Visit With Chris Kopp

So today, I had a busy day at my internship. It was one of my co-workers in Inside Government birthday - Ruth - so we all sang happy birthday to her and we had a cake. Today I compiled all email headers for Inside Government events until December 2009. From the email headers that I completed, I put them all into one document and wrote four more for events that were just released. I then created a database/spreadsheet for invitees to the Green ICT Pre-Conference Dinner, was tasked to find organization, email address, job title and telephone number for each delegate, converted the PowerPoint slides from this week’s conferences into PDF Format so that they would be ready to send to the delegates who attended and created surveys for events next week via surveymethod.com.

Today was also the premier for the new Happy Potter Movie at Leicester Square - all of the big stars were there and I tried to avoid it as much as possible because of the crowds.

I ate lunch at TGI Fridays because I was craving chicken fingers. It rained all day today and as I left work, it poured. I quickly went to the National Art Museum and saw some great painting of Monet, Di Vinci etc. They were beautiful and I will go back to take some more pictures. I met Chris Kopp, who is studying at LSC, and we had a nice dinner at an Italian restaurant - I had breaded veal - delicious! We then walked around Covent Garden and into Westminster and then headed down to Tower Hill as I showed him the big sights in London. We then ended up in Piccadilly Circus and we parted ways and I returned home exhausted. We talked about our trip to Rome this coming up weekend too!

Some random thoughts: 1. Live Nation does big events for the music industry - maybe intern with them in the future. 2. Many people do not drive in the UK - one person just started driving when he was 29 and many people at my work are just starting to learn to drive - and they are 25 years old - a totally different culture. 3. They call 7-up/Sprite, Lemonade in London. 4. Instead of taking your credit card in restaurants, the waiter will bring a portable credit card machine to the table. 5. The credit cards in London have a magnetic chip that you can inside the entire card into the machine instead of swiping it.

Tomorrow, I have another event, so early to bed for me.

Cheers!

One More Musical Bought

Today, I woke up for my internship - my last Monday at work. I was quite busy. I updated events board for Inside Government and GovNet Events. I deleted many events that took place last week and rearranged the events board to take into consideration new events that were added. I also updated the total number of paid delegates, the event manager/program manager, number of exhibitors/sponsor, total number of delegates etc. I then wrote emails and marketing campaigns for five events that were about to be launched, proofread delegate packets for events this week, updated contact mailing list by adding contacts who opened emails from past events, wrote two email headers relating the event to current news that would be used for marketing purposes for emails to potential delegates and organized spreadsheet and collaborated all information from various spreadsheets into one spreadsheet for events from other organizations for procurement that were held or are going to be held so that GovNet does not program a similar event.

I ate lunch at Nando's for the last time (because I had a free half chicken coming my way) and it was delicious.

I then headed home quickly to relax, and then off to Leicester Square to meet up with a friend to have a quick bit to eat. I also bought a ticket to Phantom of the Opera on Thursday - I got a really great deal.

Tomorrow, I am going to meet Chris, a friend from high school, for dinner and talk about our Rome/Vatican plans. On Wednesday, I am meeting with my program director and then Thursday is the musical.

Cheers!

The Cathedrals And The Boat

Today, I headed over to Westminster for their services at 11:00 am. However, there was a miscommunication and my EUSA friends went to St. Paul's instead. So I headed toward St. Paul's and we went to "Communion" (as they call it) there. It is the Queen's church and it was just beautiful. Then we went to Westminster, however it was closed, so we just went in the gift shop instead. We then traveled toward the East side of London and went to a few markets, Spitalfield and Petticoat markets. I bought a few ties that were dirt cheap. We ate lunch at a local pub and I ordered Sweet & Sour Chicken - it was delicious! We then headed toward Oxford Circus and went to Primark (an upscale Walmart but much cheaper) and I bought a few items too - more ties because they were really cheap again.

We then headed toward Regent's Park and walked around for a bit and went paddle boating. It was fun. I then headed back to Barons Court and am going to bed early. My last weekend in London was great and relaxing.

Cheers!

Way Out of My Price Range

Today, I woke up and meet some new EUSA friends at Notting Hill to go shopping at the Portobello Market. We first ate a traditional English Breakfast (I had a traditional American Breakfast - pancakes, waffles & bacon - but more like Canadian bacon) and then went shopping. Afterwards, we headed toward Knightsbridge to visit Harrods. It was very expensive and it was huge inside! I didn't buy anything though.

We then went to Piccadilly Circus and we're wondering why so many people were there - it was because today was Gay Pride so there was tons of people for the parade. We made it through and took pictures at the Ritz Hotel - we were going to have some tea, but we were not dressed properly - instead we went to Prat and had a muffin and apple juice. I then came home and found out that the fireworks today were cancelled - however the 4th of July celebration was still occurring. I found it very interesting that the English celebrated the 4th when it was the day that they lost and the Americans won. Anyways, we were all exhausted by that time and I just decided to stay inside and relax - ordered a pizza from Dominos and talked to some London friends from home.

Tomorrow, we are off to St. Pauls and Westminster Abby and then maybe a boat ride at Regent's Park.

Cheers!

Saying Goodbyes

So today, I woke up (not enough time to go to pick up tokens for the dryer) and headed toward South Kensington for the Professional Development. Since it was so hot, we were let out 30 minutes early. We had lunch briefly at Pret and then headed toward Camden Market to shop. Everything was so cheap there and we were able to bargin/barter to get good deals. There is this section where it is totally dedicated to food and the vendors would shout out to try their food and hand out free samples. I ordered some Chinese. We then stopped at a McDonalds to cool off and then I headed back to Baron's Court to cool off.

I then headed back to South Kensington to meet some EUSA people for dinner: Yanique, Shea, Meghan, Carolyn, Carissa & Katrina (Carolyn's roommate from Florida) for a nice dinner at a pub (I ordered a steak) and then headed back to say goodbye since they will be leaving for the States tomorrow.

I am exhausted and am going to sleep in tomorrow.

Cheers!

An End To A Long Week

Today, I woke up at the normal time for work - 7:20 am. I finished the post-attendance sheets for the Second Annual Parliamentary Awards. This time, I compiled a spreadsheet of those who confirmed/registered at the event, compiled a spreadsheet of those who were invited, minus those who attended/registered at the event, and compiled a spreadsheet of those who confirmed but did not attend. I then wrote emails and marketing campaigns for five events that were about to be launched. I wrote emails for the opening email, and also the second email campaigns. I also proofread events / agendas that are held in September/October 2009 that will launch on Friday. I then updated contact mailing list by adding contacts that opened emails from past events. Finally, I converted the PowerPoint slides from this week’s conferences into PDF Format so that they would be ready to send to the delegates who attended.

I then stopped by at the National Portrait Gallery to sign in for EUSA and then returned home and did my weekly journal for Brockport, completed the survey for the Professional Development Seminar last week and am heading to bed.

Tomorrow, I will attempt to buy more tokens for the dryer and then head to the Professional Development Seminar once again. I hope to do something, maybe a picnic or something, since it has been such a beautiful week!

Cheers!

The Last Day for Kayla

§ Managed registration for “The National Obesity Conference: Reversing the Tide of Obesity - Working Together to Create an Active, Healthier Nation.” I organized & produced name badges, greeted people, registered people/changed information for substitutes, packed delegate folders etc. The Grange Hotel was beautiful and they provided us with a hot breakfast and fresh fruit. It was great.

Then, I returned back to the office and completed a portion of a proposal for programs – Safety in the Workplace and Data/Cyber Security. I looked at organizations/events to find programs that were similar to the ones in the proposal to help identify appropriate dates, and if the program will attract a large enough crowd. I then began to update attendance list for the Second Annual Parliamentary Awards/Champagne Reception. I added delegates who did not confirm or were not on the list, compiled a list of those who did confirm and those who registered at the event, compiled a list of all those who were invited, attended, rejected, and confirmed, and compiled a list of those who confirmed but did not attend. These will be used for invitation purposes next year and for a post-email that will be sent out in a few days.

Today was the last day for my fellow intern, Kayla. So we all signed a card and bought her flowers!

I then returned home and finished my laundry and just relaxed after a busy week.