Event Planning

 

	WIBW Premiere Party 2017 After years of the premiere party being a thing of the past…  The stars aligned, Topeka Smiles was signed as our presenting partner and we hosted our first Reality Game Night.  This event allowed us to show off each of the 6 new CBS primetime programs to our 150 guests.  With special guests from Survivor and KC Wolf we entertained our audience by playing our version of Family Feud called “Survive The Feud” and our version of Match Game called “Celebrity Match”.
	Grape Escape 2016 For the second consecutive year, I was selected to co-chair the 19th annual Grape Escape fundraiser.  We expanded on our success from 2015 to increase our VIP dinner table sales, general tasting ticket holders, LIVE auction revenue, and headline entertainment.  By increasing corporate partnerships we were able to contract Dave Coulier best known as “Joey Gladstone” from the hit ABC sitcom Full House as our celebrity guest comedian.  For the first time that we know of, all of our ticket holders no matter what level, enjoyed the entire evening through the LIVE auction to take in a few laughs with Dave!
	Grape Escape 2015 Coming up on the 18th annual Grape Escape, I was elected to the board and volunteered to be chair of the event. A committee was formed and the meetings begun. The event had been on a downward slope so we decided to change it up adding tables for a served meal for our VIP guests and entertainment following our auction for all of our guests, neither of which had ever been done before.  We covered all of our bases with engraved wine glasses, the Topeka High Drumline, multiple musicians, celebrity hosts Danni Boatwright and Jaymes Vaughan, celebrity auctioneer Yve Rojas, and entertainment by comedian Pat Hazell.
	Fast Forward Social 2015 Every month Fast Forward hosts a social at a different business. 13 WIBW was the sponsor of the June 2015 event and we organized a one of a kind evening. The Sunflower Music Festival was taking place at Washburn University which is an annual series of artistic events of the highest caliber. So, we requested the artistic director Charles Stegeman and his wife to join us as the entertainment to play their violins. We of course had food and drinks for our guests enjoyment and best of all the glasses were engraved with the stations logo as a parting gift for everyone!
	Topeka Brunchin’ 2015 After hearing about an idea that was brought back to Topeka after an intercity visit to Fargo through the Chamber…  I had to run with the idea and the Topeka Brunchin’ was born!  This is an event that takes place from 10pm-12:15am on a Thursday night to allow for creative thought and conversation to advance the community forward without a fundraising or sponsorship component. We have hosted 2 events in 2015. One on the stage of the Topeka Performing Arts Center and the other on 9th Street in front of the State Capitol. Yes, we shut down the street! These events have been a huge success in our community and even Mayor Larry Wolgast has mentioned it in his State of the City address!
	TedxTopeka 2014, 2015, 2016 (Women), & 2017 As part of the committee behind lead organizer Nathan Morris, we took the challenge to create TedxTopeka! TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At TEDxTopeka, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. We held our first TedxTopeka in the Topeka Civic Theater and were limited to 100 guests… We had 7 speakers touching on a wide variety of topics and when the tickets went on sale… We sold out in 90 seconds! This event was widely talked about in the community and the response could not have been more positive. The second TedxTopeka has been scheduled and we look forward to many more events to come in the future!
	Topeka Chamber of Commerce After Hours 2014 The first event of the series…  To celebrate the 60th anniversary of 13 WIBW, we decided that we would host the June 2014 after hours complete with limo rides, red carpet, zoo animals, Reggie the Roadrunner, KC Wolf, Former Royals pitcher Dennis Leonard, 6 CBS reality stars, craft and domestic beers, and a number of food choices. We not only welcomed nearly 500 guests into our home but were able to promote a new show on our air “MomsEveryday!” In addition, we were able to partner with numerous businesses to make this event happen for so many of the business professionals in our area making the advertising decisions to promote their business. The reviews of this event were through the roof setting a new bar for future hosts looking at welcoming the Chamber businesses into their homes for After Hours!
	Reality Day at The Build 2014 The second event of the series… For months we had been working on the Habitat For Humanity home to give back to the community that has been so loyal to 13 WIBW the past 60 years. While we were hosting the CBS reality stars from AMAZING RACE, BIG BROTHER, and SURVIVOR we requested their support on our station initiative to build a home for the Munganga family from Africa. Everyone pitched in to make a difference and the best part… They shared their experience on social media putting Topeka in front of people around the world. What an amazing experience to work with such a generous group of individuals.
	Habitat For Humanity Fundraiser 2014 The third and final event of the series… With a budget of $135,000 to build the largest Habitat For Humanity home ever in Topeka, KS we decided to host a fundraising event with the 10 CBS reality stars in town. We put together an event complete with a red carpet, served dinner, entertainment from the local improve group “Laugh Lines,” and a diamond necklace chance drawing.  This event raised over $16,000 to be invested in the home’s budget!
	BIG BROTHER Casting Call 2012 BIG BROTHER the summer sensation allows affiliates to host a casting call each year. After such a successful SURVIVOR casting call, Washburn University approved the request to sponsor and host this casting call. We had former houseguest Jessica Hughbanks join us to interact with hopefuls as we recorded their video stating why they should be cast for the show. We had over 75 applicants from around the area!
	CBS SURVIVOR Casting Call 2012 SURVIVOR created reality TV and we just so happened to have the publicist, Lori DelliColli in town to speak at a Sales & Marketing Executives dinner event. As a CBS affiliate, we can host a SURIVOR casting call each year and the time had come! We recruited Washburn University to sponsor the event and host it on campus. We invited winner Danni Boatwright and former castaway Yve Rojas to mingle with our guests. We transformed the largest event space on campus to a jungle theme with past seasons of SURVIVOR on the big screen to welcome the castaway hopefuls to apply for the show.  We had over 175 applicants from around the country!
	Sitdown with Belding 2008 As president of Washburn Sales & Marketing Executives one of the initiatives in 2008 was to bring an event on campus that we could execute sales and marketing strategies we learnt from the classroom. With months of preparation booking Mr. Belding from SAVED BY THE BELL, marketing the event to students, and distributing tickets to attend the event… We were able to host our childhood principle from the TV set at our University in the Union!
	Experience Life SURVIVOR Style with Danni Boatwright 2007 I like to say this  is the event that started my career.  As president of Washburn Sales & Marketing Executives we wanted to bring an event to the University that the students could enjoy and learn from.  After much deliberation we came up with the idea to invite Danni Boatwright to speak to us about her experience and we took over the largest classroom in the School of Business for the event. We recruited numerous sponsors for door prizes and had approximately 100 people in attendance.  The School of Business Dean still talks about this event today.  In addition, because SURVIVOR airs on CBS I reached out to the local affiliate WIBW for coverage, which is when I met the General Manager at that time, Jim Ogle who ultimately recruited me to work at the station a year later as an Account Executive!