Uncork Your Creativity

Architectural Justice Gallery and Cafe is a unique, redefined space in Strongsville that strives to create an artisan living experience by encouraging customers to shop, dine and be inspired. The cafe is a flagship location of Architectural Justice, an interior design shop in Medina. In order to showcase the diverse aspects of this new location and attract more customers to the business, the owners wanted to host another pop-up event in their space. Due to the fact that Architectural Justice Gallery and Cafe is already known for their culinary and crafting classes, the owners requested that ‘Uncork Your Creativity’ be for profit to align with their current business model. For my honors project, I experienced the in-depth process of planning and executing a creative, hands-on pop-up event for a client within the restaurant and retail industry. Additionally, I collaborated briefly with the marketing director in regard to content and promotion for the event. Limitations for the event included budget, food and beverage, and upper-management requirements. With the motto, “Shop, Dine and Be Inspired,” Architectural Justice Gallery and Cafe embodies creativity through providing an experience for patrons — whether they’re taking a stroll through the gallery, dining in the cafe or participating in an event. This pop-up event created a new experience for their patrons and encouraged personal creativity while adding emphasis to the diversity and eccentricity of the business. With this project, I experienced the intensity of planning an event and learned the ups and downs of event planning, including limitations and unexpected last-minute changes. I had the opportunity to interact with patrons and experienced collaboration with internal departments. Upon completion of this project, I successfully executed an event plan that incorporated a very small social media campaign. The event, ‘Uncork Your Creativity,’ provided customers with a new and entertaining experience, while the company benefitted from an influx of customers and increased marketing. In the literature review, I discuss secondary research focusing on communication theories applicable to event planning and interpersonal communication including Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, Social Exchange Theory, and Causality Orientations Theory. Next, the paper moves into the event’s vision, proposal, goals and objectives. After an evaluation of goals and objectives, the paper moves into a detailed timeline of all steps and facets of the event. The process behind digital promotion, specifically social media posts, is discussed and related back to communication theories. At the conclusion, the paper focuses on the positive and negative outcomes of the event, followed by a personal reflection of the overall experience, from the early stages of planning to final execution. ‘Uncork Your Creativity’ was an engaging and unique pop-event at Architectural Justice Gallery and Cafe. Participants greatly enjoyed their experience and the event was one of few sold out classes for the month of November, classifying the event as a success