Hi Everyone,

I hope your semester has been going well. This blog post will discuss the event preparation details my classmate Sheryl and I completed to host an awareness seminar about Native Plants with guest speakers from the Georgia Native Plant Society that we hosted at the Honors College. This was a great event we hosted and all the participants were able to learn more about local native plant species. 

During March, Sheryl and I have been in conversation with Dr. Amy Lederberg, Vicki Mann, Leslie Mann, The Honors College Staff, and Dr Shannon Finck, to host an awareness discussion after learning what SMPP, local partner with GNPS needed as a request for raising awareness. When we were looking at completing our class project proposal, we asked our coordinators what their biggest concern was regarding native plants, the volunteers, and the vision for the organization. After speaking with Nicki Belmonte, (Executive Director for GNPS) we learned that they needed more awareness. Their concerns stated they wanted more appealing centers consisting of messaging for marketing needs – why people who don’t own and manage property should care about native plants (and be a member/supporter/follower). They wanted to broaden their audience for education and awareness. They also wanted us to create infographics displaying these messages that could be posted either on Facebook, Instagram or potentially their website. This allowed us to think of the idea to host an awareness seminar on campus at Georgia State University so we can make students more aware and help broader our audience.

This consisted of communication with all parties and we coordinated a day, and time for our guest speakers to come and speak to students. Our guest speakers created a presentation, brought brooks and Dr. Finck sponsored food as well. We made sure a room was available in the Honors College, coordinated parking and made sure the technology was available for our speakers. The event allowed for great conservation and allowed students to become involved as well. Thus in return, we were able to get everyone’s contact information and send out the PowerPoint that our speakers designed and discussed. Additionally, we got the Honors College to post our event on the weekly Honors College Newsletter and we printed and posted flyers around campus and the Honors College. This was a fun learning experience because I learned more about how to take care of native plants, and it helped with our event planning skills. Sheryl and I enjoyed hosting the event!!