Seneca college

Meet An Event Professional

SEA 150 Final Assignment

Submitted to:Christopher Bacchus

Written By:Nora Hao, Vika Zheng, Ivy Ye

2015/4/17

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Content

Introduction......................................................................................................................................3Amy Falkinson...........................................................................................................................3Leanne Pepper..........................................................................................................................3

Current position details....................................................................................................................4Amy Falkinson...........................................................................................................................4Leanne Pepper..........................................................................................................................4

Educational Background...................................................................................................................5Amy Falkinson...........................................................................................................................5Leanne Pepper..........................................................................................................................6

Past and Current Projects.................................................................................................................6Amy Falkinson...........................................................................................................................6

Lobster Boil at Steam Whistle Brewery on Jul 1st, 2014..................................................6Leanne Pepper..........................................................................................................................9

Images of work...............................................................................................................................11Amy Falkinson.........................................................................................................................11Leanne Pepper........................................................................................................................13

Presentation Summary...................................................................................................................14Interviewee Summary.............................................................................................................14

Bibliography....................................................................................................................................18

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Introduction

Amy Falkinson

Amy Falkinson is a full-time Event Coordinator and Venue Manager based out of

Toronto who is dedicated to always providing superior service to her clients. She

has a passion for developing sound relationships with both internal and external

employees, vendors and suppliers. She brings a creative approach to work each

day and dedicated to continually developing her venue's business. Above all, she

is ways focused on having an entrepreneurial spirit and producing successful

business results.

Amy Falkinson began working at Steam Whistle Brewing as a tour guide and

event staff while at Ryerson University earning her Bachelor of Commerce

degree. It’s then that she fell in love with the history of our building and loved

working at weddings, helping to make a perfect, magical night for couples. Amy

has been our Senior Venue coordinator for three years, helping to substantially

grow our wedding business while also taking care of corporate and other third-party

events.

Leanne Pepper

She has been the General Manager at Faculty Club at the University of Toronto

members club since 1994 and since then she has led the transformation of the

club into a vibrant community of Alumni, Faculty and their families. Despite the

name, the Faculty Club is one of the best hubs for alumni to stay connected to

the University long after they graduate.

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She is also a Certified Etiquette, Protocol and Image Coach, and she trained in

Washington DC at the Washington School of Protocol, so that at the Faculty Club

they can offer etiquette, protocol, and image workshops to students and alumni

to help them further advance their career goals.

Current position details

Amy Falkinson

Steam Whistle Brewing - Senior Venue Coordinator

April 2012 – Present (3 years 1 month)

-Coordinate all 3rd party on-site events at the venue. Work directly in

conjunction with event clients, suppliers and vendors to ensure each event is a

success.

-Building strong relationships and partnerships will all external suppliers and

vendors.

-Assist with the development of new projects, training for new event staff, and

supplier meetings in order to continue the growth and improve the success of our

event operations and Venue

-Manage general event inquiries and correspondence regarding hosting events.

Offer support and guidance to prospective clients, welcoming them to the

brewery, conducting site inspections and effectively communicating the

expectations and procedures specific to our Venue.

-Carry out special projects and events on a changing basis.

-Manage various administrative tasks including processing room deposits and

contracts, updating master event calendar as necessary, and inputting and

updating of data for monthly venue reports

-Creation and editing of event documents as needed.

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Leanne Pepper

The Faculty Club University of Toronto - General Manager

July 1994 – Present

I'm proud to have been the General Manager of the Faculty Club for almost 20

years.

I love seeing the club as a thriving hub for business networking, social gatherings,

family events, conferences, and of course beautiful weddings.

This year I'm making it my mission to get the message out to UofT Alumni that

the Faculty Club is a great place for them to stay connected with the University

for many years to come, or of course come back into the fold.

This spring we unveiled UofT Bees who will live on the roof of the club, and we

are working hard on a rooftop garden with the University Dig In group too. Come

by anytime and ask for a tour.

10 years ago I qualified as a professional etiquette, protocol and image

consultant. Here at the club we offer training to members, alumni, students, and

external groups. I also instruct the Christopher Leadership Course at U of T on

public speaking and building confidence. It's a joy to see people progress in this

area of their life.

I believe that members of the club benefit from these essential life skills, as well

as the rich networking opportunities and extensive event calendar we offer.

The Club also gives back to the community by working with Evergreen, and

having a commitment to environmental sustainability.

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Educational Background

Amy Falkinson

Ryerson University

2009 – 2013

Bachelor of Commerce, with Honors

Retail Management, 4.0

Bachelor of Commerce Degree Graduate from the progressive and forward

thinking Ted Rogers School of Management at Ryerson University

Majored in Retail Management, a unique one-of-a-kind program in Canada

focusing on the fast paced and dynamic world of Retail

Leanne Pepper

Washington School of Protocol

2003 – 2003

Certified Etiquette and Protocol Consultant and Image Coach, Dining and

Business etiquette and Image Coach

George Brown College

1980 – 1984

Hospitality Culinary Arts Program, certificate

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Past and Current Projects

Amy Falkinson

Past Projects

Lobster Boil at Steam Whistle Brewery on Jul 1st, 2014

It’s party to celebrate Canada’s national day with lobster and beer.

(Unknown, Steam Whistle)

The Good Beer Folks Show at Steam Whistle Brewery on Jan 1-31, 2015

Steam Whistle Brewery is known as a great supporter of the Toronto arts

community but did you also know that many of our very own Good Beer Folks are

artistically inclined as well? Actors, musicians, painters, photographers,

printmakers, designers and craftspeople no discipline untapped. During the

month of January 2015, sixteen of our very own Good Beer Folks will be

showcasing their talents at the Steam Whistle Gallery.

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(Unknown)

Square2 at Steam Whistle Brewery on Feb 4-28, 2015

Showcasing the works of three local artists (listed below), Squared2 features a

collection of over three dozen pieces all presented in a square format, perhaps

reflective of the current trend of how images are shared digitally through online

platforms such as Instagram, Facebook and mobile.

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(Unknown, Steam Whistle)

Happy Birthday Toronto on Mar 6, 2015

Happy Birthday Toronto is a celebration of the city’s fundamental past, the

evolving present and its promising future.

(Unknown, Steam Whistle)

-Steam Whistle’s annual St-Patrick’s Day Party on Mar 14th, 2015

To celebrate St-Patrick’s Day, Steam Whistle hosted a very exciting party onsite.

Brewery fresh beer, traditional eats from the Irish Embassy, Irish dancers from

the Woodgate-Shamrock Irish Dancers and foot-stomping live music by Brogue

and Scantily Plaid with no shortage of good times all around.

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(Unknown, Steam Whistle)

Current project

Wedding and summer party for a law firm.

Leanne Pepper

Past Projects

The faculty club is a membership club, has hosted weddings, holiday festivals,

and other private events.

Originally called the Cosmopolitan Society when founded in 1907, the Primrose

Club was a private meeting place for Jewish business and professional men. The

Primrose Club remained at 41 Willcocks until 1959 when the University of

Toronto acquired the building for its new Faculty Club.

The Faculty Club opened its doors in the summer of 1960 to faculty and senior

administrators of both genders. For more than a half century, the Faculty Club

has served as an important social centre for the University of Toronto

community, including faculty, administrative staff, alumni.

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Current Project

Thursday, April 16th 5:30pm for 6:00pm Dinner Speaker: Allan Stratton ‘FACT

BASED FICTION’

3 Course Prix Fixe Menu $45.00 (Inclusive) Member $50.00 (Inclusive) Non

Members

(Club)

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Images of work

Amy Falkinson

(Falkinson, conquercancer)

(Lynn)

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(Lynn)

(SteamWhistle)

(SteamWhistle)

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Leanne Pepper

(Base)

(Utoronto)

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(Yolaca)

(Unknown, Gettingimages)

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Presentation Summary

Interviewee Summary

Amy Falkinson loves her work. The way she balances her work and life is

schedule the time. She was studying in Ryerson University when working in

Steam Whistle. That’s a very tough for her. When putting every appointment into

timeline, she could figure out her daily life well-organized and refused those

things she didn’t need to do. According to the recent events she had held, the

future trend of the event industry would be more personalized. Every brand

requires their sign and color spread out in the venues. That’s also the way that a

brand builds its brand image. Her favorite event is the one that associated with

Tiff. In that event she met many new people from different fields including

media, actors and good suppliers. Speaking of the emergency, there was almost

no emergency happened because her job is to secure the event to be safe and

smooth. She loves her job and she would keep doing her job because she can

meet new people and create new events everyday and that makes her feels

fresh.

Leanne Pepper has worked in faculty club for more than 30 years. It was her

professor of George Brown College introduced her to work in faculty club. Before

she came to faculty club, she never imagined to work as a club manager. It is the

passion of working in faculty club build her career. The importance change

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started when she became a teacher to teach etiquette in the club. The world

changes fast, she felt young people, as her future customers, are not like the

members she has now. She have to be more flexible to new technologies and art

favors. However, food is always hot topic. The way she deals with the trend is to

open more events of food. What’s more, she held a rock & roll music event last

year and that’s a new thing to faculty club.

Overall, the event industry grows faster than we can imagine. Both of them

suggest new graduates to be positive and get more volunteer experience before

they found a event related job. This kind of experience shows not only knowledge

of the event field but also enthusiasm of working for events. Experience is much

significant than education background.

Process Summary

Why would we interview two professionals while this assignment only requires

one? The reason is that we are international students, we eager to know more

about the event industry in Canada, and we have 2 resources from our dear

professor Chris. Fortunately, we got connections with Steam Whistle and Faculty

Club of Toronto University from Chris class, so we went back and contacted the

senior venue coordinator of Steam Whistle - Amy Falkinson and the general

manager from Faculty Club - Leanne Pepper. Another compelling reason why we

interview them is that these two professionals represent two stages of the career

life: one is new graduate from college for a few years, the other one is in the

golden stage of her career. We have learned a lot from them through the

interview. The challenge they face, the way they found they job and the angle

they treat their career are totally different (see above report). We strongly

believe it is meaningful to interview two professionals in steady of one.

In order to make our presentation more meaningful, media aid is important. We

planned to have photos, video and report as the way we document our

interviews. Before we went to meet these event professionals, we borrowed

tripod from professor Chris and a Canon camera from our classmate. During the

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interview, we both videotaped and voice recorded the whole interviews. Voice

record is necessary to ensure every word had been saved because camera is easy

to shut down. On the other side, photos and report is the best way to document

and we can write the details of the interview which might not been record by

electronically equipments. Overall, we used more than 2 media aids to make

sure our interviews have been documented well.

During the interview, we asked them about the reason to join the event industry,

their favorite clients, way the balance life and work, their insight of the latest

trends in event industry, etc.

We apply the protocols from what we learned from class during this fun activity.

It's our first time to have interview with professions, and the venues are far from

our place, so we need to plan the commute beforehand to make sure be punch.

Moreover, we need to dress properly to demonstrate a professional image

though we are still college students.

Additionally, we found that the photos or stories of professions who work behind

the scene mostly posted online few, which fit the characteristic of their role well.

On the other hand, there is a need to create more exposure for behind the scene

people, there is a lot of treasure to discover.

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Bibliography

Base, Ivan. Wordpress. 14 7 2014. https://ivanchuchu.wordpress.com/tag/dine-like-a-

diplomat/. 16 4 2015. <https://ivanchuchu.wordpress.com/tag/dine-like-a-

diplomat/>.

Club, Faculty. "Faculty Club." n.d. Faculty Club.

http://www.facultyclub.utoronto.ca/getmedia/63a9537a-045a-424b-be7e-

c3328705519d/UWC_Speaker_Lunch_-_Allan_Stratton,_April_12th,_2.aspx. 16 4

2015. <http://www.facultyclub.utoronto.ca/getmedia/63a9537a-045a-424b-be7e-

c3328705519d/UWC_Speaker_Lunch_-_Allan_Stratton,_April_12th,_2.aspx>.

—. Faculty Club. n.d. http://www.facultyclub.utoronto.ca/About-The-Club/A-Brief-

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Falkinson, Amy. n.d. www.steamwhistle.ca/blog/2014/12/. 16 4 2015.

<https://www.linkedin.com/in/amyfalkinson>.

—. n.d. http://www.conquercancer.ca/site/TR/Events/Toronto2014?

px=3598169&pg=personal&fr_id=1513. 16 4 2015.

<http://www.conquercancer.ca/site/TR/Events/Toronto2014?

px=3598169&pg=personal&fr_id=1513>.

Lynn, Ehme. n.d. https://twitter.com/ehmelynn. 16 4 2015.

<https://twitter.com/ehmelynn>.

SteamWhistle. n.d. https://twitter.com/SteamWhistle. 16 4 2015.

<https://twitter.com/SteamWhistle>.

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Unknown. n.d. http://steamwhistle.ca/events/eventdetail.php?id=1659. 16 4 2015.

<http://steamwhistle.ca/events/eventdetail.php?id=1659>.

—. 6 3 2015. http://www.steamwhistle.ca/blog/2015/03/06/women-in-brewing/. 16 4 2015.

<http://www.steamwhistle.ca/blog/2015/03/06/women-in-brewing/>.

—. n.d. http://steamwhistle.ca/events/eventdetail.php?id=1676. 16 4 2015.

<http://steamwhistle.ca/events/eventdetail.php?id=1676>.

—. n.d. http://steamwhistle.ca/events/eventdetail.php?id=1683. 16 4 2015.

<http://steamwhistle.ca/events/eventdetail.php?id=1683>.

—. n.d. 16 4 2015. <http://steamwhistle.ca/events/eventdetail.php?id=1670>.

—. n.d. http://steamwhistle.ca/events/eventdetail.php?id=1682. 16 4 2015.

<http://steamwhistle.ca/events/eventdetail.php?id=1682>.

—. Gettingimages. n.d. http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/students-taking-a-

course-in-propper-dining-protocol-in-red-news-photo/165274447. 16 4 2015.

<http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/students-taking-a-course-in-

propper-dining-protocol-in-red-news-photo/165274447>.

Utoronto. Utoronto. n.d. http://sites.utoronto.ca/faculty/membenefits/courses.html. 16 4

2015. <http://sites.utoronto.ca/faculty/membenefits/courses.html>.

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<https://yolaca.wordpress.com/>.

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