Who The Folk?! Katie Rosenberg

What does it take to put on a major annual event for hundreds of people? This week, on a very special crossover episode of Who The Folk?! and Hakshivu! Hakshivu! The Herzl Camp podcast that Jewfolk produces for Herzl Camp, we sit down with Katie Rosenberg, who is Herzl Camp’s new Event Manager, to talk all about the upcoming Herzl In The City fundraiser on Nov. 16. Katie talks about her longstanding connection to Herzl Camp, why she loves event planning and what the best part of her job is in this week’s Who The Folk and Hakshivu! Hakshivu! Podcast.

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So what does the event manager at Herzl do? I think everybody knows the camp director, the assistant camp director, you know those functions that are sort of front and center because it’s a camp…

And event manager little more behind the scenes. We have an annual benefit we do every year, and someone needs to plan it and that someone is the events manager. And as you said, everyone else is busy doing their camp jobs and their fundraising jobs and it leaves little time to plan our big event for the year. And so I come in.

Do you come from an event planning background?

I do. I’ve been planning events, corporate and social for many years. I have a background in specifically nonprofit events. I worked for AIPAC for three years in Chicago on their events team. So I’m kind of taking what I learned there and what I’ve learned in the hotel business and all along the way to Herzl

This is your second stint working for Herzl – you were a counselor once upon a time. What’s it like seeing it from the other side this time?

It’s different than being a summer staff. It’s been interesting to have started, we were leading up to the summer. I didn’t think that there was anyone left that was not at camp over the summer. What I know now is that things don’t stop for the summer because everyone is at camp, right? It’s a business. It’s a year-long business. And there are lots of things to do in the summer months that are not at camp.

One of things is Herzl In The City? What is this year’s event?

It’s still music focused with a cover band being our entertainment this year. It’s more of a night to celebrate all of camp’s accomplishments, the support coming from our community. So it’s really a celebration of camp on November 16. It’ll be eating drinking dancing music. There’s a fun raffle where you can win a camp experience for your favorite camper. It’s going to be a fun night. We have a fireside lounge outside with some fire pits and some hot beverages and it’s just going to be very campy, but for adults.

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