pages on our calendars to March or further to April, May, June, there was not one event. Later that Monday, we had an all-staff meeting detailing the changes and updating our currently situation, which made us all acutely aware of the economy's (delayed) effect on our industry.
Fortunately, this week is looking brighter, our situation is improving slowly but surely as our proposals move from the 'In Development' to 'Engage' section of our agendas. The newest project was confirmed and activated 5 minutes ago so I'm off to work on a Venue Proposal for a Vitamin Water Pop up store to happen in April (yikes)!
I'm so excited for the craziness that is about to ensue. :)