Heinz Field Corporate Events Intern

This past week at Heinz Field I started preparing things for the girl that would be taking over my position as the Corporate Events intern.  I tried to remember everything I did on a daily basis and write it all down for her.  I made her a packet of information to use while she is there.  I also continued working on the newsletter that would be distributed to all employees at the first Steelers pre season game.  On Wednesday evening we had training for the new team members that will be working in the Champions Club.  I got everything ready for training, and made all of the new hires packets full of information.  I worked the check in table, and directed the new employees where to go and how to clock in.  I escorted them to the club and assisted with other tasks during their training session.

This week at Heinz Field I finally got to see the new Champions Club!  It is located on the South Plaza where they just added the new seats.  Guests are able to view the field from inside the club.  It will be operated the same as our current East and West Club Lounges. I set up table arrangements in the club to take photos for people that are interested in hosting events there in the future.  

This week at Heinz Field was our last concert of the summer; One Direction.  I worked normal office hours Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.  The concert was on Sunday.  In the office I got everything ready for the concert.  I made sure all of the concierge bins were stocked and the supervisors’ bins were filled with the necessary materials. This week I also made purchase orders to be submitted for the uniforms we purchased.  Wednesday night I stayed late because there was department training. I worked the registration table as club attendants and guest services employees entered the building.  I checked them in and directed them to where they would go for training.  I set up the table with papers and pens and then cleaned everything up when they were done.

We only had to arrive a few hours early for the concert because there was not as much preparation.  However, there was a VIP party in the club for certain guests from 3:30 to 5 pm. The gates to Heinz Field opened at 5 pm. Guests were going to be entering and exiting the club at the same time, and we were expecting it to get hectic. We kept things very organized and did not have any issues. 

Since there were not as many attendees for this show, we did not have any problems.  It was a very laid back night, and the band put on an entertaining concert.  There was not a lot of clean up at the end of the night, and everything went very smoothly. I wish there were huge concerts like this every weekend at Heinz Field!  I have had so many great learning experiences at the concerts over the summer.

I was off from my internship for one week while I was on a family vacation.  Whenever I got back, I had lots to get caught up on!  I responded to so many event inquiries.  I set up appointments with clients to do site visits, and answered to all of the emails and voicemails.  I had to cover the switchboard for a few hours the one day while the usual receptionist was on vacation.  I answered questions about the upcoming One Direction concert, Steelers training camp, and various other things.  I also transferred all of the calls to the correct lines, and informed my coworkers when their appointments had arrived.  

This week at Heinz Field I did a little bit of everything.  My favorite part of the week was setting up for the wedding on Friday.  The West Club Lounge was booked for a wedding reception on Saturday.  The linens were dropped off Friday, and the bride brought all of her decorations.  My supervisor and I had to take everything to the West Club, which is on the opposite side of the stadium.  I put linens on all the tables, made sure the chair counts were right, set up the guest book table, and set up all the name cards.

I made copies of the work order for the event.  It is basically a guideline for anyone working on event day so they know the timeline of events.  It has guests’ meal requests, the floor layout, where guests will enter/exit, what time everything starts and ends, and lists all other details.  I make copies and distribute them to my supervisor, the security guards (Landmark), the cleaning service (ISS), 24 hour security, and the club supervisor for the event.  

This week I also learned how to do a purchase order.  I had to write out all the costs for the club attendants’ uniforms that were ordered including the item number, quantity, and price.  We have to turn in purchase orders for any expenses over $300.

This week was much slower than usual, and I completed office hours 10-5 Monday and Wednesday.  We were off on Friday in observance of the holiday. This week we did a lot of cleaning and re organizing.  I wrote thank you cards to clients and put together little gift boxes for them.  I also sent out birthday cards to club members and anniversary cards to couples that got married in the clubs last year.

Once The Rolling Stones concert was over, it was time for me to get caught up and put everything away. Monday morning I answered so many phone calls while my supervisors were in a meeting at Stage AE.  People called regarding lost and found items from the concert, ticket issues, etc.  I took an inventory of all the iPads, radios, scanners, pagers, and push buttons from all of the concierge bins and put everything back on their chargers.  I organized each of the clubs bin and filled them with new materials for the One Direction concert in August.  I continued compiling a list of local nonprofits that might be interested in holding an event at Heinz Field.  

Friday was our employee appreciation luncheon at Stage AE.  The other interns and I helped the HR Manager a few hours before the luncheon started.  We set up games, prizes, ripped raffle tickets, and made sure everything was ready to go.  During the event I handed out raffle tickets to employees as they entered.  There was corn hole, trivia, a wing eating contest, lots of good prizes, and of course great food.  It was so nice spending the beautiful afternoon outside with my coworkers. After the luncheon, we set up for a wedding that would be on Saturday.  

We took all of the bride’s decorations from the office to the club and started setting everything up.  

This past week at Heinz Field was so busy, and there was lots to do to prepare for The Rolling Stones on 6/20.  We wanted to make sure everyone attending the concert was aware of the NFL clear bag policy that was in effect for the concert.  I divided the cards that had info about the clear bag policy into bags that would be taken to all the hotels in Pittsburgh.  I also did some research in the office for where we could purchase pins for special holidays in the upcoming season.  I looked up ideas for centerpieces to put on the concierge desks on game day too.  We handed out the first volume of our newsletter on Saturday to all employees in the stadium.  I wrote two of the articles; one about the Kenny Chesney concert, and one about Taylor Swift. I arrived at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday for The Rolling Stones and got started right away.  The other interns and I took balloons to various wristband tables around the stadium.  We got together the bins for the club supervisors and made sure everything was set in the clubs.  I took down all of the curtains in the alcoves that were hanging from the event the night before.  The changeover in the clubs is so quick, so we always have to make sure the specific details are right for each specific event.  

The doors opened at 6:00 p.m. and the show started at 8:00 p.m. with the opener Awolnation. 

There wasn’t one specific demographic at the concert.  People of all ages attended.  The Rolling Stones put on an amazing show, and the 56,000 fans loved it. 

This week at Heinz Field we were preparing for the next big concert; Taylor Swift.  On Wednesday, the other intern and I made sure all the boxes of materials were ready for the club supervisors for the day of the show.  We made sure the club entrances all had indoor and outdoor garbage cans, the wheelchairs were in the correct locations, and the scanners were all charged.

Another task we did that was not related to the concert was type up a list of companies that might be interested in holding their event in the clubs at Heinz Field.  The Pittsburgh Business Times published their 2015 Book Of Lists.  This includes "Best Places To Work", "Colleges and Universities", etc.  I made an excel spreadsheet with the companies names and contact info so that we could add it to our corporate events database.  

On Friday I worked in the office 3-5.  Then it was time to tag all the chairs on the floor for the next day. There were 16 sections, and 5,000 more seats than Kenny Chesney.  We tagged the first and last seat of every row, with a few in the middle too.  We finished around 10:30 pm.  

Saturday I worked 12 pm- 12 am for the concert.  

We set balloons up at the wristband tables, and assisted with any problems in the clubs.  

We did not have a lot of issues, and the day of the event went very smooth. I loved being involved with such a big production!  

It’s hard to believe I have already been at Heinz Field for 3 weeks.  Time is flying!  This week was by far my favorite, because we were preparing everything for the Kenny Chesney concert 5/30.  We continued getting everything organized and ready for the staff working the clubs on concert day.  We set aside bins that would have signs for the stanchions that said “enter’, “exit”, “no smoking”, etc.  We made sure the North, East, and West clubs were all equipped with the proper signage. We also went through the club attendants’ sizes to find uniforms that would fit them.  

Wednesday I worked the switchboard for the first time.  Each of the interns takes a turn covering for the receptionist for an hour.  I answered the phone, transferred people’s calls, and called the employee’s extensions when their appointments arrived.  It was a good learning experience because I was able to get more familiar with employees in the building outside of the clubs and events staff.  

On Friday, I did my normal office duties from 3 to 5, and then all of the interns gathered to do seat tagging.  We went down on the field and tagged all of the seats by section, row number, and seat number.  We put a tag on both ends of the rows and a few in between so that people would know where they were sitting.  We were there until about 10 pm, but we got to see the band’s sound checking for the next night.  It was so cool to see everything come together. 

  Saturday I arrived at 10:00 am.  I started taking photos for the website,Twitter, and Instagram.  I went outside and took photos of “Tiki Town” and around the stadium of the crew setting up.  

Art Rooney Avenue was closed for the “pre beach party”.  There was a small stage for live performances before the concert, photo booths, food stands, bars, etc.  I then had to take balloons all around the stadium to various wristband tables.  Most of the day, the other intern and I had to troubleshoot problems.  The supervisors usually have iPads with all of the concert information, but they were not working.  I made copies of all the content that would have been on the iPad, and organized it into folders.  I then distributed the folders to the different departments so everyone was on the same page.  I set up the ticket scanners, event day sheet, employee sign in sheet, and supervisor materials in each of the clubs.  I watched the managers give their briefing before the concert, and then it was time to open the doors!  Throughout the concert I took photos, and walked through the clubs assisting with any problems or errands that I could help with.  

I worked in the office this week Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.  Monday I got to meet the other Corporate Events intern that will be working on opposite days.  I helped show her what I had learned so far and some tips to keep in mind when doing various tasks.  We updated the list of club attendants, and added in the new hires and took off the people that are not returning.  Each person is assigned a locker for game day.  We made locker cards for all the attendants, and assigned the new hires specific lockers.  We also created game day folders for the club managers.  Each manager has a folder for each event.  I made labels for all of the concerts, Pitt games, and Steeler games, and put them on each of the folders.  Now they are ready to go for the first concert, and can put all of their information about that event in the folder.  

City Theatre was having their annual gala event in the East Club, and I got to observe set up.  There was a birthday party theme, and the decorations were spectacular.  

I also helped organize all of the table numbers that Aramark uses, and put them in numerical order.  There are so many details that go into an event, and it is important that nothing gets forgotten about.  Wednesday I answered the phone in the office while the managers were in a meeting.  I helped answer questions about the Kenny Chesney concert, the price of parking for Taylor Swift, where club attendants should enter for training, etc.  The phones are always ringing, as Heinz Field is a very busy venue!  

Wednesday night was PRIDE training for all new and returning employees.  I helped set up the tables in the West Club and greeted employees as they entered.  While training was in session, the other interns and I pulled uniforms for the employees that were in attendance that night.  We helped distribute the uniforms after training. Friday I organized the club attendant’s name tags and made sure each attendant was accounted for.  Although the first pre season game isn’t until August, we need to have everything ready for the Kenny Chesney concert May 30th.  I also helped clear out the storage closets, so there would be space to store props and equipment for the private event being held on Sunday.  

I officially started in the offices as the Corporate Events intern at Heinz Field.  I already feel like I am getting the hang of things, and I absolutely love the internship so far!  On my first day I arrived at 10:00 am.  I will be in the offices Monday, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 10:00 am - 5:00 pm, and at events and concerts.  I started off by reading through information about the event space and FAQ clients will have.  The clubs are responsible for booking the spaces (East Club, West Club, North Club, Press Box, etc.) for various events.  Companies hold meetings in these spaces, high schools use them for their proms, people get married in the clubs, and non profits hold their galas there. They are so versatile and can be used for any type of event.  I familiarized myself with the prices to rent the spaces and the food and beverage minimum prices.  I also made sure I kept note of the capacities of each space so I could recommend the appropriate space to clients interested in holding their event at Heinz Field.  

I checked the club email account, and created forms for people requesting information about the space. Everything in the email is documented such as the type of event it is, the date, time, number of guests, budget, what type of dinner, and if they want to do a site visit.  I returned the emails and attached certain documents for them to review including the event space pricing, the audio visual pricing, the Aramark menu, and photos of the space I recommended.  I checked the voicemails and answered the phone in the office.  I am now comfortable with the information I am relaying to clients.  

The American Ireland Fund Gala was my first event I got to be a apart of as the special events club intern at Heinz field. It was on March 17th, St. Patrick's Day, in the East Club. It was a huge production and so amazing to see everything come together in time. I arrived at 2:30 pm as they were finishing setting up and putting the finishing touches on everything. Since the Ireland Fund raises money for schools and students in Ireland, they elaborated on the theme by using old books. When guests first got on the elevator there was Irish music playing and torn book pages posted all over the walls. it was very whimsical. The Gala also honored the chancellor of Pitt and CMU. They added a college theme by having a college style pub in one section with pool tables and ping pong tables.  The tables with appetizers and desserts were covered in book pages and beautiful floral arrangements. The club was transformed into "Ireland" with a little bakery, pub, butcher shop, etc. Theresa Kauffman was the event coordinator for this specific event. They start planning it a year in advance. I helped set up table arrangements, and assisted with the set design. For this type of gala, the most important things are the details. We had to make sure everything was perfect and nothing was out of place. When the event started, I handed out programs as the guests entered. It was really cool getting to see every single person that was attending, including the Rooney's. We handed out favors to guests on their way out and assisted with general clean up. It was so exciting to be a part of such a huge Gala. I can't wait to see what the next event I work will be!