Smithville Spotlight: Theresa B., Event Planning Manager
Being an active and involved community member is one of the guiding principles here at Smithville, and there’s no one better to lead that charge than Theresa B., Event Planning Manager. We spent a day with her to learn how she plans and executes events and community involvement. Before we got started for the day, we got to know Theresa better by asking some hard-hitting questions:
- Hometown: Loogootee, IN
- Favorite TV Show: Anything on Discovery or History channels
- Favorite Movie: The Secret Life of Bees
- Favorite Food: Anything home cooked
- Best Part of Working at Smithville: Definitely the coworkers I get to interact with on a daily basis. They make work fun!
- Dream Vacation Destination: Yellowstone
- Favorite Quote: “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” -Maya Angelou
Theresa has many different duties and wears many hats on any given day. She plans events for both residential and business customers, works with Indiana University on our corporate partnership, and collaborates with many different business organizations, such as chambers of commerce, economic development groups, and community teams and charitable organizations. Some of the events she organizes include golf scrambles, local fairs and festivals, industry conferences and conventions, and business lunches. She also serves on Smithville’s Spirit Partners Team, a team focused on increasing employee communication and collaboration through events and charitable initiatives.
We started our day by loading Theresa’s van for the City of Bloomington Touch a Truck event. As part of the planning she arranged for a bucket truck to be at the event and staff available to help with the day. She also prepped giveaways, including frisbees, plastic construction hats for kids, and tote bags. We arrived at the Southeast YMCA around 9AM and setup a tent and the giveaways. Theresa has everything planned in advance, including a checklist to make sure everything is ready, as we’re away from the office and not able to quickly run back for something forgotten.
The weather was perfect with low humidity, and that led to lots of attendees! We had the bucket truck on display and kids could stand in the bucket and see all the controls, levers, and switches. Many walked away with a signature “S” plastic construction hat that helped protect them from the sun. Theresa had some fun with the other vehicles as well, as she got behind the wheel of a school bus, street sweeper, race car, and tank! If you know Theresa at all you know she likes to have fun while working, and she’s been known to tell some jokes from time to time. “I really enjoy working with everyone here at Smithville and they make it so fun to come to work every day. Getting out in the community is fun and I enjoy representing Smithville. So many people tell us how much they love us, and it’s great to work for a company with that reputation. Events like these help us stay in front of customers and demonstrate our commitment to the communities we serve, and that’s important to me.”
By the end of the event we had distributed 600 construction hats and 550 frisbees. More importantly, we had interacted with many families in the community who will remember our dedication to the event. Once finished we packed up the tent and tables, prepped the bucket truck to go back to work, and returned to Theresa’s office in Ellettsville, where no time was wasted. She immediately began preparing for the next event, a golf scramble in Columbus to be held the next day. While the work never ends, it’s always interesting. “Each day is a new experience and a new way to reach our customers. I love what I’m doing and wouldn’t have it any other way.”
