Threads VIP Reception 2022 IND 331: THE ART OF EVENT PLANNING DEVYN BROWN, EVENT MANAGER
EVENT RECAP
About The Threads VIP Reception is a cocktail party held prior to the Threads Fashion Show. VIP tickets are sold in advance to family, friends, faculty, and others who would like to attend. There is commonly food, music, and entertainment at this event. It follows the theme of the fashion show, which is selected by the Threads producers in advance. 2022 Theme: "The Elements" - Earth, Air, Water, Fire “It is an interdisciplinary event,” Jeffrey Fisher (faculty member in nutrition and dietetics) said. “We have students from across the university, in fashion merchandising, interior design, nutrition and dietetics, event management, broadcasting and cinematic arts. They all get to work together to make this event a reality.” https://www.threadsfashionshowcmu.com/ https://www.cmich.edu/news/details/fashion-through-the-elements ELEMENT MOOD BOARDS, THREADS
This Year's Producers
Kate Castillenti PR, Graphics, Submissions Committees
Lakiya Ealy Venue and Fundraising Committees
Rachel Zauel Model and Finance Committees
IND 331: The Team
Devyn Brown
Maezie Ervin
Grace Futrell
Kayla Kohn
Krissy Lovely
Sami Lynes
Shannon Sabo
Megan Withers
Site The VIP Reception was hosted in the EHS building, in front of Einstein Bros. The space is irregularly shaped (see Interior Design), so decisions had to be made about table and feature placement in order to maximize the amount of usable and walking space. The EHS Atrium was not intended to host events, like a conference room or hall, so it is not standard. However, as mentioned above, we spent a long time discussing and planning the layout of the space to make sure the event was a success, no matter what the venue shape was.
EHS ATRIUM
Interior Design FLOOR PLAN - DEVYN BROWN Because IND 331 is an interior design class, part of our responsibilities included creating a floor plan for the event. I performed a site measure and took inventory of the existing furniture. Then, I created a dimensioned floor plan of the space. Multiple different layouts were created and considered; the final one is shown here. Adjustments were made upon arrival to the site. As furniture was moved around and displays were brought in, we were able to re-evaluate and re-arrange some items to create a greater sense of balance.
Mood Boards MATERIALS, FF&E
With the color palettes provided to our class by Threads, we created mood boards that contained FF&E that corresponded to each element. Earth used green and brown, air used pastel pink, blue, and purple, water used multiple shades of blue, and fire used red, orange, and yellow.
Inspiration
Table Table Linens Linens
Red Rocks
Sheer Sheer Runner Runner
Glass Glass Bowl Bowl
False False Flame Flame Light Light
Black Rocks
FIRE FIRE Color Palette
Event Timeline Friday 4/1 Pipe & Drape - Krissy and Grace Order Cupcakes Get everything we are renting from UE Shannon and Kayla Monday 3/28 Noon: Picking up items from Carrie’s office Follow up 360 Camera Devyn and ____ Follow up on ice sculpture Picking up cotton candy arch - Devyn Print signage Not us - going through Threads Set up mannequins - Sami Get fabric Setup for cupcakes/succulents - Maezie Follow up on arch for cotton candy Make cotton candy - Megan Friday 3/25
Tuesday 3/29 Make sure musicians are secured Start on fabric for the mannequins Start creating centerpieces
Saturday 4/2 SHOW DAY!! Receive Ice Sculpture Continue on centerpieces - Grace and Kayla Put linens & runners on the tables - everyone Put centerpieces on tables - everyone :)
Receive 360 camera Set up cotton candy section - Krissy and Megan Set up goodie bag table with note “Take one” Sami and Devyn Hang posters - Devyn Prepare fire section for musicians - Sami Set up earth section (adding cupcakes and succulents to display?) - Shannon and Maezie 6pm: Event begins 6:15pm: First announcement (Hunter Burns) 6:40pm: Second announcement (Devyn Brown) 7:10pm: Third announcement (Dean Lancaster) 7:25pm: Final announcement (Hunter Burns)
Order Sheet The order sheet was sent to Rachel Zauel, who oversaw the financial committee of both the fashion show and the VIP reception. The items were shipped to my apartment, so our class got the first look at everything! It was so much fun opening up the boxes and assembling the centerpieces.
Signage CREATED BY: SAMI LYNES
These signs were placed outside of the venue, in the hallway of the EHS building, to guide people toward the event entrance and registration table.
Signage CREATED BY: SAMI LYNES
These signs were placed next to each area inside the venue, in order to further emphasize what element the area was representing.
Signage CREATED BY: DEVYN BROWN One of the main goals of this event was to have it certified zero-waste by CMU's Facilities Management. In order to do that, proper waste disposal had to be enforced. I created this poster in order to help educate the event's attendees on the importance of proper waste disposal, as well as to guide them in the right direction to learn more about sustainability at CMU. Although the poster was never printed, the very first speech of the evening mentioned the zerowaste mission and where to learn more.
Linens and Runners The tables that we used for dining were ones already in the EHS building. The taller ones (colored green on the floor plan) were 42" high, 36" round. The shorter ones (colored pink on the floor plan) were 30" high, 36" round. Our class liked the classy, upscale look of black linens. We chose to have the linens fall to the floor, without puddling. This would not only reduce the likelihood of someone tripping over the bottom, but it also made less work for us during set-up, since the linens fit over the tables perfectly. The runners we chose were sheer, pastel colors that correlate with each of the elements. The sheerness allowed for an interesting look when the fabric was doubled over itself (see next slide, Centerpieces).
SHEER RUNNERS EARTH, AIR, WATER, FIRE BLACK LINENS FULL DROP
Centerpieces DRAWN BY: SAMI LYNES PHOTOS BY: GRACE FUTRELL Much like the floor plan, multiple different ideas for the centerpieces came together to create the final look: a representation of each element inside an 8-inch clear glass bowl. The finished look may have been different for each element, but by using the same bowl, linens, and runners, the overall look was tasteful and cohesive throughout.
EARTH
AIR
WATER
FIRE
Centerpieces
CENTERPIECE SET-UP
Cotton Candy and Display COTTON CANDY MADE BY: MEGAN WITHERS For the air element, one of our main features was a cotton candy display. We chose cotton candy because it's light and fluffy, like clouds, and it also happened to match the color scheme of that area (pink, blue, and purple pastels). We rented the lattice display from the Mt. Pleasant Rental Center and used clothespins to hang all of the cotton candy bags. It was a super cool, interactive way to draw attention to that area.
ARCH LATTICE DISPLAY MT. PLEASANT RENTAL CENTER
COTTON CANDY DETAIL
360 Camera Another feature of the air element was the 360 camera. It captures a video while spinning around a platform, creating a unique, interactive experience that the event's attendees can enjoy. The videos were sent to each attendee following the video capture. Upon setup, we discovered that the camera required a space larger than 12'x12', which is what we were initially told would be large enough. We worked quickly with UE and solved the problem by getting wider pipe and drape.
360 CAMERA (EXAMPLE)
Ice Sculpture The Threads Fashion logo for 2022 involved each of the elements (Earth, Air, Water, and Fire), circling around a large "T F" with a needle through the middle. When we were thinking of different features for the water element, one idea we had was to do an ice sculpture with the bar. We contacted an ice sculptor from Lansing who would carve the ice and bring it to the event for us. We were all very surprised at the quality of the ice sculpture itself, as well as the service provided by Scott Miller and his crew. https://millericesculptures.com/ ICE SCULPTURE
Musicians The attraction for the fire section was live music. Bassoonists from the CMU Music Program were hired for the event, and they provided music entertainment for the attendees. The reason that the bassoon was chosen is because of the warm, whole sound it has, which fit the fire element well.
MUSICIANS
Flower Bouquet Our class's instructor, Sue Bowlby, is retiring after the Fall 2023 semester, which means this was her last time planning Threads VIP Reception. In honor of that, our class got together and purchased a flower bouquet, which was given to her at the end of my speech at the event.
Post-Event Evaluation For the number of guests we had at the event, I would say the space was
I would do almost everything the same. Our timeline was great,
sufficient, size-wise. However, I think some areas (especially the water
communication was efficient, and it felt like everyone’s voices were being
tables at the front), weren’t really being used, which caused a little bit of
heard about the design. The only thing I might suggest for a future event is
congestion within the main space. If it had been more evenly distributed,
for me, as event manager, to create a job schedule for the event itself, and
there would’ve been less traffic and a little less commotion.
allow for people to sign up for specific times for different roles if they wanted to switch out.
Problem: The 360 camera and the background – during setup, we were having a hard
Advise for future students:
time figuring out how to make the tulle look nice. The colors were much
Improvise – be able to make executive decisions on your own that you know
brighter than originally expected.
would make sense for the rest of the group. You don’t have to ask permission to make changes, especially if they’re relatively minor.
Our first solution was to hang it from the top in strips, one color per side. After the camera was put into the space, we realized that the pipe and
The event was as success. We came together as a team and made sure
drape provided were too short to allow the camera to swing around
everything got done on time. There were even a few people in the class who
properly. UE quickly got us a larger size, which ended up working much
went above and beyond, coming early for setup and leaving late, taking on
better.
extra responsibilities that were not expected of them.
Post-Event Evaluation The feeling of the event was high-end, classy, and creative. Upon the initial interview with the producers, we established their goal of having an event that felt elegant and chic. Every decision that we made throughout the planning process reflected that goal, and it showed in the event itself. The black linens with runners, the glass centerpieces, and the uplights from UE helped create that elegant and chic feeling. In addition to that, the way everyone was dressed for the event, guests included, added to that. We didn't establish a dress-code in advance, but the guests showed up in their absolute best! (See gallery below).
ELEMENT MOOD BOARDS, THREADS
Threads VIP Reception 2022
Threads VIP Reception 2022
IND 331: Spring 2022
Thank-You from Threads
Closing "Hello Team, First, I would like to congratulate you for an amazing event. The creativity and execution were incredible, and you should be proud of all you have accomplished. I believe that our guests had a fabulous experience and were equally impressed. Second, I would like to congratulate you on putting on a zero-waste event. We had 60 lbs of recycle/compost and 0 lbs of waste. Thank you for taking the extra steps to approach a more sustainable way to put on an event. This will be a great addition to your resume. I appreciate you and Threads Fashion show has so much gratitude for your efforts." - Ian Mull,. Threads faculty advisor