My Upcoming 2012-2013 Events

September 18, 2012 by Tracy

Photograph Credit: Microsoft Images

This school year seemed to take off like a rocket. In whizzing past opportunities, I have chosen to limit my event planning this year. Last year, I took on too much. Though the events went really well, I was worn out, tired, and sick after each event.

Though I am still very active at my children’s school with chaperoning on field trips, organizing lunch pickups, and assisting teachers with daily tasks, I am not directing any of the school programs this year. I enjoy directing, but I lighten my load. In using time wisely, these are my upcoming 2012 -2013 events:

Fall Festival

Our school’s primary fundraiser is our Fall Festival in November. In the midst of our building project, all proceeds from the Fall Festival will benefit our growing student body.

These Fall Festival preparations are in the works, and I have been working to nail down commitments. Creating a safe, fun environment with lots of activities and shows is my goal in coordinating KidZone. I’ll keep you updated as our event takes form.

Lunch Coordinator

As our school is growing, I volunteered to help our new school office manager at lunch time. In past years, the students only had the option to purchase pizza on Mondays and Wednesdays.

Each child is responsible to bring their own lunch to school as there is not a school cafeteria. To assist parents with at least one lunch option a day, I researched, visited establishments, negotiated deals, and created an order form for weekly lunches. The new system takes effect next week. Stay tuned for more details on the good, the bad, and the ugly. 😉

Forensics Coach

My new adventure this year is coaching one student in the NFL (National Forensics League). Though I have entered speech contests, directed productions, completed two speech degrees, taught Fundamentals in Speech, and judged numerous speech contests, I have never coached one-on-one.

Besides the newness in coaching, I have no experience with the NFL, so I’m learning their rules, guidelines, and judging regulations. The first meet might be interesting, but we have to start somewhere. 😉

With my upcoming 2012-2013 events, I look forward to learning new concepts, applying my experiences, and enjoying the process while using time wisely. In preparing for these events, I expect to make mistakes, but in the end, I’ll be better for it. Stepping out of my comfort zone!

Question: What are your plans this school year?

2012: My Upcoming Family Events

September 25, 2012 by Tracy

Photograph Credit: Microsoft Images

When I shared my upcoming 2012-2013 events last week, I failed to mention my upcoming family events. As I wrote the other post, I was in the midst of planning, searching, and nailing down vendors and acts for our Fall Festival. With school projects on my mind, I only shared the school-related events.

On Monday afternoon, my toddler kept asking for “her cookie.” Figuring she wanted a cookie, I offered her one. But she didn’t want that cookie, she wanted “her cookie.” Really confused, I asked if she could show me. To which she trotted off to get the weekly ad from the Sunday paper. Then, I realized the miscommunication.

Toddler’s Birthday Party

Over the weekend when I went through the newspaper, I found the advertisement with all the birthday decorations. With my toddler close by, I asked her what kind of birthday party she wanted. She worked her way through the sales flyer naming the characters until she chose Mickey Mouse.

Though her birthday is not until the winter months, my toddler is ready for her Mickey Mouse birthday party and “her cookie.” The cookie part is because brother and sister each got a large chocolate chip cookie to share on their birthdays.

With a one-track mind, I think I need a distraction less my toddler remembers every day for the next few months. 😉

Halloween Bash

In skipping our annual Halloween Bash last year due to illness after the Fall Festival, I return to planning this year’s Halloween party. While shopping with my older children on Saturday, we found some cute Halloween crafts in the Target $1 Spot section as well as a Halloween game.

For accountability, I mentioned our party to a friend to put on her radar around Halloween. I still have a few details to work out, but I usually keep the same schedule to make planning simple and the party predictable. My kids love knowing the plan and repeating the games.

In using time wisely, my toddler’s birthday party and our Halloween bash comprise my upcoming family events. Thankfully, I have hosted both of these themes in the past, so recreating or tweaking these ideas will save me money, energy, and time. Happy planning ahead!

Question: What events are on your calendar or radar this fall and winter?

Event Promotion: A Personal Invitation

October 9, 2012 by Tracy

Photograph Credit: iStockphoto

I am getting consumed with Fall Festival preparations. Keeping separate times to work and to put it away, I feel more balanced this year. Having spent so much time last year designing the space, I only need to tweak the plans, which saves me energy and time.

Our marketing volunteers have created banners, posters, flyers, postcards, and business cards to promote our Fall Festival. Keeping these invitations in my purse, I am learning the power of a personal invitation.

When I shopped at a craft store today, I extended to our cashier an invitation to our Fall Festival. After chatting about the event, I left a postcard with her listing the location, date, and time. Our cashier seemed truly thankful for the information and the details.

Though I know not whether she will come, I know that she has the information to attend. I cannot tell you how many times someone has informed me of an event when I am on the run. When I get to a place to write it down, I cannot remember the location, date, or time. Had I been given an invitation or flyer, then I would have the information to add to my calendar.

In using time wisely to promote an event, remember a personal invitation spoken will go further with a written flyer, postcard, or business card. Knowing this gesture saves me time and energy, I seek to help others as I invite them to our upcoming event. Happy inviting!

Question: Do you find personal invitations helpful for community events?

Keeping Children at the Table: Reusable Placemats

November 20, 2012 by Tracy

Entertaining company with a meal brings about a change in my children. I’m not sure if it is because talking about their day gets overtaken with conversations with our guests, but my children seem to eat lightning fast with guests.

Any other night, they linger and chat and need reminding “to eat.” Even though we include the children into the adult conversations, they seem to finish early and want to depart from the table with company present.

In noticing this pattern with my children, I tried incorporating placemats and dry erase markers with their table setting, and it worked. When my children completed their meal, they remained at the table and colored their placemats.

Not only do my children enjoy these placemats, but also their friends. The children stay at the table and participate in the conversations while coloring their placemats. Win, WIN, WIN!

After the dinner, a simple wipe with a paper towel (or from my daughter’s finger :-)) removes the colors. Our reusable placemats keep children at the table meal after meal after meal.

How to Make Reusable Placements

1. Enlarge or print a coloring page or printable, like these adorable ones from Cheerios & Lattes.

2. Laminate them or place them in a plastic envelope purchased at a craft store.

3. Color, draw, and write with dry- or wet-erase markers.

In using time wisely to entertain family and friends, reusable placements assist hostesses in keeping children at the table. As you execute your plan on Thanksgiving Day, consider adding a reusable placement to each child’s place setting.

As they finish their meal, they can remain at the table coloring and creating with the markers provided. With happy children, the adults can interact while all guests remain together. Happy entertaining!

Question: While entertaining, how do you keep children at the table?

2012 Update Week: Fall Festival

December 11, 2012 by Tracy

Since most of my summer and fall focused on coordinating the KidZone at our Fall Festival, I felt it time to give you an update of the event.

Though KidZone itself ran smoothly, the process was not without incident. In using time wisely for a successful event, I planned, executed, and adjusted.

Planning the Fall Festival

Having coordinated for two years now, I used my prior year’s information and started with the framework, filled in the space, and chose reliable volunteers.

The Framework

Upon contacting the vendors and deciding on the number of spaces needed for the event, I rearranged the areas considering noise, electrical connections, and curb appeal. With bounce houses and generators, we are talking about a lot of noise. In consideration of our vendors, I worked to fit them in without overpowering them with constant sounds.

Without power on the field, some of the vendors and performers needed electricity. Keeping those areas near a generator limited the amount of cords scattered throughout the event.

The curb appeal focused on attracting the attention of drivers, who may see our event and stop by. This year, I had a giant slide, bounce house, pony rides, and hayride visible from the main road. Though I am not sure how many saw these attractions, we had around 1700 attendees at our event.

Filling the Spaces

Assigning spaces and discovering what each vendor needed, I put together a master supply list, including items from tape to generators. Anything I might have needed was added to the list.

I also worked with our live performers regarding the schedule and addressing their concerns. This year, we had 2 stage areas: main stage in the center and preschool stage to the side. Both areas were very well attended.

Staffing the Event

Though the process for volunteers changed this year, I ended up with the best combination available. I am very protective of my workers, and they do not disappoint. I appreciated their promptness, energy, and time. My setup help saved the day as I needed assistance throughout the event, and they came to the rescue.

Executing the Fall Festival

Setup went lickety-split this year. The crew of volunteers came ready to work, and we finished our preparations early. The first-shift helpers worked hard until the transition.

When the second-shift volunteers arrived, they jumped right in. We had fewer workers, but all areas were covered. The issues from the first shift were resolved, and second shift ran more smoothly through the end of the event.

Clean up was a breeze. I kept all the KidZone items out on the field. We sorted and returned items without any confusion between zones. It was great! I missed my son’s soccer game, but I was not exhausted and utterly worn out this year.

Having a setup schedule, event schedule, and clean up schedule solved most of the issues that occurred last year. Thankfully, I learned from my mistakes, and this year was a grand success netting our school over $12,000.

Adjusting at the Fall Festival

The new issues that arose this year included a falling bounce house. A fuse blew in one of our borrowed generators. Thankfully, a setup helper came to the rescue. He immediately detected the issue, and he rerouted the power. We tried to get power from another generator, but it blew a fuse as well before realizing that the blower to the bounce house was the problem.

After a quick call, the bounce house owner brought a replacement blower, but our generators were not operating at full power. We ended up taking down a donated basketball/soccer combo unit which worked out just fine.

Another small bump in the road was the late arrival of the majority of our second-shift volunteers. The first-shirt workers stayed though some were inconvenienced. I appreciated all their help, and let them go as soon as I could.

With these small adjustments, the day went just as planned. It was a great day. My parents came to help, and I could not have survived without them. They walked around with my kids enjoying all the stations. I took a break and went with them on the hayride which was my favorite part of the day.

In using time wisely to organize our Fall Festival, I planned, executed, and then adjusted. Working from the successes last year, I laid the foundation, tweaked the format, and enjoyed raising money for our school through the KidZone. Happy relaxing!

Question: What type of events did you plan in 2012?

« Previous Page