Since our internship began back in February, we’ve gained a wide variety of experiences and insights into the day-to-day world of public relations. But our managers had one long-term assignment in particular lined up for us that was a little out of the ordinary, testing our creativity, organizational nous and our ability to work within a budget: We were to conceptualize, plan and execute a networking event for our Waggener Edstrom colleagues in both the San Francisco and Bellevue offices.
From bold ambitions, we soon realized that it was going to become a game of trade-offs, and finding the right balance of quality versus quantity was a particularly tricky endeavor. Sure, our budget could go further if we opted for cheaper food and beverages, but this is also a professional environment, so we wanted to present an air of class. Once we received our budget, it became clear that some of our more “inspired” initial ideas (A mariachi band? A piñata filled with treats?) had to be cut from the list. Eventually, we even had to reconsider and ultimately abandon our initial theme—a Cinco De Mayo Taco Tuesday event—when we realized a previous internship group ran with something very similar the previous year.
So it was back to the drawing board after we’d become somewhat invested in our initial plan, even after it was approved. Thankfully, we came up with an idea we liked even better: an ice-cream social complete with alcoholic ice-cream floats. We figured it was something a little outside the box, something visual and tasty that, best of all, could be pulled off without breaking the bank.
In theory, at least. While our rough math put us comfortably within the budget, there were still a few too many unknowns for our liking. How many people will show up? How do we encourage people to show up? Are we spending too much on ice cream? How do we cater to those who don’t do ice cream, and how much of our budget should we allocate for those people? Is there something else that we’re overlooking? It was nerve-wracking stuff, but we understood that all we could do was make some intelligent estimates and hope for the best, steadfast in the belief that it’s hard to go wrong when ice cream is involved.
We decided to market the event initially with a vague teaser poster, indicating only that ice cream would be somehow involved. Phase two involved following that up with visual teasers of the final products via a company-wide email and social-media platforms in order to generate interest and keep the event front of mind for Waggener Edstrom staff. Of course, this required a comprehensive photography/taste-testing session the week before our event with all intern hands on deck. Reluctantly, we all took some time away from our busy schedules to do our part…
The floor begins to fill as our WE Mix event gets underway!
And then came the day itself, along with the typical nerves to be expected when hosting a large social gathering in a professional environment. We transformed our Bellevue and San Francisco office kitchen spaces into elaborate and sophisticated ice-cream bars with an array of toppings and drinks with which to craft delicious ice-cream floats (or sorbet floats for those who preferred). By all accounts, both events were overwhelmingly successful; attendance was high at both locations and sustained for the entire time allotted.
The San Francisco interns fielded the event at their own office
It was certainly a learning experience with its fair share of curveballs, but we emerged victorious and, importantly, with confidence in our abilities to plan and manage a successful, professional social event. Cheers to that!
