Wow! The weekend was about to begin, and then Special Gathering received an email to expect a phone call from an organization in desperate need of an event producer to help save them. They were six weeks out from their event date. An intervention needed to happen fast and we only had six weeks to turn this festival from Impossible to Possible. Special Gathering kindly asked the client if we could Hi‐Jack the festival immediately to save the day. Whew! The client accepted with open arms and the work began. Special Gathering had to come up with a plan, and plan quickly to take over planning operations of the festival. Thank God this organization had a wonderful staff, board, and a dedicated group of volunteers that were easy to work with and very resourceful. To make a long story short, in less than six weeks Special Gathering was able to organize 57 vendors, main stage performances, interactive activities (horse rides and fainting goats, hot air balloon rides, a kids zone), volunteer training and logistics plan, develop a festival layout site plan, coordinate with local service agencies, and develop and implement an on‐site logistics plan and strategy to accommodate 1,000 festival‐ goers. The festival was a huge success! Well over 2,500 festival‐goers enjoyed themselves and the client was ecstatic that they reached their goals.  Congratulations SARC! Special Gathering looks forward to working with you again this year!

About the Author: Dani Johnson

Dani has been an Event Producer and Brand Strategist for over 10 years serving the philanthropic and not-for-profit community nationally.