DMS Picnic - Post Event Deconstruction for Next Year

DMS General
#1

I thought this was a great picnic! Nicole poured lots of energy, time, and love into the event. It worked really well. Thank you.

For everyone else who helped. Thank you.

For next year. What worked and what did not work? This is NOT intended as a criticism just what can we do to have it be better?

I will compile this into a document to help with the next picnic. Then find a home for it out on the PR folder?

(We are not creating much “corporate memory”. I would like to see more documents like this created.)

My short list.

  1. Folding tables for food servicing. The picnic tables were ackward for serving food.
  2. Less food. This is a tough one to measure.
  3. Better way to manage / keep the auction items organized and stable on the table because of wind issues. Maybe large envelopes?
  4. Make sure people leave with their auction items.
  5. Encourage EARLY ticket purchases. Maybe an exclusive raffle item(something enviable) or picnic credits.

In advance, thanks for the input.

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#2

Different day that isn’t a holiday weekend
More time/less events? I feel like @uglyknees poured so much heart into so many ideas and we didn’t have time to truly appreciate all of them
Traveling Mic for announcements. Maybe even one that doubles as a music player?

The inagural picnic was planned so excellently. The time put into the planning was evident. I think the sign up sheet in google was a great idea and should be repeated. @Cairenn_Day and I were discussing how to use the trashed (nice) items from off site storage to help the space at one point. Wonder if those items couldn’t also be part of the silent auction?

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#3

I would suggest ending the silent auction before the picnic if possible and then people just pick up what they won there? I probably would have bid more but there was so much going on that I forgot to bid on some items. Then we could also have more time for outdoor games and other activities while at the picnic. Just a minor suggestion though - this was an awesome event. REALLY appreciate Nicole and everyone’s work on this and it was also great to see how many people worked so hard on this event.

1 Like
#4

Maybe schedule it for Mid to late April - the weekend after Board Elections? That way it shouldn’t be as hot. I had planned on coming out; but, I get physically ill when I’m outside in the heat for extended amount of time, so I opted to stay home this time.

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#5

A lot of people put a lot of effort into this wonderful event. But without a doubt, without our force of nature NICOLE - that driving force of to get us all together, it wouldn’t happen. Every Makerspace should be fortunate enough to have such a secret asset to promote community.

I absolutely loved we showed our gratitude by making her the highest bid Pie-In-Face winner!!
XOXO

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#6

Loved everything…even being water balloon target practice. Im sorry I couldnt help cleaning up as hubby was very tired and needed to head home

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#7

I don’t agree with this. I think too much is made of this doesn’t fit my schedule I won’t show up. We had a great turn out even with the holiday. The key is giving enough heads up so people can plan to attend.

I also don’t agree we had too much food. The food was amazing and plentiful. Better to have too much than too little.

The thing I think would have made the event better would be more time for the event. Had we started at 1PM. We would of had the time for late lunch and finishing early dinner. More of the food would of been eaten. The events wouldn’t of been packed together and I would of been able to fly my 12ft Whale Kite.

Also, coolers for drinks rather than dumping ice on boxes of water bottles. That was a bit of a mess.

@uglyknees great job. It was a ton of fun. Enjoyed hanging with the maker crew outside of makerspace. @Robert_Davidson made some great brisket. @TBJK’s familly brought awesome fluffy cup cakes. @Lampy liquid nitrogen ice cream was great as usual. Thanks all that helped, it came out awesome!

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DMS Annual picnic planning - Feb 1, 2018 5:30p Purple
#8

I’m bringing my nespresso machine next year. After all that food some espresso shots would have been bank!

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#9

I can tell that Nichole and crew put in a stupendous amount of work. It was a great time! We did need more time to enjoy all the activities they put together. Our time was constrained by the slots available from the city. Maybe next time we can grab two slots.

Was great to visit with people outside of DMS. Where else can you meet the weirdest people for $50/month! And I mean that in the best way possible!

Also Frank & Alex have mad Jenga skills! So many great pie faces.

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#10

I have a pretty good checklist of things to do for next year.

I agree on the timing. I got what what was left after the board approved funding for the party.
The city double booked the pavilion but I wasn’t willing to disturb the other party. We will get a refund after some phone calls I believe.
Ya it was rushed and hectic and had lots of things going on - sorry not sorry.
We aren’t allowed speakers of any sort.
I’m happy it was able to happen. Im thankful we had so many people contributing, hauling and being just wonderful.
Very thankful for @mreynolds who spent days with me to help organize the auction several times over. It wasn’t perfect but everyone seemed happy in the end.
Thankful for the almost $2k in donations that came in to help dms committees. That’s what I said $2k.

Amazed at the people who came to help/stayed to clean
100s of cupcakes, 80lbs of watermelon, meeting people’s families, screw ups, lost nametags, confusion, people sneaking in and out because they didn’t pay $5, laughter, hugs, messes, memories, fumbles, flops, dollar store saves, and lots and lots of good time.

Just know in your heart that this was all so that I could justify the purchase of an industrial cotton candy machine for dms.

Nicoles notes for the future -
Earlier date
More people helping on the front end of planning
Longer time (we were limited and we got what we got)
Earlier cutoff for tickets
Tickets will Cost more because we won’t be able to count on a hookup.
I liked the park

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#11

My wife had some suggestions.
Bring dedicated tables for food line, that way there are more places to sit.
Use Rubbermaid totes for makeshift coolers, they stack easily in themselves for storage & are cheap.

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#12

I think more time would definitely resolve my suggestion for ending the silent auction before the event, I didn’t know if that was an option. The silent auction was one of my favorite parts of the event - so cool to get to see and bid on things that other members made. Can’t wait for the next one and hopefully next time the kids will allow me to help out (and eat) more. A huge thank you to whoever it was that gave my daughter a kite - that was her first time to fly a kite and she loved it.

1 Like
#13

We need to find a venue that would cut down on the wind issue, allow for rain, and with far more parking.
Re the time question - 2 hours was a little short - but 3 hours would likely be perfect.
Ditto on folding tables for the food.
LOVED the sticker sheets - more of those to mark people of similar interests. Get more and start them across the tables earlier.
We need signage - Dallas Makerspace Picnic - huge marketing opportunity. Also it would help people find the event.
Bring the t-shirts and other DMS items for sale during the event.
How about a nerf gun mod contest to be judged at the event?

Science group needs to clone Nicole - she was AWESOME in her efforts to publicize the event on the boards. And she took the pie-ing with much grace,

Looking forward to the next one.

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#14

If we decided NOW (however far in advance they allow.) we are going to have it we can put one or two reservations in - by two different people if needed.

This should definitely be an annual event.

@Nick agree with you generally, but when this holiday hits there are also a lot graduations in families that people have to attend - at least on a Saturday. I know a number of people were attending them from the Space, some local some not. But we still had a great turn out. Agree better too much than too little.

The drifting Space grazers made out great last night with the leftovers everybody brought back and left in the galley.

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#15

Can we do something in the fall? Some kind of fundraising silent auction for people who need to buy Christmas gifts would be amazing…I love buying handmade gifts made by other DMS members.

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#16

Call it “Spacegiving Day” sometime between Turkey day and Christmas. For “Spacegiving” day, wouldn’t know where to start looking, but if we could start a toy making, gift giving project this summer we’d have 4-5 months to make things children’s groups, etc.

Just as an aside, if there was any question about whether yesterday was truly a legitimate event for a non-profit, it was a FUNd raising event clearly allowable under non-profit guidelines. We had outside donors and as well as inside fund raising. We also had a blast!

Countless thanks to @uglyknees @Adam_Oas and many others for making it all come together - it was a great way for our Makers and their families to see the our and take part in our community and for that community to become closer.
.

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#17

It was awesome! So much time and effort went into this, especially from Nicole. And as always, she marshalled a great crew to assist! I think that park meets our needs well, but I agree that 3 hours would have been better.

I know Nicole was worried about the food. She was worried that there might be too many desserts and too few side dishes. IMO, it seemed to work out fine - but if that’s a concern, then the sign up sheet should have specifically limited numbers of slots for desserts, chips, condiments, drinks, side-dishes, or whatever. Some people will still bring whatever they want to (or can) bring, and that’s OK, but others would be willing to bring whatever is specifically needed.

The other thing that was risky but turned out OK was the meat. Food lines are traditionally set up with the meat last so that people have already filled their plates by the time they get to the meat. I saw we had some meat left over, but I don’t know if that’s because some people didn’t show up, or if it’s because other people (@Robert_Davidson?) brought some …

I know we will likely not get as much of a sweetheart deal on food next time, but in fairness to Dickeys, I think we should have placed a prominent sign at the picnic advertising their participation.

I liked the physical announcements at The Space (like on the floor in the front lobby). I might have missed this, but I don’t think I saw the price posted on any of those announcements. The (low) price might have enticed some others to participate.

Looking forward to the next one!

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#18

Making things for charity sounds like a lot of fun. I’d definitely be interested in donating.

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#19

@uglyknees if you have list of donors, we need a page with their name and Logo, if possible, post it to all the Makerspace FB and whatever pages. Let them know all the sites we posted on, this is the type of feedback that keeps them coming.

We really need to get Whipped Cream Sponsor!

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#20

If you send me the list, I will also make a poster/sign that can go on our bulletin board next to the lobby for the next couple weeks also.

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