Art Show Blunder: Event Hosting Tips for Young Professionals

I went to an art show last night where I encountered a less-than-professional young professional. From an event attendee and fellow young professional, here are my tips for yp's that are attending their own events:

1. Don't drink, especially if there's an open bar. A glass of wine usually leads to a second, and a third, and before you know it you're no longer running your event, you're at your own party.

2. Let your fellow event hosts know ahead of time that they will be asked to give a short speech. Don't throw them in front of a crowd unprepared. It creates an awkward experience for everyone.

3. Don't interrupt a speech to interject your own ideas. Especially if you're going to make statements that are offensive to the attendees. This connects to the first tip: don't drink.

Remember that you're not only representing your organization, you're also representing yourself. Any small blunder may seem harmless at the time, but is likely to leave a sour taste in your event attendee's mouths that may come in to play at a later point.

Chobani v. FAGE: The Greek Yogurt Advertising Battle

It seems like there is now a yogurt out there for everything. Yogurt that cuts calories for those that want to be fit, yogurt for those with digestive issues, yogurt for those that crave sweets, and now the original Greek yogurt seems to be going main stream. Recently, commercials for both FAGE and Chobani Greek yogurt have been airing in the battle for brand awareness and consumer sales.



The FAGE commercial without sound is beautiful. The white oceans and flowers blending with color are gorgeous. I’ll ignore the fact that it makes the yogurt look extremely watery and milk-like because the visual concept of this commercial is fantastic. What drives me nuts about this commercial is the copy. There’s a comment on the YouTube video that says it best: “This sounds like Dr. Seuess was craving yogurt.” I can plainly say that rhyming is just plain lame, especially when the rhymes don’t sound the same. (See what I did there?) Nothing about the copy in this commercial makes me think, “Hm, I want to try that!” In all honesty, when I went to write this post I couldn’t even remember the brand name to look up the commercial. Oops.



The Chobani commercial is fairly plain (no FAGE pun intended). Quick spots that have a Chobani fan telling a story about their favorite yogurt. One tells the tale of an Angela look-a-like that hides her yogurt in the drawer at work to deter hungry coworkers. The other shows an early morning adventure of a man on a mission to see the plant where his favorite yogurt is made. There’s nothing overly creative or stimulating about these spots. The ability to relate to the people in these spots (I, too, work in an office where coworkers are not afraid to snatch an unmarked snack from the fridge) and the repetition of the brand name is what makes these spots work.

So how am I judging the overall winner of this battle? Not really by my advertising-side opinion, but rather my personal consumer experience. I had actually never heard of Chobani before I saw the commercial. After hearing these silly stories over and over I became curious. I now eat Chobani every day and I look forward to it! This is not to say Chobani is the better yogurt. FAGE may very well taste better or may even be better for me, but nothing about their spot makes me want to find out.