OU Idol, Las Vegas, and Miss NEO!

This week has been full of tests, quizzes, meetings, and planning for OU Idol! Our Bobcats for Babies group on campus will be producing an Ohio University Idol in October. We will be holding an audition round on Monday, October 27th and a finals round on Tuesday, October 28th. All proceeds benefit the March of Dimes! We are holding both rounds in out student center Ballroom and are currently accepting applications. I have spent at least 20 hours this week getting our registration forms, flyers, and logistics together so we can start publicizing the event. Now that everything is in place, we can better delegate work to committees. My National Communication Club is also working on the event to help members get experience in PR and advertising. For the audition round, contestants will sing 60-90 seconds of a song A Cappella. The top twenty who make it on, will get to perform the entire song to backing music at the finals. Prizes are yet to be determined, but hopefully the community of Athens will be feeling generous!

Tomorrow, I leave for Las Vegas for a week-long internship with Destinations by Design, a full-service meeting and event management company based out of Dublin, Ohio. The fifteen of us going will be working a Fourth-Quarter Kickoff Event for T-Mobile. This corporate meeting is for 2,600 of T-Mobile’s employees, handset vendors, and partners to come together and get ready for the Q4 Selling Season. We will be exposed to logistical planning procedures, event execution, and other event planning details. With a love for event planning, I know this internship experience will be very helpful to my future career.

I will return from Vegas on Friday, October 3rd, before Miss North East Ohio,which will take place on Sunday. It is bound to be a long day after flying across the country and going on no sleep, but I am looking forward to crowning the next Miss North East Ohio! Anne and Ken have been wonderful directors and will be great mentors to any of the contestants competing. Good luck ladies! I will see you in a week:)

Miss Lake Erie

Yesterday, six Miss contestants and three Teen contestants competed for the title of Miss Lake Erie and Miss Lake Erie Teen at Lexington High School. I had a great time getting to know each of the young ladies. In the dressing room, I shared a table with Heather Wells, who was my roommate at Miss Ohio. I also had the opportunity to get to know Ashley Hartman, Alicia Huyghe, Monica Johnson, and Brittany all of whom I had never competed with before. It was an honor to share the stage with each of these talented women. There might have only been six of us, but we had so much fun together! Ashley was first runner-up and I am sure I will see her again on the Miss Ohio stage. Also, congrats to Heather for winning the swimsuit award which was well-deserved. I was happy that my mom, dad, and grandma were able to attend the show. They are so supportive and I am so thankful they were there. I am excited to return to Miss Ohio again this year as Miss Lake Erie. A huge thank you to the Miss Lake Erie crew, James Grimes, and Kasey and Nancianne for putting on a great show.

On October 5th I will give up my title as Miss North East Ohio. Anne and Ken have been wonderful directors and I will miss them very much. If any ladies are interested, Miss NEO applicatons are due on Tuesday.

I am looking forward to my year as Miss Lake Erie and sharing my efforts through this blog. The beginning of this year has been a bit of a struggle thus far, so hopefully things will begin looking up:) My horoscope (Aries) even says I might meet someone interesting this month, so at least that is a start! Thanks to all the ladies for being so wonderful yesterday. I hope to see you all again soon! ...maybe even at Miss North East Ohio in two weeks:) Pictures are posted below!

Miss and Teen contestants before interview

My Miss North East Ohio directors, Anne and Ken Hablitzel

My wonderful, amazing grandma!

My mom and dad:)

Ladies in evening wear

Before the talent competition

And it begins!

Tonight was our first Bobcats for Babies meeting. Bobcats for Babies is a March of Dimes collegiate council at Ohio University I founded my freshman year of college. We went over general March of Dimes information and our schedule of events for the quarter. The most exciting update is that we will be planning an OU Idol where all proceeds go to the March of Dimes! We are excited to start off the new year and have lots of new faces joining us. At our fall student involvement fair last week we had almost seventy new students sign up. Here is a picture of our table below.

This Saturday I am competing in my first local of the season, Miss Lake Erie. I have been so busy with the start of the school year, it is hard to believe this weekend is almost here. Between my three volunteer jobs with the March of Dimes, new classes, organization meetings, and work, I have had little time to think about competing. I am excited, however, to get back into locals again.

Friday, I am traveling to Columbus to get my National Group Fitness certification. It is an all day process from 9 am to 6 pm. I have been teaching group fitness classes the past two years and absolutely love it! This quarter I teach four Pilates classes, two Step and Strengthening classes, and a CORE class each week. After college, I will continue teaching as a side job and my AFAA National Certification will make me much more credible.

On September 29th I leave for a week-long event planning internship in Las Vegas through the company Destinations by Design. I will be traveling with fourteen other members that were chosen from my National Communications Association club. I will miss a week of school, but the hands-on experience will be well worth it!

Well, for now I am off to study for a quiz and read from my exciting Marketing book. I teach aerobics at 8 am so I hope to get to bed at a decent time. Until next time!

Jenna