SPEAKER_03 0:43

Here I am today in Philly, Philadelphia, North Philly, with Christy Jones, who is a seasoned uh event planner, I feel like, right? How long have you been doing event planning?

SPEAKER_02 0:55

I started in college, so 25 years.

SPEAKER_03 1:00

25 years. So there's a lot to learn. Good. I'm gonna pick your brain. Yeah, pick it. Pick away. Um, anyway, so yeah, so why don't I get to know you first? Like what first drew you into planning events?

SPEAKER_02 1:13

Um, so when I was in college, um my department was a public relations and slash marketing. So we decided that we had to do fundraisers to raise money for charity, charitable events. Bully for kids was a big one. Raising money for kids with disabilities. And I found myself just like taking over. Okay. I just found myself like you liked it. I loved it, and I found myself like knowing what needs to be done.

SPEAKER_04 1:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:44

Um, public relations is obviously connecting with the public. And so in order to connect with the public, it takes events to do that. Events is all about connecting people with people, yeah. Yep, it doesn't matter if it's so there's always a purpose. It doesn't matter if it's raising money, which is what I do. It doesn't matter if it's an event, it doesn't matter if it's a wedding, it doesn't matter if it's like a corporate event, it's all about connecting people with other people.

SPEAKER_04 2:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 2:17

And always for a good cause.

SPEAKER_04 2:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 2:19

Have you found that over the years your approach has changed to planning the events?

SPEAKER_02 2:24

I have. I used to be I would be like early on, I would be just setting things up and planning things like details and things, and then it grew and grew into a bigger, a bigger picture. It was planning everything, not just pieces. So instead of planning one piece, now I'm planning all the pieces, which could be a hundred different pieces. But my brain works in a way like such that I have to kind of like you, like my brain is all over the place, but when everything comes together, it just works.

SPEAKER_03 3:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 3:00

Yep.

SPEAKER_03 3:01

Yeah. So it's probably like the um like with my brain, it's when it's thinking about all the things, and you want to just have them done almost, and they're already done, but you actually have to get it done still, right? And so you just have to be patient and not let that craziness take over, right?

SPEAKER_02 3:21

Yeah, patience is definitely a ver a virtue. Um, and I have to remember, I always have to tell myself everything is eventually gonna fall into place and stop trying to control everything so much.

SPEAKER_03 3:36

Yeah, you know, that is a good thing. That's it is a good thing. That's something I learned over the years. Yeah, you gotta calm down, otherwise, you're gonna be the angry person running the show, and you can't ever have bad energy as the leader. You cannot have bad energy as anybody, you shouldn't, but if you're the leader, you have to keep it together, right?

SPEAKER_02 3:52

Bad energy is contagious, yeah, but so is good energy.

unknown 3:57

Right.

SPEAKER_02 3:57

So I've learned that good energy is when you have good energy. When I I can only speak for myself, when I have good energy, it bleeds into everything that I I'm doing, and everything that needs to be accomplished is good energy, yeah. So bad energy, no, we don't know no time for that with Christy Jones.

SPEAKER_03 4:17

So just know that. Do not call her for any event planning if there's the bad energy coming with it.

SPEAKER_02 4:23

A lot of people they have negative energy. They do. You know this. Not everyone is like us, not everyone has great energy, not everyone has the positive, optimistic energy that we have, especially so in the events world, when I'm dealing with someone who is charged with planning an event for their their company or their even it could be a groom with the wedding. He doesn't want anything to do with it, and he brings bad energy.

SPEAKER_03 4:53

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 4:53

Or the the the human resources director who has nothing to do with events, but she's charged with he or she is charged with planning an event, and they want nothing to do with it. They're just like, here's the money, just get it done. This is my budget, just get it done. Okay, and that's where I come in, and I'm like, all positive energy, and I get it done.

SPEAKER_03 5:13

So all right, cool. And what's your favorite type of events? You said you raise money, is that like your favorite?

SPEAKER_02 5:19

Fundraising, fundraising, fundraising because it it supports a good cause and it makes it just has that whole feel good, but also corporate. So corporation, large, larger corporations like have done things for NYU, I've done things for Columbia University, I've done things for Fordham University, I've done things for the University of South Carolina or South Carolina and the University of Um South Florida.

SPEAKER_03 5:44

And it's a lot to remember, all those universities.

SPEAKER_02 5:48

It I mean you've done a lot. I have done a lot. Um, I mean, 20 plus years is a lot.

SPEAKER_04 5:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 5:55

But um especially with universities, like these students, they're in school, they're studying whatever it is they're studying, but someone's planning the graduations and someone's planning the galas and someone's planning the fundraisers, and that's where I come in.

SPEAKER_04 6:09

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 6:10

And they just they just on on their end, they just need to get it done. So I'm the one that I guess gets it done.

SPEAKER_03 6:18

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's awesome. Yeah. Wow, I didn't know you've done all that. And fundraising, I love that. Yeah. Yeah. So many ideas are storming through my brain right now.

SPEAKER_02 6:28

Yeah. I did an event once that was um for bone marrow transplants. So I met someone who received a bone marrow transplant that saved his life. And so it's called Match. Um, match.com is where someone who wants to become a um bone marrow donor can go on, get the kit that comes in the mail, swab their inside of their mouth. And then there's actually an event that brings people together with someone that needs a transplant with other people who are transplant um givers, donors, candidates, whatever. Yeah. Yeah. So that was cool. That was one of the big fundraising events that I did.

SPEAKER_03 7:13

Wow. Yeah. That is cool. I love that. So take us through like before a guest walks in the door. Let's say we could use that one as an example if you want. You know, like what does that day for you look like?

SPEAKER_02 7:28

When a guest is coming to walk in the door, they're expecting to be able to eat, they're expecting to be able to drink, they're expecting to be able to socialize. It doesn't matter if it's for a cause or not. So I guess I could walk you through like a major holiday party. Or yeah, I guess that one's good. So because holiday parties begin in October and they end in January, the end of January. And it's a person who is excited to celebrate their accomplishments throughout the entire previous year as like a year-end like explosion or a celebration or whatever they're feeling. And they're getting all dressed up. And it's my job to make sure so rewind a little bit. It's my job to make sure that they are getting the food that they want, they're getting the entertainment that they want, they're getting the experience that they want, and they're getting to socialize with their coworkers or their peers or whoever it is. And and just to be able to go, it's usually a three to four hour process for them for the guest.

SPEAKER_04 8:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 8:36

And they get to experience their heart is smiling inside. Their entire like insides are just happy, and they're leaving with a smile on their face, is what it is for me. From from the moment they walk in in the door, from the moment they're standing at the door to come in to the moment they leave and they're smiling and they go, they just go to home to bed happy.

SPEAKER_04 8:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 8:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 9:00

I love that. Yeah. Making happy people. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 9:04

It really is. And it's not even like they say when you're happy at work, you're never gonna work a day in your life. That's how it is for me. I've I don't feel like I'm working, I feel like I'm just making other people happy makes me happy.

SPEAKER_03 9:17

Yeah. Is there um is there anything like what's the biggest challenge of doing it? Is there any challenges?

SPEAKER_02 9:25

Yes, there is challenges, and that's depending on other people to get their own jobs done.

SPEAKER_03 9:30

Okay. Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_02 9:32

That's so I'm depending on the kitchen to get the food out on time.

SPEAKER_03 9:36

Right.

SPEAKER_02 9:36

So you'll see me the control, the controlling part of me, people hate when I come into the kitchen because they're like they feel pressure.

SPEAKER_03 9:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 9:47

And I don't mean to make people feel pressure, but I'm under pressure.

SPEAKER_03 9:49

But the job's gotta get done.

SPEAKER_02 9:51

I'm under pressure to make sure that everyone out there on the floor is getting their food on time and hot.

SPEAKER_04 9:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 9:57

Or cold, whatever. Could be salads, it could be, you know, a whole entire hot entree, and then it and then after they finish their meals, it's dessert. And it's so it's it's all about timing. And I have to depend on other people to keep on pace with my timing.

SPEAKER_03 10:14

Yeah, which has to be right.

SPEAKER_02 10:15

That's the biggest challenge. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 10:17

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 10:18

If you have one person whose timing is off, the entire event could implode.

SPEAKER_03 10:23

Right. Or it's behind. Yes. Yes. Or it's behind, or things have to get switched. Right. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 10:30

Right. And I've had to do it many times, and it's not, it's not fun.

SPEAKER_03 10:34

What is um what is what is something that in event planning that like maybe the people that come to the event, like let's say it's outside of a holiday party, like maybe it's some other kind of event, like that people don't realize goes on. Like they don't think about.

SPEAKER_02 10:50

They don't think about everything that's behind the scenes. All they know is they show up, they sit down, and they're expecting a great experience, which is what they should expect and what they should experience. But they don't realize how much work actually goes into them having such a good time. Yeah. But I don't want them to think about it. I don't want them to have to think about it. Yeah. They just don't realize it.

SPEAKER_04 11:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 11:14

Nor do what but nor do I want them to realize it. I don't like that's not their job. Their job is to show up, sit down, and have a great time.

SPEAKER_04 11:21

Yeah. That's true.

SPEAKER_02 11:23

But they don't know that there's someone one of the biggest things is they don't realize breaks. There's no breaks in my world.

SPEAKER_04 11:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 11:33

Like we could have gone 12 hours without eating anything. And we pick up a plate because it's something that's left over from what was being served, and we take one bite or two bites when we're sweating our asses off and just setting it down anywhere and getting back to what it is that we're doing.

SPEAKER_05 11:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 11:54

I call it eating on the fly, just to get the just to get this the the uneasy feeling out of your stomach. But there's been times that I've gone 12, 13, 14, 15, I've gone 24, 48 hours without eating.

SPEAKER_03 12:08

But it doesn't well, you should eat something in that amount of time. That's uh that's not good.

SPEAKER_02 12:12

I know, but like you said, what do people don't realize? They don't realize that we can't.

SPEAKER_03 12:17

You can't what?

SPEAKER_02 12:18

We can't stop and eat. Or the event stops. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 12:22

We gotta have at least a banana. I always have a banana on hand or something like that. Because I know what you mean, like getting busy. So I'll have something on hand in case that happens.

SPEAKER_02 12:32

I'll usually throw like a cookie in my pocket and go to the bathroom.

SPEAKER_03 12:37

Wow, life is really life in.

SPEAKER_02 12:40

But it doesn't bother me.

SPEAKER_03 12:41

Yeah, you enjoy it. I do enjoy it. You enjoy the rush.

SPEAKER_02 12:44

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 12:44

It is a rush. Events are events are a bunch of like, because like if you think about like outside of the events that you're talking about, like ticketed events, you know, it's like I feel like a whole nother thing for the event planner or the promoter because it's like making money back and this and that. And yeah, I feel like the events I have dealt with, I've done like more of that. And it's like the the process all the way up until knowing if you sold tickets, like that anxiety.

SPEAKER_02 13:11

I've not had to deal with tickets. Everything I've done is prepaid.

SPEAKER_03 13:16

That's nice.

SPEAKER_02 13:17

Yeah. I've not had a deal. Um no, I've not ever had to deal with ticket sales. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 13:24

Yeah, tickets are a whole nother. Well, because what I do is kind of more like promoting, you know, like Boo Boo's Babes is like a party that I have to sell tickets to pay the performers. Right. You know, yeah, no, I so it's like a whole other event.

SPEAKER_02 13:37

The only thing I've had to sell tickets for was fundraisers. So I did an event once for a museum, the National Liberty Museum, and um it was their annual gala, which raises money. The National Liberty Museum is a nonprofit, so they depend on this one single event to fund their entire year. So I had to sell a million dollars worth of tickets.

SPEAKER_04 14:01

Wow.

SPEAKER_02 14:02

But they're all from donors. So if you're let's say you're a corporation, you're let's say you're, I don't know, TD Bank. TD Bank is gonna buy a hundred tickets and send a hundred people from TD Bank to represent, but they have also spent a hundred thousand dollars in tickets because they're donating, it's a tax write-off for them, and they get to send people to have a good time and represent TD Bank.

SPEAKER_03 14:23

Yeah, yeah. Wow. That's a whole nother, yeah. Never even thought about ticket sales like that.

SPEAKER_02 14:29

Yeah, to keep the and it's all to keep the museum open.

SPEAKER_03 14:33

That's cool. I like that. I like that for music as our hero. Yeah, yeah. Um, yeah, I like that a lot. So, what if someone was uh wanting to get into event planning? Like where should they start?

SPEAKER_02 14:47

Um they should start by getting certified, maybe um, because there's so much that's there's so much involved that people like we just talked about that people don't realize. So becoming certified or getting an associate's degree, some sort of education in event planning is very, very helpful so that people understand all the pieces that are involved. It's not just as a guest you're showing up, it's not just that. You're not just showing up. There's like we just talked about, there's the menu planning, there's the decorating. When I show up to plan an event, the room is usually empty. And I have to put it's like all the moving parts coming together. You have to learn how to do that. And it's not it's not something that you can just do, it's learning like everything that you do. Like I couldn't show up and produce this, like what's happening right now. You need to learn how to do it. Yeah, and there's certification programs and there's degrees that are for that. Yeah, like public public relations is what my undergrad is in. Okay, and it's learning how to interact with decision makers, big time, like big time decision makers, CEOs, presidents, uh vice presidents, stuff like that. So public education, I guess, is where I would start with directing someone. Go to even just go to community college and stuff, has like certifications for event planning. Um, but me and you, we go to events all the time. There's so much that goes on behind the scenes that people don't realize.

SPEAKER_04 16:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 16:30

But learning how to do it so that when someone shows up and leaves with a smile on their face is one of the most rewarding experiences.

SPEAKER_04 16:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 16:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 16:38

Yeah. Agree. That's the best part. Um, so with different types of events, how far out should people or companies like plan events?

SPEAKER_02 16:50

Depending on the scale, a year. For what, like a corporate event? Yes. Yeah, because there's so many different layers.

SPEAKER_03 17:00

And you don't want to mess that up. It's corporate's good money.

SPEAKER_02 17:03

Yeah, exactly. I like corporate. Corporate's very good money.

SPEAKER_03 17:06

I want all corporate gigs.

SPEAKER_02 17:07

The reason that yeah, the reason corporate is so good is because they plan these events into their budgets a year out. It's going into their re their annual reports. They know that they need $50,000 for their holiday party, or they know that they need $100,000 for their 20th anniversary party. Those are all planned out at least a year in advance.

SPEAKER_04 17:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 17:38

So they have the money is set aside, it's there, and they hand it over to someone like me, and I do the rest.

SPEAKER_03 17:43

Yeah. What about other types of events? What about like fundraisers? Because it depends.

SPEAKER_02 17:49

Yeah, it does. It depends on a multiple, on multiple things. Um, weddings could be two years. You know, your wedding's in 2027. Seven. So far, how far out you just planned your you just chose your venue. Yeah. Now you have to do everything else. Right.

SPEAKER_03 18:07

And you have I know, but I love it. We have plenty of time. One year to do it. And we have you.

SPEAKER_02 18:11

You have me. Whatever. Right? You have me. Of course you have me, free of charge. But it will literally take you and me one year to plan your entire wedding.

SPEAKER_03 18:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 18:26

Because we can't just throw it together. No, you can't just throw it together or it'll be a disaster.

SPEAKER_03 18:33

And you know what? And you don't want to be stressed.

SPEAKER_02 18:36

No.

SPEAKER_03 18:36

You want to keep it fun.

SPEAKER_02 18:37

There's people that have their weddings planned out.

SPEAKER_03 18:41

Well, with events in general, like the earlier you plan, the less stress there is, and the whole point is to have a good time. Right. So it's like whatever you can make happen so there's no stress. But a year is definitely good.

SPEAKER_02 18:53

Exactly. And the two biggest components to an event are the food and the music.

SPEAKER_03 18:58

The food and the music, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 19:00

Or entertainment, whatever you want to call it. Yeah. Yes.

SPEAKER_03 19:03

So we go for the drinks and the food and the entertainment.

SPEAKER_02 19:07

Correct. So you get it. So like I've been to conferences and I've planned conferences that are two years out, and by the time everyone arrives, like they're anticipating amazing food. They're anticipating amazing entertainment and experience. Yeah. Yeah. Yep.

SPEAKER_03 19:27

What what's one of the biggest or or a mistake, whatever, that people make with budgets? Or do they?

SPEAKER_02 19:38

One of the biggest mistakes is they don't put enough in and they expect a grandiose event on a shoestring budget. You can't do that because then it shows to your guests it's embarrassing.

SPEAKER_04 19:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 19:50

It's embarrassing. I once worked when I was l working for Columbia and NYU, there was this woman who wanted to plan this. She was a wealthy person. She wanted to plan this um graduation party for her daughter who was graduating law school. And she kept on trying to skimp like cut costs wherever possible. And me and the person who I was working for at the time said, look, do you want to embarrass yourself in front of your guests by serving them popcorn instead of I don't know, uh shrimp scampi or bacon wrap scallops? Is that what you like? Do you want people to leave here and talk about your party and say, hey, that sucked? Like I can't believe we just showed up and ate cheese and crackers for dinner.

SPEAKER_04 20:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 20:43

The answer is no. So they under the people who under budget have to deal with what are their guests gonna think.

SPEAKER_04 20:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 20:52

Like, yep.

SPEAKER_04 20:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 20:53

Do you want to come to me and say, hey? I can't believe I just had popcorn. I've I've been to a baby shower before, and they sure they served cheese and crackers and that was it. And I drove three hours to the baby shower.

SPEAKER_03 21:10

Yeah. Yeah. You did that?

SPEAKER_02 21:12

No, someone else. Oh, someone else, right? No, I didn't. Yeah. I left and I was like, I can't believe I just drove three hours and ate cheese and crackers for lunch.

SPEAKER_03 21:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 21:21

People are going, people are taking carving out time.

SPEAKER_03 21:24

People are like, I'm not eating lunch because I'm going to this event.

SPEAKER_02 21:28

Right.

SPEAKER_03 21:29

Right. I do that.

SPEAKER_02 21:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 21:31

And you know what my favorite is? When I do a wedding or something and it's a grazing table thing, it has like so much stuff that I can eat on it. Oh my god, I love it. It was this one wedding I DJ'd. Oh my god, it was so good. And you just keep grazing from it. Uh huh. I love grazing tables.

SPEAKER_02 21:48

Me too.

SPEAKER_03 21:49

What about event timelines? Like, how important do you communicate? Like, what's what's one of the most important things about that?

SPEAKER_02 21:57

Communication. You just said it. Communication. Communicating with the culinary staff is key.

SPEAKER_03 22:03

So you send everybody like a timeline?

SPEAKER_02 22:07

I send everybody a timeline and we meet so with good luck, the event is planned a a year out, six months to a year. It could because if it's a smaller scale event, it could be six months, it could be three months if it's for like 50 people. But something for like 500,000, 2,000 people is a year out.

SPEAKER_04 22:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 22:28

And communicating with culinary. So you're looking at let's say a guest list of 1,000 people. You're planning for a thousand and then it drops to 800, then it drops to 700. Then it drops to 600, might be the final count. And to communicate that with the culinary staff is so important because the culinary staff has to we don't keep food for a thousand people on site. No one does that. It's all special ordered. So to keep communicating, hey, I'm at let's say 100 days out and I'm at 800 people, and then 50 days out, I'm at 650 people. The culinary staff needs to know every step of the way so that they are not over-ordered or under-ordered.

SPEAKER_03 23:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 23:25

Yep.

SPEAKER_03 23:26

And what's like the cutoff date? Like you have to tell them 10 days. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 23:30

Yeah, 10 days. Because that's when I know with the like Cisco or something with the food um management company, I know what their deadlines are to get us the food that we need and how much on top.

SPEAKER_03 23:43

Okay. So everyone has to RSVP by like 10 days in advance.

SPEAKER_02 23:46

Yeah. So the kitchen committee.

SPEAKER_03 23:47

And then the game's on.

SPEAKER_02 23:49

The game's on so that the culinary staff has the appropriate um notice to when as to when they can make changes and what their deadline is.

SPEAKER_04 23:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 23:59

Yep. You can make I can make changes with a DJ, as you know, two hours before you have to be there. Like in terms of like maybe we want to do an hour of karaoke and then the rest we want to or an hour of you playing and then the last hour we want to let people sing.

SPEAKER_04 24:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 24:17

I can do that within easily. Right. It's alright. You can't do that as long as the DJ has to keep it. You cannot do that with product. When the product is when product is involved, it has to be set in stone and ready to go on the like fired up within two hours of the event.

SPEAKER_04 24:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 24:35

So, and everything has to be in-house on time. Like I've had events where we didn't have enough cheese to make 50 pizzas.

SPEAKER_03 24:46

Then what do you do? Do you go to the store?

SPEAKER_02 24:48

Yep, we go to the store. We go to restaurant restaurant depot, yes. Or Walmart. We've done it. Yeah, make a liquor. I've had to go to the liquor store. I was in Manhattan running an event for the um international math competition. The kitchen didn't send our wine for an open bar.

SPEAKER_03 25:10

Oh man.

SPEAKER_02 25:11

We had to go in Manhattan. We had to throw someone in a cab, send them down to the liquor store and come back with all the wine. But that was able to pre- that was thankfully able to be resolved within literally 30 minutes.

SPEAKER_04 25:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 25:24

If that were food, that would have been a mess. Been a mess. A disaster. Yep.

SPEAKER_03 25:33

Oof. Have you ever been in a disaster like that?

SPEAKER_02 25:36

Um, the biggest disaster I was in was that one with the wine.

SPEAKER_04 25:42

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_02 25:44

We had to pull someone from the floor who was butlering hors d'oeuvres and say, You're going to the liquor store.

SPEAKER_04 25:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 25:53

And like we're looking at the clock, like, oh my God, everybody's going to be here in 30 minutes. And they did not send where's the wine? There's no wine.

SPEAKER_03 26:00

Yeah. Oh my God.

SPEAKER_02 26:03

In Manhattan.

SPEAKER_03 26:04

And a lot of people are going to be drinking wine.

SPEAKER_02 26:06

And we weren't in Philadelphia. We were in Manhattan. Where taxi cabs are a thousand bucks an hour or whatever. Not a thousand, but you know what I mean. Yeah. 50 bucks an hour or whatever.

SPEAKER_04 26:16

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_02 26:17

And none of us are from Manhattan. We're all from Philadelphia or whatever wherever we're from. And we don't know like where's the closest liquor. Like we had a GPS, find someone, pull them from the floor, tell them where to go, tell them what to pick up, call the liquor store, tell them what we need, and get it ready for everyone showing up to this huge competition.

SPEAKER_03 26:36

And it all worked out.

SPEAKER_02 26:37

Yes, it did. And the key was to stay calm.

SPEAKER_03 26:42

That's so funny because just sentences ago, I was exactly thinking that the key is to stay calm. And you just said it. Yeah, that's the key.

SPEAKER_02 26:51

Freaking out solves nothing, it makes everything worse.

SPEAKER_03 26:55

Yeah. Yep. A hundred percent. I used to freak out a little bit more. Like I've gotten better. I've gotten like I've learned that and matured in that way, I feel like, you know. Yeah. Like you gotta just stay calm because what is is it is, and you can't it is what it is. Yeah, it is what it is, and you can't you can't change it. Nope. So just can't change it happen.

SPEAKER_02 27:18

And everything always works out better when you're calm.

SPEAKER_03 27:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 27:22

Cha creating chaos serves nobody.

SPEAKER_03 27:26

Right. You're right. Yep. All right, let's talk about vendors. What do you look for when uh hiring a vendor? Like, what do you look for in a vendor?

SPEAKER_02 27:38

Reviews.

SPEAKER_03 27:40

And where do you get your reviews from?

SPEAKER_02 27:43

I usually will ask for references, especially if it's for a private party. Okay. So if someone's having a corporate event and I know my job is to make that person look really good. Because everyone coming to the event, they think that this person planned, let's say I'm a human resources person or an executive assistant. They think that that person planned everything and did everything. Yeah. They didn't. They called me. Right. They called me. And so I need to make sure that that person, that executive assistant, let's say for we talked about TD Bank. T D Bank's executive assistant for the CEO has to plan this event. So I need to make her or him look really good.

SPEAKER_04 28:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 28:31

In order to do that, I'm not just gonna say, hey, pull someone up off the internet and uh guess what? I want you to come and be my florist for all the centerpieces, for all the flowers, for all the decor for this big empty room. I want to talk to who you planned for last, who you worked for last. Did you work for anybody? Like let's say Comcast. Comcast had their party with you last. Okay, I want to talk to that event planner, whoever, executive assistant, HR director from Comcast, and ask how they how happy were they with your um everything. How happy were they? Was there anything they didn't like? Was there anything they really loved? Yeah, you know, so I can leverage that.

SPEAKER_04 29:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 29:23

And if someone says someone from Comcast says, no, that was terrible. That person was terrible. I was really unhappy with this, or I was really unhappy. And I can also decipher when someone's being petty or not.

SPEAKER_03 29:38

Yeah. Okay. What are some um red flags when that people should watch out for before signing contracts?

SPEAKER_02 29:48

Um red flags before signing contracts. Are they being charged a flat rate or are they being charged hourly? If someone's being charged a flat rate, I prefer someone being charged hourly. Because if someone's being charged a flat rate and they're taking 12 hours to do something, that's a red flag. Because if they're being charged hourly, then they're making sure that they're getting all of your tasks done in a timely manner.

SPEAKER_03 30:23

Right.

SPEAKER_02 30:23

Yep. It's a good one. Big red flag. Yep. Flat rate. We don't want we don't want a flat rate charger. I don't want someone saying, I'm gonna charge you a thousand dollars, but I'm gonna take 15 hours to do something.

SPEAKER_03 30:37

Right. So if there's salary salary, exactly.

SPEAKER_02 30:41

It's yeah, it's an easy way to take advantage of somebody. Yes, it's exactly what it is. Right.

SPEAKER_03 30:46

How important is it to like to build relationships with local vendors? Is that a thing?

SPEAKER_02 30:53

It is a thing. Just because referrals. If I relate like I have a relationship with someone who is an amazing florist. So if I send business to this florist, this florist is also gonna send business to me or venues. If I have a so if you're you're planning a wedding right now, right? So you're you went to this venue and you picked it and you love it. Yeah, that person likely knows an amazing florist. You don't want to have to Google florists for the area. You're gonna get 25 of them. Yeah, you're gonna get who knows what.

SPEAKER_04 31:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 31:31

The person who owns that venue knows who does good floral arrangements.

SPEAKER_04 31:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 31:36

They know they've been to their venue, they've had left with satisf satisfied clients.

SPEAKER_03 31:41

Right.

SPEAKER_02 31:42

So relationships are huge, huge.

SPEAKER_03 31:45

And then once you trust someone, trust. Then it's like you're locked in.

SPEAKER_02 31:51

Exactly.

SPEAKER_03 31:51

Yeah. What what are some questions people should ask or think about before booking a venue?

SPEAKER_02 31:57

Always ask for referrals.

SPEAKER_03 31:59

Referrals back to referrals. We're referring back to referrals.

SPEAKER_02 32:02

I wanna I wanna know what was it like? Did I have any power issues? Power, big deal. I've had power issues before.

SPEAKER_04 32:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 32:13

And thank God I had like a tech person on duty. If there's no tech person on duty and your power goes out, I'm sure you remember Revolutions. The power went out there once.

SPEAKER_03 32:25

I remember Revolutions. How can I forget?

SPEAKER_02 32:27

Do you remember the power going out?

SPEAKER_03 32:28

I don't know if I remember that.

SPEAKER_02 32:30

There was a major, major party going on up on the second floor and the power went out. And thank God, um, I think his name was Jeff. The um the tech person on duty. He had scrambled and scrambled and was able to get everything back up and running. But he, if he wasn't there, I would have been so bad. Up the creek.

SPEAKER_03 32:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 32:56

Without a paddle.

SPEAKER_03 32:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 32:57

He was there.

SPEAKER_03 32:58

And I was like, Well, that place was kind of up the creek without a paddle.

SPEAKER_02 33:01

It was. But he fixed it. That's great, though. All I cared about was what the clients were thinking.

SPEAKER_04 33:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 33:09

They were like, I got a radio call. We had radios, remember? I got a radio call and said, Hey, this stopped working. And I was like, Please hold. Change the channel. Go over to the or send a text message. I don't remember what I did. And I was like, oh my god. I need you to get here right now and fix this. Right now. And he did. If he wasn't there.

SPEAKER_03 33:35

Oh my god, thank God when it gets fixed. That feeling when it gets fixed, you're like, it's like you almost had a panic attack. Like you got like high off of it. Because it's such a like, maybe that's why you're such a junkie for these events. It's that initial. But and I mean that's what's probably wrong with me too. Like, because like Diana, you know, she's like, I think that you get more like something out of planning it and building it up than the actual event itself. Like, that's what Diana said about me with like things that I do. Yeah. Like it's about like all like it does it, there is something all together. There is a whole thing that goes on chemically. Something's going on. But then when something goes wrong like that, and you're in that panic state, it's oh my god. And but you you do have to stay calm and it's the worst. But when it gets fixed, oh my god, it feels so good.

SPEAKER_02 34:25

Zen.

SPEAKER_03 34:26

Oh my god. Um, are there in it ever any like hidden, you know, life? I feel like it's about hidden fees and costs, and you know, in 2026, it's like you get a receipt and then it's like all these extra fees, all these service fee properties. Is there ever in like event planning? Yeah, I guess processing fees is a big one.

SPEAKER_02 34:45

The only hidden fee is gratuity. So ordinarily, um it's the cost of the event, the bottom line for all the services, and then it's plus plus plus tax and gratuity, plus plus. And gratuities not normally built in to the event cost. Um so a lot of times the person who was charged with getting everything done doesn't realize at the end that you have to put gratuity on the bill. And it's awkward.

SPEAKER_04 35:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 35:34

Like here's the tab, and I have to say, just so you know, gratuity is not included. Yeah. So then they have their budget that they spent already.

SPEAKER_03 35:43

Oh, they actually don't, so that's something they don't think about.

SPEAKER_02 35:46

They don't back to that, right?

SPEAKER_03 35:48

Um, we have to we have to pay because like yet, also someone's never in the service industry.

SPEAKER_02 35:53

They're not in the service industry. Like, I've been in all these things, so it's all natural. Everyone should work in the service industry for a one year out of their entire life. Everyone should have to do it to see everything that's involved.

SPEAKER_04 36:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 36:04

When your dining experience is happening, or when your event experience is happening, there's all these people behind the scenes in the kitchen, the chef, the person washing the dishes, the person cleaning the bathrooms.

SPEAKER_03 36:19

Yeah, everybody. Security if you need security.

SPEAKER_02 36:22

Right. Um the person who's planned the event or paid me to plan the event doesn't think about that. And I have to say, hey, just so you know gratuity is not included, and then they're like, Oh shoot, like I have to put another a thousand dollars on this to pay everyone who's making eight bucks an hour.

SPEAKER_03 36:42

Yeah. So hopefully they think about that.

SPEAKER_02 36:44

They don't usually, huh?

SPEAKER_03 36:48

Maybe that's something that should be mentioned. Like in the event planning, maybe it's usually mentioned.

SPEAKER_02 36:54

Yeah, they still forget. Ah, they forget.

SPEAKER_03 36:56

Yeah. How has technology changed the event industry?

SPEAKER_02 37:01

Obviously, it spreads word faster if I need it to. And I could say, just click here to view my digital portfolio. Yeah. Or click here to view my events catalog. They just click it and boom, everything's there. And they can just scroll through it and see all of this stuff that I've ever done.

SPEAKER_03 37:34

So it's spreading the word faster again.

SPEAKER_02 37:36

It's spreading the word faster and it makes it easy. It makes it easy more easy for me to share my work with other people who are considering planning an event with me.

SPEAKER_04 37:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 37:48

Mm-hmm. Even for so I have an interview on Wednesday I told you about tomorrow. And I was able to send them my events catalog so they can look at me before I even get there.

SPEAKER_04 37:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 37:59

And decide, hey, this is for us, or maybe this isn't for us. Like, let's not waste your time or mine.

SPEAKER_03 38:05

Yeah. So you work for yourself? Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_04 38:07

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 38:08

The person I'm interviewing with tomorrow will be a contract for about six months. Okay. So I can say, hey, this is how much I want per hour. Hour, not flat. Yeah. Because you're not gonna. I've worked for I worked somewhere in Florida where I was paid X amount of dollars per day, but that didn't matter if it was for six hours or 20 hours.

SPEAKER_04 38:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 38:33

The one one week I I'll never forget, I worked for 80 plus hours in one week, and my salary was the same.

SPEAKER_03 38:40

Yeah. No.

SPEAKER_02 38:40

I was getting up at 6 a.m.

SPEAKER_03 38:42

going I know you hated that. You were like, mm-mm. Nope, not doing this.

SPEAKER_02 38:47

I was having 30 minutes to myself at the end of the day.

SPEAKER_03 38:50

That's crazy.

SPEAKER_02 38:51

And my salary was the same. It would be different if I was making the money that was for the some kind of extra at least. Right. I had to call someone aside and say, hey, I worked 80 hours last week. I need a day off. I shouldn't have to do that.

SPEAKER_03 39:07

Yeah. That's crazy. Too much.

SPEAKER_02 39:11

Yep.

SPEAKER_03 39:12

What's your favorite event you've ever planned if you have one, if you can pick, and why? What what about it was your favorite thing?

SPEAKER_02 39:20

I do have one.

SPEAKER_03 39:22

What was it?

SPEAKER_02 39:23

I have several actually, but my top was I did for Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. And it was their match event where all of the medical students were learning where they were going to do their residencies.

SPEAKER_03 39:38

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 39:40

And they got their white coats.

SPEAKER_03 39:42

And what's the match event mean?

SPEAKER_02 39:44

They're matching with their residency.

SPEAKER_03 39:46

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_02 39:47

So I could be going to work for Penn at the University of Pennsylvania. But I don't know it until I get to the event.

SPEAKER_03 39:53

Oh wow.

SPEAKER_02 39:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 39:55

That's cool. Yep. So that's what you loved about it? Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 39:59

I was seeing people's dreams come true.

SPEAKER_03 40:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 40:02

People crying. They would get to the event and see up on the screen where they were going.

SPEAKER_03 40:07

And you planned that whole event?

SPEAKER_02 40:08

Yeah. Yeah. And it was um also came along with a like really nice food and beverage package. Like they showed up, they ate, they drank, and as soon as they arrived, they saw up on the screen their photo. A little bio. So I planned all the bios with it was like 200 students from Philadelphia um learning where they're going next.

SPEAKER_03 40:33

Wow. I didn't even know that was a thing.

SPEAKER_02 40:35

Yeah. When you're when you're in the medical field, they get you a job like that. Yeah. Right there, you got a job. This is where you're going. Yep. This is where you're going. Um, and they earned it. They were in school for eight years.

SPEAKER_04 40:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 40:51

Just studying and studying and test taking and test taking and you know, crafting everything that you know it was like a four-hour event. Yep.

SPEAKER_03 41:01

So it's like a kind of typical like layout.

SPEAKER_02 41:03

Start up startup, happy hour, entertainment, food, drinks, open bar, and boom, there's your picture up on this jumbo screen with your bio and saying and saying like I don't know, Jonathan Smith, here's where you're going. Yeah. And they were like, there was like tears flowing every. It was like I get the chills just thinking. Oh my god, that's so cool. Yeah. And PCOM Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine is a big deal in Philadelphia for medical students. It's a big deal. Wow. And I knew that. But I worked very closely with the human resources director and got bios of like where they came from and their family backgrounds and why they're studying this type of medicine and and stuff.

SPEAKER_03 41:54

So cool.

SPEAKER_02 41:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 41:56

That's super cool.

SPEAKER_02 41:57

It was like I was launching doctors all over the world.

SPEAKER_03 42:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 42:01

Like people would walk up to the screen and go, Oh my god, I'm going to LA. Yeah. Or oh my god, I'm going to Alaska.

SPEAKER_03 42:08

Yeah. And they're off. Yeah. There go the doctors. Um, what was maybe, let's say, one of your, unless you don't want to talk about like least favorite, like a nightmare event. A certain wedding or all weddings?

SPEAKER_02 42:23

All weddings. The mother of the bride is usually a nightmare. Uh-huh. Because that's who's paying for everything.

SPEAKER_04 42:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 42:32

I've actually had. So let's say I've had a a wedding for 500 people and a festival for 2,000 people. The festival for 2,000 people was easier than the wedding for 500 people or 100 people, even for that matter.

SPEAKER_03 42:47

Yeah, that's how I don't want my wedding to be.

SPEAKER_02 42:49

Oh my God. No. Please just leave it in the hands of your event planner and just show up.

SPEAKER_04 42:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 42:56

Don't be looking at things. Don't be like criticizing things or be like pulling someone aside and saying, hey, this plate's dirty and it's still sitting there. Like, no, we know it's dirty. And we're we're sending someone to get it. It's fine. We know this.

SPEAKER_04 43:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 43:11

But I, because of my field, I that is something that people don't realize what you're talking about. I know.

SPEAKER_03 43:17

But that's like any job. Any job has its pet peeve where it's like nobody realizes what this person's actually trying to do. Right. But sometimes someone's doing a horrible job. So that is a true thing, Tim.

SPEAKER_02 43:28

If someone's doing a horrible, if someone is doing a horrible job at my event, I already know about it and you don't need to tell me. My my eyes and ears are everywhere.

SPEAKER_03 43:38

That's why you're the boss.

SPEAKER_02 43:40

My eyes and ears are everywhere. I know there's a dirty dish that's been sitting there in front of this person for too long, and I'll go over and get it myself. And then the person that was supposed to get it, I'll go over and call them aside and say, Hey, you need to be like quicker.

SPEAKER_03 43:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 43:53

Or you need to go home.

SPEAKER_03 43:55

Yeah. Or you need to go home. Yeah. What's one of the funniest? Like, do you have a funny thing that ever happened at anything?

SPEAKER_02 44:04

I do. It was a big wedding in Bucks County somewhere. Do you remember the Lake House Inn? It's in Bucks County. It's not far from you. It's in Doylestown.

SPEAKER_03 44:15

Okay. I never really hung out much in that area. I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 44:20

There was a wedding happening for these very, very wealthy people. And me, I was in charge of the event, and the captain, we were picking up the wedding cake to take it back to the kitchen so that we can cut it up and serve it.

SPEAKER_03 44:36

Don't tell me it fell. Do you think that's funny?

SPEAKER_02 44:41

We picked up the table with the cake on it, and the cake slid right onto the floor. And who was who picked up the table? Me and the captain. Um the legs gave so we said it, we picked it up. So what happened? The legs got locked.

SPEAKER_03 44:56

I don't think that's funny. So what happened?

SPEAKER_02 45:00

I knew it wasn't the end of the world.

SPEAKER_03 45:02

Was there another cake?

SPEAKER_02 45:03

No. So everything that touched the floor we threw away, but the cake was so big there was so much that didn't touch the floor.

SPEAKER_03 45:10

Did people know it fell to the floor? Nope. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 45:13

Everyone was dancing.

SPEAKER_03 45:14

All right, as long as no one knew it fell. No one knew it fell. Then you're fine. Then you go.

SPEAKER_02 45:17

No one knew it fell.

SPEAKER_03 45:18

Oh my God. What's the best advice you've ever received?

SPEAKER_02 45:24

Don't ask someone to do something that you would not do yourself. I'm not going to ask you to go and change.

SPEAKER_03 45:30

Somebody said that to you before?

SPEAKER_02 45:32

Yeah. I'm not going to ask you to change it. That is good advice. I'm not going to ask you to go change the toilet paper if I wouldn't go change it myself.

SPEAKER_04 45:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 45:40

I'm not going to ask you to go wash dishes from a person who's not washed dishes myself.

SPEAKER_04 45:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 45:49

From that perspective. Let's say there's 500 people at a party with the dishwasher called off. I've done this before. And I've gone back to the line and I've washed the dishes from 500 people myself.

SPEAKER_03 46:07

By hand machine.

SPEAKER_02 46:09

Well, the with the sprayer thing. The sprayer thing.

SPEAKER_03 46:11

I love the sprayer thing. The sprayer thing's awesome. I love the sprayer thing. And it removes all around.

SPEAKER_02 46:15

I'm never gonna say, hey, I expect you to go clean up this mess in the bathroom and not do it myself. I will walk with you and go into the bathroom and clean it with you. Or I will walk to the line in the kitchen and throw burgers on the grill because one of the prep cooks called off.

SPEAKER_03 46:34

Right. You oh yeah, you can cook. Mm-hmm. Do it all.

SPEAKER_02 46:39

I'm multi food handler certified.

SPEAKER_03 46:44

And I can also you gotta all work out.

SPEAKER_02 46:49

Everything. And I don't expect someone else to clean something that I won't clean myself or do myself.

SPEAKER_04 46:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 46:56

And I I share that with other people. Don't ask me to do something that you would not do with me. It's important. It's it's a it's a value, like it's a core value. Self-respect and respect for others.

SPEAKER_04 47:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 47:13

I just like people to understand that everything I'm doing when I'm doing it, I have you in mind. I want you to show up and have the best experience, if not one of the best experiences of your history. And events are about connecting people. Have you ever shown up to an event and not left with two or three new contacts or friends in your phone? Right? Yeah. I haven't any time I've ever gone to an event, I I leave having had a good time with someone else. Yeah. A complete stranger. You go, you meet, you have fun, you mingle, and then you leave, and God only knows what the potential is for whatever it is that you're seeking in life. Yeah. Through one random stranger.

SPEAKER_03 48:08

That's why I am super excited about the event that Music is Our Hero is having on November 8th at the gym. It's a plug moment all of a sudden. Because there's gonna be so many people, and that's gonna be very exciting for me to watch. Everyone just connecting.

SPEAKER_02 48:24

Oh my god, the connections that are kind of like gonna come from that from other people, for other people.

SPEAKER_03 48:30

Yeah, I don't even know where it's going.

SPEAKER_02 48:32

Like my mind is going crazy.

SPEAKER_03 48:34

My mind's going crazy about it too. Cause like the podcast was just something the end of last summer, and I didn't know it was gonna go like this, but like I said, I can't imagine where it's going. Um, you know something we didn't talk about or trends. Like, in so you've been doing this for about 25 years. Has everything everything's gone digital, so digital, but like what about like designing trends? Like, I don't know, like, do you design the room like if there's balloons or flowers or anything? Yeah, so it's so have like have trends, have you seen trends change in that time?

SPEAKER_02 49:10

Pinterest. People who are creating events in their minds are making Pinterest boards. So I'll say to someone, what do you have in mind? And I'll say, I'll send you my Pinterest board.

SPEAKER_03 49:21

Oh, you'll be talking to like same florist. So a florist, and you and they'll they have a Pinterest board?

SPEAKER_02 49:27

No, so let's say for your wedding, you should maybe think about this, start creating a Pinterest board, colors, all of the things. And then when someone like me comes to you and says, Hey, I'm putting everything together for you, because you asked me to, send me your Pinterest board so I can send it to the phone.

SPEAKER_03 49:43

No, is it is it actually through Pinterest?

SPEAKER_02 49:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 49:45

Oh Pinterest board. Well, you can make your or can you make your own? Oh, what's it has it looks like?

SPEAKER_02 49:49

It doesn't matter, but Pinterest will do it for you. So you can plug in.

SPEAKER_03 49:53

Oh. Oh, I'll have to look at what you're talking about.

SPEAKER_02 49:56

Yeah. So if you send me everything, I can see your vision without having to sit and talk to you for five hours.

SPEAKER_03 50:02

Right.

SPEAKER_02 50:04

Yeah. Try a Pinterest board.

SPEAKER_03 50:06

So that's a ch there we go. That's that's that was a Pinterest plug.

SPEAKER_02 50:11

Um, so it works, it gives me what's inside your mind.

SPEAKER_03 50:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 50:16

For your event.

SPEAKER_03 50:17

And then how about colors and like same thing? Well, like, I mean, for like trends, like have they changed in the in the 20 some years? Like the way people are doing things.

SPEAKER_02 50:28

They've gotten a lot more simple.

SPEAKER_03 50:30

Right. Yeah, right. Like everything's black and white and gray.

SPEAKER_02 50:33

Black, white, gray, cars, pink, green, cars are all black, white, and gray. Right.

SPEAKER_03 50:38

And then they show the picture of like back in the 70s and 80s has all these colorful cars.

SPEAKER_02 50:42

Right. Red. We just like cars. Nobody likes red cars anymore. Yeah. Nobody likes yellow cars anymore. They were a thing, they're not anymore. Yeah. Some people, of course. There's always gonna be some people.

SPEAKER_03 50:53

But in so in the events, you feel like people have also changed with their color? Huh. It's interesting.

SPEAKER_02 51:00

Yeah, it's because it's what they're seeing and experiencing themselves. They're kind of taking that into consideration. It's like a sleek look.

SPEAKER_03 51:06

That's what I think happened. Very sleek, yes. Because I like it too.

SPEAKER_02 51:10

Same. So do I. I wear pink, black, and gray all the time. Because it matches.

SPEAKER_03 51:17

That's a good thing to do.

SPEAKER_02 51:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 51:20

If you want to match.

SPEAKER_02 51:21

Yeah. I want to be matchy.

SPEAKER_03 51:23

Yeah. I think we covered a lot. Do you feel like we covered a lot? Yeah. Is there anything else that needs to be plugged or covered about you at all that you can think of?

SPEAKER_02 51:34

Okay, my website is Christy Jones.camba.eventscatalog.com.

SPEAKER_03 51:42

Okay. And that's it for now. So I am going to ask you this last question. This this podcast was obviously about events and what goes into that because um I feel that this podcast is about entertainment in general and the arts in general. So it's not always going to be full blast music related, but I'm always going to ask this question at the end. How is music your hero?

SPEAKER_02 52:07

Music is my hero. I think you know this already. It's kept me alive throughout everything I've been through. It could be a song creating a memory, it could be a song about a memory, something about the past, something that inspires me or prompts me to create something. But overall, I wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for music. I would not. And now I'm and now I'm writing songs. Yeah. Yeah, there's a whole nother thing that you're getting into. Yeah. It's taking everything that's on my mind and in my uh heart and soul, putting it onto paper and creating something invaluable.

SPEAKER_04 52:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 52:59

Priceless.

SPEAKER_03 53:00

I love that. Yep. It's wild, right?

SPEAKER_02 53:03

It is wild.

SPEAKER_03 53:03

It's a gift we were given. Music is certainly a gift.

SPEAKER_02 53:07

I didn't even realize how important it is until everything happened.

SPEAKER_03 53:13

Yeah. That's why this started in my life. That's a trauma response.

SPEAKER_02 53:19

A trauma response is for me too. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 53:23

But that's what music is good for, though. That's why it's here. I know. You know? Yeah. Um. All right. Well, cool. Thank you for taking the time to uh sit here and talk about events. You were the first event planner, so a lot of useful important information for the community.

SPEAKER_02 53:39

Thank you for having me.

SPEAKER_03 53:40

Yeah, of course. And uh are you gonna be there on uh November 8th?

SPEAKER_02 53:44

Of course I am.

unknown 53:45

Ah!

SPEAKER_02 53:45

I wouldn't have had a big thing. I can't wait.

SPEAKER_03 53:47

We are going to add, we're gonna have to add all the names to that paper. I can make artwork, I can make t shirts. Yeah, okay. All right, thank you.

SPEAKER_01 54:08

So let's keep each other alive.