From An Intern's Perspective: The Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Annual Legislative Conference

I began my internship here at RJ Whyte Event Production (now Stratus Firm) in late September amid a busy and exciting fall event season. At the start of my second week, the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Annual Legislative Conference, an event our team had been planning for months, began. It was a symbolic welcome to DC for me. As someone who  lives on the other side of the country, I was excited to spend one of my first weeks in the city fully involved in producing a major yearly political event. I was diving head first into the DC events scene and it was a fun and thrilling experience. As an intern, I was helping prep a stage knowing President Biden, Vice President Harris, House Speaker Pelosi and others would be speaking right in that very spot just a few hours later. I was taking part in something important, and I loved that feeling.  

I spent the week of the conference running around the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, relaying messages or moving equipment around. At this event, I participated in both sides of event production: the behind the scenes planning work and front of house execution. I worked behind the scenes prepping timelines, distributing floor plans, and making any last minute changes to documents. On the flip side, I also worked directly with the stage managers during the Phoenix Awards, an annual award show that concluded the conference, running awards to and fro and helping organize seating for guests.  

The conference kept us busy for the whole week. Everyone on the production team had their headsets on and their walkies at the ready. Since I was spending my days helping all of our team members, I got to see RJ Whyte’s strategy and philosophy of divide and conquer in action. We spread throughout the venue, each taking charge in a different room or area of the convention center. I saw firsthand how hard everyone was working and how this event had everyone putting in their all. Our company’s goal is to fully realize the moments that clients have in their minds and efficiently bring these moments to life. I watched this process happen smoothly and successfully. Members of Congress and other guests in the crowd of the Phoenix Awards were happily engaged as they enjoyed the show. Everything from the configuration of dining tables to the stage design to managing speakers at the award show all fell under our responsibilities.  Watching it all come together made the hard work in the days leading up  pay off to create a truly top tier event. 

Written by Fall 2022 Intern, Jackson Burkhart