Wedding & Event Planner ● Professional Portfolio
INTERNSHIP EXPERIENCE
May 2017 - March 2020
During my college career, I had the opportunity to be an intern at five separate companies—National Safety Council, Palace Events, Easterseals Central Illinois, Make-A-Wish® Illinois, & Children's Discovery Museum and Town of Normal. Each company pushed me to succeed in the events world and provided me with extraordinary, hands-on professional practice experience.
SAFETY IN (ATTENDEE) NUMBERS
National Safety Council ● Itasca, IL
Development Intern ● May 2017 - August 2017
The sole mission of the National Safety Council is to "eliminate preventable deaths at work, in homes and communities, and on the road through leadership, research, education and advocacy".
At National Safety Council, I worked one-on-one with their Development Director to plan and facilitate all of the events for the company. While with the company, my main task was to help with the branches largest event of the year and the world's largest safety event—National Safety Council's Congress & Expo 2017 in Indianapolis, IN.
This large-scale event lasted a full week including over 100 events including seminars, dinners, and networking events. Unfortunately, since the event took place in September and I had already returned to school at that point, I was unable to attend the event I had helped plan.
Some of the tasks I contributed to the Congress & Expo were creating detailed and color-coordinated floor plans for each floor and day of the week, confirming events being held throughout the week, confirming hotel room and guest details, and other miscellaneous tasks that came about. National Safety Council gave me insight into the logistical side of putting an event together.
FROM BALLROOM TO PALACE
Palace Events ● Bloomington, IL
Events Intern ● August 2017 - December 2017
While many people only see the glitz and glamour of an event, there is a lot that goes into that end result. Palace Events provided me with the opportunity to help with the set-up and tear-down of events. "Palace Events is a wedding and event coordinating and rental business located in Bloomington, IL."
While at Palace Events I helped set-up and tear-down a variety of different events in Bloomington/Normal and Central Illinois. Along with bringing an event to life, I helped keep the Palace Events warehouse clean and organized. This helped the staff make sure that all rental materials were cleaned, pressed and ready to go. Palace Events helped me understand the many details that must be put into place, behind the scenes, to make a large-scale event a success.
SEAL OF SUCCESS
Easterseals Central Illinois ● Bloomington, IL
Development Intern ● January 2018 - May 2018
Easterseals is a nonprofit that has been serving Americans with disabilities since 1919; which was the first of its kind. From 2016 to 2018, "Easter Seals" rebranded to become Easterseals, which also included a fresh, new logo.
The average therapy session as Easterseals is $150, and most of the children attended multiple sessions a week depending on their needs. Logically, this can get pricey for any parent, even with insurance. This is where the Development Team comes in.
When I started at Easterseals Central Illinois, I worked directly with the Development Director. About 3 weeks into the internship, the Development Director left the company to pursue another career. Unfortunately, this occurred about three weeks prior to the branch's largest fundraising event—the Grape Soirée.
I decided to jump in head first, and put everything I had into preparing for the event. In addition to taking five college courses, I focused all of my free time on the event and worked with a few individuals from the Peoria Illinois branch. The event ended up being a success and over $50,000 was donated. To learn more about the Grape Soirée, check out the "Portfolio" tab.
In addition to the Grape Soirée, I worked with the Town of Normal "Sharin' of the Green Parade" which took place the Saturday before St. Patrick's Day. Easterseals was one of the main sponsors for the parade, so I was the main point of contact for Easterseals.
AN EVENT IS A WISH YOUR HEART MAKES
Make-A-Wish® Illinois ● Chicago, IL
Signature Events Intern ● May 2019 - August 2019
Make-A-Wish is a nonprofit that has been serving children 2 ½ to 18 years old since 1980. Make-A-Wish used to be an organization that granted wishes for children who were "terminally-ill". Make-A-Wish now grants wishes for children "with a critical illness". This means that a child does not have to have a life-threatening illness to be granted the chance to go on a "Wish Journey".
Like any nonprofit, Make-A-Wish Illinois thrives on donations. Make-A-Wish Illinois is one of the foundation's largest branches, and brings in over $10 million in donations per year, which is used to grant wishes for children with a critical illnesses. One of the ways that these donation accrue is through the events put on by the Development Team.
I worked directly with the Signature Events Specialist who plans all of the large or "signature" events for the branch. Although there were not any "signature events" that occurred while I was interning with Make-A-Wish Illinois, I helped wrap up Wish Ball—the branches largest event that profits over $2 million each year (as of 2019)—and the preparation work for I Wish to Party—another large event for the branch.
I was heavily involved with putting silent auction items into Bid Pal—an online bidding website—as well as researching and coordinating a variety of opportunities and details for future events.
Additionally, I helped with Women, Wine and Wishes, which was put together by another employee on the Development Team. To learn more about Women, Wine and Wishes, check out the "Portfolio" tab.
BRINGING THE COMMUNITY TOGETHER
Children's Discovery Museum & Town of Normal ● Normal, IL
Events Intern ● January 2019 - May 2019, September 2019 - March 2020
At the beginning of my spring 2019 semester, I began a dual internship with the Children's Discovery Museum & the Town of Normal. Both businesses work together to bring the community together. By joining the Events Team with each company, I have had the chance to work on a variety of different events.
The Children's Discovery Museum “inspir[es] the love of learning through the power of play”. To keep this idea alive, I partnered with the Event and Volunteer Coordinator to plan a variety of events to raise funds for the museum.
Every spring the CDM plans an event called Doctors In Concert, where local physicians come together to perform an instrument of their choice. A 30-basket Silent Auction accompanied by small medical items/toys that need to be replaced in the museums' medical exhibit were placed on display for bids and "purchase." I prepared all that was needed for the Silent Auction portion of the evening. That year, the funds raised at Doctors In Concert were used to completely redesign the CDM's medical exhibit that had been seen by over 2-million visitors.
Day of Play is another event the CDM puts on every year in Uptown Normal that I was able to participate in. To learn more about Day of Play, check out the "Portfolio" tab.
For the Town of Normal, I worked with the Civic Arts Manager to plan and execute a variety of events throughout the year. This included, the largest event I have worked thus far—a 2-day, outdoor music festival called Make Music Normal. To learn more about Make Music Normal, check out the "Portfolio" tab.
Additionally, I have helped with a variety of smaller events that he plans or oversees. These include the Sharin' of the Green parade, the Illinois State University Homecoming Parade, Treat Feast, and Santa's Station.
While at Easterseals in March 2018, I assisted the Irish Heritage Society with the Sharin' of the Green Parade, which is the Bloomington-Normal community's version on a St. Patrick's Day parade. The following year, I was able to see first hand the role the Town of Normal plays in overseeing the parade from a logistical standpoint.
The Illinois State University Homecoming Parade and Treat Feast were two additional events that I helped with. My role was to assist with any day-of tasks, as well as help to make these events run smoothly. For both of these events, we also partnered with external organizations.
Santa's Station is annual event the Town of Normal puts together to spread a little holiday cheer to children and their families. The event occurs all throughout December. Local organizations volunteer to dress up as Santa, Mrs. Claus, and the North Pole Elves and take photos with the cheery guests.
