Third Annual Future of America Gala

I had the opportunity to work at a non-profit hosted fundraising gala on September 25th. The gala was hosted by DPAF or David Pattinson's American Future at the Carnegie Institute for Science in Dupont.

The venue was stunning. Guests entered at the front under the portico (pictured above) where they were asked to check in and then pose for a step and repeat off to the side. Guests arrived in two stages: at 7:30 for the VIP reception and then in a general admission second wave an hour later. At least, that was the plan. In reality, guests arrived fashionably late at various times throughout the night. Upon arrival, VIP guests were ushered into the a  reception The highlight of the reception was the release of David's first published book which was unveiled and then handed out in goodie bags at the end of the night. 

The space was the perfect size for the crowd in attendance. It was big enough for everyone to be comfortable, offered plenty of space to get away from the hustle and bustle of the dance floor, and still had an intimate air.

Food was served at a buffet throughout the night as well as several open bars. The food seemed popular with guests, however there were very few options for special diets including one vegetarian and vegan choice and nothing for gluten free guests. The food choice could definitely have been improved. 

I worked throughout the entirety of the event helping with set up and clean up but I was assigned to registration for most of the night. This allowed me to work with several others (some GW students!) and have face to face contact with many of the guests. At the end of the night we handed out bags of merchandise from sponsors to all of the guests which was a bit of a struggle as many were drunk and did not want to have to carry a bag home with them. 

Overall, I would consider the event a success. It raised money for the non-profit and guests seemes to have a great time. That being said, I saw many areas of improvement, a few of which are listed below:
- general organization (set up and registration could have been run much more efficiently)
- food choice
- missed opportunity

The integration of technology for convenience sake would have been a high improvement and time saver at the gala.Registration was run with a printed list of guests names that did not account for last minute registrations and was badly organized making it difficult to quickly find guests' names. The use of an app and scanner to collect ticket information would also have been helpful and could be considered for next year. Another slight issue occurred when David paid his workers an hour before the event ended and over half of them left. As a result, clean up took longer.