Hosting an event without any form of preparation or research is a recipe for disaster. Our event, the Sip ‘N’ Swap, is no exception to this idea. Over the course of the semester, we have seen how other people hosted clothing swaps to see what would be considered “optimal” for our guests. We are taking this information and applying it to our spin where refreshments will be served and our little raffle.
To start simply, we realized really quickly how much information needs to be on a poster to properly advertise an event. Event management is not something new to me, but an event like this sure is. We had to cover questions like when, where, and other “rules” of the event on a typical piece of paper. All the while trying to make it visually appealing. Making sure we hit all the check boxes on the poster was half the battle. Now that everything was decided, we did a little digging into how to organize the clothes but came to the realization quickly that we had no idea what clothes to expect.
Doing background research really made our project much better. Another important factor was the amount of time we had to get all of it done. We were never in a scramble prior to the event, and those are the two main reasons why. Being able to do our research, plan with plenty of time, and communicate with each other consistently made this project have potential to succeed.
With communication being brought up, this ties directly into the habits of mind. Being able to purposefully communicate with each other has made our project flourish. We quickly made a group chat with the five of us and socialized to get to know each other better. I only knew one of my group mates going into the project, and was the only boy, but I was able to get comfortable very easily.
To recap this reflection, I am very thankful for the instructions given by our instructor. Prior to being told that we should do research, I would’ve opted to not do it in all honesty. I had no idea how important it would be in the end and have learned a good lesson from it. Always, and I mean always, do your research.
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