MN Designer naive on award shows becomes her blissful advantage

I had the wonderful opportunity to be the ASID (American Society of Interior Designers) Gala Committee Chair.  I was bragging to my family/friends/colleagues… anyone who would listen to me.  Well, the laugh was on me.  I did not realize all the elements that go into the ASID Gala.

First off, we all know about the prettiness for any event. The welcoming of guests, name tags, entrance experience, table décor… etc. But did you know about writing the script or the presentation/power point that goes with the script. Your guests do not want to listen to someone talk for 2 hours without looking at some presentation or slides unless they are Mark Wahlberg or Jason Statham. Then looking at them for 2 hours would be OK :) or as my husband stated, “You would be in heaven”.

Alright, I am getting ahead of myself. You are probably thinking what is the ASID Gala? Why is that so important to the design industry? Those are great questions and here we go.... The ASID Gala is honoring our members achievements. This year’s theme was a “Masquerade Ball”. It was the perfect theme to come back together and celebrate our colleagues/friends. It’s important to the design industry because we hand out awards for the first & second place winners in the following categories…

commercial corporate 15,000sf & under, commercial healthcare, residential powder room, residential bathroom 100sf & under, residential bathroom 101sf & over, residential bedroom suite, residential kitchen 350sf & under, residential kitchen 350-500sf, residential kitchen 501sf & over, residential multiple rooms/entire residence 1000sf & under, residential multiple rooms/entire residence 1,001 – 3,000sf, residential multiple rooms/entire residence 3,001 – 6,000sf, residential multiple rooms/entire residence 6,001sf & over, singular living/special purpose space 300sf & under, singular living/special purpose space 301 – 600sf, singular living/special purpose space 601sf & over, custom designed object/detail, student commercial….

Yes, I know, that’s a lot of awards. Plus, they’re others that one cannot enter but your colleagues/friends nominate you for them.

The ASID Gala is a big deal.  At this event there were 280 people and more than half of them were designers.  If you ask my husband, he stated “that’s a lot of designers to please”.  Let’s face it we are particular but that’s why you hire us because we are detailed, organized, and can visualize the bigger picture.  So, I was unaware of the amount of people that would come and what I had to do. 

The next big task is writing the script.  Yes, the MC’s on stage do not just say this stuff off the cuff.  They read a script that is put together for them. While there might be some ad-lib items after a winning entry or a person, they really know but most of the time someone reads it because it was put in the script.  That was my job.  Luckily, I had a template script from last year.  This helped me out greatly, so I did not have to start from scratch.  Still, I did have to change the categories and winners.

How did I receive the “winners” list? I got to work with the ASID Awards Submission Committee. Jennifer Ruis & Nicole Sirek are amazing. It’s not an easy task & they are the behind-the-scenes committee that’s in charge of collecting the project entries, getting the projects to the judges, receiving them back, tallying the winners, & then sending the information off to the Gala Committee. I take all that information and put it into the script & provide it to our marketing firm for the presentation. So, the MC’s say the person’s name correctly and it’s stated correctly on the big screen. My job does not end there though.

With the MC’s, come rehearsals.  We had three rehearsals before the big event.  The last rehearsal was a week before the event.  A revision occurred with every rehearsal.  Maybe it was the way I stated it in the script or had to find out how to pronounce the person’s name or waiting on information because they were receiving a special award.  Regardless, it was the waiting game.  While I was able to print off the final script the day before the ASID Gala, I was also juggling many things days before the big event. 

Being the ASID Committee Chair, I had to make sure the other tasks were getting completed.  Like the décor for the centerpieces, the entrance experience, the seating arrangements, the name tags, checking in with the caterer, and working with AVEX, the audio/visual team.  I wanted to make sure my team knew I was available for them while they took the lead on these items.  It’s my job as a leader to humble myself so they can let me know how/where they would like me to assist.

I had some amazing volunteers that I need to shout out and thank… Julia Fristedt, Lisa Africano, Laura Shikowsky, Allison Orlando, Cathy Beckler, Jacqui Plasha, Tanya Otten, and Nora McGrain. I also want to thank the MC’s, Arthur Morrissey and Lori Miller, for truly making this event magical.

I hope this Blog made you realize there’s a lot more that goes into a Gala than the prettiness.  The same thing goes for your remodel.  Yes, it’s pretty but most importantly it’s functional, organized, and it works for your family. 

CW Design – Rising together with you