est. 96

20 ๏ Pharmacy ๏ Beauty ๏ Lifestyle ๏ NY

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generation day one: another perspective

Like my sister, I volunteered at Generation Beauty, thinking it would be a fun experience and a great way to see the behind-the-scenes action of a beauty conference.  Let me tell you.  It is *not* pretty.  At least not from where I stood for nearly 11 straight hours.

But first, let me backtrack a little.  As you’ve heard from my sister, Thursday night orientation was minimally helpful.  The dress code information could have been relayed via email.  The reassurances that volunteers would rotate shifts and get regular breaks felt like a given.  There was no detailed schedule.  There were no clear descriptions of shifts and duties.  At best, we knew there would be volunteers needed at the registration table and at each booth for line management.  But what else was there?  We just had to wait until the day of to find out.

Armed with Starbucks and lanyards, my sister and I arrive early to the venue and proceed to the volunteer room to wait for instruction.  My sister ends up being one of the first to get pulled out.  As more volunteers trickle in, one of the ipsy staff members asks me to manage the volunteer registration line in the volunteer room, keeping it from blocking the doorway.  Okay.  Easy enough.

Then as the line dissipates, he comes back to reassign me to a different role: guarding the green room, a.k.a. the VIP room.

For visualization, imagine a stick.  A petite stick, about 5’2”, with the muscles of a limp noodle (i.e. none).  Okay.

Instructing me were two women, one older and one younger.  From what I could tell, the older woman was in charge of security, and the younger was assisting.  Both had the meet-and-greet schedule for Stylists and were organizing two other volunteers to escort the stylists to-and-from the Green Room to their respective booths, with real security, of course (more on that later).

My instructions were to “only let people into the Green Room who look like they belong there.”

What?

Me: “How do I know who is allowed into the Green Room?”

Them: “If they’ve been in there before and look like they belong there, they’re good”

Me: “What? Could you clarify?”

Them: “Some ipsy staff are allowed in.  They have dark purple badges.  Specifically, the ones with headsets.”

Me: “Okay, so dark purple badges with headsets are good, but purple badges without headsets is a no-go”

Them: “Well, some purple badges with permission don’t have headsets can go in.”

Me: “…okay.  How do I know which ones are allowed in or not, again?”

Them: “If they look like they belong in there and have been there before.”

Me: “…okay… What about Stylists?”

Them: “The Stylists will have gold badges, but many of them don’t like to wear them.  It clashes with their outfits and looks weird for photos”

Me: “Okay, but they’ll still have the badges with them. So all gold badges”  I can just ask to see their badge, and they can stuff it back in their pockets or purses after.

Them: “Oh, not all gold badges are allowed in the Green Room.  Just the Stylists invited here and doing meet-and-greets”

Me: “…okay…”  This is getting complicated.  So I have to memorize all the faces of all these people I’ve never met before.  Great.

Them: “Oh, and no volunteers.  Light purple badges”

Well, that one is easy enough.  All the while, two women are moving stuff back and forth from their booth at the front and the Green Room.  They have black badges.  I look at one of them, and she explains that she’s with Quay, one of the brands.  So black badges signify brand representatives.  As I wonder if brands reps are allowed in, she explains that Quay is sponsoring the Green Room and has stored some of their supplies in there.  That’s fair.  She later introduces me to her other colleagues, and I make a point to memorize their faces.

Women from Pixi Beauty come by to be let into the Green Room.  “We’re sponsoring the bathrooms,” they say, so I let them in.  They’re pretty easy to remember, because their shirts are bright and branded.

As the event gets started, things get hectic, and faces start becoming a blur.  More often than not, people push past me to get to the Green Room before I have a chance to ask or acknowledge them.  The older woman managing security and Stylist escorts is concerned.  There aren’t enough security personnel for the meet-and-greets as they start to overlap.  Huh.  If they knew the schedule in advance and have hosted enough conferences to know by now that all meet-and-greets run long, shouldn’t they have planned enough security for this?  I feel bad for her but can’t help.

I have my head full of all the faces I’ve been trying to memorize.  I’m definitely not sure who is supposed to be let in or not.  Only a few people, like the Quay representatives and some Stylists, are clear to me.  But then some people I know are allowed in have been escorting in people of whom I’m not so sure.   So, by extension, are those people allowed in too?  Friends?  Family?  Staff who need things?  Brand representatives?  People are coming in and out, going around me, sometimes offering what-sound-like-valid reasons to be back there and sometimes not.

Then the [high-ranking ipsy member] comes out.

“There are people getting in back here who aren’t supposed to be here.”

Well shit.

“[Brand removed] is coming back here and harassing our Stylists.  This is unacceptable.  And Pixi shouldn’t be back there either.  No brands are allowed in”

Before I can ask for clarification, he goes back in.  So no brands at all?  I thought Pixi was supposed to be sponsoring the bathroom.  What about Quay?  Their supplies are in there.  And were these brands not informed before that they aren’t allowed in the Green Room then?  Then I remember one of the ipsy staff members went in to get water for one of the brand representatives.  My impression of that exchange was that some but not all brands were allowed back there (Quay and Pixi = good; others = bad).  Unless they had a reason, like getting one of their sponsored Stylists for something.  Or was that bad?  Or was that a lie?  I’m confused.  From what [high-ranking ipsy member] said, letting Pixi in was bad.

I’m very confused.

After this brief exchange, I’m a bit shaken up.  Who am I supposed to listen to?  What’s the chain of command here?  Whose order trumps whom?

At this point, I realize I’ve been getting dizzy.  And anxious.  There are a lot of stimuli to process, and a lot of brain power is needed to even attempt memorizing who was allowed in and not.  And I really need to pee.  I look at my phone to check the time, and it’s past 1:00 PM.  I’ve been there from the morning until 1:00 without a bathroom or lunch break.  This is not good.

I really need to pee.

After looking around my post for someone, anyone “official”, to give me a break by getting another volunteer to relieve me of my duties, I find no one.  The older woman hasn’t returned.  She’s probably busy trying to coordinate her understaffed task.  The younger woman is probably assisting her.  Since they are understaffed, they can’t come back to the Green Room area until the current meet-and-greet they’re overseeing is done.  And those have been running long.  Damn.

Finally, I manage to flag down the ipsy staff member running the actual Green Room when she peered out to check on something.

“I really need to go to the bathroom, and I haven’t had a break at all since I’ve started”

She looks worried.  If I’m gone, no one will be “guarding” the Green Room.  She responds, “Ok, I’ll watch the area while you quickly take a bathroom break.”

I shuffle as fast as I can possibly shuffle to the restroom.  By the time I power walk back, she’s gone.  She most likely had to do something else, which was understandable.  From what I could tell, she was the only one actually stationed *in* the Green Room.  How was this recurring event so underprepared?

I stood there, hungry, until someone finally came back from their meet-and-greet.  Finally, I could get food, and boy, was I thankful that I brought food instead of having to wait in a food truck line with other volunteers, staff, and attendees.  Wait.  Were there even food trucks around now that it’s past prime lunch time?

As I ate the food I brought, I took deep breaths to try and calm myself down and prepare for the final stretch.  And then I began to reflect.

There were no regular scheduled breaks.  I’ve been at the same shift since this morning, and I was expected to go back.  I remember looking across the hall and seeing my sister behind the DJ.  She’s been stationed at her booth nearly all day too.  Was any volunteer getting to change duties?  Take bathroom breaks?  Eat?

After I get back, the older woman takes pity on me, and asks me if I want to try taking one of the Stylists around to peruse the brands and if I know the layout of the booths.  I sheepishly answer that I don’t know the layout. (I’ve been stuck in front of the Green Room all day, and they never gave us the detailed layout information. You’d have to actually be working the floor or have had time to walk around on your break to see it).  So the duty gets passed to someone else.  In retrospect, I should’ve just taken it and learned as I went.  But I was too tired to be dishonest.  Damn.

By 6:00 PM, I’m so tired.  I’m tired of getting told that I should have let this person in.  I’m tired of getting told that I shouldn’t have let that person in.  I’m tired of having to tell people, “I don’t know if you can go in,” because I really. Don’t. Know.  (The answer was sometimes yes and sometimes no).  But I’m grateful they checked in with me, because I’m obviously trying to guard this damn door.  And that one beauty brand [high-ranking ipsy member] warned about?  As I see the door open and close throughout my hellish shift, I see him talking amicably with one of their representatives let into the Green Room. And since one of their own is already *in* the Green Room, she can allow her colleagues in as they need things.

All things considered, I will never volunteer for this organization again.  It’s likely that my experience is not representative of many of the other, simpler volunteer tasks.   But for me, it was hell.

P.S. My sister is right.  Frankie Grande is amazing.  He was so warm and courteous to everyone around him, even lil’ ol’ me who was “guarding” the Green Room.  At the risk of sound like a grandma, I like how this young man smiles and greets everyone involved as he passes.  Very polite!

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generation beauty day one

Hey everyone!  I’ve gotten a lot of questions about how Generation Beauty NY was this year, so here’s my review on day one.  I attended last year as a regular attendee, and I was too slow to buy early bird tickets. You know ya girl is too cheap to pay full price for a ticket, so volunteering it is (because the free swag bag 😂)

I’m going to try to make it short and sweet, so here goes...

Above: Photo of my sister and me at Generation Beauty 2015; we made it on Michelle Phan’s Instagram!

The Thursday before the event was orientation; this ended up being an almost waste of time because we could have just walked in to get our name badge + t-shirt on the day of our shift.  Not a lot was said during this orientation, but what I did pick up one was no free food, questionable amount and length of breaks, must work full 9 or 10 hour day for free swag bag, no free parking, and no shopping or visiting vendors for free samples.  Maybe I expected too much going in but c’mon 😒. I learned my lesson later.

Saturday, 8 a.m. sharp, I sleepily arrive to await my first job 😴.  It was about thirty minutes until someone came in to ask for a couple volunteers to work outside in the front, but I know others had waited an hour or more just to get assigned to do something.  It was intimidating because I had people stare me down until doors opened (at 11 a.m.), and had to direct impatient people to stand in the long lines. 😐  Tip, please preregister because then you’ll be first in line and less grumpy with the volunteers. It was also kind of confusing for those who came as “stylists/beauty creators” because Generation Beauty supposedly invited them to come for free to promote the brands and/or products, yet I had to tell them to also wait to register, then wait in the back of the line 😕.  Only those with the exhibiting brands were allowed to go in.  The job was boring and monotonous, especially when I had to say the same four lines over and over (with varying vocabulary to keep it fresh, ya know). “Registration inside the doors and to your right.” “Non-registered attendees wait in that line.” “Registered attendees wait in this line”. “No, I’m sorry but you can only use the Porta Potty until you get inside.”

The only redeeming factor from this job was being able to see the famous stylists, beauty creators, and even some celebrities walk right in front of me.  I couldn’t believe my eyes when Frankie Grande emerged in front of me 😍💕.  I awkwardly shuffled my way into his sight, waved my hand a little, and he surprisingly noticed me! I always told myself I’d keep it cool in front of celebrities (I think I was pretty chill with Michelle Phan), but I’m pretty sure my voice shook as I told Frankie that I love him.  He smiled, said I was cute, and asked if I had my cell phone to take a selfie.  Of course I whipped out my phone for him, and by then people began to notice Frankie had arrived.

Above: Nicole trying to keep it cool in the presence of Frankie Grande

It wasn’t until about 12:30-1 p.m. that I was asked to switch jobs.  Relieved, I excitedly walked backed inside where attendees were hustlin’ for freebies and enjoying all of what Generation Beauty had to offer.  Big brands such as Too Faced and Bare Minerals gave full sized products (concealer and foundation, respectively).  I hoped I would be on the floor (where all the brands were) so I could see everyone in action, but alas I stayed with the ipsy photo booth for the remainder of the day.  At first, it was fun to take photos for people on their phones or camera.  I’m not a photographer of any sort and neither were any of the other girls volunteering there with me, but we did have some fun taking pictures for people’s Instagram or snapchat.  If you took a picture in the photo booth, posted it on Instagram with the particular hashtags, you would be entered to win a free year of ipsy glam bags!

After awhile, the photo booth slowed down and later I was the only one there which got kind of lonely.  No one really wanted to take a photo midday because they must have realized all the free products and discounts were in the back.  It was a lot of, “Would you like me to take your picture? No? Okay...”  It got to the point where I kind of sat down until I noticed someone lingering around the collaged background, then proceeded to repeat my tag line.  Maybe I started slowing down because I was also getting hungry and tired.  It wasn’t until at about 1:30 when I was finally relieved to take a 30 minute break.  I used most of this time to scope the floor which was flooded people waiting in lines, product demonstrations and touch ups, and meet and greets with famous beauty creators.  I was sad that I missed Michelle Phan’s meet and greet because I wanted to see if she’d remember me.  Alas, I don’t think she did, even when I said good morning to her outside of the venue.

Tired from standing, bored from my particular shift, and slightly jealous of all the free products attendees were getting (I later found out that volunteers were also able to approach the exhibitors for free products...), the only thing that kept me going until the end was the DJ 🎧🎶.  Big shoutout to Chloe, the DJ, who kept everyone going with a mix of top 40s to throwbacks.  People personally came up to me asking if I knew her and that her music was poppin’.  I encouraged them to go up to her personally to tell her how amazing she was, and she was probably the sweetest, most humble person there.  The entire day I kept looking at her hair, her makeup, and her style, wondering what kind of person she was.  It was definitely amazing to find out that she was amazing inside and out, and we became pretty close that first day.

Above: Probably one of the coolest people I met at Generation Beauty.  Her IG is @kashmeare! Definitely give her a follow because she’s an amazing person with super cool boomerangs!

So, that about concludes my not-so-short-after-all post about Generation Beauty day 1.  I received my swag bag at the end of the shift after all the attendees left, and it definitely was a lot bigger than last year’s attendee bag!  Even though I was exhausted from the whole day, I was ready to tackle the second day in hopes of a better shift and more goodies (it also came to my attention that the volunteers were able to walk to different booths to get free products and purchase products).

If y’all want me to do a Generation Beauty day 2 review and/or a swag bag haul, please let me know by liking this post! 💄💅💋