Let the Whining Begin... [entries|friends|calendar] abbie_lopez [ userinfo | livejournal userinfo ] [ calendar | livejournal calendar ]

After the Event - Creative Reflection [05 Dec 2006|03:08am] [ mood | busy ] [ music | c'est si bon - eartha kitt ] After all the rigorous planning, panicking and more planning, I'm so happy to say that the event was actually a success. On the days leading up to the concert, the group was getting so worried that no one would show up. Thankfully, people actually came! After this hectic term, I've learned a few lessons that I will never forget. First, I will never forget the importance of democracy. It was so difficult to work as a group. I know that we choose our own groupings so we ended up with our friends. But even if we’re friends we still really pissed each other off. When you bring nine different people together, heads will butt. There were times when I felt that things would get violent, but thank God we were able to do things democratically. In our group, democracy was what kept us sane. If people don’t agree on the decision made, we take a vote. Every major decision was made by taking a vote. Another thing I learned was how important it is to have a contingency plan. Throughout the last few days before the event we were so worried about all our “what ifs”. If we had contingency plans I’m sure our “what ifs” wouldn’t be so scary. This term has also taught me how to depend on myself. This is the only project that really scared me because if we fail, we don’t just get a bad grade. We have actual real-world responsibilities. We signed contracts making us liable. Because of this, I was happy that I was doing everything with my friends. Even though we had a lot of fights, we never took things personally. We may have had disagreements about the event but we never brought the bickering to out personal lives. And lastly, I learned the importance of planning and organization. The event may have been only several hours long, but it took us almost three months to plan. From the venue disaster to the band schedule, every step we took was planned. I know that without all the planning sessions, late night ym conferences and endless meetings, the event would never have been a success. post comment

November 20-26: The Event Proper [05 Dec 2006|12:52am] [ mood | busy ] [ music | Aguas de Marco - Cibo Matto ] TASK TO DO: Since our event was actually this week, the days leading to it were very hectic. On the days before the event I was tasked to sell tickets. Each group member was required to sell at least 20 tickets. TARGET OUTPUT Our target output was to sell at least 200 tickets before the actual event and have at least 50 walk-ins during the event. PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED It was quite difficult to sell tickets in campus. We had a booth along SJ Walk but we couldn't get people interested. People passing by didn't seem to want to stop by, so the booth was very unsuccessful. The group was forced to rely on our personal network of friends and family to sell our tickets to. ACTUAL OUTPUT I was able to sell my 20 tickets to my friends and relatives so things turned out okay. Thankfully there were also a lot of walk-ins. We're especially thankful to the fans of Sponge cola who really traveled all the way to Katipunan to see the band perform. We were surprised that people really go to all their gigs. PERCENTAGE DONE I'm happy to say that i was able to finish my task 100% NEW TASK Since the event is over the only thing to do is to compute our profit and turn the money over to the Philippine Animal Welfare Society (PAWS). CREATIVE REFLECTION This week i learned the very hard lesson that it is very difficult to get people to go to events organized by strangers. It's easy to sell tickets to your friends and family because they're sort of obligated to support you, but strangers are another story. We weren't able to sell a single ticket in our booth along SJ. Also, a group mate and I tried to promote the event in a few classes in Bro. Andrew, but no one bought a ticket. I think people have become so jaded with all the events every week that they need something really special to make them want to come. So this week I learned just how competitive the event market is. I have new respect for all the event organizers out there who work really hard and get a lot of people to come. post comment

November 13-20: The Sponsor Challenge Continued [19 Nov 2006|12:12am] [ mood | blah ] [ music | rock the boat- aaliyah ] TASK TO DO: This week my major task was to look for the remaining 10,000 to make the 15,000 quota for each member of the group. TARGET OUTPUT Our target output was to close down at least P15,000 from sponsors from each member of the group. PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED This week I was able to get chikka.com to become a patron sponsor for our event. However, the person-in-charge asked me for a document that certifies that the money they give will be held under the accound under my co-eventeer's name and also that the proceeds of our event will go to PAWS. Since i didn't really know how to write this document i asked our professor for some help and we were able to come up with something. ACTUAL OUTPUT So i was able to write this letter to Ms. Cher (of chikka) and after having it signed on Monday, i can deliver it to their office as asked. PERCENTAGE DONE With the sponsorship challenge, i feel that i'm 90% done with fulfilling my quota of Php 15,000 (from sponsorship). NEW TASK The next task would be to finish all the print materials and work on the actual event. CREATIVE REFLECTION This week i learned that it's perfectly okay to ask for help from others. Sometimes if you really don't know what to do, the best thing is to ask another person who is more knowledgable in the matter. post comment

November 6-12: The Venue Disaster [11 Nov 2006|11:58pm] [ mood | disappointed ] [ music | Grand Theft Autumn - Fall Out Boy ] TASK TO DO: This week the major task was to look for a new venue. TARGET OUTPUT OUr target output was to find and book another venue by the end of this week. PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED The major problem we encountered was that we couldn't find a venue that was big enough. Most of the places we found could only hold 200 people. Furthermore, we really wanted to hold the event in the Makati area. Personally, i don't really go farther than Makati when i go out to bars. Most of the good places are usually in Makati anyway. ACTUAL OUTPUT We were able to find this place called "Kublai's" in Katipunan. I personally don't like the fact that it's way up north. But it was really crunch time and we pretty much didn't have a choice. PERCENTAGE DONE With the venue problem i'm pretty sure that we're 80% done. NEW TASK The next task would be pretty much going back to the problem of coming up with Php 15,000 each from sponsors. CREATIVE REFLECTION This week i learned that we shouldn't rush to make our event something really big. Even though i know that the original venue (Food and Art Galerie) is a great place to hold an event like ours, there is no guarantee that we can sell the 600 tickets we need to make a profit. Sometimes the risks are just too big to take. So this week the lesson to me is that sometimes you just have to play it safe, especially when there is money involved. post comment

October 30- November 5: The Money Drought [04 Nov 2006|03:36pm] [ music | Evil - Interpol ] TASK TO DO: My major task for this week was still to look for 15,000 from sponspors. TARGET OUTPUT As i mentioned in an earlier entry, our target output was to close down at least P15,000 from sponsors from each member of the group. PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED The main problem was how to get the money. It was quite difficult for us to find big companies willing to sponsor our event, so we decided to target the smaller companies who we have direct contact with; such as the businesses of our relatives, etc. ACTUAL OUTPUT This week I was able to get PHP 5,000 from my uncle's company, International Bulk and Trading Company. PERCENTAGE DONE With the task of looking for sponsors, I feel that I've only done 30% since I only have 1/3 of the money I need to come up with. NEW TASK My new task would be to design the print materials for out event. CREATIVE REFLECTION This week I learned that as students, it is quite difficult for us to target the bigger companies for sponsorship. That is why the group decided to change our strategy and start looking for smaller companies to sponsor out event. I also learned that we should exhaust all possible connections. That is why the group decided to start targeting the businesses of our relatives and such. We all learned that we shouldn't be ashmed to ask our relatives to support us. This event is for a good cause and we're not asking for them to give money, we're asking for sponsorship, meaning they get something valuable in return. post comment

October 23-29: The Sponsor Hunt [01 Nov 2006|03:48pm] [ mood | disappointed ] [ music | Flowers - Cibo Matto ] TASK TO DO: This week my major task was still to look for sponsors. Also, i was to finalize the designs of out animal ears souvenirs. TARGET OUTPUT Our target output was to close down at least P15,000 from sponsors from each member of the group. And to close the deal with the animal ear manufacturer. PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED The most probable sponsors i've contacted are bio research and animal house. However, when i contacted animal house, Dr. Kaw the Head Doctor informed me that he only received the cover letter out of the 11 page event proposal I sent. So i had to resend the fax. On the other hand, when i called animal house, my contact was on leave and i was asked to call back. While on the souvenir front, i was pleased to see that our manufacturer has managed to deliver all the prototypes. I am very pleased with her work and the price because it's below the budget allotted. ACTUAL OUTPUT I'm really disappointed in my sponsorship work this week, i don't see any actual output. However, i'm very pleased with my work with the souvenirs. I was able to find what we wanted below the price we wanted. PERCENTAGE DONE With the sponsorship challenge, i feel that i've only done 20%. On the other hand, i fell i've done 95% on the souvenirs. All i need to do is wait til Nov. 21 to receive the entire order. NEW TASK I don't see any new tasks, the group has to continue working on sponsorship. CREATIVE REFLECTION This week i learned how difficult it is to find companies willing to give money to students. I also learned that we really need to target companies that can be related to the animals. The animal lovers are a small group of people. There are a limited number of companies that are willing to be aligned with such a cause. I had to realize the hard way that the group's choice of beneficiary organization should have been given a lot more thought. post comment

October 16-22: The Sponsorship War [22 Oct 2006|03:27pm] [ mood | sick ] [ music | in a sentimental mood - coltrane ] This week I was tasked to do 2 things. The first was to GET MONEY. And let me tell you, that is NOT an easy task. Looking for sponsors isn't a job I want to have in the future. People aren't just as generous as they used to be. Especially since we're students. They don't really see having their logo printed as a good exchange for their hard earned moolah. While my second task was to finalize the minute details of our venue such as the parking, booths, signage priveleges, etc. I first worked on the venue. My target output was to deal with all the little details. So I went to The Food and Art Galerie with my group mates Chessie and Precious and we had a meeting with Dennis. He then gave us a deal with the parking slots. Instead of having a small number of free slots we got him to drop the P45 first 3 hours fee for all our guests. So instead of paying P45 for the first 3 hours and P20 for the succeeding hours, they just have to pay P20 for every hour they exeed the 3 hour mark. I think this was a pretty good deal. The venue is one of the most upscale buildings in Makati (GT International Tower, in Ayala Ave.)and they have 3 floors just for parking. We then talked about hanging tarpaulins around the venue. Dennis said it was okay in the actual Food and Art Galerie, but we had to get a permit if we wanted to put signs in the lobby or the other places in the building. I pretty much thought that would happen, so we'll just have to succumb to the building regulations. The next agenda was the tents for the venue. This problem is still to be solved because we need to find tents at a price we can afford. Dennis suggested looking for sponsors who can lend tents or borrowing from our villages as possible ideas. This is something we're still working on. All in all, i dealing with venue details is about 90% done. My other task was to get sponsors so i spent the rest of the week looking for contacts and calling them. I believe i was quite productive because i was able to fax our proposal to Converse, Petron, Kickers, The Animal House, Bio Research and Interbulk. I also faxed quite a few proposals for my other group mates who needed my help. Since i was only able to do the actual faxing last Thursday, I'm only going to follow-up all these contacts on Monday. Since i'm nowhere near done with my sponsorship task, i'd say i'm about 30% there. This week wasn't as hard as last week because the pressure to find a venue finally ceased. I know that our venue is pricey but i believe my committee (the venue committee) made the right decision because we surveyed around and people really prefer Makati to other places. It is more accessible and it's the place to be on weekends. However, i know that sponsorship is a new challenge that will definitely not be an easy one. I learned that it might be easier if we target the smaller companies that we are connected to. This is a good time to exploit our family ties, friendship ties and all the other ties. Our group has made an agreement that we each have to produce 15k from sponsorship. I think this verbal agreement is a great motivator to work harder, to be more ruthless. All i can say is: let the games begin. post comment

October 9-15: The Great Venue Hunt [16 Oct 2006|04:52pm] [ mood | sleepy ] [ music | You Got Me - The Subways ] My task this week (as part of the EVENTEERS group) was to finalize the venue of our event. This was NOT AN EASY task due to the fact that a lot of us had different opinions where our event should be held. The group was basically divided into 2, the people who wanted our event to be in "Tavern on the Square" in Greenbelt 3 and the rest of us who really didn't want it to be there. The latter group (including me) felt that the place was too expensive, especially since the capacity is only for 250-300 maximum (meaning packed like sardines). Furthermore, we didn't really see Tavern as an ideal place cause it's a hang-out for the older crowd (i.e. our parents) and it may turn-off other people from attending. So me being the "never say die" person I am, I decided to join the venue committee and look for a different venue. Thankfully, I saw this poster for a big rock event in clickthecity.com. When I read that it would be held in a place called the "Food and Art Gallerie", i was intrigued. I immediately called them up and asked about the place. The person-in-charge, Dennis then invited me to come see the event to be held there last Friday (Oct. 13). And I saw that it was a great place to hold a mini-concert. People seemed to be enjoying themselves. The place is at the 12th floor of the GT Tower in Makati Ave. It's actually a high-end cafeteria, but outside that they have an open area that can hold 700 people. After seeing the event (JR 6:13) and hearing their offer, I knew the search was over. I'm still going to meet Dennis next Tuesday to finalize the details, but I can say that I'm 80% done in closing our venue. On to the next task...Which is looking for sponsors (i.e. scrounging up for cash). :) This week I learned that it's not easy to work for a team. Heads will always butt. Opinions will always differ. The best way to work as a team is to communicate with one another openly. When I felt that a group mate was taking our venue disagreements to personally I wrote an email explaining why I felt that my choice was the best offer we had, and she seemed to appreciate the gesture. In a nutshell, this week has taught me the golden lesson that "Communication is key". post comment

navigation [ viewing | most recent entries ]