My summer spent in Los Angeles, California was full of memories, opportunities and learning experiences. Besides the obvious downsides of the city of dreams, heat, traffic and angry people, my experience with L.A. was a positive one. After adjusting to living on my own in a new city and having to ride a bus to get around, I was faced with the obvious challenge that happened to be my reason for being in L.A., my internship. I interned at a company called GenArt. After going bankrupt during the recession, GenArt had completely reconstructed the company and was eager to get back to its former glory. GenArt had been putting on some annual events since it’s inception in 1997 and was jumping at the opportunity to put on events for new companies and old companies with new products. GenArt is all about being on the verge of new talent. They want to be the first to let you know whose music you should be listening to or what independent film you should go see. Part of my many daily responsibilities was to research who was up and coming; the unknowns who had the potential to be the next big thing. We researched, we followed, we tweeted and we shared with the GenArt following and the digital world. These almost-famous individuals become valuable assets for GenArt events when we need to have a famous spokesperson or some positive PR.
Another responsibility of mine was to conceptualize event installments for companies and products. My boss would send me an email or a memo with a company or a product that had come to us looking for a launch party or corporate event. My job would be to research the company and it’s mission, values and reputation and to create unique ideas to pitch to the company. These ideas could range from food styles to an décor or a theme. These ideas would then be formally presented to the client, and the client would decide what they liked/didn’t like to be a part of their event. It was totally fun to have a creative outlet in those situations and it felt great to know that some or most of my ideas were on the road to becoming a reality.
The most rewarding part of my job was the fact that at the end of my two months in Los Angeles, I had a one on one with my boss where we sit down and discussed my overall progress and transformation with the company. My boss was very clear in telling me that I would go far in my chosen career as an event planner. That with my creativity, organization and leadership skills, that I would definitely be successful. It was so fantastic to have an actual event professional share this with me, because although I’ve always believed in myself, it was so great to have someone else share in the support that I could make it.
My overall experience with GenArt was completely educational and rewarding. I learned that I could do what I wanted to do, just maybe not in Los Angeles. I learned what it takes to make an event happen, from start to finish, and to incorporate creativity with realistic resources to make an event happen and make your clients happy. I’m so thankful for the opportunity to intern with GenArt in Los Angeles and I learned so much that I know I will carry on forward into my career.
Brittney