Description of Event
Purpose
The purpose of Dancing with the Rexburg Stars is to create a memorable event that brings together the community in support of raising money to the teachers and students of the Madison School District. The served as a key fundraising initiative for the Madison Education Foundation non profit, supporting school supplies for families in need.
Objectives
Key Objectives:
- Raise awareness for the Madison Education Foundation.
- Encourage community engagement by pairing local leaders with trained dancers. Rotating new “stars” each year helps maintain excitement for the event.
- Secure sponsorships to fund the event. This includes supplies, deliverables, printing, etc.
- Promote attendance and outreach through social media, word of mouth, and partnerships.
The Event
The event consisted of community outreach, event planning, entertainment, and fundraising. My responsibilities focused on producing digital deliverables, securing sponsorships, and event setup and decorations.
Samples of the Work Produced:
- Instagram Graphics: I designed promotional content for social media to promote the event and engage with the community.
- Event Program: I created a professional program that highlighted the event’s purpose, participants, while featuring the Madison Education Foundation and the Idaho Ballroom Academy.
- Branding Materials: From name tags to marquee signs, there was consistent branding.
- Image depicted of a marquee graphic displayed at schools in the district and social media pages
- Instagram Branding and Account Creation: To boost community engagement, me and the team established a brand-new Instagram account for Dancing with the Rexburg Stars. This was a centralized platform for event promotions, updates, and post-event highlights.
- Designed a cohesive identity for posts and stories to reflect the event’s theme
- Scheduled a spotlight posts and countdowns to build excitement
Event Day
We began preparations at 10:00 a.m. on November 2nd to print materials. Following the printing, we started setup at our venue, the Madison High School Gym, which took about five hours.
Our entrance display featured information about our “Stars” (performers) and included flyers and posters highlighting our Instagram account and event program.
The gym was set up with pipe and drape that showcased our sponsors for the event. We had over 30 sponsors in total and raised $12,000 that night, including ticket sales. Projectors were set up to display a slideshow that ran throughout the event.
Challenges
Sponsorship Engagement: Encouraging local businesses to donate that have done so in the past proved to be a struggle, but it didn’t compare to meeting with fresh businesses. We had to meet in person, take phone calls, and then hope to receive a “yes.”
Balancing Design Quality with Deadlines: Meeting deadlines for graphics, programs, and signage demanded a thorough timeline and good time management.
Coordinating Brand Consistency: All deliverables had to follow the same branding and style guide, which proved to be difficult as there were a few people involved in creating the deliverables.
Timeline
- Planning Phase
- Created an Instagram account
- Designed graphics and deliverables for promotions
- Contacted sponsors
- Execution Phase
- Content calendar in full affect with consistent posting on all platforms
- Promotions with the city and school district
- Finalized branding elements like name tags, programs, slideshows, and participant information
- Event Implementation
- Managed on-site signage, deliverables, set-up, coordination of participants, and managed seating
Overview
This event allowed me to apply my event management, creative, and organizational skills in a real-world setting. I also had the opportunity to freshen up on my sales skills when reaching out to local businesses for gathering sponsorships. By collaborating with these stakeholders:
Video capturing our stars and dancers
- Rexburg City, Madison School District, Madison Education Foundation, and the Idaho Ballroom Academy
I was able to elevate the events promotional image and help gain more attraction to it. In the next year, we expect to see growth within attendance of this event, as well as participation.
Highlights
- Designing event branding materials
- Creating a new Instagram account and branding
- Attendance of event
- Contributing to a cause to help local teachers
Takeaways
Visual Branding is Critical: Consistency across platforms- onsite and digital. This enhanced the professionalism of the event.
Time Management: Being able to prioritize deadlines has improved my organizational skills.
Community Impact: This experience taught me the power of relationships, specifically community relationships.
The Power of Social Media: Launching the Instagram account from scratch allowed to think more creatively, but also give this event the opportunity to restart their brand that’s been accumulating for the last 13 years.
It was a privilege to be a part of the creative team to produce Dancing with the Rexburg Stars. The success of the event highlights the importance of teamwork, collaboration, creativity, community involvement, and utilizing good relationships. In support of the mission statement for the Madison Education Foundation, this event generated thousands of dollars for the teachers and students of the district.
If you’d like to be a part of the cause, you can click the link below to learn more about how you can support the Madison Education Foundation.