Latest and Greatest

So what's new? Today, we did another donation of 300 stuffed animals, coloring books/crayons and reading books to the Dept. of Children and Families for children entering foster care. I love working with DCF, I wish we could do even more. I also dropped off more stuffed animals to the Upton Fire Department. The major focus right now is getting people to attend our Anniversary Celebration. Our email invitation has been sent out, paper invitations mailed, FB invite and LinkedIn invitation all done. I've been asking people to spread the word to their friends and social network to get them to attend. I've worked so hard on getting auction items- we need people there to buy the items. Everyone who comes to the event has a great time- it is a really nice event and we have over 100 auction items, most of them are very affordable. It's an issue of getting the word out and getting people to attend. It gets so stressful. I keep having images of me and 10 guests trying to create bidding wars for 100 items- nightmare situation! I reached out to the balloon company that we always work with to get our balloons ordered for the event. I'll check in with the hotel probably next week to finalize our appetizers. I'm still working on getting in touch with people who have promised auction items but we haven't received them yet. There are about 20 auction items outstanding, actually, I think it is a little more than that. It always takes time to coordinate these last items. Some of the items need to be picked up, others can be mailed or emailed. There are always a few people that promise items but never actually donate them. I've never understood why people do that. If you can't donate, that's fine- just let me know. It gets very frustrating to deal with people who say they will donate- some people say it multiple times over the course of a few months, then disappear when the event gets closer- they don't respond to emails or phone calls. Besides the fact that it is a waste of time sending emails and making follow up calls, it is also annoying because when you organize a fundraiser, you count on the people who commit to helping. When those people don't come through, it leaves you doubly in the hole. The good thing is that the vast majority of people who say they will donate, do in fact, donate. In some cases, it may take a lot of emails/calls from me, but it works out in the end. Well, that's it for tonight. There is more to write about, but my mind is going blank. It's not even midnight yet, but I'm tired. Hopefully, the next time I blog, I can write about all the people that have said they're coming to our Anniversary Celebration- keep your fingers crossed for those emails/phone calls coming in please! Until next time friends...

Fashion Show Success

Well, two big events down and one more big one to go. The Fall into Fashion Show presented by Smiling Stiletto Shoe Club was held on Thursday at Copley Place. It was a great event! Lisa Donovan from Matty in the Morning hosted the event and did a great job. She actually hosted our 2nd Annual Date Auction a few years ago. She said such nice things about me and Project Smile when she came onstage. I totally wasn't expecting it. The event raised over $1,800 for Project Smile. One of our shoe club members, Christine, did most of the organizing, which was great. It was a relief to have some else handle the details and planning. She did a very good job. I think she would like to be involved again. Copley Place definitely wants to have the event again. We got a lot of great feedback from guests. Copley Place did very nice gift bags for everyone too. We showcased 6 different designers/stores including Karen Millen, Banana Republic, Bebe, Elie Tahari, Shoe Woo and Tumi. I'll post photos on our Smiling Stiletto page when I get them. Here's a photo of me with Lisa in front of our new sign. My friend Elle designed the new Smiling Stiletto logo. I modeled in the fashion show which is always fun!

Most of the paper invitations for our Project Smile 8th Anniversary Celebration have been mailed out. I sent the Facebook invitation to all my contacts tonight and I've posted it for the Meet Up groups that I'm involved with. Our web host was very quick and got our ticket link up on our Events page and took down all the old Date Auction info, so when people visit the Events page, they get to quickly see the Anniversary info instead of having to scroll down past all the photos of our beautiful bachelors/ettes. I get so stressed out about getting people to attend the Anniversary event. It is such a great event, but it is a lot of work to get people to show up. I need to keep reaching out to people who can help get the word out to their friends and connections. Well friends, there is a lot more to write about, but I'm tired and need to get back to sending a few more emails before I head to bed. Until tomorrow...

Success!

Well friends- it was a huge success! I can't tell you how happy I am and proud. I wish I could go back and relive the night- now that I know that everything went well, just so I could take it all in again. We raised $17,000 and had a phenomenal attendance. All the hours, the stress, the anxiety- it was all worth it. Karson and Kennedy did another fantastic job as hosts. The Patriots Cheerleaders were great. They interacted with guests for a little while, then they were by the stage and letter onstage, helping to keep the crowd going. The people who were being auctioned off did a great job. Everyone looked great, they interacted with guests during the mingling portion- I couldn't have asked for anything more. I really want to thank everyone who participated and helped make it such a great event- our sponsors, volunteers, donors, participants, guests, Gypsy Bar, photographers. There were so many people that were involved and helped make it a great night. People spent a lot more for the dates than they did last year which is a great sign. Our silent auction items did well too for the most part. We had 3 photographers there and a photographer from Stuff magazine- so hopefully we might get some pictures in the magazine. That would be incredible! I made sure to take time on Friday night to enjoy the event- even though there is always anxiety about making sure that everything keeps running smoothly and there are always small issues to solve. I watched people coming up on stage, looked at the audience which was made up of so many happy people. I looked at Karson and Kennedy, at what a great job they were doing. I looked at my volunteers who were working hard. I thought of how far we've come. I've always had big dreams and big goals, but that doesn't always mean they are going to happen. The Date Auction is a dream come true. When you work so hard for something, when you fight for every dollar raised and every donation received- and when it all culminates in that night of success- it is a feeling of pure happiness, pride and inner peace. Well, on that note, I am off to bed. I was back at work on the Anniversary Celebration today and our Fall into Fashion Show event which is this Thursday. The show completely sold out on Friday which is awesome. I'm modeling in the show on Thursday, so I've been trying watch what I eat, but I came home tonight and totally splurged on the apple pie that my mom had made. It was delicious! Until tomorrow...

Tomorrow

Well, here we are- less than 24 hours until our biggest event of the year, our 5th Annual Project Smile Charity Date Auction! I can't believe it is here. Nine months of work and now we're just hours away. I'm excited and nervous. I keep wracking my brain to make sure there is nothing that I've missed. There is so much emotion wrapped up in it too- I've worked so hard, had to keep pushing through all the difficulties of getting things together and now it is finally come together and it is shaping up to be a great night. Our advanced ticket sales have been awesome. Everything is handed that was needed for the event. Vendors have confirmed for tomorrow. Our stage and rental items arrived at Gypsy Bar today. Our hosts have confirmed. No one has dropped out from participating as of yet. There is a ton of pressure for tomorrow- it has been a tough year for fundraising and the date auction is even more important than usual. I can say for certain that I am proud of what I have done to get this event organized. I don't know what else I could have done to make it better. I hope it is a big success- so much time, effort and energy has gone into it. I really appreciate everyone that has participated- from the people being auctioned off, to our sponsors, hosts, venue, volunteers, donors- so many people have a part in making the date auction come together. I want to make sure tomorrow to take a bit of time to look around and enjoy the event- take it all in. It is easy to get so caught up with the action, to stay on top of any issues that could arise- I don't want to miss out on the fun of watching the night unfold. I followed my usual pre-event routine this week of not eating out at least 2 days before our big events. It may sound silly, but I avoid eating out prior to a big event in case of food poisoning. If I absolutely have to eat out, I am really careful about what I eat in order to avoid getting sick. I know that food poisoning is rare, but these events are so important- I don't have anyone to delegate to if I am sick. Tomorrow night, when I get home and after I run my credit cards and unload the car, I'll probably follow my ritual of going down to my local Burger King, getting a hamburger, soda and fries, coming home and sitting in bed, munching away. It's something that started a few years ago when I was starving after the date auction. I go straight home after the event since I have all the money and credit card machine with me. I decided to go down to Burger King after the event- not that I'm even a fan of Burger King, and since then it just became a tradition. It's my post-event unwind and chance to reflect on the night. Well friends, that's it for tonight. Please wish me lots of luck and success tomorrow night. Until next time.. here's hoping for a great event!

Getting Closer!

The countdown and butterflies continue- only 2 days to go! The day started off with a bit of a scare with our credit card machine. The CC machine only gets used a few times a year, mostly at our events. I always get it out a couple of days before the event and plug it in and run my own credit card for a tiny amount- just to make sure everything is working. I was planning on doing it later this afternoon, but a girl called me in the morning about the Date Auction and I told her that she could buy her ticket over the phone. She was going to call back later in the day with her credit card info. I decided that I might as well get the machine out now and plug it in. I plugged it in and instead of popping up with it's usual message, it flashed a bunch of numbers that made no sense to me, then performed a 'self-test' and then reverted back to listing the year as 1/1/2000. I didn't know what the heck was going on and I was ready to panic. A working credit card machine is super important for Friday- to put it mildly. I opened my credit card binder and dialed the help number- all the while suppressing the urge to have a meltdown. The customer service rep helped me to reset the date which got the machine working, but it had reverted to the online mode where it only processes cards when it is plugged into a telephone line. I used the machine in the store and forward mode which means that I can take it to events, swipe credit cards and the data is saved until I plug the machine into a phone line and the cards get processed. For some reason, the technical support department at the cc machine company doesn't believe that my machine has the ability to store/forward the data. I called last year about a relatively minor issue and the girl gave me an argument about it- telling me there was no way the machine could do that. I've had the cc machine since 2007 and that has been the only way it is ever used. . Anyways, the customer service rep keeps telling me the same thing- that my machine doesn't have that capability. I explained to him that I've been using it that way for 4 years. Eventually- mostly through my explaining to him how the machine worked, we were able to get to the point where he could help me reset the machine back to the store/forward mode. I processed two credit cards today and everything went fine. My meltdown was averted! I picked up the programs at Staples- they look great. I also picked up 10 red heart balloons for decorations, I've put our Project Smile stickers on them and they look quite cute. I also got small bills to make change at the event and a few trays of finger sandwiches as well. I've been trying to get as many things done ahead of time as possible, so that all I have to do on Friday morning is print out the updated guest list and load up the car. There are a few more things that I have to do tomorrow. Ticket sales are coming along well. The Yelp newsletter came out today with the Date Auction as the featured event. Here is the link: Well friends, that's it for tonight. I have a major headache- not sure why, I rarely get headaches. I'm going to make it an early night and head to bed soon. Until tomorrow...

3 Days!

Well, the countdown continues- 3 days until the big night! How are things going? I feel like we're in a good place for the Date Auction. Ticket sales are at a good pace. I've been working on getting all the odds and ends together- mostly bid sheets, forms, silent auction promo sheets, entry forms, , extension cords, lamps, nametags- all the little things that need to come with us on Friday. I have my volunteers lined up. I have two people coming with me on Friday to set up which is great. We have 3 staffers coming from the temp agency which helped us last year- they paid for 3 people to work the event. We also have a bunch of other volunteers signed up. Our date auction program is at the printers which is exciting- I always try to get it down well ahead of time, but it always comes down to almost the last minute. I'm waiting for Lisa to send over the next version of our 2012 calendar, it needed a few more small changes, then it should be heading to the printers soon. I spoke to the police officer whose daughters are going to be on the cover- he was so happy! His twin girls have been in the calendar for 6 years now, I'm glad that we could get them on the cover this time. It is a really cute photo of the twins and a little boy holding a stuffed animal. Well, I wish I had exciting news to share. Actually, I'm glad there wasn't a ton of excitement- there was enough drama yesterday to last for a few days. I did actually get commitments from two more Anniversary event sponsors which was good- one is a returning sponsor and the other is a new sponsor. I also followed up on some auction items for the Anniversary Celebration. I've been focusing so much on the date auction recently, I don't want to fall behind on the other big event. I'm off to write my list for tomorrow, try not to eat anymore leftover brownies- I put them in the fridge last night and now they are even more delicious when they are cold! Until tomorrow friends... in the meantime, please keep wishing many more ticket sales for us!

Roller Coaster

What a roller coaster of a day! I had a lot of anxiety filled dreams around the date auction last night. In one of the dreams, Karson and Kennedy decided they didn't want to use the stage, they were standing on the dance floor, but no one could see them, then they wanted everyone to sit down, but there were no seats, so people were sitting on the floor. I kept wanting the hosts to use the stage. Then, in the next dream, the Patriots cheerleaders were there, but they weren't wearing their uniforms- the were wearing these rather ugly prom style red dresses. I kept looking at them wondering why they weren't in their uniforms and trying to figure out a way that people were going to recognize who they were. They were not in a good mood because they were tired (I think this was in my dream, because last week when the Pats Cheerleader coordinator called, she said they would be coming from another event). I asked them to wave their pom poms, but they didn't want to because they were tired, but finally they took out their pom poms, but they were only the size of their thumbs. I remember looking at the pom poms and wondering what the point was to have something so small to wave. Before all that, I had forgotten to bring the table covers, so none of the tables had any covers on them. There was definitely a lot of anxiety going on in my head overnight. This morning, I logged into my email account to be greeted from an event sponsor backing out of the event- after they had already committed and their logo was on our marketing materials. I was so upset. Their sponsorship represented a good portion of the money raised to cover the cost of the event. I wrote back to them immediately- explaining that they had already committed, their logo has been on the marketing materials, etc. There were some other emails exchanged throughout the afternoon and finally by the end of the day, things were resolved and their sponsorship was back on track. I was actually in tears this morning. It gets so frustrating when you work so hard, you follow up as one is supposed to, things look like they are on track- then to be greeted with news like that, especially when I was already feeling general anxiety since we're only 4 days away from the event- it was too much this morning. The tears didn't last long, I had my cup of tea and kept plugging along with everything else that needed to get done. I'm very glad that I just didn't accept their email and let it go- it is so important to follow up with people and make a major effort to get things worked out- always in a pleasant and professional manner of course. I had a girl drop out of the date auction this morning as well- it's rather funny because she was the last one we added in after another girl dropped out. It worked out fine because Marie was in the final stages of the program, so we could still switch things out rather easily. I plucked someone off the waiting list to fill her spot. This morning, since I felt I was on a roll to nowhere land- it managed to motivate me to make one last phone call to the person who had committed to sponsoring, but hadn't sent in their info for the program. The person answered the phone and by 7pm, I had my very last date auction ad for the program! We also sold a bunch of tickets for the date auction and fashion show, so by the end of the day, I was back on the upside of the roller coaster. Honestly though, it was an exhausting day. It gets very tiring dealing with the ups and downs and the issues that arise and fixing problems that one didn't think was going to be a problem in the first place. I'm glad that things got sorted out. Tomorrow, our program will head to Staples for printing and that will be one more huge thing out of the way. Only 4 days to the big night- I can't believe it! Based on my dream, I took the table covers that I bought for the date auction out of my car. I'm probably not bringing my car on Friday, so there is no reason to keep them in there and possibly forget them. Well friends, that's it for tonight. I'm off to proof the program once more, eat some cantaloupe, I already had some brownies that I made tonight (there was a recipe for them in Cooking Light which I just had to try- they were very good), then read for a bit and relax. Until tomorrow friends...