The Hospitality Gala

Hello all.

As most of you know,  I have been enrolled in a class this semester called Catering & Events Management.  Before January, I was beyond thrilled to be in this class because I have the luxury of planning a gala for the Hotel & Restaurant Management Program.  Event planning was exactly what I wanted to do after graduation, until I started this class.

This is not a complaining post whatsoever (or so I hope it will not be).  I have been extremely blessed to be apart of this class.  Only 22 students are able to participate in planning this fundraiser for the Hotel & Restaurant Management Program.  This event is called The Hospitality Gala.  It is an event hosted by the 22 students who plan and design the event.  This event has grown tremendously in the past two years and the first week of January we had expectations already set in place for our class to top last year's gala.  We have definitely exceeded last year's gala's numbers but lets just hope the night of the event goes just as well as last year if not better.

I have learned so much this semester about event planning.  This is not something you want to plan in a three month period, that is for sure.  The leaders plan this event year around and the students just work on finalizing the execution the three months before the event.  Stressful!  I have learned how to adapt to changes extremely fast.  My patience and outward expressions have also developed over the course of three months.  While I am extremely stressed this week, I have been able to manage it fairly well (I think, some people would disagree), continue to work part-time and keep my grades up in my other classes.

This is the last week of planning for the gala.  It will take place at 5:30pm on March 31st, 2011.  Wish me luck.  There are so many details that go into an event that no one will ever know how hard each and every person planning this event has gone through.  That's kind of the joy behind it.  Seeing our hard work pay off will definitely be worth it the night of the event.

Last words of wisdom (or shall I say things you already know I'm just know learning), take pride and appreciation for all the hard work you do.  I have bashed this class a lot this semester but I must say I will be so excited when the planning is done and I can look back and say "Wow, that was an amazing experience."  I have learned so much about myself and event planning I will never be able to trade this opportunity.

Until after the gala,

Kayla