We event producers at Jackson Marketing Group are obsessed with meetings and events.
Obsessed.
It's in our blood.
Whether we're at work or not, we can often be found devouring the latest article or scouring the Internet for the latest trends. We go to every event we're invited to in order to see what others are doing and how they're doing it. We involve ourselves in the smallest details of the events we plan, from pre-planning to post-event, and we are passionate about it all.
So that's probably why, when planning the annual JMG Christmas party last year, we volunteered ourselves to cater a dessert table for 200 of our colleagues and their significant others.
Gulp.
AND decorate the facility.
Double Gulp.
Nevermind that we were a month away from the event. Nevermind that our travel schedules would take us out of the office up to the time of the event. Nevermind that our experience in catering started and stopped with showers (both bridal and baby).
Despite everything working against us, we got to work. Our first decision was to keep the desserts light and simple, due to a heavy dinner menu. Our second decision was to have a red, white and silver color-scheme for the table and the room. All other choices and decisions started to fall into place, using a smattering of all the ideas we gathered during our research.
After a proposal and negotiation with the management, we were ready to start cooking and crafting. After many late hours of baking, decorating, sprinkling, wrapping and laughing, we were ready to prepare the event site.
In our eyes, the final result was breath-taking and exactly as we planned. Our vision came to be under dreamy twinkle lights and set the scene for a beautiful evening shared with friends and co-workers.
We can definitely say that this process gave us an enlightened understanding of our caterers and the hard work they have ahead of them when we start to plan an event. In the end, we loved every minute of preparing for this event and the teamwork that it took to make our vision a reality. I am so proud to be a part of JMG's amazing event team.
You may be wondering – and yes, we have warned management not to expect this every year from their event team. And yet, it will be interesting to see what we find ourselves getting into next!
What about you? What's something you've signed up for that turned out to be more work than you originally thought?