塞莱斯特·卢珀西奥(B.A. ’95, sociology) graduated from UMKC and began her career working in children’s psychiatric care in Kansas City. 利用她发展起来的广泛技能, Lupercio shifted mid-career to event management and is currently the senior director of sales, marketing and events at the College Basketball Experience. The COVID-19 pandemic meant a different kind of transition; this time into fashion.
她从春天开始就在家工作了, but Lupercio has also focused her energy on the 西18th 街头时装秀:夏天的后见之明. 这个珍贵的社区活动播出 星期五在林荫大道.
Tell me what transitions you made personally because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The College Basketball Experience closed March 16, and I’ve been working at home since then. 这很有挑战性. 我习惯于参与社区活动. I’m involved in a lot of volunteer positions – some at 董事会 level. And I feel very lucky to be able to focus on the 西18th 街头时装表演.
How did you make the transition to event planning from social work?
I worked as a case management liaison at a psychiatric hospital for children for 18 years. I wasn’t burned out, but I needed a different challenge. A large part of my responsibilities was communication, reorganizing priorities and case management liaison tasks. I thought event planning at a not-for-profit organization would be a good fit for my skills. I did some contract work for a while and then ended up interviewing at The College Basketball Experience. The CEO was kind enough to listen to me and recognized how my skills would apply. 从那以后，我有过几次晋升. 这是一次很棒的经历.
你是怎么加入到18队的th 街头时装表演?
去年创始人, 游隼韩起澜, asked me to come on board after I helped manage the patron party. I love the event and thought working on it would be great. Peregrine was studying the Bauhaus movement last year and reading a lot about it. It inspired this year’s theme, Summer in Hindsight.
You thought you’d be planning an event outside on 18th 在十字路口区的街道. How did the shift to filming the event take place?
这是20th 节目周年纪念. 后勤工作已经到位. No one wanted to cancel the show, so we shifted so we could work to keep everyone healthy. The new plan was to film each designer separately and create a film.
We scouted different locations and ended up with 19. 大多数人都愿意免费参加. We shot each designer in a different location over the course of two weeks with nine intense days of shooting.
We were fortunate that everyone was on the same page as far as the virus is concerned. 我们都相信科学. 我们都戴着面具. We worked with a skeleton crew to minimize interaction. A colleague loaned us powerful portable air filters to clean the air on location.
Besides being a film, what will make this year’s event stand out?
[歌手兼音乐家]Calvin Arsenia, 今年的明星, performed last year and received a standing ovation. 他精力非常充沛. After last year’s performance he said, “I want to be musical director next year.” He’s composed music based on what each designer is doing and has helped with editing the movie.
它一直是一个多元化的设计师群体, but with the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement, we made a point of making sure that every level of the event had diversity – the designers, 生产者, 董事会.
The film will debut at the Boulevard Drive-In Theatre on Friday, 10月 16. What do you think the experience will be like for the viewer?
通常，18号那天观众都在外面th 坐在椅子上或站着. I think it’s possible that this may be a more focused experience for the viewer as they will be in their cars – their own private space. 而且，他们不会站着，也不会热.
Even people who have gone to the show before will be surprised. 没有人知道会发生什么. 我想他们会非常激动的. 而且，我们都错过了现场表演. 这个会更接近那个.
有放映吗?? It appears the movie can be booked for private events.
这部电影将在……放映 10月的林荫大道汽车影院. 16 晚上7点.m. 晚上9:30.m. But I do think if an organization wanted to host an event, 林荫大道的所有者可能会接受这一点.
We will have cameras there that night and re-edit the director’s cut that will include behind the scenes footage. We are hoping to submit that version to film festivals. We haven’t done that before, but we will figure it out!
This sounds as if it’s been an incredible amount of work at a very challenging time.
This has been the most altruistic thing I’ve done. It’s been exhausting, but amazing to work with such dedicated and talented people.
The whole experience has been so fulfilling and intense. We will all have to focus on maintaining our emotional health with the lack of all that energy and activity once it is over.
Summer in Hindsight will premiere at the Boulevard Drive-In Theatre. To purchase tickets or donate to the organization, visit 西18th 街头时装表演.