By Lindsay Griffin
Where have the past couple of weeks gone? We’re only two weeks into event season and have three MMRF Team for Cures 5K Walk/Run events under our belt.
The MMRF series kicked off in South Florida on March 20th. Florida was hot, and the first event of the series. To be honest, the team was sweating at 4 am before the sun had even come up.
To understand how our first event of the season turned into a success, the best place to start is the storage unit reorganization we undertook a few weeks prior in Los Angeles. This prep operation was critical because it allowed our event planning team to touch all the event supplies that we will use for the next nine months. For a series tour, here are some of the things we think about before embarking on our events:
- Signage — A great signage package is key to event success. We had to ensure we had the signage not only for Florida but also for the full season of Team for Cures 5K events. This includes everything for the stage, mission areas, and team gathering areas. While a few pieces are printed specifically for each market, we QC’d the bulk of the package and prepared it for shipping.
- Shipping operations — One event model where our team excels is a tour or a series of events that moves throughout the country. This requires either multiple sets of supplies and signage, which get very pricey or (as is true for many of our events) a package that travels from event to event to maximize dollars saved. In Los Angeles, our first step is to assess the supplies on hand, cross-reference our inventory, then make the official shopping list for the tour. The best part of this process is at the end when we get to hone our Tetris skills and pack everything up tight to be shipped in the most consolidated way to save money for our projects.
- Backup package planning — We call this “Plan B”. No one likes to think about what happens when shipments don’t arrive on time or something goes sideways, but our team excels at backup plans. Our business is live events and, as they say, the show must go on. With a packed season of 15 events for MMRF, part of our time in the storage unit in Los Angeles was preparing a backup package that could be deployed to any market we needed.
Once our preparations in Los Angeles were complete, it was time to kick off the MMRF Team for Cures 5K Walk/Run tour. Florida was hot, but a beautiful first event with participants and patient teams thrilled to return to the live event community. We also got to introduce the series to two new Event 360 staff members, always a highlight for our production team.
Last weekend, our special mission was to produce two Team for Cures 5K events on the same weekend; one in Scottsdale and one in San Francisco. Scottsdale was completely the opposite from Florida on the humidity spectrum, much to the joy of our team. Overall, the event was smooth and well-attended due in part to the fact we chose a date for the event that lined up with the Myeloma conference the same week. While I was leading the team in Scottsdale, we had an entire second team on the ground in San Francisco for the Sunday event. The highlights of Sunday’s event included a beautiful set-up day, some truly incredible high-performing fundraising teams, and a fun balloon artist. Both events went smoothly and we’re excited to move on to Boston in three weeks.
Be sure to follow along on our Instagram at @Event360 or check out MMRF’s account at @TheMMRF.
