And So It Begins

Things are starting to majorly pick up as we get into the one month till the big events mark!  This week the NCAA came into town and it has been a busy few days as much planning has been going on.  It really is very surprising how many different aspects go into an event this massive in size.  This week individuals from Indianapolis, where the NCAA headquarters are located, individuals from a marketing firm in Texas, and consultants from all over the country came in to meet with the many people working here in New Orleans on the event.  These large meetings have been happening once a month since August, but this was my first one to be in town for.  It was such a whirlwind, so many different professions and specialties are going into putting on the Final Four.  Being here and getting to be apart of this experience has taught me so much about how wide a world it is in reference to a career.  I fully believe that being educated in communications opens so many doors and possibilities going into a wide range of jobs.  The ability to organize and relay information to people about the procedures going into an event is an important skill in every profession that I have encountered thus far.  Things are gearing up and getting busy as the community and local events are soon to start here in the city of New Orleans!

Community Involvement

Well the organizing of the community events is in full swing.  Last week, I worked significantly on putting together a presentation from both the Public Relations company and Marketing company to include all information about the sporting events for the Final Four, as well as the public community events.  The presentation was put on by the directors of the Local Organizing Committee, the New Orleans Sports Foundation, and the Sugar Bowl for the local New Orleans news and media organizations.  There are over a dozen large community events that are in the process of be planned and organized to happen the week of the Final Four.  Seeing as how the actual games are taking place in the Superdome, which is in downtown New Orleans, working with the surrounding companies, businesses and restaurants is extremely important because for well over a week the downtown area will be covered with fans of the events!  I have been working mainly on 'Bracket Town' and 'The Big Dance'.  Bracket Town is the fan fest and The Big Dance is a major concert festival that is free to the public and fans that is taking place in a park in the French Quarter of New Orleans.  I am learning so much about how much work, organizing, communication between companies and branches of the planning process go into making such a massive event happen! 

Week One

Hello all!  Today is concluding my first week working for the 2012 Final Four.  I am on the New Orleans Local Organizing Committee which is housed in the Superdome in downtown New Orleans.  What a change from going to classes on Mizzou's campus.  The committee has put me in direct contact with the Public Relations Firm that is in charge of all non-sport related community events that will take place during Final Four weekend.  During my first week, I have been thrown right into the organizing and meetings regarding the Final Four.  It has been such a great experience already, and I have been able to see communications play a major role in all that goes on.  Yesterday, for example the Director of the Committee was over-booked on meetings and was supposed to have a conference call with the Marketing Firm who is located out of Houston, Texas.  Since he was out of the office, I had to sit in on the conference call and be in charge of relaying the information back to him afterwards.  I realized how difficult it can be to understand how someone is seeing or planning something creatively when the physicality of being with them is taken away, much of the planning and processing of an event of the magnitude takes place through the mediums of technology because people are based in different places.  All of that to say, I am extremely excited about what this experience is teaching me and all that I am going to get to do in the upcoming months!