Blog #3 Megan Linn

My three biggest takeaways from this class are that there are a lot more to events than I realized, Associations are great ways to network, and contracts should always be strongly negotiated.

Before taking this class, I never realized how much planning, time, and different aspects went into events. There is so much behind the scenes work that no one realizes. Every single detail has to be not only thought out, but then also carried out and properly executed at the time of the event. How stressful. It was also crazy how far in advance you have to begin planning. I really realized this when we made our graphs with the online technology for an assignment.

I was also completely oblivious to the existence of associations that can be joined to help network. There are so many associations for every professional field. It was great having the guest lecturers come in and explain the different associations and how much they have helped them.

I also learned a bit from our in class exercise where we practice negotiating the contract. I learned which aspects of it are most common to negotiate such as room rated and attrition fees. It is very important to get the best deal you can out of your venue.