This is a guest post by my contributing photographer and videographer — and my 20-year-old daughter — about her media meet-and-greet. I was unable to attend the event so she went in my place and did fantastic!
This past Saturday, I got the chance to meet American Idol’s youngest winner, and one of my personal favorite pop singers, Jordin Sparks. I’ve been a huge fan since I heard ‘No Air’ come out, so getting the opportunity to not only be there for the public meet and greet, sponsored by Sony and Bloomingdale’s in honor of the new album, Right Here, Right Now, but also get to talk to her and hang out one-on-one for a little bit, was awesome.
Before the public got their time with Jordin, she hung out with a few of us representing the media for a short period of time. She was so much fun to talk to, she really took her time talking to each of us, and was even cracking jokes the entire time.
Of course, when it came to my turn to talk to her for a little bit, I was ecstatic. We talked for a little bit about how earlier that morning, she had released her new songs on her twitter (@JordinSparks), and of course, I just had to listen to all of them before I met with her. I asked her if she had any favorites, or if any of them just really spoke to her, and she explained to me how she couldn’t possibly choose a favorite, because ‘they had literally become her babies,’ and they all mean something different to her.
Lastly, I had to ask her for a selfie for Instagram. When I took out my phone, I don’t even know what happened, but my camera was giving me an error message that I couldn’t take anymore pictures. Naturally, I was all flustered trying to find another way, when Jordin asked to see my phone. I handed it over and she showed me how taking it through Instagram would still save my picture no matter what, and told me how she has the exact same issue all too often as well. We took a couple selfies, where she even asked the rest of the media to turn off their flashes temporarily because she wanted this to be a ‘cute picture,’ and we ended up with one she even called perfect.
After each of us had our moment with her, we all stepped outside of the Bloomingdale’s for the public meet and greet, where over 200 of her fans, younger and older alike, were waiting for her. Jordin was so down to earth the entire time, and really took the time to talk to every single person; she took pictures with everyone, and was sincerely enjoying herself the whole time. Even when one fan stepped up to her in tears, he was so emotional over getting to meet his idol, she sat down with him and they talked and hugged for several minutes, which was so cool to see from such a popular celebrity.
The entire experience was a total blast; the DJ, appropriately named Shammy Dee, really kept the entire night lively, and all of the employees of the Glendale Galleria were so nice as they were talking to everybody as well.
Lastly, this was my first time doing an event like this all on my own. I stepped in for my mom when she had a prior commitment at the same time, so of course, I couldn’t have been able to do this without her. Maybe, just maybe, all of you will be seeing some more of me as time goes on. 😉
**Devon is a frequent contributor by way of photography, and she also helps me manage some of the social media aspect of my business, so you’ll be seeing her around here more often! In the meantime, you can follow along at her Instagram account, @DevonPaigee, and we’ll update with her new YouTube channel and blog url soon!**
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