From an Intern's Perspective: Best of Washington

At the beginning of June, during a busy summer event season, I began my internship here at Stratus Firm. On my second day in the office, our Vice President of Production told me that I would be working with the team on Washingtonian’s Best of Washington event in July. The event lead tasked me with assisting a social media takeover of the Washingtonian Events Instagram, an account with over 19k followers, in addition to supporting preparations in office and on-site management. I was excited to hear about the impact and importance of my role as an intern and looked forward to seeing the team in action at one of our largest events.

The weeks leading up to Best of Washington, I created packets for the 60 restaurant participants, filling envelopes with wristbands for vendors, printing supply checklists, and designing parking passes for each restaurant. I also added diagrams with each restaurant’s location circled to help them easily find their table, ensuring a quick and easy day of setup. Throughout the month, I also attended meetings with the Washingtonian social media team as we planned the Instagram takeover. It was exciting getting to collaborate and work with a major company in DC. At the end of June, I attended a final walkthrough of the Anthem. This was my first time at the venue and I was excited to see an event come to life here. 

The day of the event I arrived at the Anthem at 10 am. Setup was already in full swing with restaurant tables filling the room, disco balls being hung from the ceiling, and linens being placed. I began filming videos for the takeover, dropping signage, and checking supplies. As the event setup progressed and the VIP reception began I saw how well Stratus works as a team. The team was split into different zones working with restaurants and runners to efficiently communicate supply needs. This system ensured that restaurants would not run out of supplies for an event with over 1500 people. Each person had their own role that had an important part in the event running smoothly. The Stratus team effectively coordinated and communicated with over 60 restaurants, multiple sponsors, caterers, and others to put on an amazing event. I truly saw the Stratus value of “One Team” put into action. The focus on collaboration and communication from our team led to a great overall guest experience and client satisfaction over a successful event.

Written by Summer 2023 Event Production Intern, Ava Butler