By Julia Bogdan
The Longwood Academy for Event and Meeting Planning (LAMP), presented by Communication Studies, will debut a four-day event planning certification workshop this Spring 2018 semester.
Open to all students, alumni, and professionals outside of Longwood University, the Academy is a “new venture for the communication studies department,” remarks Dr. Alec Hosterman, Assistant Professor and coordinator of the academy.
Dr. Hosterman, Emily Pilk, and Dr. Naomi Johnson, the chair of the Communication Studies department , have been conjuring this idea since early fall of 2017.
Each year the Academy will have a short overall seminar in the fall: an event planning boot camp. Here, attendees are taught the “nuts and bolts” of what they will have to know. They will have the opportunity to work on event planning scenarios and to network with experts in the event planning field.
After that, students, alumni, or professionals in the region will have the opportunity to take the four-day certification seminars taking place in the spring.
The four-day Academy will take place over four Saturdays throughout the month of April, learning a new skill on each one.
On the first day, students will learn how to work with clients, food and beverage, and managing lodging. They will also be given budgets and learn exactly how to work with that.
The second Saturday will entail attendees learning about contract negotiations and a/v expectations.
On the third day, attendees will be touring an actual event sight and will be taught what exactly to be looking for. They will learn how to create a timeline, and how to market and brand their event.
On the fourth day, the most important day, attendees will pitch an actual idea to the experts and hear what they have to say back.
After all of this is over, attendees will receive an official event planning certification from the university along with CEUs (continuing education units).
“There are very few degree-granting programs out there and lots of our students want to be event planners. This broadens their experience and makes them much more marketable,” Hosterman said. “We really saw a need [for this].”
To find out more information about the Longwood Academy for Event and Meeting Planning, head to blogs.longwood.edu/eventplanningseminars.
“Our students will be walking out of here not only with a degree but a certification in event planning – they should be the hottest stuff out there,” Hosterman said.