If you ever need to find Alisa Sergeyeva, the best place to look is behind the scenes at any city-sponsored event, ribbon-cutting or weekend festival. Planning events, managing logistics and being at the center of an activity is her job and passion.
"I just really love events," Sergeyeva says. "I was involved in event planning during my college years in Ukraine and after moving to the United States, I was eager to get training and experience that would one day allow me to work in the event planning field. My marketing major at Boise State laid out the fundamental elements of successful event planning; negotiating skills, ability to multi-task, staying within budget, creative thinking and providing exceptional customer service. I was able to apply these skills to my management position with Spotlight Events, a producer of nationwide dance competitions, where I worked prior joining the City of Ketchum team."
Sergeyeva was initially hired by the City of Ketchum last December as a management assistant. In May, coordinating events was added to her role, a challenging position given the busier-than-usual docket for the summer of 2017.
The season got underway in June with the Ketch'em Alive and Jazz in the Park concert series. Many celebrations continued through the summer and then August rolled around with the total solar eclipse, followed by the 60th Anniversary of Wagon Days during the Labor Day weekend.
"The biggest thing this summer by far was the solar eclipse," said Sergeyeva. "The City prepared for several months to be ready for more visitors and to provide a safe area to view this celestial event. It was fun to work together with the rest of the city's team on this and the Wagon Days 60th Anniversary weekend. Meeting new people, building relationships, being part of a creative process and experiencing Ketchum's unique culture every day makes my job gratifying and stimulating and I love it."
Sergeyeva, moved to Boise in 2001 from Ukraine and enrolled at BSU. A few years ago, she encouraged her parents to move to the United States and they still live in Boise.
She admits to always having a crush on Ketchum and the Wood River Valley, saying she looked for every reason to visit and take part in the festivals, concerts, hike the trails or spend time with her best friend who lived in town.
"We always joked that I'd move to Ketchum if the right job came around. Well it did, but my friend decided to move to Boise shortly after I moved to Ketchum."
Looking back on the 2017 season, Sergeyeva said she's pleased with the variety of events, the strong attendance and community response. She cited the experiment with closing off a downtown street for Ketch'em Alive to make way for food and drink vendors as an idea worth pursuing again next summer.
So, what's next on the city's social calendar? Sergeyeva said she's in the middle of scheduling Santa and making sure the hot chocolate is steamy for next month's holiday lighting ceremony downtown.
Late November is a wonderful time of year for so many reasons. It marks another changing of seasons and stirs excitement for the coming snow and winter fun.
Residents, employees and visitors will soon have more downtown parking options.
Santa arrives at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 6, at Town Square to hear holiday wishes from the children. They can enjoy free hot chocolate and cookies, a surprise from Santa, and there will be hot toddies for the rest of the crowd. After the Thanksgiving holiday, letters to Santa can be dropped off in the mailbox at Town Square. Be sure to include a return address so Santa can write back!
