my first event meeting is tonight! i'm super excited. we decided to keep it to a small group for this one but the people that will be there are all very energetic and full of great ideas!
full report tomorrow...this has to be short due me cutting my finger and having a huge bandaid on my finger!
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
raising the goal....
on saturday i learned that i was undershooting my goal! the cost for the local language publishing is $12,000 and i'd been thinking it was $10,000 all along.
so how am i going to make $2,000 extra dollars! i need some ideas.
so how am i going to make $2,000 extra dollars! i need some ideas.
Monday, January 28, 2008
in it to win it
friday afternoon estefania sent me an email giving me the details of renting the oriental theatre for the event, i guess she had just heard back from them. AND...the details are we could have it free if we guarantee a $1500 bar tab. easy! however, by friday afternoon i was still in the mindset that i was going to make this an online auction but i must admit receiving that information was making me doubt my decision a little. not to mention that my fortune cookie from lunch said "some people never have anything but ideas. go do it."
saturday i carpooled to the executive committee meeting with polly and susie and on the way there they talked me back into have the full on event, promising to help me. one of the biggest reasons i had decided to make this an online event was because i was having a hard time putting a committee together so this was a great relief to me. i went over my idea again at the meeting and a few of the people who hadn't heard the full details were really excited about it so that helped as well. thursday we are having our first committee meeting in boulder at polly's.
i guess it's a go! (again!)
saturday i carpooled to the executive committee meeting with polly and susie and on the way there they talked me back into have the full on event, promising to help me. one of the biggest reasons i had decided to make this an online event was because i was having a hard time putting a committee together so this was a great relief to me. i went over my idea again at the meeting and a few of the people who hadn't heard the full details were really excited about it so that helped as well. thursday we are having our first committee meeting in boulder at polly's.
i guess it's a go! (again!)
Friday, January 25, 2008
lunch confessions part two
my meeting yesterday with polly went really well. i don't know what i was so worried about! she was receptive and supportive of the idea. i think i am officially on the meeting agenda tomorrow to give an update to the group.
polly did say that maybe her husband could help me get the word out there on the blog because he does search engine stuff! that would be great.
another cool thing she brought up was that the Seattle chapter raised something like $650k in one night doing an art auction. i think it was run by a group of high schoolers which made me think it would be good to try to get art from high school art classes to be donated too. good way to get parents involved!
i could work with susie who is our Students Helping Students co-chair.
polly did say that maybe her husband could help me get the word out there on the blog because he does search engine stuff! that would be great.
another cool thing she brought up was that the Seattle chapter raised something like $650k in one night doing an art auction. i think it was run by a group of high schoolers which made me think it would be good to try to get art from high school art classes to be donated too. good way to get parents involved!
i could work with susie who is our Students Helping Students co-chair.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
lunch confessions
today i'm having lunch with polly who is one of our chapter leaders. we're meeting so i can give her a progress report on my event, so it may be a surprise to her to find out i'm taking it online! i'm a little nervous that the chapter will think i'm bailing out on my original idea, which maybe i am a little bit. it does seem to me that this will make it more accessible for more people. people who might not have been able to make it to the event can definitely check out the auction online and the artists will have more exposure since i can do artist profiles and link to their websites etc etc.
the only person from the chapter who i've told so far is estefania and that's because she was my venue coordinator and was in the process of researching venues.
anyway. i'm totally psyched about doing it online and having this blog to support it so i'm sure i'll be able to share my enthusiasm with polly and the rest.
we are having an executive committee meeting on saturday so they will all find out soon!
the only person from the chapter who i've told so far is estefania and that's because she was my venue coordinator and was in the process of researching venues.
anyway. i'm totally psyched about doing it online and having this blog to support it so i'm sure i'll be able to share my enthusiasm with polly and the rest.
we are having an executive committee meeting on saturday so they will all find out soon!
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
books books and more books
when i was little i had a winnie the pooh stuffed toy and every night my dad would have to pretend to make the pooh toy talk to me to get me to go to bed. i don't remember my parents ever reading me winnie the pooh books but they tell me that story about the toy all the time.
has anyone else heard of these books that i still have twenty some years later?
last night i asked my mom if there were any books she read to us kids that she really liked and she said, "i don't remember! it was all too overwhelming!" i asked her if there were any books with messages like don't beat up your brother and sister that she read to me and she said, "now why would i tell you not to do that?" i'm pretty sure she was joking.
later i went to my sister's apartment and i asked her what her favorite book was as a kid. she instantly replied, "corduroy, it still is." my friend brie came over and when i asked her what her favorite book was she said she couldn't remember however, goldilocks taught her not to eat other peoples porridge. when i mentioned corduroy being my sister's favorite book she had never heard of it! ashley (my sister) and i couldn't believe it but brie was in luck. ashley had a copy so she pulled it off her shelf and read it to us. it is still just as great of a story as i remember.
some of my favorite books when i was little (that i still have the original copies of!) are:
some of my favorite books when i was little (that i still have the original copies of!) are:
bony legs by joanna cole
has anyone else heard of these books that i still have twenty some years later?
it's amazing to me the impact these stories can have and how long they will continue to be favorites, even as i've grown into an adult. i still pick these up and read them from time to time and as i'm trying to get a book published for nepalese children i am wondering more and more how my life would be if my parents hadn't read to me as a child, or if my dad hadn't reenacted winnie the pooh each night before bed, or for that matter if winnie the pooh didn't exist. i am surrounded by books in my home and i can't imagine life without those stories in it.
what were some of your favorite books as a child?
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
funds for the fund raiser
one of the coolest things about Room to Read is that they have really low overhead so 88% of your donation goes directly towards one of their programs. what's not cool about that for me is that there are no "funds" for fundraising!
that's part of the reason i decided to take my project online, much less overhead for me to try to find funds to pay for or try to get donated. hopefully all i'll have to pay for is auction hosting fees and possibly some PR materials.
i'm wondering how PR will work for an online auction. hopefully we can still do some type of PR. i'll have to talk to paula about that.
that's part of the reason i decided to take my project online, much less overhead for me to try to find funds to pay for or try to get donated. hopefully all i'll have to pay for is auction hosting fees and possibly some PR materials.
i'm wondering how PR will work for an online auction. hopefully we can still do some type of PR. i'll have to talk to paula about that.
Monday, January 21, 2008
online auction hosting software...
is expensive! i was just doing a little research and it looks like the base programs start at around $400 plus then the actual hosting can be even more. so it looks like either i need to find an online auction sponsor or i need to figure out another way to do this!
i have seen people set up benefit type shops on etsy.com and i think since i am looking to auction art and handmade goods that it would work, although then everything would have to be at a set price instead of doing an auction.
here's a list of the types of arts/crafts i'd like to have for the auction/sale:
paintings
drawings
sculptures
ceramics
jewelry
clothing
knit goods
hmmm...what other types of arts am i missing?
i have seen people set up benefit type shops on etsy.com and i think since i am looking to auction art and handmade goods that it would work, although then everything would have to be at a set price instead of doing an auction.
here's a list of the types of arts/crafts i'd like to have for the auction/sale:
paintings
drawings
sculptures
ceramics
jewelry
clothing
knit goods
hmmm...what other types of arts am i missing?
Sunday, January 20, 2008
ebay and too much stuff
my mom and i were talking about my online auction idea and she told me she'd get to work making things to donate to the auction. then she brought up the idea of setting up an ebay shop with the proceeds of all those auctions going to this fundraiser, mostly because she has lots of "stuff" that she could get rid of! i think it's a great idea though, i'm sure i've got some extra "stuff" i could part with as well.
Saturday, January 19, 2008
a little info on the local language publishing program...
Over the past few years, Room to Read has established over 3,870 bilingual libraries in developing countries by working with local villages, educators, and local non-governmental organizations (NGOs). To date, we have shipped over 1.4 million children's books in English to fill our library shelves.
However, in 2002, our Nepal team discovered that our libraries there were not being utilized to their fullest potential because students did not have access to quality children's books in their local language. Before learning English, these students needed to learn to read Nepali, to foster their intellectual curiosity and imagination through books they could understand, and to further promote their education. We quickly determined that there were simply not many quality Nepali children's books available. Parents were too poor to afford reading material for their children, so publishers weren't motivated to publish children's books in the local language.
Due to this lack of high-quality books in the local language, we boldly decided to fill the void in the children's book industry through our Local Language Publishing Program. With seed funding provided by the Skoll Foundation in 2003, we launched our program to create and publish new local language children's books, thereby giving children access to the type of books that will spark imagination, curiosity, and a desire to learn to read.
taken from www.roomtoread.org
more info to come...
However, in 2002, our Nepal team discovered that our libraries there were not being utilized to their fullest potential because students did not have access to quality children's books in their local language. Before learning English, these students needed to learn to read Nepali, to foster their intellectual curiosity and imagination through books they could understand, and to further promote their education. We quickly determined that there were simply not many quality Nepali children's books available. Parents were too poor to afford reading material for their children, so publishers weren't motivated to publish children's books in the local language.
Due to this lack of high-quality books in the local language, we boldly decided to fill the void in the children's book industry through our Local Language Publishing Program. With seed funding provided by the Skoll Foundation in 2003, we launched our program to create and publish new local language children's books, thereby giving children access to the type of books that will spark imagination, curiosity, and a desire to learn to read.
taken from www.roomtoread.org
more info to come...
Friday, January 18, 2008
how i got here...
i've been a volunteer with Room to Read for almost exactly a year now. it was my new years resolution in '07 to pick up another volunteer project. i read about Room to Read in a magazine and it seemed like the perfect fit for me. after filling out a volunteer application i learned that the Denver/Boulder chapter was just getting started so i had the opportunity to be there from ground up.
about half way into last year i had the brilliant idea that i was going to organize a fashion show/silent auction fundraiser featuring local Denver designers. i brought my idea up to my friend Brie who worked for flying dog brewery. they had recently started having events in the warehouse next to the brewery and agreed to let me host my event there as well as provide the beer. i had a fashion show producer lined up and everything.
and then.
the warehouse was rented out permanently and the fashion show producer didn't work out. disaster!
i decided to push back the event to Spring of '08 which would give me time to find a new venue and a new fashion show producer.
long story short (maybe not so short).
it's almost Spring of '08.
last week i had a get together with Brie and my friend Paula (who had both volunteered to help with the event) to talk about the direction and what steps i should take etc etc and we decided to take the event online! so now my fashion show/silent art auction is going to be an online art auction, which means the art can come from all over the country and will give the artists more exposure.
now i just have to figure out how to do an online silent art auction.
wish me luck.
about half way into last year i had the brilliant idea that i was going to organize a fashion show/silent auction fundraiser featuring local Denver designers. i brought my idea up to my friend Brie who worked for flying dog brewery. they had recently started having events in the warehouse next to the brewery and agreed to let me host my event there as well as provide the beer. i had a fashion show producer lined up and everything.
and then.
the warehouse was rented out permanently and the fashion show producer didn't work out. disaster!
i decided to push back the event to Spring of '08 which would give me time to find a new venue and a new fashion show producer.
long story short (maybe not so short).
it's almost Spring of '08.
last week i had a get together with Brie and my friend Paula (who had both volunteered to help with the event) to talk about the direction and what steps i should take etc etc and we decided to take the event online! so now my fashion show/silent art auction is going to be an online art auction, which means the art can come from all over the country and will give the artists more exposure.
now i just have to figure out how to do an online silent art auction.
wish me luck.
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