IPP Ups & Downs

Friday morning I had a breakfast meeting with a woman from one of the hotels I’ve been in contact with for my Red Dress Gala. She wanted to meet in person to further discuss what I had envisioned for my event, and to fill me in on what they could offer me as a potential sponsor. P.S. I had fresh squeezed orange juice and Eggs Royale, which is basically eggs Benedict with salmon….it was the most delicious breakfast I’ve ever tasted! 

I started off the meal by telling her my idea for a red dress themed fashion show and sit down dinner, but I didn’t deliver my idea with too much enthusiasm. She asked me why I seemed unsure of myself and my idea and I explained to her how the IPP process works. She politely asked me to explain my ideal event details again and I did. After I finished she put down her fork, folded her hands on top of the table, leaned in and said “this seems like it’s important to you, and so I’m going to do everything I can to help you out. We can make this work, I promise!” 

Now I know I’m not supposed rely too much on the help of others, but this woman seems very convincing. She added to the many ideas I already had, and told me how she and the sales and marketing team of her hotel can play a role in all of these ideas. She even made a few phone calls during our meeting to give me as many immediate details and information to put me more at ease.

I told her that in order to stick with the original IPP I had proposed earlier in the week, I would need that mighty powerful  letter stating what their establishment was willing to contribute to this event. As I’m sure I’ve said in an earlier post, it’s hard to say what they can do exactly, because it depends on what angle I decide to approach my event from.  Sit down dinner? Fashion show? Appetizers? Cash bar? Decorations? All of the above? None of the above? We have bounced around many ideas, but I’m learning it’s not a good idea to release too much information too early. 

We met for about an hour and a half and by the end of breakfast, I was feeling really good about everything. She could tell my mood had greatly improved and once again, reassured me that she was available when I needed help or had questions or concerns. She gave me a hug which was really cute, and told me things will work out. 

Less than an hour after I had left, I already had emails from her with potential dates, quotes for different event scenarios, and even other possible venues owned by their hotel that might work even better for what I wanted to do. But she still had to get more information from other people in her marketing team, to send my way. 

Early this afternoon I took a cab to one of the venues we both thought might be best, and it was absolutely beautiful. It was being set up for an Italian dinner happening this evening, which was great for me to see. The woman there took me for a walk through of the establishment and described all of the possible set-up we could work with. We then discussed different menu options and prices, and she listed a few prices and fees that are already in the works of being waved. But she did say that an actual list will be emailed to me by the end of the week of exact prices, and how their sponsorship will play a role. 

When I got back to school I met with an instructor to confirm that I understood what was expected of me in regards to submitting a new IPP proposal and or a letter from a sponsor. Now, from what I understand, even if I get all the things in the world donated, it is suggested that I still propose a scaled down version of my original event idea. 

I understand why this is suggested. It’s okay for me to propose a small event and make it bigger if I find that certain things happen down the road to make that possible, but if I propose a big event and I find that it doesn’t seem to be within my capabilities, I would fail IPP “class” if I make my event smaller or different.  

Re-submission of our proposals are due tomorrow at noon, and I need to be careful with what I choose to hand in, assuming I choose to hand anything in at all. I’ve been talking to a lot of people in the last few days that have to re-propose an idea, and it’s sad to say that a handful of students I’ve talked to are proposing projects they are less passionate about than their original, but at this point they just want to pitch something that will be accepted so they can avoid facing a third round of panels. This doesn’t mean they won’t do well with their project, or be happy with the final project, or have a project that will turn out better than the original idea would have, but it always sucks to start off something with a bit of a disconnect. 

Tomorrow is fast approaching…what to do?