ASSIGN & DELEGATE

Delegate any task you can. For an idea of how to organize this, take a look at a program from a big event, or those ball flyers. They'll list all committee chairs. SAVING MONEY

There are many ways you can get things for little or no money. Entertainment, for instance. If you look around town, you'll find groups who perform for love of it, and they can be quite good.

Remember that children always "work." They can be as bad as bad, and that much more adorable. I had a group of kids perform free) when I did a New Orleans Jazz Brunch. I had a professional jazz band lead in with "When Saints Go Marching In" and children, dressed in Mardi Gras costumes, ran around throwing coins, confetti, and streamers.

Throwing confetti? I had a hotel Event Coordinator agree to let us bring in men on motorcycles if we agreed to clean up any oil spills.

You truly never know!

There's also a serious Boys' Choir in S.A. I've used, and they were worth what they charged. Stay away from amateur comedians. Bad humor is irretrievable and so is your reputation. EXPECT THE WORST

Because it will happen. I've had every volunteer fail at some point - no decorations, no program ... You just have to learn how to cope. If decorations person f ails, buy a pretty floral arrangement for each table. If there's no money, buy that crepey paper and "wrap" each table like a gift.

HAVE A TRANQUIL FRIEND

Your nerves may be a bit on edge. I remember maitre d' who saw me about to decompensate at set-up time, who took me in his arms and said, "Let's dance," and waltzed me around mess in ballroom that was bad and getting worse.

I remember chef who told me at set-up time that he couldn't possibly serve this in less than 3 hours, "Surely you jest." Lucha was there. She went into kitchen with him and came back 30 minutes later saying brunch would be served in 50 minutes. KNOW YOUR CEO

Some need to be briefed on how to run show; some don't. SPEAKERS?

Ready sources for speakers are ministers, community leaders, university professors, and professional speakers. And hey, ask mayor. You never know!

DONATIONS

Getting door prizes is easy. Send out form letters or make phone calls to business owners telling them they'll get promotion in program. Restaurants will kick in dinners, airlines will give tickets, hotels will give golf packages. These places have budgets for this kind of thing. They'll also foot printing costs.

PROCESS

Process after event and keep things in a file. You'll want to remember what worked and what didn't.

Little Red Riding would have had all sorts of cues that something was amiss – a strange smell, things arranged differently, maybe hair stood up on back of her neck, of a chill ran down her spine. Feelings such as these are there to help us; they keep us alive. They’re strong, because they’re designed to over-ride “thinking” and impel immediate action. Little Red Riding did exactly what she shouldn’t have in a possibly dangerous situation – she started asking questions.

As adults, we receive same cues and need to learn to heed them. If something “smells fishy” it probably is, no matter what you’ve been told or led to believe. If you “get creeps” getting out of your car in a dark, empty parking lot, pay attention to this signal. If someone is promising you something and it doesn’t “feel” right, you’re getting a message for a reason.

Intuition is an emotional intelligence competency we’re all born with, but we can learn to pump up volume, invite it into our life for guide it can be, and heed its messages. It’s important all time, but if you have a dangerous occupation (such as nuclear engineering), it’s especially important.

Don’t get caught staring into a mouth of wolflike teeth and starting to count molars!