Welcome to Independence Gay, Bryan Blanchard's weekly blog about his experience being a summer intern for BRAVO!. We love our intern blogs and hope you enjoy following Bryan!
Week 2
June 8-12, 2015
Hey! I’m back for another run down of my time here at BRAVO! and what I’ve been up to around the city. So, strap on your pride flags because it’s been a crazy week!
I’m writing this post still full on cake pops and kabobs from Wednesday’s event Going the Extra Mile. Now I could talk for hours about food, but let me at least give you a brief overview of the event itself. Going the Extra Mile is an annual fundraising reception hosted by the Legal Service team at Whitman-Walker Health. The event honors community members and legal services volunteers who help make it possible for Whitman-Walker patients and clients to receive free legal council. It’s truly an amazing event, which I’m so happy to be a part of. Quick shout out to Amy and Lee from Whitman-Walker Legal Services for being such great clients to work with!
This week I worked a lot with our Project Manager, Kensey, to edit and finalize the PowerPoint slides that were to be used throughout the event and during the program. It’s pretty unbelievable all the content and time it takes to develop a full sponsor slideshow, especially with new ads and logo arriving the week of the event. Even though it’s only PPT, I impressed our client, Amy, with a simple drop shadow action on some of the text and a fabulously rainbow gradient on our hashtag for the event. I also got to show off what a Photoshop queen I really am and I think the girls loved it. Oh, I was even tasked with writing a press release for the event to get some coverage for the day of. Thank god I remembered all the AP Style lessons that were hammered into my head.
Event prep is a large part of my internship position, but the actual execution is a totally different story. Our guest list was coming in around 350 RSVPs with new guests rolling in every day. Lawyers from firms all over the city were attending to support WWH, as well as patients who chose to share their story of the impact the Legal Services team has had on their lives. We had a beautifully shot and emotionally charged video play during the program of the reception, which definitely had the Kleenex being passed around.
While I worked registration for the beginning portion of the event, I was able to briefly meet many of the honorees and dedicated staff at WWH, not to mention a lot of lawyers. During registration, Kensey came over to ask if I would present the physical award to one of honorees, Savannah. I looked pretty cute in my burgundy blazer, so I thought ‘Eh, why not!’ Being on stage is nothing new to me, but our photographers were taking so many pictures that I knew for sure there were some where I look like a hot mess. Of course, I’m hoping for a few cute ones so I can brag about being a presenter.
Quick blurb about the food: everything was delish from the lamb sliders to the white chocolate and raspberry parfait. The struggle not to just binge on the entire dessert bar was so real. However, the takeaway cookies were so cute! I love being a part of the BRAVO! team. Outside my internship, DC has been sweeping me off my feet. I’m so excited for Capitol Pride this weekend. It’s going to be so much fun, from the parties to the parade. Anyway, that’s it for this week. Wish me luck at my first Pride! As always, stay fab!