Yesterday, I had to work the Harlem Day event with four other interns, four part timers and my boss (Taneka). In this event, I had to arrive at 7am because I was driving there since I had to leave early to pick up my father from the airport. Others had to meet at the station at 5am to pack all of the vehicles with the equipment. Since this was a big outdoor event we took all of the company vehicles. It was the Angie Martinez Hummer H3, the Funk Master Flex Escalade, The Miss Jones Chevy and The Interactive. All of the cars were packed to capacity with equipment for the event.
When waking up for the event, one of the part timers called me inquiring where I was and the rest of the workers. I informed him of my arrangements and that our on site contact was aware and was notifed days prior of my travel arrangements. He then began to complain about the other workers tardiness. None of them were at work at 6am and they were supposed to be there by 5am. He was furious because the main person (Brandon) in charge of the event didn't show up on time and wasn't answering the phone. He also stated that he called everyone who was supposed to be working and none of them were answering the phone. However, I told him that I would meet him at the event. I arrived at the event on time just in case if anyone would arrive, I could help set up. Since Harlem blocked off all of 135 street from the bridge to St. Nicholas, I had to park on 141st and 5th avenue. Then I realized I had to walk so far to where Hot 97 was supposed to set up at. We were located at 135th street and St. Nicholas. Walking long Manhattan blocks when its hot felt like walking in a desert without water and an umbrella. When arriving to my destination, I realized no one from the station was there yet. I finally decided to call the part timer who was at the station by himself to see if anyone has arrived or if they left yet. Unfortunately, he stated that he didn't leave yet and that no one has even arrived yet to the station. I was appauld about this statement because it was already 7:30am and they were supposed to be there half hour prior.
Since no one was there and I had nothing to do. I just decided to just wait out on a stoop for their arrival. When 8am reached, sister station Kiss Fm arrived. They were shocked that I was still the only one on site and on time. They informed me that there was only one person on site representing the station. The good news was that they brought out a Hot 97 banner for me to start setting up.
Close to 9am, that is when the rest of the workers decided to arrive. Without even speaking to anyone, we jumped into setting up for our event. We posted up banners on every single gate, wall and corner. We then had to proceed in setting up a tent and a table so we can begin the event. In this tent we had a table setup with DVD's, CD's, flyers, posters, video games and books. For them to win this prize they had to either answer questions on Hot 97 or spin the trivia wheel we had.
When the event started our table was an instant hit. Everyone was winning prizes from us. We even had a long line from our booth to the street corner. In order for them to to get a prize, they had to either spin the wheel and/or answer a Hot 97 trivia question. For example, we would ask them who are the three host of the morning show (which are Cipha Sounds, Peter Rosenberg and K Foxx) and who is the voice of New York (Angie Martinez).
Even though we were under a tent, it felt like the sun was just piercing on us. It was even 95 degrees in the shade(seriously). In addition to us having a tent full of prizes, we had DJ WebStar (a Harlem rapper/producer) and Fabolous perform. In addition, Kiss FM brought out Brian McKnight.
Hours later, the show was still going on and I had to leave to go pick up my father. However, I couldn't leave because all roads leaving out of Harlem we're blocked. So I had to drive all of the way downtown and take the highway around to get my father. Unfortunately it took so long that he ended up taking a cab home from the airport.
Overall, I really enjoyed the event. Even though there was a lack of communication going on with our travel plans, we still managed to put on a successful event. There was a good crowd, and positive energy circiling around all of us.
No comments:
Post a Comment