So far, covering the Carlos Rosario School’s 40th Anniversary Gala marks the highlight of my internship with Double R. Not to take anything away from Scott and Amélie’s previous blog posts, but this event was pretty epic for a first PA job.
The gala celebrated Sonia Gutierrez’s 40 years of service to the Carlos Rosario School and its students, as well as a fundraiser for a new campus to make room for 600 more students. The charter school primarily helps immigrants of all ages learn the necessary skills to gain citizenship and successfully enter the American work force. In addition to being honored to help cover an event for a wonderful cause, I was really excited to put on a dress and go to a party!
For a big event such as a gala, there was some serious “prior proper planning” to do. First, I made release forms for all of our interviewees to sign (legal formality). Then, I created a photo directory of the VIP guests of the gala and memorized their names and faces, just like what Anne Hathaway’s character did for her boss in the movie, The Devil Wears Prada. The VIPs were our target interviewees, due to their political status and level of involvement with the charter school. I knew this gala was legit when I saw that D.C.’s mayor, Vincent Gray, was on the VIP list.
Next came the second most important thing: the outfit. Rosemary told me not to be afraid of color, so I wore a purple knit dress with bold gold jewelry and strappy heels. Rosemary took one look at my heels and said, “good luck.” Little did she know, this Chicago city girl had been strutting the streets in heels since she was thirteen.
The Carlos Rosario Gala was truly spectacular. The cocktail hour was like a trip around the world from Latin America to Asia, with each culture represented by various foods, dance, and music. Talk about culture shock! I helped hunt down VIP guests for interviews and made sure every interviewer signed a release form. Feeling like an interview assassin while slyly moving through the crowds with my photo directory in hand, I looked out for my targets. While on my interview mission, a handsome man in a naval uniform (Jeremiah) walked up to me and asked for my number (clearly the outfit was a success). I respectfully declined because although I looked the part, I was not there to party.
We managed to get some great interviews that I had the pleasure (not) of transcribing later. I found trying to hear anything with blaring party chatter and salsa music in the background to be very tedious and challenging. My feet also managed to make it through the entire camera set up and (two-hour) cocktail hour. But as you can see from the picture, “even the mighty must fall.”
— Blake Bomier
