Event Planning 101: Nellie’s Turns the Page

By: Sandra Ulewicz

Six strangers, put in a group and told to work together on creating a special event to raise money for a charity of our choice. We had 77 days and $0. Welcome to #ccpr ! 

The first day

Our team decided we wanted to help women. We chose to support Nellie’s Shelter, a women’s shelter in Toronto which provides a safe place for women and children leaving violent and oppressive situations. We reached out to the shelter and upon hearing the stories about the women they’ve helped and how much more help they need, we knew this was the right choice.

Tip: Pick a cause that you and your group members are passionate about. It will motivate you throughout the event planning process.

Behind the scenes of event planning

 The event consumed our thoughts, especially the closer that it got. Our teacher (and mentor) Jentzen helped keep us on the right track and prevented some major meltdowns. It was 77 days of:

• Getting sponsorship and donations
• Finding and securing a suitable venue
• Planning the feel of the event
• Managing social media accounts
• Dealing with unexpected hurdles (We need to pay for insurance? The liquor license has a due date? Does the venue have a coat rack?)
• All the other little things

Tip: Your critical path is (no surprise!) quite critical. Writing yourself a timeline and delegating tasks evenly among group members will help keep your group organized and ensure you have everything taken care of before your event.

T H E  D A Y  O F

 The day of was less glamorous than we envisioned. It consisted of a lot of running around the city of Toronto, gathering all our supplies and getting them to the venue, setting up the venue and making sure we were ready to go before guests arrived!

Tip: You can only plan so much for this day. Little things will come up last minute. Make sure everyone in your group knows what they’re doing and where they need to be. Try to make a detailed to-do list for the day but allot time for unpredictable things that will inevitably come up.

Overall experience

 Once all our guests left, we felt a huge weight lift off our shoulders. We did it, we organized a successful event!! We received a lot of positive feedback – both formal and informal. Our group was extremely happy with and proud of how the event turned out.

This was one of the most relevant courses I’ve ever taken. We transformed from students to event planners. Getting thrown into the deep end right at the start of the semester and not knowing how to swim was a valuable learning experience and we learned a lot more than we would have just sitting in a classroom.

To future students: Don’t be afraid! You are not in this alone. Although you will experience moments where this will be hard to believe – everything will work out!