An Overview of the Open House

For my introduction to meeting and event management class at Grand Valley State University, our class planned an open house to share information about the hospitality and tourism management major. Our client was the hospitality and tourism management program director. She wanted us to plan an event that would be open to anyone but was aimed towards Grand Valley students who are freshman or have an undecided major. The open house was a way of spreading information about the hospitality and tourism management major to get more students to choose this as their major. The event also needed to be fun enough to attract students.

Throughout the semester, my classmates and I submitted different proposals for our client to view. Then, she chose her favorite, and that was what we used for the event. We came up with potential budgets, themes, marketing strategies, food and beverage options, and activities. Our client ended up choosing a casino theme called 'Hit the Jackpot!' where we served nachos, pretzels, popcorn, cupcakes, and shirley temple drinks. She also chose the activities which ended up being several cards games and a roulette wheel that guests could spin to win prizes.

The event was a success despite us having no idea how many people would show up. We were able to successfully plan our event in a timely manner, and we set up the event space with ease. There were some small issues that occurred, but we were able to think on our feet and solve the issues. Overall, our client was very happy with how the event turned out.