This past weekend was the 2013 Great Adventure Dinner & Auction for Medical Teams International. I can't believe this was my 5th auction to be a part of. But different than other years, this was my first auction to lead as the as the event manager. And boy did I learn a lot in this past year. I've never been pushed to grow as much as I was during this year of planning. It was hard, but it was good.
In years past, I've always been involved with the majority of the event planning, but this year I was a part of every little aspect of the event (and those of you who have ever planned an event know that there are a million little details that go into making that one night happen). So what details took up nine months of my working year? Procuring auction packages (live, silent, wine, international), lining up the auctioneer/emcee/event participants, working with a graphic designer for all event materials, working with an outsourced events company to line up vendors, setting up and managing two databases, coordinating volunteers with our volunteer manager, menu tasting with the caterer (the best part of the job), working with our development team to create strategies around this fundraising event, running the raffle of a Lexus car (nearly an event within itself), and a million other details that make a 5-hour event a success.
It was a lot of work, but it all came together in the end and raised over $1.2 million for people all around the world. Worth it.
But I have to say that I'm pretty glad to have this year's auction behind me. And will definitely need a vacation before I even think about starting to plan for the next one.
the view of the auction (our normal warehouse and distribution center) from above
My sweet mom came to help out in the office on the days leading up to the auction. Thanks, Mom!
And Robby was a rock star putting up with my stressful work schedule leading up to the auction, and then working the crowd (while also being my go-to "volunteer") on auction night.
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