Midland’s new Downtown Events Coordinator joined the team at the beginning of the summer and hit the ground running and is now looking forward to a fall and winter packed with holiday and small business focused events.
Christina Loeffler took on the role of downtown events coordinator this May as Midland enters a busy summer season with the Commons Live Music Series and many other pedestrian plaza events.
Loeffler graduated from Michigan State University with a bachelor’s degree in hospitality business and earned a master’s degree in business administration from Central Michigan University.
She returned to MSU for her first job, working in various departments and then moving into an event position. Eventually, she moved to Charlotte, North Carolina, where she served as her director of lifestyle for a homeowners association with 500 homes.
“My job was to literally plan all of the activities for them so that there was always a club in the clubhouse and a band that was active from time to time,” Loeffler said. “We brought in all kinds of entertainment. Anything you can think of.”
After spending a year and a half in Charlotte, Loeffler moved back to Michigan to be closer to family.
“It was fun in Charlotte. It was really fun to be there for a while,” she said. “It was something different. (I) traveled a little more and studied a different field. But I have nieces and nephews and all of my family is still in the Michigan area, so I wanted to go back and be with them.” I wanted to.”
When she took the job in Midland, she said she loved working in a big city with a “small-town feel.” She envisions staying in Midland for an extended period of time to work on her business and has also recently purchased her first home.
“You know all the neighbors,” she said. “It’s like a ’90s kid’s dream where you knew all your neighbors, but Midland still has that energy. I love that part of it.”
Loeffler decided to enter the event planning field because her parents worked in the same field. Her love affair with this work began when her mother, who worked in the planning of her alumni events, took her to her alumni events.
“I’ve always wanted to help people,” she said. “This was a different and unique way to help people in a fun way.”
She said she is always creative and enjoys coming up with new ideas as well as giving a “fresh look” to long-running events.
“It’s always fun to see the same things and come up with new ideas for the same event,” she said. “There’s always something new to discover, and that part is always energetic and fun.”
As for what she has planned for future events in Midland, she said she plans to continue getting to know the town before deciding on new ideas to bring.
“I like getting to know the city. Going downtown for concerts, meeting people, talking to them, learning what they like, bringing even more to Midland and building on what’s already a really solid downtown. Learn how to add more to it,” Loeffler said. “Many other cities don’t have programs like Midland. The city is working hard to get better, create better programs, and ultimately make things work for everyone. Masu.”
She wants the downtown event to be welcoming to people of all ages, but she said that may be difficult for young adults.
“I admit being in that age group, they’re a tough group to catch because they all have their own plans and activities, but I love the challenge,” Loeffler said. “That’s why our former event coordinators have done a great job of diversifying our concert series, and we will continue to do that effort. We’ve been talking about that. We’re keeping those things in mind to get all of those age groups.”
Since becoming a city employee, Loeffler’s favorite event has been Taste of Downtown. That’s because it was her first event that she was involved in planning from start to finish.
“It was so much fun to see it come to life and see everyone cheering and getting excited as they went around tasting the food,” she said.