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Always learning, always wondering, always sharing!

A Perry Good Time: Week 9

Welcome to A Perry Good Time, Alex Perry's weekly blog about her experience being a fall intern for BRAVO!. We love our intern blogs and hope you enjoy following Alex!

Alex Perry - Chamber's Choice Gala Collage

Week 9

October 31 - November 4, 2016

HEY HEY HEY, LADIES, GENTS AND GENDER NON-CONFORMERS! I’m back after a long week preparing for the Chamber’s Choice Awards & Gala and I’m here to tell YOU, yes YOU, all about the event! We’re going to break this down step by step so we can serve up something reeeeeaaaalllll nice for ya. Let’s get started!

INGREDIENTS:

(2) dark circles under your eyes that CANNOT, I repeat, CANNOT be color corrected and concealed

~40 oz. of Iced Coffee consumed over the course of 10 hours

A dash of anxiety after consuming too much caffeine (NOTE: Just a dash. This is a very strong ingredient)

Underlying anxiety that just makes you, you (GO GIRL!)

A smile J

~50 changes to make in Social Tables (click the link. It. Is. Legendary)

(20) SWIGGITY SWAG event staffers (you guys ROCK!)

(1) awesome venue with incredibly helpful employees (Marriott Marquis, you guys ALSO ROCK!)

(35) times telling people they “HAVE to try the cheesecake”

(1) extremely grateful guest after you found his table more wine (I get it, man)

(3) gr8 BRAVO! coworkers (including Bryan <3 thx for the above pic, VO!)

(1) excited client (DC Chamber of Commerce, it was a night to remember!)

(1,000+) very, very happy guests

DIRECTIONS:

First, wake up early so you can do your hair – you aren’t gonna have time for that later, lady. Frantically pack a bag with everything you’ll need to get ready. Think you’ll have time in the afternoon to curl your ends? Think again, friend. Leave your curling iron at home!

Throw on your favorite t-shirt and slip on those converse. It’s time to rock ‘n roll! Start sippin’ that coffee now.

Preheat your oven to 425 and throw in your anxiety. Set your timer for 4:00 PM. In the meantime, let’s keep workin’ on those registration and seating changes – bonus points for entire table reorganization!

4:00 PM! Time to take your anxiety out! Let it cool, that way it’ll be ready for the rest of the recipe whenever you need it! After putting on your LBD and “comfortable” shoes (let’s get real, folks. The only “comfortable” shoes are slippers, sneakers, and crocs) you’re ready for the best part of all: the ~*actual event*~.

Grab that iPad and head upstairs! Guests are arriving! Anxiety cooled? Good – I told you it’s best to prepare ahead of time! Take in all those wonderful coconut shrimp smellz and tap away.

NOTE: In this part of the recipe, you might run into a few troubleshooting moments. Guest not on the list? This is the perfect time to take a spoonful of that anxiety and add it to your main dish – but don’t forget your smile! Anxiety is like salt, you want it to flavor, but you don’t want it to overwhelm. Find that guest a seat and call it a night! Pro tip? Follow up with that guest later in the evening – “Jimmy, I hope you enjoyed your time at *INSERT SPONSOR’S NAME HERE* table. Is there anything else I can help you with?” Accept hugs. They add a certain … je ne sais quoi.

Receptions are great, but what people are here for is the programming – it’s time to get everyone downstairs and into the Ballroom! Just to be safe, open up a second registration station down there in case you missed anyone on the Mezzanine level. You do have 1,000 guests after all.

Guests seated? Good. Pace around with your headset on while awards are being handed out. Relish in the fact that really anything that could go wrong at this moment is not DIRECTLY correlated to you or your registration efforts – phew! Still be prepared to answer questions and fix situatio--no, ma’am, the bathroom is down that hallway. No, sir, you cannot take that flower arrangement home with you… yes, including the vase.

Do a few rounds in the Ballroom to make sure everything is A-OKAY. Get that man MORE WINE!!!!!! Plaster yourself to the wall when the dessert buffet is opened. Start to tell people “you HAVE to try the cheesecake!”

Don’t forget, Jimmy! “Jimmy, I hope you enjoyed your time at *INSERT SPONSOR’S NAME HERE* table. Is there anything else I can help you with?”

Now that the entertainment is on the stage and you’ve donated your personal hand towels to the Doug E. Fresh cause (I don’t really know how that happened, either, tbh) it’s time to socialize. Grab a pal! Any pal! Chat away! It IS a par-tay after all!

Add in little dashes here and there from funny conversations. Sprinkle in a genuine compliment. Season with happiness. Serve with smiles, laughter, and dedication.

Feeds however many you need it to.

 

I hope you enjoyed this week’s episode of A Perry Good 'Meal' Time! Tune in next week for a visit from the parental unit. What on earth will the Perry-Lewis Family get up to?

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