Today I woke up at a quarter to seven and had to be at the conference at 7:30.
Myself and one of my classmates had to help people set up their lunch tables that would be decorated with items. It works like this: A company reserves a table at lunch and decorates it with their company gear. Someone from that company will play host to the people that sit at their table. Anyways, the different vendors or associations would come in, I would tell them to pick any table, give them early access cards for their tables host, and cross their name off a list of names. It was okay as far as work goes. And it gave me a chance to see everyone's tables. There were tables with bottles of wine, tables with books, tables with clothing, tables with spa gear... I saw a table with toys and decided I would try and get a seat there.
An hour into this, two girls from SDSU show up. They were late and kinda crabby. After telling them what we were suppose to do, one of the girls complained that "they" (meaning the SD tourism board) expect too much from us students.
"What are you talking about? You don't do anything." I said, which sounds a little aggressive now that I think about it. Oh well! After that, I went to a keynote speaker who talked about... something. I can't remember. Then it was lunchtime! I was super excited to push my way to the table of my choice but I got stuck doing work to help set up for the next speaker. By the time I was done, every table was nearly full. But there were 2 seats open at the toy table, so I got to sit there.
Turns out my table was being sponsored by the Watertown Chamber. They gave us each a puzzle, stuffed animal, chocolates, and a bag to keep our swag in. There we had lunch which was some bread with ham and cheese inside.
While we ate, I talked with everyone at my table. Half of them were from First Gold and some were from Black Hill's and Badlands. One of them offered me an internship. There was another speaker during lunch, then they gave away prizes. I didn't win anything.
After lunch I thought I would go to one of the speakers (like yesterday, there were 3 speakers but you could only attend 2). But the conference had other plans for me. While the hotel staff cleared out plates from the tables, interns and SD tourism staff had to create the table decorations for tonights gala. I had to unwrap and take apart these glitter coated branches. My hands were covered in glitter, it was kind of annoying.
"I feel like a pixie." I mentioned as we shook glitter off our hands every now and then. "Think of a wonderful thing..."
"Shut up." One of my classmates told me. After a moment, she started singing, "You can fly, you can fly, you can fly!"
After shaking off the magic pixie dust, I got to work on flowers. There was around a billion flowers to cut the stems and place in the vases.
I was cutting flowers by myself while the others either decorated the vases, cut the branches, put covers on chairs, or brought in more stuff. While I was cutting, one of the wait staff came up to me and dropped a napkin down by my hands. He was around my age I guess. "I think you dropped this." He said with a smile and walked away.
Because I'm not a complete idiot, I waited until no one was looking then opened the napkin.
I showed Maria the note and we had a good laugh. Then she asked me to point out which guy gave it to me and I HAD ALREADY FORGOTTEN WHAT THAT GUY LOOKED LIKE. So I spent the next hour avoiding anyone from the banquet staff, lest I bump into napkin boy.
After we set up the tables for the evening party, we all killed time for about another hour. We went back to the hotel at 5 to hang out before it was time to get ready for the evening gala.
I wasn't looking forward for tonights party. It was formal wear but someone mentioned how some people go all out and treat this like prom. They wear ball gowns and have their hair professionally done. I brought a dress that costs $6. I think I look like an escort in it.
We left around 6:30 for the gala. Everyone looked nice and everyone I asked said I didn't look like an escort. At the event they had a table reserved for BHSU students, so I set my stuff down then went to the bar with a friend. She said she wanted to keep up with me, so we each had a shot of jack daniels then a double jack and coke. I got drunk pretty earlier on. It was a solid 7 on the scale of 1 to 10 of fun.
We had salad with poppyseed dressing. It was okay. Then out of nowhere someone from the table pulled out a bread basket and we had bread. I asked how long the bread basket was there. They said I had been drinking too much, as the bread had been there the whole time. Whatever, it popped out of nowhere.
Some guy went on stage and talked about blah blah blah. He made a joke about getting diarrhea in an airport bathroom, and for that I can appreciate him.
Then we had dinner. It was chicken cordon bleu, veggies, and lil potatos. Pretty decent meal. It took me forever to eat though.
The goveneror got on stage and gave out some awards and it was pretty boring. Every time someone won an award, we would all give a standing ovation and it just felt excessive after the third award. And he didn't mention the university students. I thought he would have. After he was done giving out awards, the party was over. The BHSU students went up and took our picture with ol' govenor D. Then I was ready to leave!
But the conference had other plans for me. I had to help take the centerpieces, those flower vases we had created 6 hours ago. We took them off tables and then threw the flowers away and emptied the vases. Throwing the flowers away seemed like such a waste. They were quite pretty. So I grabbed a handful to take home to my mom.
Half the group went to the bar for the after party, and half the group went back to the hotel for the nap party. I was in the latter group. So we went back to the hotel at 10 and I typed up today's adventure at the SD Govenerors Conference on Tourism. I am glad it's over.
REFLECTION!
I wish I hadn't come. Not that this event was awful, because it was O.K. But I missed classes to come here and it just doesn't feel worth it. Doing the whole volunteer/interning was a neat experience. Getting to see the "behind the scenes" was fun. But not fun enough to be worth missing my other classes. I'm glad I got to hang out with my peers because most of them are pretty cool people. Overall, I'm glad I went! But at the same time I wish I hadn't. Oh well! We leave for Spearfish at 8:30 tomorrow, so I'm going to go to bed.
Fun being had.
Myself and one of my classmates had to help people set up their lunch tables that would be decorated with items. It works like this: A company reserves a table at lunch and decorates it with their company gear. Someone from that company will play host to the people that sit at their table. Anyways, the different vendors or associations would come in, I would tell them to pick any table, give them early access cards for their tables host, and cross their name off a list of names. It was okay as far as work goes. And it gave me a chance to see everyone's tables. There were tables with bottles of wine, tables with books, tables with clothing, tables with spa gear... I saw a table with toys and decided I would try and get a seat there.
An hour into this, two girls from SDSU show up. They were late and kinda crabby. After telling them what we were suppose to do, one of the girls complained that "they" (meaning the SD tourism board) expect too much from us students.
"What are you talking about? You don't do anything." I said, which sounds a little aggressive now that I think about it. Oh well! After that, I went to a keynote speaker who talked about... something. I can't remember. Then it was lunchtime! I was super excited to push my way to the table of my choice but I got stuck doing work to help set up for the next speaker. By the time I was done, every table was nearly full. But there were 2 seats open at the toy table, so I got to sit there.
Turns out my table was being sponsored by the Watertown Chamber. They gave us each a puzzle, stuffed animal, chocolates, and a bag to keep our swag in. There we had lunch which was some bread with ham and cheese inside.
I scooped out the ham and just ate the bread and cheese.
While we ate, I talked with everyone at my table. Half of them were from First Gold and some were from Black Hill's and Badlands. One of them offered me an internship. There was another speaker during lunch, then they gave away prizes. I didn't win anything.
After lunch I thought I would go to one of the speakers (like yesterday, there were 3 speakers but you could only attend 2). But the conference had other plans for me. While the hotel staff cleared out plates from the tables, interns and SD tourism staff had to create the table decorations for tonights gala. I had to unwrap and take apart these glitter coated branches. My hands were covered in glitter, it was kind of annoying.
"I feel like a pixie." I mentioned as we shook glitter off our hands every now and then. "Think of a wonderful thing..."
"Shut up." One of my classmates told me. After a moment, she started singing, "You can fly, you can fly, you can fly!"
After shaking off the magic pixie dust, I got to work on flowers. There was around a billion flowers to cut the stems and place in the vases.
Not a calla lily, but it'll work.
I was cutting flowers by myself while the others either decorated the vases, cut the branches, put covers on chairs, or brought in more stuff. While I was cutting, one of the wait staff came up to me and dropped a napkin down by my hands. He was around my age I guess. "I think you dropped this." He said with a smile and walked away.
Because I'm not a complete idiot, I waited until no one was looking then opened the napkin.
Garrett you smooth son of a bitch.
I showed Maria the note and we had a good laugh. Then she asked me to point out which guy gave it to me and I HAD ALREADY FORGOTTEN WHAT THAT GUY LOOKED LIKE. So I spent the next hour avoiding anyone from the banquet staff, lest I bump into napkin boy.
After we set up the tables for the evening party, we all killed time for about another hour. We went back to the hotel at 5 to hang out before it was time to get ready for the evening gala.
I wasn't looking forward for tonights party. It was formal wear but someone mentioned how some people go all out and treat this like prom. They wear ball gowns and have their hair professionally done. I brought a dress that costs $6. I think I look like an escort in it.
Not an escort.
We left around 6:30 for the gala. Everyone looked nice and everyone I asked said I didn't look like an escort. At the event they had a table reserved for BHSU students, so I set my stuff down then went to the bar with a friend. She said she wanted to keep up with me, so we each had a shot of jack daniels then a double jack and coke. I got drunk pretty earlier on. It was a solid 7 on the scale of 1 to 10 of fun.
We had salad with poppyseed dressing. It was okay. Then out of nowhere someone from the table pulled out a bread basket and we had bread. I asked how long the bread basket was there. They said I had been drinking too much, as the bread had been there the whole time. Whatever, it popped out of nowhere.
Pictured: Salad and drink. Not pictured: Magic Houdini bread
Some guy went on stage and talked about blah blah blah. He made a joke about getting diarrhea in an airport bathroom, and for that I can appreciate him.
A kindred spirit.
Then we had dinner. It was chicken cordon bleu, veggies, and lil potatos. Pretty decent meal. It took me forever to eat though.
The goveneror got on stage and gave out some awards and it was pretty boring. Every time someone won an award, we would all give a standing ovation and it just felt excessive after the third award. And he didn't mention the university students. I thought he would have. After he was done giving out awards, the party was over. The BHSU students went up and took our picture with ol' govenor D. Then I was ready to leave!
But the conference had other plans for me. I had to help take the centerpieces, those flower vases we had created 6 hours ago. We took them off tables and then threw the flowers away and emptied the vases. Throwing the flowers away seemed like such a waste. They were quite pretty. So I grabbed a handful to take home to my mom.
Not calla lilies, but Calla's orchards.
Half the group went to the bar for the after party, and half the group went back to the hotel for the nap party. I was in the latter group. So we went back to the hotel at 10 and I typed up today's adventure at the SD Govenerors Conference on Tourism. I am glad it's over.
REFLECTION!
I wish I hadn't come. Not that this event was awful, because it was O.K. But I missed classes to come here and it just doesn't feel worth it. Doing the whole volunteer/interning was a neat experience. Getting to see the "behind the scenes" was fun. But not fun enough to be worth missing my other classes. I'm glad I got to hang out with my peers because most of them are pretty cool people. Overall, I'm glad I went! But at the same time I wish I hadn't. Oh well! We leave for Spearfish at 8:30 tomorrow, so I'm going to go to bed.
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