News
Season of Gratitude | November 2021
30 November 2021
Director’s Note
Meet our Newest (and Cutest) Member: Owen!
Congratulations to our very own Tara McHugh, Program Operations Manager, and
her husband Brendan, on the arrival of their sweet baby boy Owen!
We are so thrilled to welcome the newest addition to the Yale Conferences & Events family and can’t wait to meet him.
Sending the McHugh family loads of good wishes for many wonder-filled mome
nts ahead!
“Sometimes, the smallest things take up the most room in your heart.”
We are hiring: Join Our Team
We are excited to announced that we have added a brand-new role to our department and are looking to fill the position now!
The Housing Administrator (HA) will lead and manage a broad range of department projects and housing IT endeavors. The HA will lead short and long-term planning efforts for Yale College and Yale Conferences & Events with occupancy management, data integrity, room draw efforts, as well as provide operational and logistical support. The HA will be a primary user of the StarRez housing system, and act as technical lead and training facilitator. For a complete job description and to apply, please click here.
We are also looking to fill various seasonal positions that will support a wide range of projects for our Program and Operations teams:
- Program Assistant
- Hospitality Coordinator
- Office Manager
- Operations Coordinator
- Operations Lead
- Resource Coordinator
For more information on each position and to apply, please visit our Employment page.
Looking for more events-related roles at Yale? See below for a small sample of our open positions, and be sure to search Yale’s career portal for even more.
- Assistant Director, Event Management (Yale Athletics)
- Senior Admissions Operations and Events Specialist (Yale School of Management)
- Assistant Director, Operations and Events (Tsai Center for Innovative Thinking at Yale)
Cvent Attendee Hub: Elevate Your Virtual and Hybrid Events
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By guest contributor: Kathryn Vieillard, Deputy Director, Strategy, Sales & Program Development, Yale Conferences & Events; Director, Greenberg Conference Center
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A few years back, Suzanne, my executive director, came to me and said: “I think you should look into these virtual events and see what they are all about.” I dutifully added it to my To-Do list and it eventually got put on the back burner as more pressing projects sprung up.
Flash forward to spring of 2020 when our lives changed and we quickly pivoted into the world of virtual events. The YC&E staff did not miss a beat as they grabbed ahold of the situation, did their research, and learned everything they could from others on campus and beyond. After ironing out some wrinkles, we were off and running, hosting a series of virtual events. Along the way we learned the most efficient ways to execute Zoom meetings and webinars to meet everyone’s needs. However, the Zoom platform left something to be desired, with a lack of simulated breakout rooms, virtual exhibit halls, round tables, and more. So we began the hunt for a platform that could accommodate the growing demands of our clients. |
Searching high and low for the best platform for our clients
It quickly became apparent that we were living through a period of profound innovation that would make it challenging to keep up with and sort through all available platform options. When thinking ahead, we also realized that virtual events were only part of the solution and that hybrid events would be the next great hurdle to overcome. And so we decided that it was paramount to find a platform that could grow with the everchanging needs of our clients’ virtual events while still serving us once the pandemic had subsided.
YC&E set out to find this diamond in the rough by conducting surveys, speaking one-on-one with our peers, attending many platform demos, and test driving a few different platforms. After all this, all arrows kept pointing back to an already existing Yale vendor: Cvent. We were already familiar with Cvent as an event registration platform and knew they had recently purchased the floor plan software, Social Tables, that we’ve used for years. Cvent had also acquired Crowd Compass, an event app, which had peeked our interest in the past, but we had trouble convincing clients to go paperless and use an app instead. It was clear to us that Cvent was well poised to make the transition to virtual and hybrid, haven already been in this space prior to the pandemic.
A new option for your next virtual or hybrod event at Yale
- Zoom (up to 300 participants)
- Zoom Meeting (up to 1,000 participants)
- Zoom Webinar (between 1,000-3,000 participants)
- Zoom Event, in its pilot phase (up to 1,000 participants) - Zoom Events is an event lobby-based software that integrates with Zoom Meetings and Zoom Webinars. It allows multiple sessions to be run simultaneously and provides a comprehensive conference landing page for speakers and attendees.
- Cvent (Attendee Hub)
- Other: We have demoed HopIn and All In the Loop but do not hold licenses at this time
- Usually, we receive an initial inquiry through our website
- We reach out to the client to discuss their event in detail
- We determine the right platform and compiled a detailed quote based on the event needs
- This quote reflects the level of assistance the event requires:
- If the event is self-directed, the client will manage their own platform build-out and the event itself
- If the event is directed by YC&E, we will manage the platform build-out and the event itself for a fee
- If the event requires Cvent assistance, the client will be required to purchase additional services from Cvent
- Once the quote is accepted by the client, a Memo of Understanding (MOU) is issued, which the client will sign and return to our team with a COA so the work can begin!
Out-of-the-Box Ideas to Spruce Up Your Holiday Party
With managers and leadership looking to honor their team members for weathering the storm that was 2020, holiday parties are a priority in 2021! Not sure how to make your upcoming holiday gatherin gextra special? No worries, we’ve got you covered with out-of-the-box ideas that will add a special touch to your next gathering.
- Game/Trivia Night: A fun and interactive way to get everyone involved.
- Food and Drink-related Workshops: Take an Italian cooking class, learn how to make the perfect holiday drink, or simply sample delicious cheeses paired with the perfect wine.
- Elm City Party Bike or Escape New Haven (escape room)
- Movie Night: Rent out a movie theater and watch a classic holiday movie.
- Friendly Competition: Take votes on holiday home décor or ugliest holiday sweater and reward the winner with a special prize.
- Relay Race: Bring out everyone’s competitive side while having fun and supporting a great cause.
- Office Cookbook: Gather your team’s favorite holiday recipes and create an office cookbook that everyone will cherish for years to come.
- Food Truck Catering: Hire 1-2 food trucks to delight everyone’s taste buds.
- Host a Donation Drive or Volunteer as a Team: Help others in your community by collection donations (toys, coats, food) throughout the month or volunteering at a local food pantry as a team.
- Year-in-Review Video: Gather videos and photos from your team of the past year and compile them into a fun and lighthearted video to capture the memories for everyone.
‘Tis the Season to Give Back
As we head into the “most wonderful time of the year”, let us take a step back from our holiday lists and think about those in need within our communities and how we can help. Here are just a few ways you can make a difference in the lives of others this holiday season.
Toys for Tots (deadline December 14th): Help the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation fill up their donation boxes with toys to bring joy and hope to less fortunate children in our community.
Winter Clothing Drive (deadline December 10th): Now accepting hats, gloves, socks, scarves, and new and gently used coats to keep our neighbors in need warm this winter.
Adopt-A-Family (deadline December 13th): Adopt-A-Family for the Holidays was created in response to the overwhelming interest in the Yale Community to lend a helping hand to families temporarily residing in the Hillside Family Shelter at Christian Community Action, Inc. To view current needs and to sign up, please click here.
32nd Annual Trees of Hope (December 4th - 12th): Support Ronald McDonald House of Connecticut’s mission of providing a “home-away-from-home” to children and their families who are being treated at nearby hospitals and healthcare facilities. Guests can view displays and purchase raffle tickets online from the comfort of their own homes throughout the entirety of the event, or in-person December 4th - 5th and December 11th - 12th from 10am-5pm.
Other ways to help: Consider donating your time to a local nursing home, food bank, soup kitchen, or animal shelter. And remember to support small businesses and buy local!
A Few of Our Favorite Things
- Favorite Food:
- Antipasto
- Overnight French toast
- Broccoli and cheese casserole
- Favorite Drink:
- Peppermint Mocha
- Coquito
- Coffee with Bailey’s Irish Cream
- Favorite Song:
- Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree
- Jingle Bell Rock
- Silver Bells
- Favorite Movie:
- National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation
- Home Alone
- It’s a Wonderful Life
- Favorite Tradition:
- Decorating cookies
- Annual tree lighting parade
- Latke competition for Hannukah
Stay in Touch
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