Event Planning
I love creating experiences for groups of people who want to have meaningful and authentic connections.
Here are a couple of short descriptions of my favorite ones so far:
My Wedding
Some background: My husband, Seth, is American and I am Canadian (soon to be a dual citizen). We met in Victoria while I was finishing up my Masters in Statistics and he was starting his PhD in Mathematics. When I moved back to Victoria after completing my Masters in Television Production, we decided that we would move to the USA after he finished his degree. So, I went through all the necessary hoops to get a K1 Visa.
The Caveat: Once you cross the border with a K1 Visa, you have 90 days to get married!
What Happened: Soon after Seth completed his PhD in the summer of 2016, he got a Lecturer position at Towson University. We had less than a month to move so he could get started. We were excited to get married so we chose Labor Day to be the day we tied the knot. So, in the span of 3 weeks, I found us a place to live and planned the whole wedding - completely remotely!
Some of the Juicy Details: I have never been a big wedding person, so we kept it small, parents, grandparents, siblings and mutual friends - 20 people in total! I coordinated everyone’s flights, room, delicious meals and activities for the whole weekend that accommodated the vast age differences in the group. We did things like day trips to DC, sightseeing, getting our nails done, visiting the aquarium and dinners with dancing. The ceremony itself took place on a pirate ship with my best friend officiating.
The Bleeker Retreat
Some background: COVID was subsiding and Bleeker was growing fast! We needed a way to get on the same page before things really took off. So, 25 of us met in Las Vegas in April 2022.
What I did: I led the Retreat Committee in coordinating every aspect of the retreat including:
Workshops and meetings
Team building activities
Flights, rooms and meals
Retreat gifts
Talent show!
How it went: It was a total lovefest! On average, 93% participants rated the sessions useful and the feedback was really positive, including saying things like:
Every little detail was fantastically coordinated and communicated. Excellent job!
No comments. Everything perfect!
Amazing retreat! Really looking forward to the next one.
Very thorough and clear communication, which I appreciated to feel prepared.
I would like to acknowledge the efforts of all the people involved in the organization of this retreat. Thank you for being in all the details, everything turned out great.
The Safe & Reliable Retreats
Some background: As a virtual company, Safe & Reliable was consistently looking for opportunities to connect and build morale. As the operations manager I rallied the team together for two retreats:
Salt Lake City Retreat in September of 2019
Orlando Retreat in January of 2020
In both situations, I coordinated flights, rooms, meals and activities. The team was overjoyed to have opportunities to meet face-to-face, but we had to balance the socialization with work. In these retreats, Safe & Reliable was able align on their strategic goals and accelerate group work. This was also an opportunity to administer and debrief the SCORE Survey and identify the team’s pain points and commit to solutions.
One of my favorite parts of these retreats (other than the food) was the team and leadership recognition activities. Participants took the time to acknowledge and honor each other, developing a new appreciation and deeper bond with their colleagues.
