Lick Creek Star Party
What is Lick Creek Star Party?
Lick Creek Star Party was an event held at Lick Creek Nature Center and Park. The Nature Center opened October 14, 2017 and this was the first annual Star Party! The goals of this event were to facilitate an environment for the community to learn about the stars and constellations, educate participants on the effects of pollution, and increase popularity of the Lick Creek Nature Center. There were activites/crafts, a star dome from the History Mueseum in Houston, face painting, telescopes, a pollution information booth and space themed snacks and goodies!
My Role
For this event, my main role was volunteer managment. Prior to the implementation of the Star Party, I helped recruit and organize volunteers from my RPTS 321 class. During the event, I sat at the registration table to check in volunteers and participants. This role seems simple, but when you are working directly with people, you need to be able to have effective and clear communication because between the volunteers and the actual event, the volunteer manager is the point of contact.
By being a part of the event managment team (the picture on the right), we all helped with planning, set up, implementation, tear down and everything in between. Many hours were committed to this event and it turned out to be a HUGE success. We made a big profit for the Nature Center while still being under $119 under budget!
Face painting!
The pavilion where the light pollution booth, snacks, telescopes, and dome were located.
Fun space activites!
The dome where the light show was!
What did I learn?
What did I NOT learn is the easier question to ask! This experience of planning, implementing, and evaluating was the closest experience I have ever gotten to professional event planning. We had REAL money, REAL clients, REAL goals & objectives, REAL volunteers, and REAL participants! While being in college and being in event planning classes, almost everything we have learned and practiced has been hypothetical. I learned about marketing with city government (and how it can be a bit of a struggle), how to communicate with volunteers/clients/event management team effectively, and having an effective risk management plan. Lastly, I learned that it is important that YOU have fun and learn to just go with the flow! It's okay to not always have your ducks in a row, that's what experience is for! Failure stretches you and teaches you many things about yourself and your career path!
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