>> Hi, my name is Tamika Tanksley [phonetic] and I'm a special events coordinator
for state Senator Vincent [inaudible].
Well it entails a little bit of everything.
It's event planning, it's community relations, and also some public relations
so I do everything from planning events for the constituents
of this seventh [inaudible] district.
I write some correspondence for the Senator.
I'm often times a liaison for him between the community and the office
and so it's a little bit of everything.
One is really to brainstorm.
You kind of gotta talk with the Senator, he usually has an idea or leaders
in the community have ideas that they bring to the office and they really want do to this event
so as far as kind of getting an understanding of what kind of event do you really want
to plan, what audience are you targeting?
Who are you going to reach out to to participate in the event?
What vendors do you have to come and for your resource there to get information out to people.
Then you've gotta figure out a location.
What's the best location for people to get there?
Then you also have to figure out what do I need when I get to the location?
Does this location have everything or is it just a shell.
Then it's your press release.
How do you get the word out so it's a media plan and then it's, you know, praying people come
out you know because you could do a great job and plan and plan and have a great event
but it's really about getting the people there to enjoy which can be challenging sometimes.
You know sometimes they come and sometimes they just don't and so you have to learn
that you just do your best and that's all that really matters.
Traditionally, you know, it's 9 to 5 but often times it goes well after that.
As you said events can go late.
Sometimes they're late, sometimes they're on a weekend and then sometimes just for paying
for the event, the days leading up to-- , you're kind of really grinding, dotting your Is,
crossing your Ts, calling everyone and just going over--
, just the kind of fine print so to speak so we can go all day and well into the night.
I've had some mornings where I was in the office up until like 2
in the morning just making sure that everything was together.