The Party Planner

I have not yet had the opportunity to plan a professional event or activity.  In my personal life I have had many opportunities to plan  social events.  One of my fondest planning memory is when I planned a Halloween party that my roommates and I had when I lived in Colorado.


There was a lot of tasks that had to be done.

• First, we had to pick a date.
• Then we had to come up with a theme.  Since it was a Halloween party, that was very simple.
• Between my roommates, Brandy and Carla, we had to come up with a guest list.
• Once we had an idea of how many people we were going to invite, we had to come up with a menu with food and drinks we were going to supply.
• I made the invitations for the party and we all handed them out to the people on our guest list, about 2 weeks before the party.
• About a week before the party, all three of us girls went shopping to get supplies and decorations.
• The day before the party, we also had to go to the store again to get last minute food items.
• On the day of the party, Brandy was in charge of cleaning the house up and Carla was in charge of setting up decorations.  I was in charge of making all the appetizers. 
• I made pigs-n-a-blanket, which looked like mummies.
• I made deviled eggs that looked like eye balls.
• I made Rice Krispy treats that looked like pumpkins and some that looked like candy corn.
• I also had basic appetizers that were not Halloween themed: chips and salsa, vegetable trays with ranch dressing, and meat balls and mini sausages in BBQ sauce.
•  I also made "Witches Brew", which consisted of the combination of Orange, Mango, and Pineapple juice in a huge pot.  I put dry ice in the Witches Brew so it made it look steamy and spooky.
• After the party was over, we had to clean up.  That was my least favorite part!!

(Left to Right) Brandy, Me, and Carla

Looking back, there is not very much I would change.  Our decorations were awesome and kind of spooky too.  The food was great as well and every body loved the themed appetizers.  Every one's costumes were great and very creative!

If someone is looking to do a similar party, there are a few helpful hints that I would tell them.

• Don't spend a lot of time and money on appetizers.  No matter what kind of food is out, people will eat it.  Your guests don't pay too much attention to the spread.
• Make the clean-up process as easy as possible.  That night or the next day, you are not going to be wanting to clean up a big mess.  Use disposable plates and serving wear.
• If you are doing a Halloween themed party, use black lights!!!  We changed all the light bulbs in the house to black lights and it was so cool to see how every one's costumes looked.  It also made for some neat pictures.

Purchasing Cards

Purchasing Cards are a form of charge cards that companies issue to employees.  Employees are to use these cards for business purposes only.  Employers can put limits on these cards, such as purchase amounts and number of times the card can be used.  Three of the biggest Purchase Cards are:

1. Visa Purchase Card
2. Corporate Purchasing Card by American Express
3. U.S. Bank Purchasing Card

The purchasing card I found to be the best option was the U.S. Bank Purchasing Card.  As stated on their website, many of their clients have saved as much as $78.58 per transaction, when using the purchasing card.

There are multiple benefits of using a purchasing card.  By using a purchasing card, you dont have to worry about filing the paper work for authorizing, tracking, and reconciling the purchases. Transactions can be tracked and automatically posted to the general ledger.  Employers can manage and monitor employee compliance and they can also enforce card-usage policies for employees.

One of the biggest benefits for the U.S. Bank Purchasing Card are that employers can control and limit spending by:

• Capping the number of transactions and dollar amounts per day, per month, or any other desired period of time.
• Having a single-purchase limit for the cardholders.
• Having a limit on how much the cardholder can spend per 30-day billing cycle.
• Blocking purchases of specific commodities and services.

Other benefits of the U.S. Bank Purchasing Card that help boost efficiency and decrease cost are:

• Worldwide card acceptance
• Reduced paperwork
• 24-hour customer service
• Liability Waiver protection program
• Online account setup and maintenance
• Online web-enabled reporting
• Flexible authorization system
• Cardholder spending controls

Records Management in My Personal Life

When you are planning your personal record keeping system, there are three factors that play a big importance: findability, confidentiality, and safety.  Findability basically means how easy is it for you to find something particular that you are looking for.  Confidentiality is the process of keeping personal information private.  Safety is the freedom from harm and danger.  Confidentiality and safety go hand-in-hand.  If you do not keep your documents confidential, then your safety is at risk.  If your personal and private documents fall into the wrong hands, your life could be turned upside down.  I would keep all my personal medical documents in one folder, because those are very confidential.  I would mark confidential on the folders as well.  I am not exactly sure how helpful that would be, but I am willing to give it a shot to see how it would work out.

Right now, my filing method is not a good one and is very weak.  I usually just throw all my random documents into a basket and have to dig through it when I need to find just one of the documents.  I need to improve my personal record keeping habits.  I just recently purchased a filing box and some folders so that I can start to file my documents properly.  I am going to create the following folders:

• AT&T
• Bank Account Info
• Car: PT Cruiser
• Car Insurance
• Credit Card Statements
• Electronics Information
• Life Insurance
• Vet Paperwork
• Warranties

As I am going, I will make more folders for paperwork that shows up.  The folders I bought are color coded.  I will put the folders that have confidential information in the red folders.  I am going to use the green folders for folders that have financial information in them.  For paperwork that is not too confidential (warranties, vet paperwork, etc.), I will use the orange folders.  

Using Sky Drive & Google Drive

I have had great experiences using both Sky Drive and Google Drive.  I love the fact that we can save documents on both of them and then we can pull them up on a different computer.  We do not have to use a thumb drive to save our work on to transfer from one computer to another.

Before this current semester, I have used Sky Drive.  I would work on assignments at school and I would save them on Sky Drive.  Then when I got home, I could pull it up off of Sky Drive and I could continue working right where I left off.  I have also used it to create a document and then print it off at another computer location.  This semester I was introduced to Google Drive.  As far as I can see, it is used the same way.  The only thing I have created on Google Drive was a survey.

I plan on utilizing these two features more in the future.  It is a lot easier to save it on either Sky Drive or Google Drive and then pull it up at another location.  Doing it this way, you do not have to mess with a thumb drive.  Another plus is that you do not have to worry about losing your work if your thumb drive gets lost.

Written Communication

This chapter has helped me recognize that I can strengthen my written communication in the following ways:

• I will write more effective and make sure to include plenty of details in my sentences.
• I will not use wordy expressions as much and try to keep the sentences concise.
• When I am righting a letter, I will determine what the goal of it is and make sure the format matches the goal.
• I will start to use more positive expressions and try to use less negative expressions.
• I also realize that I need to gather and organize the appropriate information.
• Once I have a finished copy of the letter, I need to make sure I set it down and come back to later to proofread it.
• When writing a letter, I need to determine if I need to be direct, indirect, or persuasive to be the most effective.

A Poor Customer Service Experience

As an external customer, I have had such poor customer service with Sears lately.  I recently had a window broken by a flying object, while I was mowing the lawn.  When I purchased the new windows about 4 years ago, I was told there was a full lifetime warranty.  I have called the warranty number multiple times, over a two week period, leaving messages with my information for them to call me back.  Finally, I was able to get through to a customer service representative and was informed that the  warranty was only good for materials and not labor.  They are now telling me that I need to pay $100 for labor, just for them to come out here; not including how long it takes them to replace the window.  Then the customer service representative informs me that it might not actually be covered because it shattered and that the warranty covers cracked or damaged windows.    I am very disappointed with Sears.  They sold me the windows with a lifetime guarantee and now they do not want to honor it.  I guess Sears's warranty is only good for when they want to honor it.

A few suggestions for Sears to handle this situation better is:

1. They should be loyal to their customers.  Happy customers always return.
2. They should honor their lifetime warranty.
3. They could have returned my multiple messages that I left over a two week period.
4. They could be willing to do a one time discount for this repair.
5. They should update their warranty information to be more accurate to their actions.

This is not the first problem I have had with Sears.  I always give companies multiple chances because I understand that not everyone is perfect.  But this is probably one of the last times I will use Sears to buy products that might need to be replaced during their warranty period.

Future Leader

This chapter has made me think about my future role as a leader in the following ways.

I have never really considered myself to be a leader.  I don't like to be in charge of tasks or people.  I like to be given directions and just do my work.  I am not a big risk taker; I like to play it safe.  The older I get, the more of a leader I become.  In college, I am now finding myself taking charge of group projects and activities.  In the future I am going to use the following advice:

• Always plan well and accordingly.
• Before the first group meeting, I will try to develop strategies that will help accomplish the goals of our group tasks.
• I will set a good example for my fellow employees.  If I lead by example, it will motivate them to follow in my footsteps and become a better employee and group member.

One idea that I have never considered was to invest in people.  This is important because you need to create relationships with your co-workers.  If you are loyal to your co-workers and employees, they will be loyal to you in return.