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#Post#: 15987--------------------------------------------------
Would you attend this? Updated page 3
By: NyaChan Date: October 12, 2018, 3:12 pm
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I volunteer with a local non-profit and I’m at odds with some of
the others on committee for a fundraiser. The board of the
organization engaged a speaker who is in my opinion far beyond
our level. When I say local, I mean mostly within a city and
occasionally stretch to the full state with our services and
this person works around the world. The Chair has chosen to
pattern our event after a similar event in another state which
hasn’t taken place yet, but I happen to know one of volunteers
for the other organization and she disclosed that the speaker is
difficult to work with and has not garnered the ticket sales
that were promised. There is still time though and perhaps
their event will be more successful than it looks now. Here is
what they did and our Chair is proposing to adopt for our
program:
1 hour meet & greet for $250 a person (separate from regular
event ticket)
Regular event has a standing room only ticket for $100 and a
table seat for $150. Meet & greet attendees will not get a
discount on a ticket for the regular event.
Apps (veggie platter, fruit platter, cocktail meatballs, wings,
dips with bread, dessert)
Cash bar
Silent auction
Raffle ($10 & $5 dollar values)
Presentation from speaker
To me, this doesn’t feel very hospitable, but it doesn’t seem to
bother anyone else. What do you guys think?
#Post#: 15988--------------------------------------------------
Re: Would you attend this?
By: Despedina Date: October 12, 2018, 3:15 pm
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Personally that is WAY out of my budget. Unless this is a well
known celebrity with a fan base then I'm not sure what one is
paying for. Also for that price I would expect a full meal at
least.
#Post#: 15999--------------------------------------------------
Re: Would you attend this?
By: lmyrs Date: October 12, 2018, 4:54 pm
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It completely depends on the organization, the speaker, etc.
This is probably not an event that will attract those in lower
income brackets. But if you organization is an industry
organization, an entrepreneur organization, a network
organization, a political fundraiser, etc, it is incredibly
reasonable.
This is one of those know your audience things. There are a
tonne of people who would gladly pay these fees depending on
circumstance and who the speaker is.
#Post#: 16001--------------------------------------------------
Re: Would you attend this?
By: wolfie Date: October 12, 2018, 4:59 pm
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That is the cost of a ticket to have a meet and greet with a
Cheetah near me and I am very tempted by it. But I would only
pay that much for someone I really wanted to see. Otherwise it
is out of my range.
#Post#: 16003--------------------------------------------------
Re: Would you attend this?
By: jpcher Date: October 12, 2018, 5:29 pm
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I'm curious about the meet & greet. What is the intention here?
For people to get up front and personal with the guest speaker
(if so, how many tickets are being sold?) or just a general
gathering for everybody who bought the tickets? I think that,
for the price, there should be some sort of benefit/special
reason to attend this part of the event. Do the meet & greet
people get first dibs on the silent auction? That type of thing.
How long will the second part of the event last? 1 hour for
cocktails/apps? Then the presentation will take how long? I'm
betting you won't get very many SROs. Not having any seating for
people during the presentation does not sound appealing at all.
What if all the seating is not sold out? Will the SROs be able
to sit at a table? Who would police this? Some guests might say
"I paid an extra $50 for a chair! Why do they get to sit at a
table when they didn't pay for it?" (playing devil's advocate
here).
Despedina -- Yes, it's a bit pricey for my range as well.
However if it was a cause that I really want to support then I'd
pay the fees. That said, I would be extremely disappointed with
the appetizer table. I think that there should be more of a
variety (wings are difficult to eat while standing/balancing a
plate and drink.)
NyaChan -- What time of day does this event take place? How many
people are you expecting to draw? Have you done similar
fundraising events?
I know, a lot of questions, and to answer yours: No, this does
not seem to be very hospitable at first glance but with a little
finessing? Like making the meet & greet more enticing/special
woo! hoo!, adding chairs along the walls for the main event,
upgrading the appetizers? Maybe?
Just my thoughts and hoping for a happy ending for you!
#Post#: 16008--------------------------------------------------
Re: Would you attend this?
By: Bada Date: October 12, 2018, 7:19 pm
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You're paying an extra $50 just for a chair? Heck no! And who
wants to stand and listen to a speaker? Nope. Give everyone a
chair!!
#Post#: 16010--------------------------------------------------
Re: Would you attend this?
By: NyaChan Date: October 12, 2018, 7:42 pm
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[quote author=jpcher link=topic=734.msg16003#msg16003
date=1539383364]
I'm curious about the meet & greet. What is the intention here?
For people to get up front and personal with the guest speaker
(if so, how many tickets are being sold?) or just a general
gathering for everybody who bought the tickets? I think that,
for the price, there should be some sort of benefit/special
reason to attend this part of the event. Do the meet & greet
people get first dibs on the silent auction? That type of thing.
How long will the second part of the event last? 1 hour for
cocktails/apps? Then the presentation will take how long? I'm
betting you won't get very many SROs. Not having any seating for
people during the presentation does not sound appealing at all.
What if all the seating is not sold out? Will the SROs be able
to sit at a table? Who would police this? Some guests might say
"I paid an extra $50 for a chair! Why do they get to sit at a
table when they didn't pay for it?" (playing devil's advocate
here).
Despedina -- Yes, it's a bit pricey for my range as well.
However if it was a cause that I really want to support then I'd
pay the fees. That said, I would be extremely disappointed with
the appetizer table. I think that there should be more of a
variety (wings are difficult to eat while standing/balancing a
plate and drink.)
NyaChan -- What time of day does this event take place? How many
people are you expecting to draw? Have you done similar
fundraising events?
I know, a lot of questions, and to answer yours: No, this does
not seem to be very hospitable at first glance but with a little
finessing? Like making the meet & greet more enticing/special
woo! hoo!, adding chairs along the walls for the main event,
upgrading the appetizers? Maybe?
Just my thoughts and hoping for a happy ending for you!
[/quote]
So here’s some of the proposed details:
Meet & Greet: pictures with the speaker, autographed copy of
their book, a gift bag, free beer donated by local microbrewery.
It will be up to 50 people but I know the other organization
only managed to sell 20/25 tickets to theirs.
Regular Event is 4 hours. Program is 45 min of that (short video
about nonprofit’s mission, welcome from Chairwoman, then the
speaker)
Seating: Our website for ticket sales will require registration
and we will have a seating chart. The venue has room for a lot
of tables, but we will only place the ones we need and leave
some seats open on the chart for walk ins. We should be able to
place several cocktail tables around the open area so that
people who don’t pay for table tickets can still eat/drink
somewhat more comfortably. This would be an evening event over
the weekend. They are calling it a gala. We’ve done a somewhat
formal evening event before, but the speaker and prices were
more reasonable IMO. Like $50 to attend across the board, meet
& greet was an additional $50, and open seating (though
technically not enough for everyone to sit at once).
I can try to argue for some chairs to be brought in for the
presentation but I suspect I’ll get ignored. We’ve had changes
in our leadership this year and the new people seem determined
to prove they are in charge 🙁
#Post#: 16011--------------------------------------------------
Re: Would you attend this?
By: NyaChan Date: October 12, 2018, 7:46 pm
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[quote author=wolfie link=topic=734.msg16001#msg16001
date=1539381567]
That is the cost of a ticket to have a meet and greet with a
Cheetah near me and I am very tempted by it. But I would only
pay that much for someone I really wanted to see. Otherwise it
is out of my range.
[/quote]
A real cheetah or is that sport team?
#Post#: 16012--------------------------------------------------
Re: Would you attend this?
By: Rose Red Date: October 12, 2018, 8:04 pm
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For me, it would depend on who the speaker is and what charity
the money is going to. I probably wouldn't pay $250 for the meet
and greet since those usually last only a few minutes per person
(I may be wrong)
I'm also puzzled about tables when only finger food is served.
Without tables, there's more room for chairs so more people can
sit during the presentation.
#Post#: 16027--------------------------------------------------
Re: Would you attend this?
By: wolfie Date: October 12, 2018, 10:35 pm
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[quote author=NyaChan link=topic=734.msg16011#msg16011
date=1539391572]
[quote author=wolfie link=topic=734.msg16001#msg16001
date=1539381567]
That is the cost of a ticket to have a meet and greet with a
Cheetah near me and I am very tempted by it. But I would only
pay that much for someone I really wanted to see. Otherwise it
is out of my range.
[/quote]
A real cheetah or is that sport team?
[/quote]
A real cheetah. This is for the Cheetah Conservation Fund. I
reread your post. So if I want to do the meet and great and the
presentation with a chair I need to pay $400???? no. For the
Cheetah event 250 gets you a picture with the cheetah and the
presentation and a chair. Food is appetizers and desserts.
Nothing very big - not a meal - but enough for nibbles. Your
event doesn't sound like a lot of fun.
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