I met Aysia, owner of Art of the Journey and Events by AW, at a different event called “Sip & Thrift” earlier this year. I knew I wanted to collaborate and work with her, so we set up a meeting to have coffee. What was supposed to be an hour conversation to bounce around ideas, turned into a 2.5 hour long conversation! We sat, talked, got to know each other, and realized we had so much more in common than we thought.
Before we knew it, we brainstormed an entire event that turned into The Adventuress Dinner! What better way to connect our audiences and dive into our expertise than host a small gathering of women, chat about travel, and share in delicious food?
The Adventuress Dinner
Collaboration is a great way to connect with different audiences and work with other business owners. Of course, when you connect an anthropologist (Aysia) and a sociologist (me) together, the existential questions and deep connections do not stop! Aysia studied anthropology in college and has a deep appreciation for human interaction. I studied sociology in college, and enjoy learning about how systems play a large role in our lives. While we sipped on coffee and tea, our conversation bounced from travel, to business, boyfriends, and more.
Aysia has an air of wisdom to her words. When she talks about being a Professional People-Gatherer, I can tell she takes all her knowledge about anthropology and applies it to her events. It awed me that she is so driven and motivated, and that we shared in similar goals and opinions. At one point, we looked at our arms and had goosebumps from our conversations. I don’t know about you, but that may be a sign that this is getting GOOD! By the end of our coffee date, we decided that a collaborated event NEEDED to happen. We jotted down a few ideas, on how to market/introduce ourselves to the other’s audience, our dinner event, and potential gifts.
The Planning Process
Take:
- Someone who studied anthropology
- Someone who studied hospitality management and event planning
- An event planner and designer
- A training coordinator
- and two Type A ladies who both run their own business
I would say we ended up being the dream team!
We decided that a dinner during the last weekend of October would be the perfect time to host an event. It would be small and intimate, allowing people to meet each other, without being too crowded. Aysia and I planned on opening the event to 10 other women in the area, and having tickets for guests to RSVP. We picked Daikaya Izakaya, a trendy restaurant in Chinatown that offered a Ramen bar downstairs, and small plates upstairs. Our party was upstairs, in the hip and modern Izakaya!
To really make our event special, we decided on handing each guest a small takeaway! Takeaways included incense, an incense burner, gummies, and a thank you note from the both of us. A small trinket to say thank you for coming and sharing in our adventures.
We planned to market our event on each of our Instagram pages, tagging the other, and making sure to share it across our other social media channels. We did NOT expect that our event would be completely SOLD OUT within 3 days of publishing it, and with a waiting list! *high five to us!*
Dinner at Izakaya
The day of The Adventuress Dinner was hectic for the both of us, but we were so excited to meet the women and share in good food! Aysia and I met early to put together the gift bags for each guest, sign the thank you cards, and headed over to the restaurant to make sure our reservation was ready. Hah! You know, when you’re at a hip and trendy restaurant, with “intimate” seating – what that really means is not enough space for a party of 12 and reservations aren’t “really” reservations! But, as I mentioned before, we’re two Type A ladies who are quick thinkers and problem solvers. We brainstormed and planned to split the group up if necessary, with either of us taking a group and switching later on.
While we explained the plan to the women, waiting for everyone to arrive, the general manager of Daikaya Izakaya came out with some great news. Bless his soul, he was able to squeeze us into two tables next to each other so that our group wouldn’t be split up! Dinner went smoothly, with Aysia taking one table and myself taking another. The food was a fusion of Japanese and an American twist, with a type of “nacho” donburi on the menu. The ladies and I ordered family style and shared all the small plates over conversations of our favorite countries, why we traveled, what made us travel, our motives behind it, and more! We ended up talking about food from all over the world, politics (of course), jobs, and more. It was casual and nice to meet new people and share in good food and great conversation!
We ended the night by sharing red bean mochi ice cream (which wasn’t what we expected, and we were actually a bit disappointed). Aysia and I handed out the gift bags to everyone and we headed down stairs to say our goodbyes and take a photo!
(Watch more from The Quirky Pineapple Studio on our YouTube channel!)
The Adventuress Dinner was a success! I loved trying a new restaurant, with new people, and talking about one of my favorite passions – travel! Working with Aysia on this event was seamless and so easy. We each picked up on our strengths, supported each others weaknesses, and were complementary to each of our styles. If you missed this event, don’t worry! There will be more events coming in the future, and of course, more collaborations!
What makes you an adventuress? What’s your motivation to travel?
Let me know in the comments below!
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