Worry

Blogging on a Sunday night- I think that's a first. So what's new? Nothing really- I am so nervous for Friday, it's dreadful. I know I need to relax, but can't seem to find a way. I had a horrendous headache earlier, still have a little one, and I don't usually get headaches- also having dreadful allergies (I hope it's not a cold, I don't think it is). It's so hard to explain how I feel. People that are event planners are probably laughing at me and maybe everyone is thinking that I'm majorly exaggerating. But I'm not. There is so much pressure for this event to be successful- we need the financial support from this event in a huge way. There was so much time and money that went into the date auction that in needs to be a success to justify all the work that went into it.

Besides that, I don't want to disappoint all the people that support this event- there were a lot of people that have believed in us and believed in our event and I don't want to disappoint them with a lousy event. I appreciate everyone that has helped get our date auction to where it is- the people that have sponsored, chosen to be auctioned off, are volunteering at the event, people that have given us deals on marketing, businesses that have donated gift certificates, the radio personalities who are hosting, Gypsy Bar for working with us- I wouldn't have gotten here without the people that have helped- so I want it to be a success so they don't feel like they wasted their time or regret being involved.

I made a business decision in January to hold this date auction as a fundraiser and besides all the bumps we've had along the way and issues that came up, I never doubted that I made the right decision and I know that it has the capability to be incredible on Friday night. I also know that I'm doing everything I can to get a great turnout. People tell me our ticket sales are on track for a great turnout. But I am so nervous, I feel it in my toes. I know it's not professional to admit that I've cried about it. But I was tonight. I'm so anxious about this event and the anniversary event 3 weeks from now- so afraid of them not being successful.

I'm sorry for being such a debbie downer tonight- I just figured blogging would help make me feel better- it hasn't. But I have stopped blowing my nose every 30 seconds and my eyes aren't so itchy, so I guess the tears helped cure that. Well, I think I'm going to go find a recipe for wonton soup- I'm going to make that tomorrow for my Try New Food Monday ritual. I had some tonight and it inspired me. I do have some emails that need attention, but maybe that can wait until morning.

I promise I will be in a better mood tomorrow- or at least I won't be all whiny. If I keep this up, I'll lose all my readers! I just hope the people that actually read this can understand how I feel without thinking I'm exaggerating- honestly, I'm not.
Until tomorrow friends....

Date Auction 7 Days Away

Well, this time next Friday- our date auction will be over- I will be home and hopefully celebrating a hugely successful event. Nine months of planning, countless hours of phone calls, follow up phones, more follow up calls, emails, follow up emails, letters, trips- hours- days of anxiety- it will all be over. I can't even begin to tell you how anxious I am for the date auction- for the anniversary event too- but since the date auction is closer, that's the bigger worry. Everyone tells me it will be great and people who have experience in Boston events tell me that we are right on track with our ticket sales to have a great event, but still I worry. It gets overwhelming sometimes- there is an incredible amount of pressure that comes with this job. I know that everyone feels stress and pressure and I can't begin to compare myself to what others go through. But with Project Smile, everything basically falls back to me and I am solely responsible for our success and our failures. These two events are hugely important for our financial future- our stability and ability to grow. That is not an exaggeration. So when I worry about our event, I'm not simply worried about getting 300 people in the door, I'm worried about raising enough money to keep us going and justifying the incredible amount of time that was spent working on the date auction.

Anyways, enough on that? So why am I blogging on a Friday night? Well, I came home from having dinner with a really good friend and I needed to stop myself from going on the computer and obsessing over ticket sales- basically need to stop working for tonight. I missed blogging last night, so I figured it was a good time to crank up the laptop and get writing.

What did I do today? I was working on more date auction promo (what a surprise!), auction details and following up on those silent auction items promised. I found out that I need to get a cordless mic for the date auction (Gypsy has one, but we need two since we have two hosts). I thought one of the hosts was bringing one, but I made a mistake and it doesn't look like she will be able to get one. So I was trying find one to borrow- it costs $75 to rent, which isn't that much, but I really need to keep costs under control. Then I also found out I have to rent a PA system for our singers to use at the anniversary celebration- I wasn't expecting extra costs for the event, so that was pretty frustrating. I've rented one from a place in Framingham, it costs $63 and I have to pick it up and return it, so that is extra work on the event day. I need to make sure that both singers bring their mics with them, because I really can't afford extra rental charges. I know it may sound silly to worry about these small costs, but every dollar really adds up and it is all the small things that end up blowing the budget.

I was also working on getting my friends and people being auctioned off to promote our event on Going.Com. Going is featuring our event next week, but we need to generate buzz on the site by people clicking on our event AND leaving comments. So please, visit Going.Com, get a free account if you don't already have one (it's a cool site) and click on our date auction, the "like it" section and then leave a comment- you have to do that for it to count. Here is the link.
http://boston.going.com/event-377833;Project_Smile_2nd_Annual_Date_Auction

We are also on Yelp- that is a cool site too,
http://www.yelp.com/events/boston-project-smile-2nd-annual-charity-date-auction
You can go on Yelp and click on our event too to help promote it. We're also listed on Boston Fashion Week's website and Boston.Com.

Anyways, I think I should go to bed- my eyes are starting to really hurt- that's a pretty good sign that I should be asleep. I am going to stop working for tonight at least- I need relax and stop thinking for a little bit. I just want to dream of how incredible our event could be- will be.
Good night friends..

Powerpoint!

Ah powerpoint! I have been working on my very first powerpoint presentation- yes, I have actually never used powerpoint before. I was working on setting up our photo slideshow for the anniversary celebration. It is going to play while our song is being performed. It took me a little while to figure out how to add captions to the photos, but I somehow managed to press the right buttons and was able to add my photos and include captions. I'm actually really happy with the way it looks- its a pretty simple presentation, photos on white background with black text, but it looks neat and clean and the photos are great. I don't think it needs to be elaborate. It was really fun going through all the photos and choosing which ones to include. It's easy to forget what we have done these past 5 years, but looking at the photos, I can't help but see how far we've come. It is really funny to look at the early photos when we didn't have our own boxes, I was using the Poland Spring boxes and would tape a sign with our logo on it onto the sides of the boxes- it looked dreadful. But then again, I didn't know how dreadful it looked until after we got our boxes.

Anyways, I chose 51 photos for the slideshow, they are in chronological (almost) order, with each photo showing for 3 seconds. I'm so glad I figured it out on my own, I was working on it for about 2 1/2 hours tonight. Now the next big thing is getting hold of an LCD projector and figuring out how to hook that up to my laptop and project the slideshow onto a screen. If only I had a techie who could do this stuff for more- it would make things a lot easier.

I also want to do another photo montage to play at the anniv. event showing all the calendar photos from the 2009 calendar. Those ones don't need captions, so it should probably be faster to load them in. Lisa (graphic designer) still has the disks with the photos on them, so I have to wait until she sends them back before I can do that. We have hundreds of photos to sort through, so it will probably take a bit of time, but I think that would be a cool thing to play at the event.

What else was I working on today? I went up to Gypsy Bar to do a map for the date auction. It is so important to do a site visit and not rely on the layout from memory. I did some rough maps, tomorrow I will do a finished map which which show were all the tables are going to be positioned. I think I've made good choices. I do need to get some battery operated table lamps for the silent auction table. The lighting is pretty dim inside Gypsy and I want to make sure that our items are clearly visible. We have such awesome auction items- it is a small auction, nowhere near the scale of the anniversary event, but we definitely have cool stuff- including Air Tran tix worth $1000 and a Boston annual gym membership also worth $1000 and sports items as well.

I was also working on a lot of date auction prep work earlier- bid sheets, etc. I really wish I had someone to help me, because this would be perfect work to delegate. But I don't, so since I can't clone myself and can't afford to hire anyone, complaining isn't going to help.

Well, I'm off to bed. I had an exhausting night last night (can't explain)- I was so tired this afternoon, I took a short nap around 5:30 and woke up when the phone rang, wondering why someone was calling so early- I thought it was morning, yikes! I don't want to go to bed too late, it's 12:25 now, so I'm going to shut off my office comp, write my list for tomorrow and bed. Until tomorrow friends..

Date Auction Only 10 Days Away

Date auction is ten days away! What a busy day it was today- I managed to get through 15 of the 20 items on my list, which was actually pretty good. I was working on finalizing our gift certificates for the couples to use- we are almost all set, thankfully. Then I was back to work on the date auction program, following up with sponsors, following up on raffle items, sending out more anniversary event invitations. I was also working on following up on auction items that were promised- yes, there is that much following up to do. The Celtics are sending an autographed player photo for our silent auction- it should be arriving tomorrow.

Lisa sent me the draft program of the date auction this afternoon and it is looking awesome. The photo of me looks pretty lousy though, so I've sent her some new ones to choose from. Yes, I'm getting auctioned off too! There are still a few small additions for the program and an ad that needs revised, but it is almost all done. It really does look sharp- long though, 8 pages double sided. That's going to cost a pretty penny to print, but it can't be cut down because of all the ads that need to be included.

I was at the Providence Chapter of the Downtown Womens Club tonight. They have monthly networking events. I've been going for the last few months and I really like it. Networking events can be difficult sometimes, but this group is good because everyone is very friendly, it is a small group, but there are new people every month as well- and it is free to go! They meet at a restaurant in Attleboro, so it is fairly close to home. I think I wrote about it a few months ago, but I really am glad that I joined.

Tomorrow I am off to meet with the events manager at Gypsy Bar and work on my map for the date auction. So that means I need to go and prepare- I already know how many tables we need, but I need to list who/what is going to be at each table, so tomorrow I can figure out where each table will be located.

So I'm off to do that and then go to bed- eyes are hurting again, so I want to write the list up quickly and then sleep. Until tomorrow friends...

Date Auction Next Week!

Less than two weeks for the date auction! It doesn't seem possible that it is almost here. I've been working on the date auction and the anniversary event since January and now they are right around the corner and I am so nervous. Nervous that no one will show up and that all the hard work and time and money will be for nothing- this is nervousness that one can feel all the way down to their toes. I'm trying to do all the right things, particularly in promoting the date auction, but it is still really nerve wracking.

So what did I do today besides sit at my desk and worry? Well, I was working on getting more auction items that were promised- there are quite a few items left to chase down. We did get two more awesome items- one was a Bucket of Cheer donation from Boston Beer Company (which produces Sam Adams beer). Their donation includes a certificate for a case of Sam Adams beer per month for one year, a metal ice bucket, two beer glasses, t-shirts, caps and keychains. It is a really cool item. On Friday, I picked up a gift certificate from the Whitin Community Center for a pool party for up to 25 people, it has a value of $175.

I was also working on more date auction promo, got the last two profiles for the date auction program all set finally, sent more invitations for the anniversary celebration and I can't remember what else I was doing. I must sound like I have memory problems- I honestly don't, it's just when I get tired and when I'm anxious, I can't remember things. I know I need to calm down about getting people to the events, but there is so much riding on the success of these two events, that it is difficult to relax. Our fundraising has been off this year, so we need this money urgently to stay on track for the year.

When I close my eyes, I can visualize just how wonderful these events can be- I see the date auction with hundreds of people attending, all having a great time, waging bidding war after bidding war, the ladies winning their shoes along with the good looking guy. The same goes for the anniversary event, we won't get as many people as the date auction will, but it will be an elegant event, with great speakers, fantastic silent auction, good music, good food, debut of our calendar, our song will sound great- 150+ people, all having a good time and bidding on our cool auction items. So that's what I see when I think of how our events will be, now I just have to make sure that becomes a reality- because the nightmare scenario is me, my mom, my sister and 3 friends sitting in a giant ballroom at the Doubletree staring at all the cool auction items and me wondering aloud if I put the right time on the invitations. Nightmare date auction scenario is me waging a bidding war with myself for a date with 19 hot single guys, each coming with a pair of sexy shoes, size 7.5 and a gift certificate for a fun date- all for things that I want to do! OK, so maybe that's not such a bad nightmare!

Well, I'm off. I have a lot of emails to respond to and there's a lot of prep work I need to get done for the date auction- a lot of little things. I was planning on going back to work, but it's 12:18, so I might just go to bed early and wake up earlier and be the picture of efficiency tomorrow. I need to put the worry out of my head, because it is so draining. I also need to start work on the photo montage for the anniv. event- it is going to play while our song is being performed. I was trying to get someone to help me put it together, but that doesn't look like it's going to happen. I really should start work on that tomorrow.

OK, really off now, think I might just go to bed- I have this nagging little headache. Until tomorrow friends..

Latest News

Greetings! Sorry for not blogging yesterday. I wasn't being a bum though- was up until 3am working- sending out invitations, working on the date auction program and catching up on emails. It has taken a long time to get those invites out- but I almost done. I know I keep saying this, but I am so anxious about getting enough people to attend the anniversary event- the date auction too- but the anniversary event in particular. This morning I met with the sales manager at the Doubletree Hotel to go over the details for the event. The meeting went really well, she was really nice and we got a lot accomplished. It is a great venue for our event and I'm so glad that we are holding it there again. I felt so excited for our anniversary when I left the hotel, it is shaping up to be a fantastic event.

I got unexpected news that kind of derailed things for me this afternoon. I can't go into details, however, it is related to one of our upcoming events. It did get me thinking about destructive people. It blows my mind that there are people out there who wish to bring harm to Project Smile out of some bizarre personal issues. I have spent the last 5 years of my life trying to build an organization that is simply dedicated to helping children. I work hard, it is a constant struggle to find the resources for us to grow, I work alone for the most part, with little help. All I've ever wanted is to make things better in the world, even if it is only in one small way and I want to create something that will continue helping others long after I am gone. It's pretty simple really. My greatest happiness besides my family is that Project Smile is growing and we are making a difference.

Now, I am no stranger to destructive people- I have met many in my life and I have personal experience repairing what others have tried to destroy. However, the fact that someone wants to create difficulties and obstacles for our work is unreal. But rest assured, that no one and nothing will get in the way of our mission, particularly not someone with baseless claims.

Anyways, enough on that topic. I can't remember all the other things that I wanted to blog about! I'm going back to work- have a ton of emails to respond to, more date auction work to do and more invitations to send out. I don't really want to stay up until 3am again, so since it is now 12:50, I need to get going. Good news- the Huntington Theatre donated gift certificates for two couples, so now we are down to 7 gift certificates needed.
Until next time friends...

Welcome to September

September is here! Our date auction is only 17 days away and our anniversary celebration is only a month away- can you imagine it? I had some moments of panic this morning when thinking about how close our events are. Today was a busy day- I was up at the printers this morning checking out our calendar proof- it looks awesome and will be ready next week! This afternoon, I was working on sending out our anniversary invitations. It takes a while because I write personal messages inside each invite and because I have so many to send out. I like to personalize them because I always enjoy invitations that have been personalized and last year, someone commented how they liked that I had written a note inside the invitation. I was really stupid though, because I should have gotten all the invitations ready last week, so that all I had to do was mail them today- I don't know what I was thinking by waiting. I know I've been busy, but I should have made time. I didn't have a lot of time this afternoon, but I did get 45 sent out and tomorrow will get the remaining 245 mailed. I am so nervous about getting people there. I also need to chase down the rest of those auction items that people promised but I don't have yet- that is so time consuming.

In really good news- the Sofft shoes arrived for our date auction! They are so cute and comfortable as well (the best possible combination!). I didn't have time to look at them all, but the ones I did see were gorgeous- very sleek and sexy. They sent mini shoe keychains as well which we will give out as people enter. I am still working on the gift certificates for the date auction- we are 9 items short and I am having such trouble coming up with the remaining items. I also need to chase down the info from firefighters who signed up, but still haven't sent their info. I'm trying to get everything squared away as soon as possible and right now there are too many loose ends.

Well, I'm going to go back and work on my invitations- my goal is to get to 80 before bed. There is more I wanted to blog about, but it is 12:24 and I need to get back to work. Wish me luck and speed! Until tomorrow night friends..