Once again . . . think of this blog as my real website’s half-sister, once removed and living in Toronto - it’s that sister who’s existence is acknowledged by the rest of the family in passing conversation but no one really talks to except on Thanksgiving. My real site will be up the last week of July - all fingers crossed!

This week we’re in the final steps of planning the Games on the Green event, set for Sunday, July 29 from 1-5PM in funky old fishing village and now quaint summer hang-out Stonington Borough, Connecticut. If you’re stumbling onto this site to learn more about registering for the Croquet Tournament or have any questions about the event - call me at any time: 860.384.4480 or drop me a note: suzi[at]wallflymarketing.com.

So, we only had about 4-6 weeks to plan this event. Now we’re down to 10 days. Scary crunch time. Things are cooking - we’ve got awesome raffle prizes that include “Front of the Line” status at two cool Stonington restaurants, Noah’s and Water Street Cafe. Basically, since these hopping joints don’t take reservations, they have offered to grant someone and their 3 lucky friends a quick jump to the front of the line any time they show up for chow between now and Labor Day. Two other restaurants, Skipper’s Dock and Yellow House have provided gift certificates, and we’ve tons of other cool raffle prizes from local supporters. Somehow I found an awesome barbershop troupe (15-17 folks) to sing for us for only $150! They’re a real find. Big Y has agreed to donate something - it will most likely be some of their staff to do face painting for the kids. How cool is that? I owe them props - they are a dream to work with! I’ve got a few more press gigs lined up that include interviews on local stations - UConn’s WHUS (Sat., 7/21, 9:30AM) and local talk radio WTIC 1080 (Wed., 7/25 at 7:20AM). More press is in the works - as far as I can tell, getting the word out will make or break this event. Keep your fingers crossed for me and tell everyone you know in CT about it.

This has been an incredible learning experience for me. In doing corporate or private events, you can get very focused and definitive about what has to happen and when. A community, non-profit fundraiser has those 3 elements that either jive or don’t: 1) community - without active volunteers, you can say goodbye to your event; 2) non-profit - everyone gets tapped to provide free stuff so for every 1 free thing you need, you have to inquire 3-4 times; 3) fundraiser - if you don’t create energy and interest around a one-day event, you can see all your hardwork tank right before your eyes. Our event is especially difficult as we must compete against vacations, other festivals and the fact that it’s the summer and folks who are interested in showing up may not be so interested on the day of.

Our event has a leg up, however, because we are unique. Old-fashioned kid’s games like sack races, croquet tournament, homemade lemonade, ice cream with fresh blueberries, guys in costume belting out Americana, pick-up bocce just for fun and whatever else we can come up with between now and a week and a half. It’s a fundraiser, yet it’s really more about getting the community together to hang out and thank them for all of the money that the Borough Clock Fund II has raised to date to save the Stonington Clock Tower. Few benefit groups can do that. This group has an exceptional spirit and hardworking attitude - volunteers get in line and get it done. It’s awesome to see!

So, in an event like this, while the focus can quickly shift towards logistics such as where people park and what time the event starts, you need to realize that everyone else in the world has your event on the bottom of its to do list. That’s why buzz and promotion from various channels require the same amount of attention as the actual planning. This is the main reason small community events get lackluster showing. It’s not that folks don’t care or aren’t interested in going. If you promote the right energy about an event and keep hyping it up (repetition, repetition, repetition), folks will want to be a part of it. And, it really needs to happen through various channels, from the start of the event planning right up until the week before.

My biggest hope is that 10 days from now I will be able to post a happy review of the fantastic time we all had on the 29th. Considering we were unable to get a rain date and this is a one-time event, as long as Mother Nature cooperates, I think we can handle the rest! Again, fingers crossed.