On Monday, we had the privilege of providing event services (registration, check-out and auction services) for The Bridge Youth & Family Services of Palatine.  If you are a regular visitor of our site, you may have noticed that we are a huge supporter of The Bridge, which provides programs and services to children and their families in northwest suburban Chicago, regardless on one's ability to pay.  

The event was their annual Peter D. Cunneen Memorial Golf Classic, named for past executive director Peter D. Cunneen.  At the Inverness Golf Club, nearly 200 golfers and dinner guests. bid on live and silent auction items, entered a raffle for a chance to win some cool prizes (iPad, 60" Smart HDTV, Bose Headphones, or One Week Vacation for 4) and best of all, participated in goodhearted competition in Fund-a-Cause (you may know it as a paddle raise).  

So in The Art of Check-in, I touched on tech at events and promised to get back to it in another post. Well, that is has turned into two. A discussion of the Hybrid Approach and Full Tech Approach.

With all the different ways tech is apart of my everyday life some think I would be gung-Ho for a fully computerized event. But I'm not.

Take for instance the event that Danico provided registration and check-out services for on March 15. The event was for The Bridge Youth and Family Services, it was their annual gala. For this event the Hybrid Approach was used for the the guest check-in, donation entry, auction tracking, and guest check-out. The evening was structured in a way where except of a few guests who needed or wanted to leave before check-out officially opened, that by the time things wrapped up from a program perspective and moved to more entertainment, everything was entered and ready for the guests.

So, let’s talk about event check-in.  I know it’s not a “sexy” topic but it is one that needs a discussion.  And no, I’m not talking about checking in with Foursquare, Facebook or any of those social media things.  I’m talking about the “Welcome, to our event.  May I have your name please” kind of check-in.  (I will discuss the pros and cons of using technology during your event in future posts).

Over the last few months we have been working on a surprise birthday party for a long time Danico supporter.  There was a fear from all that were involved that she would put the pieces together.  Fortunately for us she did not!  We were able to not only surprise her with local friends and family but also with some out of town guests.  

Whew! All done…well, almost!

The prizes have been awarded, auction items carried off to their new homes and the decorations have been packed away.

While we plan all type of events, fundraisers are our favorite.  We like doing our part in helping worthy and worthwhile organizations raise funds for their services and programs.  The galas and golf outings we're apart of are often the major fundraising events of the year for our clients.  In planning these events there are many moving parts and to handle them all requires: planning, creativity and a great team.  The team is not just Danico nor the client.  It includes vendor partners.  Our vendor partners help us to help our clients, create a GREAT event.  

Event season is nearly upon us. One of the many tasks is a site visit.  Every planner does it and you should too. There are many checklists on the web, in books etc. but none of them will speak exactly to your situation.  Over the years I can say I have never used the exact same checklist twice and I've been working events for a decade. Each time some addition/subtractions are necessary.