Lungevity 2015

 Video from the gala

I had the opportunity to volunteer at Lungevity's Musical Celebration of Hope Gala. Lungevity was founded in 2001 to fund lung cancer research. Since it's conception the organization has funded 115 research projects that focus on early detection and effective treatment approaches. The gala was at Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium off of Constitution Avenue in Washington, DC. The gala had a 7:00 pm cocktail reception with a 8:00 pm program start. The program consisted of dinner, awards presentation, and dancing.

I contacted Events by André Wells to volunteer at the gala. The company has been the event producer for the Washington, DC gala since it's beginning. Two days before the event I received my itinerary and outfit requirements. I was to arrive at 2:00 pm to assist with set up and to work the event at 7:00 pm. My first task was to work on arranging the high boys and low boys in the cocktail reception areas. Since the attendee count was 250, the cocktail reception snaked from the foyer to the two green rooms in the back of the venue. We arranged the tables according to where the band was going to be placed and making sure traffic would be able to flow easily and quickly. I also had to take into account giving each attendee enough space to pull out their chair and move from the table with ease. As soon we accomplished that task we moved on to draping the tables with emerald green linens. Afterwards, we put together the step and repeat in the first green room. We then worked our way into the ball room where we helped set up the tables. We constructed the table numbers and placed them on the corresponding tables. Then we made sure each seat had a program, donation card, and menu. During the dining room set up we noticed that we were missing some tables and there was some confusion on where a couple of the numbers would go. We found out two tables had been eliminated and had to rearrange the numbers to make sure guests would be able to get to their designated seat. The process took a little bit longer than we had expected. We moved quickly and placed the social media cards on the tables in the cocktail areas. I dressed in black cocktail attire and took my place during the cocktail event. I answered any questions about the program and where attendees needed to go. We informed guests that the program was about to start and to proceed to the ball room. Then we assisted guests in locating their table numbers. The program started on time and without incident.

I learned that even when you give yourself a cushion of time you will eat into that time. Something will always happen, it's a guarantee. When you have knowledgeable volunteers, your job is a little bit easier. And finally the idiom "too many cooks spoil the stew" is accurate. Event professionals need to make sure they have a designated decision maker, when you do not have a decision maker confusion and egos come in to play. People who might not be aware of the key stakeholder's vision might take management into their own hands and create unintentional issues.