Welcome to The Blair D.C. Project, Blair Guilfoile's weekly blog about her experience being a fall intern for BRAVO!. We love our intern blogs and hope you enjoy following Blair!
Week 4
September 21 - September 25, 2015
This week marks one month since moving to DC. It pains me to us the cliché “time flies when you are having fun”, but at the moment I can’t seem to think of anything more fitting. It’s been a whirlwind these past few weeks, but I’ve loved pretty much every second of it (with the exception of the blisters I’ve gotten on my ankles from walking around so much…)
I think I started this journey with the idea that I would gain valuable event planning experience (which, so far, is definitely the case!). But I’ve noticed that I’m learning a lot more than simply bullet points to add to my resume. I’m gaining a deeper understanding and insight not only to the event planning industry, but also to public relations and branding as a whole, and how they are all interconnected.
What do I mean by that? Well, Nancy said something in the car on the way back from a client meeting the other day that really resonated with me. She said public relations is about telling a story. Event planning is about creating that story. Now a days, storytelling is crucial to brand strategy. But if you can't deliver the story you tell about your brand, then it means nothing. That's were event planning finds its value.
We produced the Mautner Project 25th Annual Celebration last Friday. On the surface it may have just looked like an opportunity to throw a party to celebrate 25 years of the organization. But really anyone can throw a party. Our goal at BRAVO! was to produce an event that not only celebrated a 25th anniversary, but told a story of 25 years dedicated to improving the health of women. By celebrating the Mautner story, it was also celebrating the lives of those women as well. And that is a valuable message that resonates with people who hear it.