MY JOB MY JOB MY JOB. Wow ok so remember how I said I was over architecture and ready to find a new passion, well I found her! This job is making me feel like all the random skills I’ve been picking up are finally worth it. It’s such a fast-paced job with lots of moving parts and I love managing that lifestyle. They’ve been giving me a lot more responsibility at work and I love how much they trust me. It’s scary thinking about it because it comes with the potential of failure, but I think I can handle the challenge and I’m excited to prove myself.
Background: I work for The Social Concierge (TSC), located in East Vancouver by Olympic Village. They produce large scale personal and contracted events that range from The Lululemon holiday party to Diner en Blanc (DEB), a pop-up dinner party that brings over 3000 people to a secret location for a family style meal riddled with art and entertainment. There are 4 core employees for the company, Tyson and Jordan, co-owners and creators, Connor who handles most of the digital communication and coordinates the table and group leader programs for DEB, and Kassandra who oversees the financial side of the company. There’s also another intern, Gabbie. She went to school in Victoria, an island about a 25 min seaplane from Vancouver. She works directly under Connor on more of the digital marketing side of TSC. I work directly under Jordan meaning I’m doing all sorts of things but focusing more on the planning and production of events. Planning v Producing: planning is more of the logistical aspects of events, it’s getting the event space, the help needed, the activations and installations and all of the outside details while producing is buying all of the décor, setting up the location, coordinating employees, executing the activations and installations, managing run of show, and completing tear down or strike at the end. So, my projects. Right now, I’m working on 3 projects: DEB, Deighton Cup, and Playland Nights. I don’t do much for Deighton Cup right now other than our weekly meeting but it’s basically like Vancouver’s version of the Derby but without the passion for horse-racing. There are still a few big races of the day but the focus for the day is fashion and art with a twist of horses. It’s very interesting listening to the planning for this since The Derby and Kenneland have been present in my life since I was little. For DEB I’ve been tasked with completing the transportation plan. A big part of DEB is that the location is a complete surprise up until the guests arrive day of. Because of this we must coordinate a very thorough transportation plan detailing out how 3500 people will all arrive by Skytrain, bus, or on foot to the same location in the span of an hour. It’s a lot- I’m working directly with the city of Vancouver on iterations that are most practical but since I have no knowledge of the area I’ve been living in google maps trying to figure out the best paths. Finally, I just got a slight promotion to be the lead producer for the Playland Nights VIP Program. Playland Nights is held at the Pacific National Exhibition (PNE) at the amusement park on site. Think about closing King’s Island every Friday in July and opening it back up from 7pm-12am for those 21 and up. We are creating two main spaces for the VIP Experience at each of those nights in July. The theme of these spaces is the movie Big so there will be a “Homebase” area with themed programming unique to each week and then we are creating a hidden bar called “Zoltar’s Speakeasy”. As lead producer I am tasked with helping come up with programming, sourcing all décor, setting up both spaces each Friday, and hiring/managing employees and people activating in the spaces. Everything is starting to get busy around here and I can’t wait to keep learning from all the people I work with. Jordan has taught me so much about coordination and has given me so much freedom to learn and grow, he’s been an amazing mentor so far. I’m very excited to see what these next 2 months have in store for me! July is about to get very busy for me so more updates to come! Cheers, CB
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Hello, hello!
I’ve been in Vancouver for about a month now and wow a lot has happened in these past couple of weeks. My parents just left a couple of days ago and it was so nice to see them and show them my new home. My parents haven’t flown in over 25 years so needless to say I was concerned for them. They took a train starting in Chicago all the way in and then flew back home to Lexington. If you’re curious how the train ride went don’t ask my dad, it wasn’t an ideal experience for him. My mom on the other hand doesn’t complain at all and would tell you she had a wonderful time. I recommend just taking the flight. I started my job 3 weeks ago and in that short time I’ve started working on 3 projects, gotten promoted to be lead producer of one of them and been to countless events. My job is amazing and has opened my eyes to something that could very well become my passion. I’m doing an employer profile for my next post so look to that for a full description on my work life and all the cool things I’m doing! Since moving in and starting my job I’ve gotten to travel a lot more around town and learn what Vancouver has to offer. Funnily enough, after my last post I vowed to stop getting on the wrong buses and then I was 15 minutes late to meeting my boss on my first day because I took two wrong buses in a row… but I’m so much better now I hardly event fall when the bus starts before I find a seat. My job lets me work from home most days so I have a very flexible schedule which has let me explore a little more. Did you know Vancouver is the most ‘Asian’ city outside of Asia? A lot of the Asian population is focused in Richmond which is in Southwest Vancouver and in East Vancouver off Hastings. This culminates in a massive Chinatown of amazing food and a rich culture. In the summers they host the Largest Night Market in North America called the Richmond Night Market. Our AIC advisor, Toyoshi, took us there a couple weeks ago. In true fashion, Anna and I decided to sample as much as possible, so we went around in laps to find the best options. We tried many varieties of meat on a stick, a hot pot soup that had clams and noodles and was made in a tin foil bag on a grill. We also got the ultimate corn dog, shaped like a fish with the best sauce on it. 10/10 for the night market. A lot of my excursions have been thanks to my boss who just likes to walk in the office and give me plans after work. I think he appreciates me because I never have any plans, so I always say yes. The other day I went to the symphony, the 100th anniversary of the symphony at that. He walked into the office and gave me that and a cocktail lounge opening to go to. This sounds amazing, and it was, but you think the man could give me a little warning so I don’t have to wear a knit skirt and sneakers to the SYMPHONY. I looked like an idiot. The cocktail lounge opening though, let me tell you, I’ve never had so much good food in my entire life. The most massive charcuterie board, an oyster bar, a raw bar, a gelato cart, hors d’oevres being walked around, an open bar for all their new cocktails one of which had actual glitter in it. My sincerest apologies for the lack of pictures I think I was just in awe the whole time. Vancouver does feel like a big surfer West Coast town. People are always hiking or exercising, doing water sports or going camping for the weekend it’s an active town. I’m told it’s due to the 6 months of rain they get in the fall/winter, they take full advantage of their summer and I can’t blame them. It’s 60-70 degrees every day, usually sunny and there’s always a nice breeze. You can wear sweaters or shorts, and almost every day has the potential to be a great beach day. That means the beach will always be packed but everyone still gives each other plenty of space and there’s a lot of common courtesy at the beaches. Unlike the US, people don’t really care about what other people are doing. A lot of the time Anna and I will look around and realize that no one was looking at us, people don’t care what you’re doing or how you look everyone just minds their own business most of the time. Progress update: doing great, loving work and this amazing town. Sleeping a lot and trying to spend as little money as possible. Stay tuned… Cheers, CB |