Mitchell McVeigh

CAS-125-S01

Prof. Kristen Glazer

March 28, 2021

Midterm Paper

As someone who is a self-defined “people-person” and was always selected to be “group leader” in middle school

group projects, no class seemed as fitting for my final semester of college than Event Planning. When I saw the class, I had

imagined it to be widely a creative class, mostly considering what ideas and activities might be fun for our potential guests at

this event. More, I vastly underestimated the wide array of detailed work that goes into every moment of event planning.

Event planning is an incredibly intricate job that involves extensive knowledge of past events and how to improve for them,

working knowledge of the present, where, especially in COVID times, governmental rules and restrictions are changing

almost daily, and a vibrant, detailed vision for the future to excite and engage all of the guests they intend on serving. From

environmental ethics and social responsibility to contracts and ticket sales, this field is vastly expansive and requires a very

multi-faceted individual to manage well.

In creating my event, it’s astounding how many small details I miss that seem so obvious. Whether I’m missing a

liquor license, forgot to contact my hypothetical entertainment about media publications, or simply miscalculated how

many chairs go at each table, there are myriad details to ties up to odds and ends for at each event. What’s even more

shocking about that is that in trying to account for all of the details, I then seem to miss some major topic. For example, one

week, I got the note to determine which type of fundraiser I’d be planning! Such a large detail that quite literally helps shape

the rest of the planning for the event and all the way in Discussion 4, I was missing that detail! Learning to blend the way I

see things from the strokes of grey necessary for all the big ideas and concepts to the black and white minutia that smooth

the corners of my event has been the most helpful skill I’ve developed thus far.
 Throughout the pandemic, this industry has changed immensely. Now that COVID-19 vaccinations are

becoming more widely available to the general population of the United States, CDC guidelines and restrictions are

changing more often and event planners have to stay on their toes to make sure they’re following all rules and regulations

while also ensuring the safety and satisfaction of their guests. A major roadblock for a lot of event planners at the beginning

of the pandemic was to learn how to coordinate virtual events. While FaceTime and Zoom were already used in the event

planning world, it was never, and will likely never again be, to the extent that it is now. Social media presence and

engagement, as well as the knowledge of how to utilize digital analytics are all now factors of what makes a successful event

planner. Not to mention, now that global panic about health and safety standards are so high, event planners who have

little to no experience in this area now have to ensure that all guests feel comfortable attending their event and have to figure

out how to deescalate a health crisis and ensure liability should there be an outbreak.

For my informational interview, I’m going to be interviewing a few of the staff from the Baldwin Wallace

Conservatory Admissions Office. I work with them and was a small part of coordinating audition days for the Conservatory

Class of 2025. Now that I’ve seen the immense amount of work and skill that is event planning, I would love to delve deeper

into their minds and figure out how they went about running 100% virtual auditions after never having done so before.

Overall, this course has been immensely helpful in seeing a different perspective of how these events that I have often taken

for granted come to be. Never again will I be able to walk into a major event without noticing each and every detail,

thinking of all the contracts and paperwork that had to be completed for me to have a fun couple of hours.