On the Road to Event Planning

Beautiful Camden Yards, where I planned many an event. Photo credit: Stephanie Verni

This week, my colleagues Leeanne Bell McManus, Chip Rouse, and I received page proofs of our textbook entitled “Event Planning: Communicating Theory and Practice” which is being published by Kendall Hunt. The year plus of work on this book has been interesting for me, to say the least. As someone who was trained in academia later in life, having worked in the field of public relations, community relations, and publications first, writing a textbook required a whole different set of skills than does writing fiction. And yet both endeavors are rewarding.

I wanted to take a moment to thank Leeanne and Chip for working with me on this project. I had not written a textbook before, and so there was definitely a learning curve for me, particularly with regard to research. Nonetheless, I persevered, and I can’t think of a better pair to work with, particularly with regard to event planning.

Those of you who know me (or have ever attended any parties I’ve thrown) probably know this was something that was a no-brainer. How could I pass up the opportunity to write about something I love doing? I’ve been called “The Cruise Director” for years by my good friends who know I am an organizer and social coordinator. During my time at the Orioles, I was blessed to have worked on several event committees that planned events for both Memorial Stadium and Camden Yards. Leeanne brings a tremendous amount of scholarly expertise to the table, as she has already published two textbooks and helped plan the Eastern Communication Association conference in Baltimore in 2010 (and she is about to do it again in 2016); Chip has been the department chair at Stevenson for years and also works a secondary job at a local country club during the summers planning events. The three of us brought different aspects of event planning to the table, and I’m excited about this textbook and what it potentially offers students.

Likewise, I would like to thank personally my dear friends from the community who work for a variety of organizations and handle aspects of event planning. These folks were willing to help out and write case studies for each of the chapters. Stacey Haines, Julie Wagner, Kristen Schultz, Roz Healy, and Charles Steinberg—thank you for allowing us to hear and to learn from your own experiences with event planning. Additionally, a big thank you goes to Kendall Hunt for publishing our book.

And so now we wait for the finished product to emerge. I can’t wait.

Just wrapped up two years of coordinating social events at our pool. Jen and I had a good time together as co-chairs, along with Kelly (not pictured). Pictured here are a group of our co-horts, relaxed and chilling.