phyncke

So here I am and I am going to blurb and do a quickie post here.

-I am obsessively catching up on The Walking Dead. I have watched most of it now. Who knew? This is brilliant TV in the form of zombie stuff. I tell you. I love this show. Excellent pacing, characters and ick factor all combine to make this my new favorite show on TV. It is an AMC original show and wow. I think Daryl is my favorite character but I love them all. No spoilers here. I am finishing up the last season now. Any Walking Deadheads on my list? Let's chat about this. Comments welcome.

-I saw Man of Steel on Sunday. Oh the dream that is Henry Cavill. I really feel that he embodied the ideal of Superman. Here is my FB post in a short review thing. Man of Steel review - While the film did feel long at times, Henry Cavill made up for it with a great performance as Superman. Lois Lane's role somewhat confused in this and some omissions to the canon in the storyline. All in all a positive but there were some things that could have been edited out here and some things they could have included. Ultimately, I did like it. ( Cut for spoilers )

-Had a great Monday today and I hate Mondays. We met with a caterer today for a "let's see if we can do business" meeting and they brought us in a full on lunch sample of their food. Beautiful presentation and delish. The cutest thing were the desserts - tartlets and cheese cake lolipops - basically mini cheese cakes on a stick covered in chocolate - OMG so good. Good way to sell the food by giving us a taste. I might just see if I can work them in. They are a little bit spendy. Have to see.

-My friend's kid N*** graduated from HS last Friday. I went to the ceremony. Had moments of joy and disbelief. I mean - I was there when he was born and now he is off to college next year. Where did the time go.

This post is longer than I planned. I am here and around. Hope all is well with you on your end. I have more Walking Dead on the queue. Got to go!

Tonight I went to an event planners dinner on Commodore Cruise Ships. They have these sessions so that we can sample the goods and see what they have to offer for events, meetings and gatherings. Lordy, we had the following for the buffet:

-prime rib
-london broil
-champagne chicken
-seasonal veggies
-potatoes
-rice
-caesar salad
-fresh rolls
-butter - perfect and spreadable
-two kinds of dessert - cheese cake and chocolate mousse cake
-coffee and all sorts of beverages

-glass of champagne as you entered and met the owner.

It was fun but I ate too much. I am eating broth tomorrow to make up for being little miss piggy. I am trying to think about how I can have events on the boats. So fun. I have been on their cruises for 4th of July and they are really fun and the service is excellent.

I think I will go pass out now. Cheers! Perks of the profession! Or occupational hazard.

Happy birthday, Jaiden_s! Go you!



by yueshi at thehappyfactory

Today is the big student event. Of course it is raining but I will be kind of glad when this event is in the bag and over. I have to figure out what to wear and put together an outfit this morning. We have over 300 students and donors attending and woopety. Hope it goes well. Chancellor speaking tonight and all that jazz. Big deal.

A late night of work but will see how it goes. Wish me luck!

Cheers!

PS - layout changed to my favorite one. I like to recycle. Click in to see.

Here is a photo essay of my Seattle trip. I had a really good time and very successful trip to the Pacific Northwest. My event went off well and we had 100 percent show rate to it, well better actually with late RSVPs. That is really good for events like this. People had a good time and the food was super. Yays! Win-win-win. Stayed at the Hotel Andra downtown - a cute boutique chic place and they treated us well. I had a nice room and enjoyed that. VIP treatment. Awesome. I am a little tired from the trip still but it was all worth it.

I spent Thurs with khylea. We did a hike and had dinner. So I got some personal time in too. Woot.

Photos this way.

( Work images this way... )

Thanks for looking and hope you are having a good weekend! Cheers!


by fission at alchemey

Today as one of the perks of my profession, me and my co-event planners are getting a tour and complimentary luncheon at the historic Claremont Hotel in the Uplands of Berkeley. The hotel itself is a historic building and just lovely. I organized this site visit after a rep from the hotel came through our office to meet with me. This will be fun. As part of our "passport" we get free access to the spa services, a class and to use the pool and whirl pool at the hotel. We have all chosen to do that on our days off when we have time to hang out there. Huzzah. Today is all business.

Here is a link to the place for your information:

http://www.claremontresort.com/

Awesome!


by crusading_soul

So today we had our annual holiday party at work. It is one of my events and it went really well. All smooth and from my perspective as a party/event planner my criteria were met for a successful event. The food was served hot and I heard the ecstatic, gleeful reactions of the guests as they sampled...WIN. They liked it. No complaints about that. The service was stellar. No lag from one side of the room to the other and that means there was adequate staffing for the event. People did not have to wait while they watched other people eating...this is one of my pet peeves about food service at events (small or large)-feed everyone at the same time and move that along. The room looked beautiful and while I did have to make small adjustments to the program, that worked and flowed well and the staff still got out at 2:30pm. One of my goals was to ensure that they got home early, a real treat for the division.

We did staff service awards and I was shocked when they announced that I got ANOTHER one this time around. This time for my work on web development and as project coordinator and the concept person for the S*** Web Site. I was gobsmacked. It is really nice to get recognition. Lots of people got awards and the party was nice for that. We also did a staff talent show and then rounded up the program with an undergraduate acapella group that rocked the house. They made use of the stage that is shown below. The staff loves them and it is just a great way to end the party. So win all around and now I am home drinking a cup of coffee and I am soooo tired.

I have pics to share. I got some of the room before the party (not the whole thing) so you can see how it looked before they all got there. No photos of the people as it is not my place to blog pics of the people I work with...this venue is a beautiful older hotel near campus.

( The quiet before... )

What is not pictured here is the living room, bar area as people entered with another fireplace. That was the meet, greet and mingle area where people hung out before seating for lunch. Very nice and comfy cozy. This place is big but does not feel big and has an intimacy that is very nice. Homey.

Thanks for reading and it is fun to share a bit of what I do at my job. Cheers!


by moobabe986

So, in a strange turn of events, I decide to do a Saturday post. Buns will be posted tomorrow but I am in the mood for a little update.

Yesterday, at work, we had our Summer Pool Party and BBQ at *** Canyon and Rec Center, a Uni facility. It was all sorts of awesome. It was part potluck and part subsidized by our department. Our biz ofc person made the very helpful suggestion of having the food delivered by Safeway and that was a total bonus. The delivery truck brought it right up to the site and we did not have to schlepp the food all over town and worry about refrigerators and what not. It was GREAT. I was jumping for joy when the truck got there and the delivery dude thought I was a bit goofy. I was very happy. :P The party was very good. We borrowed this ginormous grill from the RSF and a few tables and that was all she wrote. Everything was set up and the staff arrived. I had some dicey moments when I thought the burgers were going to run out but it turned out I had 2 extra packages of those (8 extras) and the hot dogs all got eaten. I had extra veggie burgers too. It all worked out and I managed to give away all the extras and send the desserts and chips back to the staff who had to work. Yays!

We have big news brewing on the home front here. It looks like our landlord is selling our house. My neighbor B*** and I are trying to rally the other tenants and see if we can put together a tenants in common purchase of the property. If we all work this out together it is a very affordable way for us to get a prime piece of Berkeley real estate. I contacted the landlord and he is amenable. Just have to see if the others who live here would go for it. Then all the complications of making that deal begin. I am tired of all the insecurities of new landlords and the threat of losing my housing sooo...will see if this works. My piece of the pie is very affordable and my mortgage payments would be less than my current rent. bonus.

So that is all I have. I am off on Monday..START day and thinking of going into North Beach, SF. Tonight we might go see the Adam Sandler flick Funny People.

I am good and just thinking about all the possibilities of condo ownership. Would be great!

Cheers all and have a great weekend.


by izabeth

So today I had the first of my training sessions in my Event Planning Certificate Program at the Uni. Day one in a four day series that will give me a qual as an event planner on campus.

Well hoo de doo. We got all sorts of treats today and you know, event planners never get treated well. We get stomped on, yelled at and are generally stressed out individuals who never get to enjoy the events they put together. Honestly...do you think I eat the food at any event I put together? Hell no. I might analyze it and move a platter to the right position on the banquet but I would never EAT THE FOOD. I am too busy running around the room making sure everything is just right.

Well I got to sit there and enjoy the following:

-Unlimited coffee for the duration of the morning session. Vats and vats of it. All the cream and sugar I wanted and it was hot the whole time.
Yes, I got loads of coffee and no I did not spaz out. Well maybe a little. I did partcipate vigorously in the break out exercises and the Q&A part. Too much coffee? How much is too much really?
-Buffet breakfast left out the whole time: fruit, cereal, bagels, pastries.
Yummmmy. I had pastry, fruit and cereal. A few helpings of the fruit as it was PERFECT.
-Promotional gift items: Portfolio with Uni Logo.
Cha. I just bought this as a Dean's gift for someone and SOOOO wanted one of my own. Score.
-I won the RAFFLE.
I never win shit. I won this calculator thing which takes square feet and tells you how many tables and people will fit into a room. So what? I WON IT. :P
-Tour of the wonderful facilities.
The sales pitch. I had been there before so I knew it. I went for the walk.
-More free stuff. Teddy bear and coffee mug!
Score again.
-Lunch is served. Asian-Thai style food. Gorgeously done and SO much of it.
The winner was seared beef in delicate seasonings and coconut pound cake. Two or three noodle dishes and a rice tofu peanut noodle thing. SO GOOD. Leafy-cabbagy salad thing too. Unlimited refills on tea and lemonade. We made Arnold Palmers.

Now...we were living. We got to sit in a room and compare notes. Do simulations of how we would plan events and meet other staff from all over campus. A total win day. Anti-climax was going back to the office to sit like a zombie for the rest of the day.

But it was awesome. I have 3 more sessions at three different venues and I get a certificate of qualification out of this for resume building.

A WIN.

Post script on content: All this aside, I did find the content very applicable to my work and it was very well presented. It is about giving us resources and tools to better put together events. I think this will do that very well. So it was a win as far as content goes too.


by the lovely miss_anya