Volunteer Appreciation BBQ 2012

Overview

What: A BBQ to celebrate Free Geek volunteers, staff and board members
When: Saturday, July 21, 2012 from 3-7 PM
Where: Free Geek/Market Studios parking lot

Planning

• Planning committee included Stephen, Amelia, Walter, Misty, Kelly, Robert, Kevin, and Sarah
• We used the events@ list and a google doc spreadsheet to communicate
• We met roughly weekly started about 2 months before the event

Food/Drink

Drinks

We had lots of beer:

• 15 cases of assorted Ninkasi (donated by Ninkasi)
• 1 keg of Widerm Bro's IPA (donated by Widmer)
• 2 cases of Omission (gluten-free) (donated by Widmer)
• 1 keg of Rogue dark IPA (purchased for reduced price)

We easily went through both kegs but have ~10 cases of Ninkasi left. Start soliciting beer donations ~2 months in advance.

For non-alcoholic choices, we had two large beverage coolers--one for ice water and one for lemonade. This seemed to be fine.

Food

Facilities

• Porta potties (2, including one wheelchair accessible) from American Sani-Can
• Set up three large tents (having a large tent over the food tables was key) and one small pop-up canopy (for the beverages)

We have the parts for three large tents, but they take some time and ~4 people to set up. Should do a parts check before the day of to make sure it's all there.

• Pulled out tables and chairs from all over FG (probably had ~15 large tables)

Make sure to label where tables came from with masking tape so that they go back to where they came from.

• Sound system was provided by Austin's DJ friend (large powered speakers, a mixer, and a mic)
• Santi brought his grill from home for the meat, and we used a FG smaller grill for the veggie stuff

Games/Activities

DJ

Raffle

Everyone who came before 4 or 4:30 got 3 raffle tickets to go toward winning the following prizes:

• A super high-end system
• A laptop
• A/V stuff (a reverb amp and 3 DVD players)
• Gift cards/items from other businesses (see spreadsheet for details)

The raffle is a hit every year. Start soliciting businesses for donations well in advance--at least 1-2 months. We had a poster thanking sponsors that featured their logos; telling businesses that we do this will make them more likely to donate.

Chess

Cornhole