Fashion + Basketball = SUCCESS

Originally, last week was supposed to be my last week working at MKG. However, being that MKG asked me to come back next summer, they wanted me to take part in one last event this past Saturday, August 15th: The JOE Joseph Abboud/ NBA Blockparty. I had already been working on so many things in preparation for this event so I was thrilled when I was named Office Manager and would have the opportunity to see the whole event come to life. Being named office manager, however, I knew my responsibilities would be far from small.

On Tuesday, after a presentation from Classic Party Rentals, a furniture rental company, I sought out to find 8 pairs of sneakers for the Joseph Abboud street team. After calling mulitple places, I was able to put them on hold at the Modell's near Rockefeller center, which I normally try to avoid like the plague. On Wednesday, the Joseph Abboud team was getting down to the nitty grittys. We had a meeting to see everyone's status and make sure everything would occur according to plan. As I was in charge of the Crafty, or craft services, I had to make sure I was going to have enough food for everyone, including the NBA players. After I had begun calling all the catorers I had sourced, none would be open at 5AM, which is when breakfast was scheduled for the crew. On Thursday, I spent my day running all around Manhattan picking up supplies for the fashion show. I went to pick up clickers and pens from Staples and the sneakers and stopwatches from uptown, which needless to say, was disasterous as I had expected.

Friday was the busiest day of the week. I had to get all the food/snacks for the crafty at a Pathmark downtown. I had to reserve enough waters for the event, wich could only be Dasani considering they are an NBA affiliate. I also spent the day calling local Dels in the area of the event to find one that would open early enough to deliver the breakfast and enough ice because I knew it was going to be a hot summer day in NYC.

On the day of the event, I arrived to Greeley Square at 5AM when the sun still slept and the streets were still quiet, well, the streets besides the ones we were working on. I immediately set up breakfast and then at 6:30 when the production tents went up, I had to move everything in there and make sure there was good flow to the space. However, one of the downfalls I have learned to summer in the city, is the smell of a hot sewer. And it just so happens, our tent was RIGHT next to one. Once settled in the tent, I set up the walkies to hand out and sifted through 3 different lists of crendentials. Overall, the event attracked tons of New Yorkers and NBA fans and turned out to be a huge success. The client even raved about the MKG work ethic, which I was very proud to be a part of.