This Winter Quarter I was able to plan an event that put a spotlight on the agricultural system in California. When planning this event, Farmworkers and Food Production in California, I was able to learn about how much communication and brainstorming goes into one event. I started out with goals I had for my event, which was to provide an educational, respectful, and representative outlook to the topic at hand. With these ideas in my head, I had to practice my communications skills, and make my goals clear to other organizations and speakers.
When it came to being at the actual event, I learned how easy it is to get off track, but it can be just as easy to get back on track. At the very beginning of the event, the laptop we were presenting went to sleep. I did not have the password I needed to turn it back on, and I could not find the tech crew to help me locate that password. After running all over Colleges Nine and Ten, and a quick call to a friend, I found out the password was on the laptop the entire time.
I had learned when planning an event how important it is to show up with preset questions like, “If something goes wrong where can I find you?” or “is there a number where I can reach you?” It was really disheartening to watch something that I cared about and had work so hard for get off-track so easily. By the time I had gone back, the panel had already started and a student volunteered their own laptop for the event.
When I finally got to sit down for my event, I was amazed by how much I got to learn about the topic I had been planning around. I had worked so hard on providing an educational event I forgot I could gain something from it as well. I was able to create an event about topics I wanted to see more of, and still learn from it as well.
