{"id":1689,"date":"2020-02-04T00:00:12","date_gmt":"2020-02-04T00:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.truman.edu\/commspotlight\/?p=1689"},"modified":"2020-04-21T23:52:39","modified_gmt":"2020-04-21T23:52:39","slug":"sydlow20200204","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.truman.edu\/commspotlight\/2020\/02\/04\/sydlow20200204\/","title":{"rendered":"Nikki (Katnik) Sydlow"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Nikki (Katnik) Sydlow (2019)<\/p><\/div>\n

Nikki (Katnik) Sydlow\u00a0\u00a0is the Event Manager for Innovation Hall STL<\/a>, powered by the non-profit Venture Cafe St. Louis<\/a>. Innovation Hall is the first public event space in the Cortex Innovation Community<\/a>, St. Louis\u2019 technology district. Before moving into the non-profit world, Nikki spent almost 5 years working in the hospitality industry. Nikki is a member of the organization MPI (Meeting Planners International<\/a>) and serves as the Communication Chair on the Membership Committee. Nikki lives in St. Louis with her husband, and fellow Truman Communication grad, Alec<\/a>, and their cat. Nikki\u2019s career goal would be to own her own venue and plan conferences for the motivational speaker\/personal development coach, Rachel Hollis<\/a>. So if anyone knows Rachel, please hook her up!<\/p>\n

What year did you graduate and what was your concentration?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

I graduated in May 2013, and my concentration was Public Communication<\/a>. I minored in Photography<\/a>.<\/p>\n

What extra-\/co-curricular activities did you do?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

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Nikki (right) and one of her \u03a3\u03a3\u03a3 sisters (2012).<\/p><\/div>\n

I was part of the Student Activities Board<\/a> and a member of Sigma Sigma Sigma<\/a> social sorority.<\/p>\n

Did you go to grad school? If so, where?\u00a0 Was it immediately after you left Truman or did you wait?\u00a0 Why?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

I did not go to grad school, but I am sitting for my CMP (Certified Meeting Planner<\/a>) exam this year to receive my certification.<\/p>\n

What was your first job after graduation?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

I moved to Denver a few months after graduation. My first full-time job was as a front desk agent of a boutique hotel in downtown Denver.<\/p>\n

What work do you do\/What are you doing now?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

I work in event planning now! I am the Event Manager for Innovation Hall<\/a> which is the first public event space in Cortex<\/a> – St. Louis\u2019 technology district.<\/p>\n

How has your Liberal Arts\/COMM education helped you?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

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Nikki & her husband Alec (2016).<\/p><\/div>\n

Working in Sales\/Events, I talk to people all day, every day. I have to be able to think on my feet and find solutions, because events throw constant curveballs, so the critical thinking skills I gained from my liberal arts education are key. I also have to be able to communicate effectively with clients or I\u2019ll never be able to close the deal.<\/p>\n

Which class did you dislike at the time you took it, but now you\u2019re grateful you took it?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Ehh – While I still have to work with numbers, I struggled with Accounting and I\u2019m not an Accountant now so that worked out!<\/p>\n

What was your greatest accomplishment at Truman?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

I look back on my internship and study abroad experiences while at Truman as two really life-changing moments for me.<\/p>\n

In the Summer of 2012, I went on the Europe in Transition trip with about 20 other Truman students for about 3 weeks in May. We travelled to Belgium, France and Italy. After I came home from Europe, I packed up and moved a week later to Washington, DC for a summer-long internship<\/a> through The Washington Center<\/a>. It was a whirlwind but I could not recommend it more! These experiences prepared me to move to Denver after graduation for a few years.<\/p>\n

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Nikki (far right) and friends during the Europe in Transition study abroad class (2012).<\/p><\/div>\n

Why is Truman a good place for a student to study?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

I loved going to a smaller school where I felt like I knew almost everyone (or at least knew who they were). Although Truman is, of course, no Mizzou when it comes to size, you would be amazed how many Truman grads I run into all the time now that I live in St. Louis.<\/p>\n

I also can\u2019t stress enough how important it is to minimize\/avoid student loans if at all possible. This is so helpful later in life as an adult. Truman gave me that advantage which has been a true gift as I had to face adult purchases, like a house!<\/p>\n

What would you say a COMM student should absolutely<\/u> do while at Truman?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Study abroad and intern in a new city!!!! I grew up on the outskirts of Jefferson City which is pretty rural. Traveling abroad and living in a big city for the summer helped me see the world and pushed me to move to a new city after graduation. I love big cities now, and I feel really comfortable traveling to new places.<\/p>\n

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Nikki (right) during her internship in Washington, DC (2012).<\/p><\/div>\n

What advice would you give someone who wants to go into the same line of work as you?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

When I graduated, I figured no one would hire me to plan their events as I was straight out of college. I know it doesn\u2019t sound glamorous but you will likely have to start at the bottom (i.e. – front desk of a hotel). But you will work your way up! Once I worked my way from the Front Desk to the Sales Department, I was able to work alongside the wedding planner and eventually work my own events.<\/p>\n

What do you miss most about campus\/Kirksville?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Kirksville will always hold a special place in my heart. College was the first time I felt truly independent, and I think that is something you never really forget. The first time I visited Truman, I thought it looked like a postcard. Even during Snowpocalypse 2011, it was a beautiful place to go to school.<\/p>\n

If you could come back to Truman and teach a class for a semester, what would be its title and what would it be about?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know if this has been added since I graduated, but I would love Truman to add a Hospitality\/Restaurant Management course or concentration.<\/p>\n

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Nikki at her graduation (L), her brother’s graduation (C), and her sister’s graduation (R). Truman was a family affair for the Katnik family.<\/p><\/div>\n

If you would like to learn more of Nikki’s story, you can follow her on LinkedIn<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n

 <\/p>\n

If you want to learn more about the Department of Communication, contact us!<\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nikki (Katnik) Sydlow\u00a0\u00a0is the Event Manager for Innovation Hall STL, powered by the non-profit Venture Cafe St. Louis. Innovation Hall is the first public event space in the Cortex Innovation Community, St. Louis\u2019 technology district. Before moving into the non-profit world, Nikki spent almost 5 years working in the hospitality industry. Nikki is a member … Read More →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":497,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[50608],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1689","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-watdn"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.truman.edu\/commspotlight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1689","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.truman.edu\/commspotlight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.truman.edu\/commspotlight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.truman.edu\/commspotlight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/497"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.truman.edu\/commspotlight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1689"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.truman.edu\/commspotlight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1689\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1744,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.truman.edu\/commspotlight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1689\/revisions\/1744"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.truman.edu\/commspotlight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1689"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.truman.edu\/commspotlight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1689"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.truman.edu\/commspotlight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1689"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}