Hivelloween Preparation Part II: The Day Before The Event

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Last Sunday, October 24th, 2021 we celebrated our first ever HIVELLOWEEN PARTY!

Lots of preparation was put into this event and I recommend you read these posts if you want to have an idea of what preparations we have before the event;

But that was not the end of our preparation. I would like also to continue to share in this blog some other things that we did a few days before the event, @explorewithsasha slept over to help us to prepare all the materials that we needed and stored them in some bags and boxes, while @sassycebuana the day before to do the sash and test the video clips that she created and brought the printed documents that we will use for the judges voting criteria and the registration form. Also, she and @gerel wrapped the items for the raffle draws.

And the night before the event, I and @gerel went to Harold’s Hotel to do some double-check, how @gerel will set up the balloon arch and we also made requests for more things for the venue;

We requested to add a runway in front of the stage for the contestants and everyone to showcase their costumes. Also, extra table for the candy treats, giveaways, and the prizes for the raffle draws and games and another extra table near the entrance to put the sash and certificates. This one was easy peasy, Joepher Bello (banquet leader) and Jessa Tlingting (banquet coordinator) gave us no fuss in adding these extras to our request lists.

We checked the sound system, the projector and the screen to make sure everything is working properly. It was a relief that they already had all the necessary tools and equipment for the lights, music and projector screen. All we had to do was give them @sassycebuana’s usb device to plug in on their laptop to play the video clips she made for this event. And for the music, they have pre saved music, but we were also given the freedom of choosing our own music by requesting it and they actually allowed us to select the music on youtube using their laptop, that was really of them!

There’s always going to be some challenges in everything that we do right? And we did experienced it a few times just like when @gerel and I were at Harolds the night before our event, we follow up on our early check-in request since reserved three rooms; one for me, my baby, @gerel and an extra bed for rebecca so she can help me with my baby while I have to do my tasks, one for @sassycebuana, her daughter and @jongcl, then one room for @explorewithsasha and @cheerupwithjl. Although we didn’t anticipate that the hotel would be quite busy, maybe because it was the weekend already or just a coincidence there were people who booked before us or on a third party website. I also thought maybe because Harolds is a business hotel, we got unlucky to check in early with the rooms that we chose. Yes, it was a little frustrating because we wanted to be able to settle our things in our room and have enough time to get ready before the event.

Also, we could not do the decor preparation at the exact room because there’s an event and won’t be finished until 1pm.

These are some of the challenges that we went through while organizing this event but Ms. Dyvonnee Perez, (sales manager), and Jessa Talingting (banquet coordinator) tried their best to help us in getting a room available and we really appreciate their time and effort and for being patient with us with all our concerns.

So, imagine the stress that we felt when we received this news but luckily they informed us ahead of time and it is easy to point finger who is to blame but we had to put ourselves in other people's shoes. We also considered that it’s not the fault of the staff or the Hotel management, it’s just that we didn’t want to spend extra money on hiring people to do the decors for us on top because it was no longer in our budget rather this was a good challenge for all of us and Harolds crew on how we could pull this off and I have never seen a big collaboration like this before.

Joepher offered us the room across the hall so our decor team can prepare the balloon arc and the other balloons that will be used around the stage and the runway. While Ms Dyvonnee offered us some of their staff to be available all the time while we set up the decors at the room venue. Joepher and Jefferson (banquet crew) were always there to answer our concerns.

On my next blog, I will be sharing with you:

updated list of participants, additional sponsors, and volunteers
highlights of our event
unforgettable experiences
feedback not just from our participants but also from Harolds Hotel staff
some takeaways for everyone who may want to organize this kind of event in the future

Also, keep an eye on some awesome blogs/vlogs about this event, spot some cool and fun shots and video clips just like this one from our very own @sassycebuana on this blog post:

Kudos to our team who helped organized this epic Hive event to be a successful one: @sassycebuana @gerel @explorewithsasha @jongcl @itsmiessyonpeakd @cheerupwith and @asasiklause @swaycanete

Xo,

Gil

Hivelloween Preparation Part II: The Day Before The Event | Challenges & Collaboration