Event Coordination
I’ve worked with several different types of businesses to help with events, from smaller events like tradeshow booths, to full on conference experiences and everything in-between.
Annual Conferences for Nationally Recognized Brands, TemperaturePro and PlumbingPro
Beginning in early 2025, I took over the production and planning of our annual meeting for our franchisees in the TemperaturePro and PlumbingPro brands. Many team members assisted, and we couldn’t have done it without the support of the other team members. I was the lead coordinator for the event in both 2025 and 2026. We have already begun our planning for 2027.
These responsibilities included, but were not limited to; planning and executing the hotel stays, room blocks, and meeting rooms; selecting and coordinating meals; gathering sponsorships (if you require numbers, I will provide); coordinating presenters and sessions; ensuring smooth transition and following of agenda; tracking attendees; providing swag and giveaways; coordinating after-hours events for attendees; promotion of event over several months; providing travel directions and communication to all participants; any and all graphics and print materials designed and produced; and much more.
In 2025, some of the notable pieces of our event was the coordination of an event Gala and Awards Ceremony, personally presenting 3 topics to our franchisees, and collaboration with the entire leadership team to put on a strong front for our franchisees.
In 2026, some of the notable pieces include an Awards Ceremony Cocktail Hour, breakout session management for workshops between our franchisees, and personal presentations about Marketing.
Centerville Cast Iron Cookoff, A Community Festival
Now this is an interesting story.
My Mother and Father both worked at Centerville High School, in a little small town called Centerville, Louisiana (makes sense, right?)
Mom taught the middle schoolers how to do math, assisted in many extra curricular activities, and helped Dad in his “wing” of the school - the AG Department. Dad was the Agriculture teacher for high school, and always had something going on. When he wasn’t processing meat and teaching kids safety protocols for all the local hunter’s game, he was developing his own seasonings, teaching about all the different facets of agriculture, cooking for the football games with Mom and my brother (the best burgers, and I stand on that) or…the list goes on, really.
Mom and Dad were always looking for ways to improve the school - they kicked back off the football team after a hiatus, introduced a swimming team, and developed one of my favorites, the Centerville Cast Iron Cookoff. We started back in 2018, and the rules were simple - a $25 entry fee that goes toward the school, bring your own setup, and everything must be cooked in cast iron. EVERYTHING.
We spread the word. We made funny promo videos and posted all over Facebook. We called everyone we knew. Before we could even realize how big this event was actually getting, we had over 10 teams ready to compete. Now, you have to understand the local culture of Centerville. It’s a town that’s smaller that LSU’s campus. Everyone knows EVERYONE. So the competition was fierce, the trash talking EPIC. Local vendors came and set up booths, with a portion of the proceeds going to raising money for the school. We had games for the kiddos, and yours truly was the social media and photo guru. My little brother even competed one year! We had local news join us and out of town judges, to eliminate judge bias on account of how close everyone was in the town.
We had senior girls write essays about benefiting their local communities, and the winner of the essay contest was crowned the Cast Iron Cookoff Queen, complete with a huge crown, sash, and presentation of the awards, which were cast iron skillets painted on by local artists. EVERYONE fought for those awards. When the Fire Dept. won, they hung theirs up in the office. When Centerville Market won, they hung it up right by the front door of the store. These were a hot commodity!
As the years progressed, we had many different vendors join us, live bands, new locations, and one year we even had an inflatable colon (it was cooler than you think). To this day, it’s one of the biggest and best things i’m proud of, because my entire family helped to create this in our small town, to make it better for the entire community.
Centerville Wildflower Walk
So 2020 was a weird year for everyone, right?
In 2019, when my family was also helping with the CICO (Cast Iron Cookoff), dad noticed something. The park, across from the school and football field, was kind of…lackluster. There was a walking path, and a small play set for the kiddos. The idea sprang from having a better running area for the 5K during the cookoff. He thought, why not make this a little prettier to look at? So, we got to work.
The idea was simple - let’s raise money for the community park and make it a wildflower walk, that way there is always something blooming when people want to walk. We figured the best way to raise the money was to give the option of people donating trees that would also line the walkway, and they could donate them in memory of a loved one. Our whole family agreed - time to reach out to the community!
Mom spearheaded the comms and email management of the donations. Dad talked to the community. David (my little brother) and I worked on the Facebook page. And within days, we had raised enough money to get trees, flowers, and EVEN a pavilion!!! We were shocked at the response.
We had a set amount of different tree types (it helped that dad is a certified horticulturist) that people could choose from, got the plaques that were in memory of the loved ones for the donors, and organized an entire volunteer plant day, where you had the option to plant the tree you donated! Many of the community came out in support, took photos, and practiced social distancing while doing so as this was the height of Covid. We made sure everyone had masks, and offered a special moment during one of the most uncertain times, for people to get out of their home and experience community when needed most.
Now, many people use it to walk every day, parties are hosted here, and people set up tailgates to watch the football and baseball games even now. I personally donated one in memory of my friend who sadly passed away from cancer, and his tree gets to greet people as they enter the park. I am beyond honored to have created such an awesome retreat with my brother and dad leading the way with tractors and augers, mom and I choosing flowers, and our family being able to give back to the entire community.
TEDxLSU
I began volunteering with TEDxLSU when I was in college. A couple of classmates thought it would be a great opportunity to meet up with other students and learn about putting on events during our studies.
I worked on the graphics team, which included promotional materials (both print and digital) of our team members giving talks, as well as social highlights of the talks and behind the scenes content during the actual event itself.
I must admit, I fan-girled a little bit at some of the presentations. I met incredible people who knew way more than I did about so many different kinds of topics. Our mentors were incredible. The team was badass (forgive my language, but it’s true). I learned so much throughout my volunteer years working this event, that it lead to a permanent internship at LSU CxC, Communications Across the Curriculum. This only enhanced my desire to put on cool events full of learning and participation.