Why you should hire an event planner instead of doing it yourself:

A lot of people believe that planning an event by themselves is the better route to go than hiring an event planner for many reasons, but in reality the pros completely outweigh the cons.

Planning an event can be really stressful. Hiring an outside source to plan your party alleviates the stress of having to do it yourself and instead you can describe your vision and watch the event planner put it all together. Then, think about when the event takes place; Instead of having to be on top of everything and worry if things are going smoothly, the event planner is there to coordinate and take care of the whole thing. It is your event; you should be able to enjoy it. Coming up with a theme might also be causing you stress. Event planners are very creative. We also stay on top of the trends so this way the level of creativity of your party is one of a kind.

Event planners are skilled professionals and can handle a lot of situations that you, yourself may not be expecting. If something were to potentially go wrong, the event planner knows exactly how to handle the situation. You might believe that hiring an event planner is more expensive than doing it yourself but really, the deals and hook-ups that you receive through your event planner will save you more money in the end. This is what we do, so we have built and maintained relationships with vendors so this way we can get you a better deal than you could get yourself.  We are also made aware of your budget when you hire us, this way there is no chance of going overboard and increasing the price.

So whether its stress levels, creativity, insurance, cost, or coordination, hiring an event planner for any of your event needs would be the best way to go. Remember, it’s your party; Enjoy it!!

–Amy Romano, Intern

Being an event planning intern, I see a lot of what goes into fundraising and organizing. It is certainly not an easy or stress-free process. Being organized helps relieve a lot of the stress. I have developed a list of the key points that I have picked up in my experience with fundraising.

1. Decide who you are fundraising for. In order to put an event together and raise money, it is important that you have a specific organization to fundraise for. You want to be organized and on track. I suggest that you should choose an organization that is dear to your heart. This not only makes the event fun but meaningful, too.
2. Know everything about the organization. You want to be knowledgeable to anyone with questions. This will make people how dedicated you are thus making them more likely to donate. 
3. Decide how much money you would like to raise. This will help you stay on track and market yourself appropriately.
4. Keep track of everyone who has donated to you. It’s important to keep record of the person or company that has donated to you and the amount they donated. It lets you know how close you are to your goal amount as well as letting the donator know that you are organized. In case anything goes array, you have your records to cover your bases.
5. Don’t be pushy. You have to understand that a person may not have the funds to donate to your fundraiser. Do not take it personally, there will be plenty of other people and companies that will donate.
6. Develop a friendly way to request a donation. We all understand that asking for a money donation is slightly uncomfortable. There are plenty of ways to ask without seeming rude or needy. With your own personality, put together a few lines that you think sounds appropriate to an audience. It is important to draw them in and make them want to donate.
7. Give yourself a lot of time to prepare. Remember that anything can go wrong. Give yourself plenty of leeway to make new arrangements if need be. Start planning three months prior to the date.
8. Market your fundraiser. We are all familiar with social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. So, post a bunch of statuses and tweets about your event. It doesn’t take a lot of money to market yourself efficiently.
9. Stay motivated. Keep in mind that this is something that you planned for a reason, so it must mean something to you. You will raise the money that you are striving for, it just takes hard work and dedication.
10. Have fun. When the date approaches, you will be fully satisfied with your work. All the stress you endured will be worth it. A good attitude always leads to success.

-Amanda Pryor, Summer 2011 Intern

The summer has come and gone yet again, just as it promises it will do every year. And as upsetting as this is, we all secretly look forward to back to school shopping and writing in a clean notebook. We will miss the beach but we look forward to seeing our roommates. We won’t barbeque as much but we will make up for that with Halloween candy and turkey dinner. Our weeks will be full of writing papers and studying for tests but the weekends will be filled with friends and family. Our calendars will have deadlines and due dates as well as a countdown to Winter break.  The leaves will change colors and our shirts will go from sleeveless to sweaters in a matter of days but hey, sweaters are cozier anyway. The sun may not be as strong and the temperature may not be as high but that’s why we have warm coats and boots.

See, when you think about the fall, winter, and back to school this way, it doesn’t seem as bad. We need to keep in mind that there a great things about every season. We may not realize it as we are being care-free during the summertime but everybody misses something about the fall and winter seasons. Personally, I love the feeling of being organized and in a school routine. I enjoy waking up early for class and having the entire day ahead of me. What I love the most is watching the leaves change colors and the calm before the first snow fall. Now go ahead, admit it, you love those things too. Here are a few tips to help you transition from summer to fall.

1. Stay organized. Making lists are the best way to stay organized. Check off the items you have already bought or the tasks you have already completed. This keeps your mind clear and prevents you from forgetting anything important. Lists work great when preparing to go back to school, going grocery shopping, and when deadlines are approaching quicker than you thought.
2. Complete the last few items on your bucket list. If you’re the kind of person who has a summer to-do list, time is running out. Make sure you take that road trip to California that you’ve been planning or get a bunch of friends together for a scavenger hunt because back to school is right behind us.
3. Put your summer clothes away and break out the scarves. Now that summer is winding down, it is time to think about reorganizing your closet. Move the short sleeves and dresses to the back and the long sleeves and sweatshirts to the front. The cold weather is going to come faster than we’d like it too.
4. Go shopping. That’s necessary for new back-to-school clothes, right?
5. Time management. Now is the time to give yourself some relaxation time before the madness that is school work begins. Give yourself a solid week to do nothing but organize your thoughts and get together with your friends. 

–Amanda Pryor

I’m sure it’s a term most of our readers are familiar with. Some would probably go as far as calling it a way of life. Some claim that they’re a professional and others swear against it. Multitasking by definition is the simultaneous execution of multiple tasks at one time. As I sit here, writing this blog, I am guilty of multitasking. I am writing but also thinking about my To-Do list, the upcoming weekend, and the text my BFF just sent me. But that brings me to this question: is it really possible to do two or more things at one time? Are you really putting 100% effort into all three tasks at once? I don’t think so. According to Peter Bregman, a strategic advisor to CEO’s and their leadership teams, doing several things at once is a trick we play on ourselves to think we’re getting more accomplished. In reality, we are being 40% less productive. That sounds about right to me. Think about all of the times you are sending an email and listening to your co-worker’s juicy story. You cannot possibly get every detail of the story and still produce an eloquent, mature email. You end up re-reading your email multiple times to correct grammar mistakes. Or worse, you send an incomplete email.

I can think of a very famous multitask that has more tragic stories than good ones. Texting and driving. I’m sure everyone is guilty of it. If you’re not, than more kudos to you. How many times have you heard your phone ring, look down at the funny picture your roommate sent you, and by the time you look up the breaks of the car in front of you are too close for comfort? Another famous multitask is listening to music while writing a paper for school. Again, everyone does it but how many people actually thrive?

The work place is an important place where multitasking should be brought to an extreme low. At your job I would suggest multitasking the least amount possible because this is the place where you want to put your best foot forward and prove that you are capable. It is possible to increase your productivity without having to multitask. Yes, you have deadlines to meet, projects to finish, emails to answer, phone calls to return, errands to run after work, and maintain a social life but so do the rest of us. There is a way to get through it all. You just have to work on your time management skills and unfortunately those are skills that you have to teach yourself.

Some key advice for coping with your time management skills are this:

1. Don’t let your emails pile up.
2. Do the most important things first.
3. Keep yourself extremely organized. Yes, that means your desk too.
4. Know when you work best.
5. Organize a to-do list every morning.

My point is that multitasking will hurt us more than it will help us. It is better to do one thing to the best of your ability, with all of your attention focused on it than doing three things half as good as they could be.

–Amanda Pryor

Crackberry has been the deemed the term for a person who is addicted to their blackberry (or Smartphone). The person who can’t sit through dinner without simultaneously responding to an email, or get out of bed without first checking messages from under the covers. In a world where everything can be found right at your fingertips, it’s hard not to be addicted to technology. And now that 35% of Americans own a Smartphone (statistics taken from a recent PEW poll), it’s becoming more difficult to ignore that blinking red light on your phone.

Are we sabotaging ourselves by being constantly available? Are we minimizing time spent doing other tasks, or even compromising our own deserved relaxing time so we can respond immediately to that text message or email? The answer is yes. Technology has become the catalyst for our addicted. People are now demanding instantaneous responses or feedback because they have the inclination that their message is being read the moment they hit ‘send’. I came across an article published in “Real Simple” and wondered what the consensus was for appropriate response time/whether to respond at all. I believe that no matter what the message, big or small, a response of some sort should be administered. If the person took the time to send the message, then it clearly is of importance and should be treated that way. (For more information, please read http://simplystated.realsimple.com/2011/07/07/email-etiquette-tips/). And especially if you have a Smartphone, you may as well already consider yourself a crackberry and have the courtesy to respond to the message. Until the Western culture slows down it’s pace and changes the standards, people expect (and deserve) nearly instantaneous responses!

-Lisa Glover, Summer 2011 Intern