Being an intern for a social events coordinator covers anything and everything social event related. (but what does this mean…?) The realm of social events is broad. Sure, there are the big events that take place annually where a majority of money is made. What people do not realize is that social events also consist of attending other events in order to advertise and raise awareness for your event. For example, the non-profit that I am currently at is able to get tables at certain events not sponsored by the non-profit. This weekend, we set up a table at a local farmers market to:
#1.) Raise awareness for lung diseases. (ex. COPD, Cancer, Asthma)
#2.) Raise awareness for all of the events that are put on by the non-profit.
#3.) Raise awareness for an upcoming event.
The farmers market was about 45 minutes away so I packed up the stuff and headed north at around 6 AM. (with Starbucks in hand, of course.) My ETA was around 7 AM because the market opened at 7:30AM. I was given a specific layout for the table information handouts and by 7:25AM, someone spun the wheel! My supervisor directly specified bringing our conversations back to the Lung Force Walk at the Milwaukee Zoo.
The wheel was just recently added to attract people. Red and blue t-shirts were prizes along with some candy. If the wheel landed on Lung Force Walk, Fight for Air Climb, or the American Lung Association logo, we had to ask a trivia question specific to each category. Only a handful of people had shown interest into lung health; however, we came in contact with many families with children. Each conversation ended with us talking about the Lung Force Walk and how it was a FREE family fun event at the zoo. While not many people seemed too interested in the array of lung health brochures and pamphlets, quite a few families found a lot of interest in the Lung Force Walk.
Why this is important: Like I said before, planning social events also consists of going to other events in order to advertise/inform. Sure, many people weren’t too interested in learning about lung health but the fact that we were there could have triggered someone’s interest in quitting smoking or getting a cancer screening. Plus, attending other events like this is super important for people to get exposure to the events that they do. I know prior to my internship, I had little to no knowledge of the events that the American Lung Association had. These events that we attend aren’t with the expectation that everyone that we come in contact with will attend the event. We are simply getting the information out there so people know what we do and how we do it. Communicating with others at these farmers markets gives us an opportunity to build the community surrounding the non-profit. As community grows, knowledge about the issues grow as well.
The Light to a Path 