Event Management

“Plans are nothing. Planning is everything.”
~Albert Einstein

Amazing Race for Charity – Greene County 2018

The Amazing Race for Charity – Greene County is a community organization located in Jefferson, IA. In 2018, the organization produced the inaugural race consisting of 12 challenges throughout the town of Jefferson. The race garnered support from many local businesses and BOOST, the charity benefiting from the 2018 Amazing Race for Charity.

The Amazing Race for Charity – Greene County takes teams of 2 and, using clues, sends them throughout town to complete mental and physical challenges. There were 12 challenges that each team would complete. We were able to incorporate 7 different community organizations and businesses as challenge locations, garnering more support for the race.

As co-creator for the event, I was in charge of maintaining our race participant, donation and volunteer databases. I also maintained our technology platforms by creating and updating our website, managing all social media and facilitating a paperless event.

The foundation for The Amazing Race for Charity – Greene County was our paperless event platform.  In creating QR codes, teams were able to follow clues on their cell phones as they completed each challenge, reducing time and waste for the event.

With 16 teams, over 30 businesses providing donations and 50+ volunteers, the event was highly successful in its first year.  Planning for the Amazing Race for Charity – Greene County 2019 is currently underway.

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Bras for the Cause Annual Gala 2014

Bras for the Cause is a volunteer based, non-profit organization working to put an end to breast & cervical cancers through fundraising, awarding grants & raising awareness. Bras for the Cause strives to ensure that all Iowans, uninsured or under-insured, have access to screenings, medical programs & other avenues of support.

In 2014, I was asked to be part of this organization and act as the co-chair of the Bras for the Cause Annual Gala. I, along with my co-chair, were tasked with planning & executing multiple small events that would lead up to the annual gala.  Together, we oversaw all aspects of the events including logistics, timelines, donations, staffing, artist submissions and budgets.  In the end, we were able to present multiple highly successful events that included a record number of artist submissions and exceeded previous fundraising totals.

 

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Tai Village Annual Festival 2013

Tai Village is a non-profit organization dedicated to honoring and preserving the heritage of the Tai Dam people.  Originally from the northwestern region of Vietnam, the Tai Dam people were displaced during the Vietnam conflict.  In 1975, approximately 1500 Tai Dam people were brought to Iowa as refugees and many have remained in the area.  In 2003, Tai Village was founded to recognize the legacy of the Tai Dam people.

In 2013, I was asked to act as co-chair for the annual Tai Village Festival. The annual festival is a 3 day event that includes traditional Tai Dam foods, crafts, sports, dancing and entertainment. In addition to the annual events, we also introduced the first annual Miss Bon Tai Pageant recognizing young women of Tai Dam, Laos, Vietnamese & Cambodian descent.

As co-chairs of the festival, we oversaw all event vendors, entertainment, logistics, timelines & budgets. At the completion of the 3-day event, we were able to report record attendance and exceeded the 2013 fundraising goals.