It’s gonna be a rainy weekend here in Boston, which is a bummer since the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer is happening. Two days. 39 miles around the Boston and the ‘burbs.  For a minimum of $1800 fundraising dollars, you too can be part.

I took a lookie at their website, and came upon the list of the top fundraisers so far. The top individual fundraiser has raised $36K!. The second highest person has raised $18K. With published lists like this, any breast cancer walk event manager can prioritize their fundraising recruitment by contacting these folks first.  I smell donor poaching.

While perusing their website, I liked how the Avon folks listed the local grant recipients of the fundraising dollars, to show where 80% of the net donations are sent.  Sadly, Charity Navigator gives them a  1 out of 4 rating, with fundraising expenses of 40%.

Here is what their website says about making a difference:

All money raised by the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer is managed by the Avon Foundation for Women, a 501(C)(3) public charity that funds a comprehensive network of programs and services dedicated to serving breast cancer patients and their families through five areas of the breast cancer cause: awareness and education, screening and diagnosis, access to treatment, support services, and scientific research.

Unlike other walks, the Avon folks do not require the volunteers to raise money. They even posted on Craigslist a “want ad” for weekend route marking volunteers.  I wonder what happens if they do not get enough volunteers to fill the 4 route marking vehicles.  This is where not having a local office hurts the logistical efforts. Instead of relying on local staff  for safety and other important logistical roles, they need to rely on craigslist to recruit these folks.  That would make me nervous.

If you would like to receive a designation to be an Official (as opposed to unofficial) Sponsor of the Boston event, it will cost your company $12K.  Here is what you get for the money, including the opportunity to distribute tchotchkes to the walkers.

Oh, and since this is a 2-day event, you will need to pack some stuff.  Walkers are allowed to have a bag weighing no more that 30 lbs. I like the thorough list of things (camping gear, clothing, toiletries) you will need.   They will provide the hand soap, shampoo, conditioner and body lotion in the shower trucks.  Phew! That would lighten my load by about 10 pounds right there!

Good luck this weekend and have a Wicked Pissah good time!

We had a fantastic day cheering on our peeps at the Boston Marathon! Here are some photos from our cheering spot at the 6-mile mark:

Yep, that’s my Hamburger Helper hand for all the runners to smack.

The police were plentiful, packing-heat and polite.

These wigs were fun, but they must have gotten hot in the 70 degree weather!

new this year was a security rope to keep spectators off the street. Fail.

This runner is tutu cute!

The Boston Marathon is tomorrow, and I’m glad the Mutha Nature is providing a wonderful New England spring day for the runners.   There is nothing to shovel!  Hurray!  I’m hoping that after tomorrow, after the marathon, we will no longer be subject to the endless stories about the bombing.  Every newscast for the past several weeks has been either about someone affected by the bombing, or the missing Malaysian flight.  Most of the stories about the bombing victims have been told, and it seems that the media is being disingenuous by re-telling these same stories for ratings.  This gratuitous reporting is sucking the joy out of the event for some runners, and us spectators.

Tomorrow, my friends and family will be cheering at Mile 6 for our peeps that will be running in the marathon.  In years past, we usually bring allotta shrapnel (chairs, beverages, snacks, noisemakers etc..) with us since we are in our spot for a few hours.  Not this year.

The Boston Athletic Association, along with local law enforcement have asked us to leave most items at home.  In addition to the extra 9,000 runners this year, they are expecting almost a million spectators cheering along the 26-mile route.  Security has been fortified, and every media outlet is highlighting what you should not bring the to the curbside viewing party:

Weapons? Really?  Who is the idiot that needs to be told to leave their weapons at home?

Enforcement?  Perhaps some of the 3,500 police officers will be tasked with confiscation.  I would hope that there time is better spent on other security than taking away the toys from the crowds along the route.   I wonder if they will consider my vuvuzela a weapon? 

What kind of messaging do you need to keep your guests safe? When I was a walkathon manager, we were careful about what to say to our participants, so as to not offend or deter them from showing up (with their donations!)   We would use a phrase on our collateral with hopes of getting the message across:  “For the safety of our walkers, please leave your pets, bikes and roller blades at home.”  Why did we have to do this? Because there were episodes that required a visit from our insurance company to take a statement regarding a claimant.  Once upon a time, we had walkers that were run over by a bike and a roller-blader and one walker tripped over a dog leash.  She broke her hip and we (insurance) paid her medical.

While I understand the need to idiot-proof the messaging to the marathon viewers, I would not want to over-do-it so my guests decide that they do not want to attend at all.

The Massachusetts Emergency Management Association (MEMA) has published a statement regarding the spectators.  They want us to carry our items in clear plastic bags.   This policy reminds me of how (people I know) would carry vodka inside of plastic water bottles since actual bottles of alcohol were prohibited.  The old English proverb of “Where there is a will, there is a way” comes to mind.  If some Jackhole want to be disruptive or destructive at a large event – they will figure it out.   Surveillance cameras are everywhere and the entire route has technological eyes on it.   Good luck being anonymous.

Best of luck to the runners tomorrow, and pray that my kids are not witness to Mommy being detained for a vuvuzela.

The Boston Marathon is one month away, and the event organizers are understandably doubling the security on the route. This article  in the Boston Globe reports that over 3,500 police are planned to work the event that day. I’m no math whiz, but it appears that there will be enough officers to place 100 of them for every mile, and still place 450 each at the start and finish. If I may dazzle you with more statistics, that is one officer for every 10 runners.

That’s allota security and also allotta money!

If you have read my previous post of the 3 budget-busting P’s, then you know that Police is one of the largest expenses you will have for your event. (The other two are Postage and Printing).  Who is paying for this increase in security? Here is the list of the sponsors for the marathon. I’m not sure if the One Fund is paying or if any of these sponsors are writing larger checks to pay for the doubled security.

The article also states that Spectators who plan to attend the marathon are being strongly discouraged from bringing backpacks, rolling bags, coolers and other large items, and are instead being asked to carry personal items in clear plastic bags. My friends and family usually cheer on our running pals from ‘our spot’ in Framingham, at the 6-mile mark.  I can tell you that we will probably NOT be carrying our personal items in clear plastic bags.  Unless Longchamp makes a clear plastic crossbody purse measuring 10x10x2 then I’ll be wearing my standby non-complaint bag to the event.  Maybe I’ll get frisked by one of the hundred officers in Framingham lining the route.  My kids should have a good story to tell at school after vacation week.

Another one of the new restrictions is the clamp-down on the running bandits. These are the folks that do not have a number and frequently runs wearing costumes.  Fun for the spectators but not for the event organizers. Imagine paying for the  porta-potties, hydration stops, first-aid and security for the 36,000 people (25% more than last year!) who have paid to be there and then multiply that by an unknown factor to accommodate the bandits.  They are not allowed this year and are “subject to official interdiction.”  I’ve never been witness to an ‘official interdiction”.  I hope it happens at Mile 6 so that my kids remember that instead of Mommy-being-frisked-for-carrying-an-opaque-bag.

Here is the schedule and event information for the Boston Marathon on April 21:

Here is the official site of the Boston Athletic Association, organizer of the Boston Marathon.

Who’s YOU?

If you are a fan of the Real Housewives dramedy-trash series on BravoTV then you may be familiar with the opening sequence where each of the featured Housewives introduce themselves with a little snarky one-liner describing their fabulousness. These taglines usually change from season to season.

For example, Carole Radziwill of RHONY has the following:

Season 5: “I may be a princess, but I’m definitely not a drama queen.”
Season 6: “If you’re going to talk about me behind my back, at least check out my great ass.”

(My fave series is Miami, since it has just the right mixture of Rich-People-Cray and Latina tempers)

You can see all of the Real Housewives taglines here.

So what does this have to do with walkathons?

Everything! The above mentioned taglines should get your mind in a space to think about how you introduce yourself, and your event in a professional setting.

You have probably heard of the ‘elevator pitch’, which is a brief description of who you are and what you do.

For example – “I am an entertainer in vertical kinetics industry”

Which means – “I am a pole dancer”

What is the ‘elevator pitch’ for you and your walk?

How do you position yourself, and your event in relation to the other million walkathons out there?

Once upon a time, when I worked on the Boston Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk, the positioning statement was “the largest, single-venue one-day breast cancer walk in the nation”.  It think it is still true to this day. The New York area MSABC walks position themselves as “the largest, multi-venue one-day breast cancer walk in the nation”. See the difference?

When I work on a positioning statement with my clients, we try to determine what makes them different and what they can lay claim to with regards to size, issue and location.

Some ideas to get your started:

1. What are the largest similar events in the area (city, state, metro etc..)?
2. What other events focus on your issue in the area (city, state, metro etc..)?
3. How much money do you raise in comparison to similar events?
4. How many walkers do you have in comparison to similar events?

Even if you are celebrating your first year as a walk, you could still technically position yourself as “the only walk focusing on the issue of XYZ in the XXXXX zipcode”. Get the idea?

Find what makes you, your organization and your walk unique and use it to position yourself in the world!

So…….. Who’s YOU?

The Winter Olympics in Sochi is quite the money and marketing machine!  There is the official social media branding of #Sochi2014 and the oodles of Sponsors, oops, Partners to support what is being called the “most expensive” Olympics ever.  Isn’t every Olympics the most expensive ever?   The Washington Post put the number at $50 Billion.  Since every large event needs sponsors to help pay for things, I visited the official Sochi2014 website to take a lookie at the official sponsors.  I found that the sponsors are called Partners, and the levels are surprisingly NOT Gold, Silver and Bronze.

The WORLD sponsors

The above WORLD sponsors ran into a PR nightmare when social media took aim at them for being associated with a WORLD event that promoted itself as anti-gay.  Tsk tsk.

The NATIONAL sponsors

There is another level called just “Partners” and another called “Suppliers.”  I cannot figure out which one, if any, supplies the potties.   This article on CNNmoney says that the Sponsors, er, Partners contribute more that $100 million for the right to put the five rings on their marketing materials.  Once the initial monies are paid for the naming rights, then the real money is spent on the marketing machine and the packaging, printing and production of the Olympic-themed materials. The article also says  “ for every $1 paid in sponsorship fees, companies must spend an additional $3 to $4 on things like new product launches or advertising campaigns.”

OK, we covered the actual Sochi2014 Partners.  The next grouping is the Team USA layer of Sponsors.  There are a few levels here too, and they are Worldwide, Domestic, Broadcast and Suppliers.  I counted another 23 companies that are considered licensees.

Now, we need to include the Sponsors for the individual athletes.  According to an article in the Boston Globe: “athletes have to pay for coaches, housing, food, and other expenses. For athletes who compete in nonpaying events such as the Olympics, sponsorship is a form of survival.”  Figure Skater Gracie Gold lists her sponsors as Visa, Nike, Pandora, a jewelry maker, Proctor & Gamble, Smucker’s, CoverGirl, Toyota Sports Center, and United Airlines.  She is also supported by mattress maker Airweave and Edea, which makes skates.  Whoa!

Perhaps the Walkathon Maven should search for appropriate Sponsors, Partners and Licensees to support the good work of this blog.  Please contact me for opportunities (or product donations!)  if you are affiliated with any of the following brands:

I’m a logistics luva, and like to use my knowledge to make the lives of my friends and family easier when I can.  For my friends and family that read my blog – the above statement is also an apology for hijacking your plans with “a suggestion.”

A few weeks ago, I managed an event virgin excursion… my daughters Bat Mitzvah. Planning this milestone event was supposed to be easy, since I have had other professional (read: paid) experience working all year-round for one day. I planted the little event-planning seeds several months in advance so that they all bloom on event day. Most of the planning was fairly straight-forward, and I could use my past experiences for vendor negotiation and management.  The giant planning wild card was dealing with my client, who happened to be my 12-year-old pubescent daughter with lots of opinions (read: demands) and no checking account. Good times.

Luckily, my husband was very understanding (read: Ativan) and patient (read: traveled more) with the perfect storm of the perimenopausal mother and hormonal daughter working together (read: screaming shitshow).  My poor son spent the last six months in his room studying (read: playing Minecraft) to avoid the mother-daughter “collaboration.”

We all survived and are once again enjoying family dinners together.  I did learn a few things about the process, and thought my readers would appreciate the logistics lessons I learned with hopes they can help you on your walkathon.

Lesson #1

Service meal = mobile number

If I need to pay for a service meal for you….Then I get to have your mobile number. This allows me to confirm confirm confirm with you and let you know when we are on the way.  My DJ, Caterer, Site-Manager and Photographer may be sorry to have given me their digits, but they ate really well!

Lesson #2

Confirm Confirm Confirm

See #1 above.  I contacted my vendors several times the week, and day-of the event. Since the timing of this event was a 4-hour window,  I needed to make sure everyone had directions, contact information and had all questions answered before we arrived. They probably thought I was a gigantic hemorrhoid that would not go away, but I did not care. I was the customer and my name spelled backwards is ANAL. So there ya go.

Lesson #3

Don’t mess with Mother Nature

I say this because I live in New England, and things are always changing. When I signed the contract with the site a year in advance of my January event, I had them write-in a clause about snow removal. They said it would be taken care of, but I did not want to take chances. And I did not want to be shoveling in sequins and heels before the party. The forecast for the day was rain, but Mutha Nature gave us snow. This was perfect since the theme was snowflakes! The site had the shovels and salt out before my guests arrived.

Lesson #4

Seating cards suck

Like name tags, I am not a fan. Someone’s name is always misspelled or the tag is forgotten.  Seating cards were a must for this event.  Pfffftht. I thought I was ahead of the game by confirming the attendees a month ahead of time and churning these seating cards out.  I had to re-run these cards twice during the week before the event due to “changes in plans.”  In addition to the re-run, I had to re-glue the snowflakes on each seating card. @#$%!!!!!   The lesson learned is to NOT do these too far ahead of time.

Lesson #5

Thank the donors

I had the crack the whip on my beauty to write her thank-you notes ASAP.  She received some very generous monetary gifts and the guests (donors) needed to be thanked, quickly. Being a student of etiquette expert Letitia Baldridge (stop snickering), I wanted to make sure that the appropriate thank-you note window was being observed.  My daughter reminded me that we have not yet received thank-you notes from Bat Mitzvahs attended in November, but Momma don’t care!

Overall, the event went smooth and my daughter was happy and our guests had fun.  I’m glad to have three years until my son’s Bar Mitzvah!

Pink is in the news.

No, not the dynamic performer with the amazing estro-abs (who I did happen to see in concert last month) – but some pink events that raise money for the fight against breast cancer.

Today, I read an article in the NPQ about how the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation had a 22% drop in income last fiscal year. They made $77 million less than the previous year.  Yeowza! Due to this decrease, they had to cut $50 million from breast cancer research and public health education.  That is a huge bummer. Why did they lose so much money? Several reasons, including some bad funding decisions regarding Planned Parenthood and the revelation of the Chief Executive’s big-honkin’ compensation. I wrote all about it here a few months ago.  

Many Komen constituents got angry and stopped participating in fundraising events and stopped making charitable contributions to the organization.  Who really got hurt here?  For starters, the breast cancer researchers who depend on organizations like Komen to fund the research that will hopefully find a cure for this disease.  Second, the men and women who are not getting educated about the need for early detection. Without a cure, early detection is the best prevention.  So there ya go.

Other pink news, locally, for me is the publicity machine that has started for the Boston Avon Walk for Breast Cancer.  For the low-low price of $1850 ($50 registration plus $1800 minimum fundraising requirement) you can participate in this weekend-long walk. So what is an Avon Walk?  Their website says what they are, and are-not:

“The Avon Walk for Breast Cancer is a national series of 39-mile weekend fundraising events launched in 2003 by the Avon Foundation.

The Avon Walk for Breast Cancer event series is a project of the Avon Foundation for Women and is not affiliated with any other breast cancer organizations or programs such as Susan G. Komen for the Cure, American Cancer Society, or Breast Cancer Research Foundation.”

I wondered where the money goes that is raised by the Avon Foundation and found this:

“Avon Foundation brings this mission to life through two key areas: breast cancer and domestic violence. The Avon Breast Cancer Crusade launched in 1992, and Avon breast cancer programs in more than 55 countries support advancing access to care and finding a cure for breast cancer, with a focus on the medically underserved and uninsured. Funding is awarded to beneficiaries ranging from leading cancer centers to community-based breast health programs for awareness and education; screening and diagnosis; access to treatment; support services; and scientific research.”

For more info – check it out here.

Let’s hope that there is not any controversy with the Avon Foundation so that more money can go toward the programs and services that were cut by Komen.

One more thing..  If you would like these literary ramblings to come straight to your inbox once I publish, then please subscribe with the link above!!

found this on the non profit tech for good blog!

The New Year is hours away, and I’m populating my calendar with all kinds of family and fun events for 2014.  I found this gem on the Non Profit Tech for Good blog and thought I would share.  I have never heard of most of these. Some are worth an eyebrow-raise and others I may read more about to see if they have a walkathon or what color their awareness ribbon may be. I like that they even have their twitter hashtags ready!

As you know, some causes have adopted a whole month. Let’s see if any of these below can gain any traction to do so – although I am unsure if there are any un-adopted months left on the calendar.  International Day for Street Children happens to fall on my birthday, but I doubt I will be celebrating it – unless they are serving my favorite orange vodka, limes and lotsa ice 😉

January

20: Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service — #MLKDay

February

2: World Wetlands Day — #WorldWetlandsDay

4: World Cancer Day — #WorldCancerDay

5: Digital Learning Day — #DLDay

14: V-Day — #VDay or #1BillionRising

20: World Day of Social Justice — #SocialJusticeDay

25: World Spay Day — #WorldSpayDay

27: World NGO Day — #WorldNGODay

28: Rare Disease Day — #RareDiseaseDay

March

8: International Women’s Day — #IntWomensDay or #IWD

22: World Water Day — #WorldWaterDay or #WWD

24: World Tuberculosis Day — #WorldTBDay

April

2: World Autism Awareness Day — #WorldAustismDay

12: International Day for Street Children — #StreetChildrenDay

22: Earth Day — #EarthDay

25: World Malaria Day — #WorldMalariaDay

May

1: International Workers’ Day — #IntWorkersDay, #MayDay or #LaborDay

10: World Fair Trade Day — #WorldFairTradeDay

16: National Bike to Work Day — #BikeToWorkDay

18: International Museum Day — #IntMuseumDay or #MuseumDay

23: World Turtle Day — #WorldTurtleDay

June

8: World Oceans Day — #WorldOceansDay

14: World Blood Donor Day — #WorldBloodDonorDay

20: World Refugee Day — #WorldRefugeeDay or #RefugeeDay

July

11: WorldPopulationDay — #WorldPopulationDay

18: Nelson Mandela International Day — #MandelaDay

29: Global Tiger Day — #GlobalTigerDay or #TigerDay

August

9: International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples — #IndigenousDay

12: International Youth Day — #IntYouthDay or #YouthDay

12: World Elephant Day — #WorldElephantDay

19: World Humanitarian Day — #WorldHumanitarianDay

September

8: International Literacy Day — #IntLiteracyDay or #LiteracyDay

21: International Day of Peace — #IntDayOfPeace or #PeaceDay

22: World Rhino Day — #WorldRhinoDay

28: World Rivers Day — #WorldRiversDay or #RiversDay

October

4: World Animal Day — #WorldAnimalDay

5: World Teachers Day — #WorldTeachersDay

10: World Mental Health Day — #WorldMentalHealthDay

11: International Day of the Girl — #IntDayOfTheGirl or #DayOfTheGirl

11: National Coming Out Day — #NationalComingOutDay or #NCOD

12: World Arthritis Day — #WorldArthritisDay

November:

14: World Diabetes Day — #WorldDiabetesDay

20: Universal Children’s Day — #ChildrensDay

December:

1: World AIDS Day — #WorldAIDSDay

2: Giving Tuesday — #GivingTuesday

3: International Day of People with Disabilities — #IDPWD

10: Human Rights Day — #HumanRightsDay

11: International Mountain Day — #IntMountainDay or #MountainDay

I hope you and your families have a Happy and Healthy New Year!

What happens when your walkathon becomes so popular that it requires that the streets along your route to be closed for several MORE hours – limiting access to the residents that live there?   What happens if a neighborhood association along your route gets together and denies your event access?

This article in the Boston Business Journal shares that many popular road races in New England have been cancelled. Not because of logistical or monetary issues – but because the neighbors along the event route do not want the added disruption.    Many half, and full marathons can shut down street access anywhere from 3 to 12 hours.

I live near the Boston Marathon route, and know that there is NO WAY that I will be getting across Rt. 135 during the hours of 10am to 4pm on the third Monday every April. The po-po has it shut down and there are barricades in many places.  Depending on the side of the street they are located, many businesses along the marathon route know that they will either have a lucrative Monday or some simply do not bother and stay closed for the day.

Most walkathons are either 5K or 5 miles, and only require a 90 minute to 4 hour shutdown of some streets – if necessary.  Ideally, your event is making all right turns, which will minimize the traffic and residential disruption. If your walk route needs to be in a residential area, then you are hopefully placing flyers in the mailboxes of those affected to let them know the date/time and invite them to participate.

Perhaps your walk is on private property, or a state/city park and you only need to make nice-nice with the pavement or wildlife!

If you have more than 7,500 walkers, you will probably have a rolling start. Rolling starts allow participants to begin their walk anytime within a designated window. Rolling starts will reduce the large walking blob that spills into streets and require a shutdown.

I have not even touched upon the participant parking!  When you have more walkers, you will need more places for the participants and volunteers to park their cars during the event.  Will you bus them in?  That’s an expense.  Additional vehicles on residential streets will add to the irritation to the neighbors that live there.

How about this option?

Bottom line – if your route is in a residential area, think about the implications and inconvenience to the neighbors and try to keep your disruption to a minimum.  If you become too much of a nuisance, they may organize to shut you down.