Written on July 23, 2009

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Jina Song

How do you keep the event running despite an unexpected snowstorm?

I spent last fall semester interning with the National Baseball Hall of Fame & Museum in Cooperstown, New York. It was an experience unlike any other. I aided the public relations department in covering the PR phone line, writing articles for various mediums and fulfilling 200 donation requests every month. My supervisor also gave me the opportunity to plan a community event for the village of Cooperstown. The aim of the project was to create an event that benefited both the Hall of Fame and the community.

After much research and creative thinking, I came up with a Senior Citizens Day. The Hall of Fame would offer free admission, free health screenings from the local hospital and light breakfast refreshments. I wrote up an event outline with a detailed timeline and budget. A month later, my event was finally approved by the senior staff and I was ready to bring my project to a reality. Using my past event planning experiences, I made sure to cover all bases with facilities, security, visitor services, and catering. The local Bassett Hospital was thrilled to be able to offer free health screenings. I reached out and sent an invitation to the local and regional senior citizens homes. I was excited and looking forward to November 25th.

The night before Senior Citizens Day, Cooperstown had over 10 inches of snow and it was still snowing the day of the event. I knew I needed to think of a back-up plan without panicking. Facilities had already set up the area, catering had dropped off breakfast refreshments and set up a beautiful spread, and Bassett Hospital volunteers were set to go with their services. The chances of senior citizens making the trip to visit the Hall of Fame were unlikely since the snow was piling up and the roads were dangerously slippery.

I immediately went to find my supervisor and discussed the situation with him. Instead of letting these services go to waste, I thought why not open these free health screenings to the hardworking employees of the Hall of Fame? We went to speak to the Director of Human Resources and we received the permission to move forward with our idea. My supervisor and I wrote up a note and sent out a mass email to the entire Hall of Fame staff inviting them to the health screenings.

Senior Citizens Day ended up becoming an Employee Health Screening Day. Everyone loved the health screenings and the refreshments. The employees were extremely appreciative of these services and I received only positive feedback.

Through this event planning project, I understood and learned the importance of considering all factors, even if it is an external factor such as snowy weather conditions. It is extremely important to always have a back-up plan for any sort of event or project in case an issue may arise. This experience was especially valuable for me since it taught me the skills of being flexible and proactive within any given situation.