¶ … Driven (Principi & Task Force)
Application Essay: Results Driven
In the Department of Veterans Affairs where I work, getting results is highly valued. There are various examples that could be used to point out how important results are in this organization and how I go about ensuring that I get results when I am asked to do something. There are two examples that are important to discuss here. The first of these is the Farewell Ceremony that I took part in. In late 2004, I was directly asked by those high-up in my organization to plan and execute a Farewell Ceremony for the Honorable Anthony J. Principi, the 4th Secretary of Veterans Affairs. This particular event took place at the Veterans conference center at the VA headquarters located in Washington D.C. Many members of the President's Cabinet were leaving the administration at this time. The ceremony had a strong impact and reflected directly on the high stature of the Department of Veterans Affairs as a Cabinet level organization. It also reflected very strongly on the stature of the United States itself.
I had only three weeks to create a team of professionals that were capable of executing the ceremony as well as producing a video of Mr. Principi's life and tenure. A sequence of events needed to be created and the ceremony was designed to be a tribute to many of the major efforts that this gentleman had undertaken during his career. Not only was it important for me to think outside of the box for this event but it was also important to redefine some of the services and partner with various other organizations in order to ensure that the event was a success. The goal of this...
The ceremony was also divided into three parts which included a reception by the department of the guest of honor, the program, and the reception. Along with my staff, I coordinated the participation of those that were participating in the program, and there were many different individuals. By continuing the positive relationships that I had already worked to establish with many individuals throughout the organization and by building the confidence of the participants regarding the efforts that they were making toward contributing to this event I helped to foster good results and good feelings in everyone involved. Personally held meetings with each participant of the program were very important as I needed to convince them to participate and also show them how important their particular skill was to the overall program. I also wrote a script for the master of ceremonies, coordinated much of the content for the speeches that would take place, and coordinated the presentation items for the host.
The ceremony was designed to accommodate 500 guests and therefore 1500 invitations for 3000 guests that were in-house were created. Invitations were sent through e-mail, fax, U.S. mail, and telephone to more than 1000 guests within one week who were stakeholders of either the guest of honor or the event. I also assembled a team that would work on the content of the ceremony and the events and ended up…
