Never, in my wildest dreams, did I think I would graduate college and become an events planner.
I remember my first day in PR Research my junior year in college. Sitting in front of Dr. Katerina Tsetsura, Russian PR Goddess and every PR students worst nightmare. I was terrified to be sitting in her class, but excited at the opportunity to soak up every word she spoke.
Not long in to her introduction, Dr. Tsetsura posed a question to the class. A question that had me re-thinking my response to another question she would ask me a year and a half later. She stopped, took a step towards our class, and calmly asked, "Who in here plans to walk out of this university and become a party planner?" She waited a moment before she spoke again. You could tell that many students in the class (mostly sorority girls, which I say with the kindest regard as I, myself, am a veteran sorority girl) wanted to raise their hands, but would not. She then smiled, and spoke again. "Good, because if you plan to become a party planner or wedding coordinator with your four year, highly regarded, PR degree, you should quit school now and save your parents a lot of money."
Certainly put the fear of the PR gods in me. Particularly when a year and a half later, after she ripped me a new one after my PR Campaigns presentation. She followed me out in to the hall, told me how much she loved my project and how great our point of view was (Even though she had just ripped us to shreds in front of our client), then she asked the current popular question. With graduation mere weeks away, she asked me the one question I did not want to answer. "So, Katy, what are you going to do after your graduate?" I quickly responded that I had been offered a job at United Way in Oklahoma City. She then said, " Wow, what a great organization. What will you do for them?" I shuttered at the question and then quietly responded that I would be planning their events. She smiled, looked at me, and said, "No shame in that, everyone starts somewhere, you will do great things."
And with that, I felt relieved. My college PR mentor had given my first job the stamp of approval. But, to do her proud, I am not the conventional party planner. My take on planning events? Easy. Make each event relevant. Make it memorable. And, if need be, bring a 5'7 chicken to finish the job.
That's me, in a nutshell. Enjoy.
