Here’s what she is earnestly hoping for (and wanted me & others to pray for), in her words:

Please pray -

• for me — so I can do a good job facilitating, that is, eliciting and clarifying comments and suggestions, keeping people focused
• for people who attend — so they will actually come up with good ideas, not just complaints
• that the whole evening would be effective and worth the time of everyone in attendance
• that parents would come and would want to become involved with the schools and their children  understanding what a huge difference they can make when they they do so

This school district has seen so many ups and downs (too many downs!). So please pray for her if you get a chance!

So this will be a brief post, but I wanted to sort of dive deeper into the audience interaction part of the dinner theater (please see previous posts to catch up!). I mentioned how every audience member receives a character name and their character is somehow connected with the major players of the play. (Hope I’m making sense here.) It can be extremely successful including audience participation for this event, however, not at the expense of their dignity! What I’m saying is that you want to have a little interaction with audience members and major characters during dinner. In times past, we’ve given the audience Monopoly money to bribe characters for information and clues. (Hilarious!) We’ve hidden “clues” under chairs and asked the audience to check to see if they had any evidence or clues that could help the case or incriminate them. Anyway, you get the idea. Keep it fun, but not too embarrassing (unless you know FOR SURE someone that can handle a little time in the limelight.)

Below are two Excel spreadsheets. The first is a template for seating assignments. When people purchased tickets, they were able to pick and choose who they wanted to sit with, and what meal choice they selected (meat, veggie, etc.) The second spreadsheet contains the product of hours of endless work. It is a huge list of silly names that were given to audience members along with a description. We came up with these names, created descriptions of how they were connected to a major character in the play, and then printed all of them out onto little cards and placed them at every dinner setting. A ton of work. If you do decide to go this route, I encourage you to take these names and just tweak the descriptions so that it fits with your play. It takes forever trying to figure it all out, but it’s big fun for the crowd!

Happy fundraising!

Seating_TablesNames

GuestNames1.xls

In the meantime, you can check out this website for some Do It Yourself fundraising ideas. And here is their latest newsletter. (By the way, their site design is horrible.. just a warning, but there are some legit ideas there!!)

Until tomorrow!

Taken from "SuperCon 2009." This play depicted a super-hero conference gone wrong.

In the early days of doing these ‘dinner theater’ types of events, my husband and I performed for small groups and even for a few high schools. One high school in particular sold tickets and made it sort of a homecoming dance alternative (not sure if they were having problems on campus to cause them to ditch the dance??) In later years, we held theses fund raising dinners for church crowds and local communities primarily around Valentine’s Day.

My advice when you first start going down the road of throwing one of these plays together – START PLANNING EARLY. Figure out what month you’re doing this in (at least 3 -4 months in advance) and get busy! There is nothing worse than having to throw together food, costumes and props at the last minute. It would make for a terrible evening for your attendees if you were grossly disorganized and running around frantically.

Secondly, determine who you want in your audience and how you can make the event enjoyable and appealing to them. If you’re performing for teenagers, try to have lots of well put-together multi media (music/video/lighting/etc). Older crowd? Choose some songs and themes that would appeal to them. Pick a date that ideally doesn’t conflict with major holidays or community events. What type of food do you want to serve? How do you want to serve the attendees? And then for the clincher – how much do you charge? Teenagers have smaller budgets… It’s the older crowd that normally can handle a steeper ticket price.

Ticket prices can make or break this event by the way. If you don’t have a solid budget from the beginning, you’ll likely go over budget quickly. Between food, decor, props, food, rentals, etc, you’re looking at some hefty operating costs. So talk early, soon and often with your team of volunteers. Decide and agree together on what is truly essential and what isn’t. What can be donated (maybe actors can find their own costumes and makeup?) and what needs to be purchased? Since you’re a non-profit, you are more likely to find donors who will happily donate to your dinner theater event.

Get your script finalized. Or at least close to finalize. Figure out who your cast of actors will be, and realize that your script will most certainly change. If you’re writing it, I urge you to EDIT, EDIT, EDIT… Keep it as tight as possible. There are lots to be said about script writing, but I’ll move on for now.

Figure out how to market to your potential attendees. Fliers, traditional mailers, a small website or Facebook page, email blasts,Twitter – use anything at your disposal to get the word out about your event.

Break up your group of volunteers into ‘teams’ or departments. Costumes & makeup; Script/story; Directing actors (lots of rehearsal leading up to the event!!); Props; Decor; Ticket Sales; Marketing/Promotions; Rentals for dinnerware/tables/chairs; Food prep; Food service (which actors will participate in doing); Media (video/audio/lighting); Set up & Clean up… The list can and will grow! Meet with them frequently to help them trouble shoot any problems or to brainstorm more wonderful ideas.

My idea of an ideal evening would go as follows:

6:15 – Guests check in and enjoy appetizers
6:45 – Guests are given new ‘identities’ or character names that go along with this interactive play (find names at their tables). They are seated and welcomed. Explain what their donations are going toward. (Keep this rather short. Get the show going first!!) Let them know this is an interactive play so they may be called upon to participate in some small way. Quick explanation of character names, etc. Get started!
6:55 – Play begins, Act 1
7:15 – First break from play. Actors (in full character) and other volunteers serve 1st course (salads, bread, or whatever). Actors interact with attendees by using their new identities, etc.
7:30 – Play resumes, Act 2
7:50 – Second break from play. Actors (in full character) and other volunteers serve main course. Usually this is a “mystery” dinner theater play so that this point someone would come up and ask the audience table by table who they think the culprit is (‘who-dun-it’) in the play. This can get pretty funny as tables start to get a little competitive.
8:10 – Play resumes, Act 3 (final act!)
8:30 – Do a quick presentation of your non-profit organization (by this point, people are entertained but tired!!). Ask for donations (have jars in middle of table perhaps?) or let them know how they can become more actively involved in helping your cause. THANK THEM!!

8:45 – Dismiss!

So it’s a rather long evening, but again you can potentially gain some committed donors and volunteers for your non-profit!

DO IT!!

P.S. I think I’ll do one final blog post on this idea tomorrow and include some more resources and documents.

Cat Woman! Taken from "Super Con 2009" play.

I like to incorporate A LOT of ‘delusional humor’ (as my husband calls it) into these ‘mystery’ plays. So today I’m going to share a snippet from a silly dinner theater play I wrote several years ago. This was probably one of the most successful ones because of a reoccurring character known as Officer Wiggum. Wiggum, who was played by a brilliant and hilarious youth pastor friend, is a loud, brash and totally clueless security officer (we stuffed his shirt to make him look overweight). The the previous year, the character had kidnapped a police officer out of jealousy. This particular play was his time for a comeback, a chance to redeem himself, a chance for the audience to fall in love with him again.

Keep in mind while you read, (so you don’t get lost) this is a multi-media stage play where we incorporated lots of video, music, special effects as well as live stage acting. So it reads like a movie script & a stage play script.

Also included are a couple of the videos that were created from the script.

Anyway, here’s the piece. Hope you enjoy!! (And if you’re interested in more info about it, contact me!)

=================================================================================

*Act 1, Scene 2

ROLL VIDEO 2: WIGGUM’S INVITATION & SPORTS TRAINING

SONG 3: “The Greatest Love Of All” by Whitney Houston

TEXT ON SCREEN:

Minot, North Dakota

6 months ago

Shots during the NARRATOR VOICEOVER: Shot of Wiggum “serving time” playing with children/orphans. Wiggum crying with Kleenex. Shot of Wiggum trying to race a child, but the child wins & Wiggum falls over from exhaustion. Shot of Wiggum reading a book. Shot of Wiggum going to church. Shot of Wiggum lifting a hot dog to his mouth to eat. Shot of Wiggum pigging out in a park.

NARRATOR VOICEOVER:

After 300 hours of serving community service for the kidnapping of secret agent Andrew Hanson on the Hawaiian island of Molokai, Officer Wiggum moved north to regroup and set his moral compass straight. Spending time in the great outdoors helped Wiggum to refocus on what was truly important in life. Yet something was still not right; the trouble was he could not figure out what… the trouble was. One day an invitation of a lifetime reached Wiggum. Unbeknownst to Wiggum, this invitation would soon change his life… forever.

OUTSIDE WIGGUM’S HOME:

Shot of Wiggum opening up a mailbox with one hand, and eating a hamburger with another. He pulls out his mail, and upon seeing a letter from “Jasper, TX,” tosses all the other mail aside and opens the envelope which has an invitation for Wiggum inside.

Sound of needle being pulled off a record, abruptly stop SONG 3, while doing a quick pull-in shot of text on the invitation:

You are cordially invited to celebrate our

20th year high school reunion

With the Class of 1986

Liberty High School

Jasper, Texas

February 12, 2006

ECU of Wiggum’s surprise in slow motion.

WIGGUM:

Noooooooo! (slow motion)

SONG 4: “Betrayal & Desolation” from Braveheart Soundtrack

Slow motion shot of Wiggum’s hamburger slipping out of his hand and falling to the ground.

(Crashing noise, bell ring, or just find a good beat in the song to synchronize when the hamburger hits the ground.)

Slo-mo shot of Wiggum running back to the house. This is a time-progression shot with Wiggum stopping several times to catch is breath. Text such as “15 minutes later… 30 minutes later…” appears on screen between Wiggum’s stops.

INSIDE HOME:

Shot of a tired and sweaty Wiggum picking up the phone and dialing his friend.

WIGGUM:

Yes, uh… Sergeant Lambchop? Wiggum here…. Now I never thought I’d live to see the day when I would call on you for help. But I liked your drive for success, and I also like lamb chops. Now being an international crime fighter has always meant that I work alone. I’m like a loan wolf. As you know I’ve always got everything on lockdown and under control. But over the past 20 years my personal life has steadily gone downhill. It’s what I had to sacrifice to defend the innocent and uphold the law. You could say that I’ve been like a superhero to the world. But listen. I need a huge favor from you (takes a bite of food). I’ve been in an introspective “work in progress” mood these days… Changing my focus on a few things… You know. And well, I think it’s time the man of steel took you up on your offer. (Possible audio of “If you would like to leave a message… press 1”) Yeah… just give me a call.

Sargent Lambchop bursts through the door.

WIGGUM

(eating a donut)

Lambchop? What are you doing here so soon?

Lambchop tackles Wiggum & grabs whatever he’s eating.

FADE OUT & END SONG 4

OUTSIDE IN A PARKING LOT

“SPORTS TRAINING MONTAGE”

SONG 5: “Eye of the Tiger”

We can play with the editing of this whole sequence. No dialogue, just music, with Wiggum & Lambchop acting out everything. Here are scene ideas for the “SPORTS TRAINING MONTAGE”:

• Sergeant Lambchop blowing his whistle over & over throughout sequence.
• Wiggum trying to do pushups over & over throughout sequence. Possibly Sgt. sitting on Wiggum’s back & then Wiggum stops & pulls out some food to eat while he’s on the ground. Sgt. takes food away & reprimands.
• Wiggum painfully running after a carrot tied to a string that Sergeant Lambchop is holding in front of him (as the Sgt. Runs backwards or is in a truck). Wiggum stops running only to pull out some food from his pocket to begin eating. Sgt. Lambchop grabs the food out of Wiggum’s hand and reprimands.
• Wiggum chasing a chicken (show this over & over again throughout the sequence).
• Karate kid “crane” kick.
• Jump roping Wiggum.
• Wiggum attempting to wrestle Lambchop. Lambchop wins.
• Sergeant Lambchop showing Wiggum the correct things to eat. Perhaps show Wiggum being quizzed as he writes his 4 food groups (“Hamburgers, Cup cakes, Mountain Dew, ClaimJumpers”) on a white board. Lambchop getting mad & another shot later showing his 4 food groups. Wiggum asking what a banana is & Lambchop showing him.
• If we can get into a gym… Punching bags, weights, etc.

***Show Progression of Wiggum’s physic throughout montage.***

FADE SONG 5

Sport’s Training Video Final:

Officer Wiggum’s & Sergent Lambchop’s Commercial:

===========================================================================

<<*Taken from “Wiggum and the Class of 1986″ mystery dinner theater play by Michelle Spore.>>

My husband and I have done a lot of fundraising in our lifetimes to help our favorite non-profits. See if any sound familiar:

• Lemonade stands, car washes, bake sales, candy sales, garage sales, rummage sales, school and community fairs, plays, Halloween labyrinths (don’t ask), bowl-a-thons, jog-a-thons, BBQ’s, cook-off’s, variety shows, spaghetti dinners – you name it.

We literally started fundraising since we were children. Sound familiar to some of you?

I wanted to create a space here at Splendid Little Blog (under my super-shiny new category called “Non Profit”) for creative ideas and inspirations for non-profits to raise support. We all know we could use a breath of fresh air here. So the next few blog posts go out to you fundraising person/organization. Before you sit down to write another donation letter or pull your gear together for another (back breaking?) car wash, consider thinking outside the box with your fellow fundraising friends. Or at least redecorate the interior of that proverbial “box” that we limit ourselves to sometimes. Car washes ain’t bad, but maybe a mobile car-detailing unit could garner more bang?

I encourage you to:

(1) Find a non-profit to start helping out with your time, finances, know-how, etc, etc.  if you haven’t already done so. It’s got to be an organization you truly believe in or else you’ll loose steam fast in your giving. (Maybe START a not-for-profit if you see something missing in the non profit world!!)
(2) Write and share your best and worst fund raising tactics in the comments section below my next few blog posts related to fund raising. The more detail, the better. I can even put your experience as a full-on blog post.
(3) Brainstorm out loud and online. Learn from each other in your online communities. Start up a conversation on Twitter and Facebook asking people how they have successfully raise money for their organizations.
(4) Raise support on behalf of your non-profit with your arsenal of new ideas!
(5) Kiss a volunteer. In an appropriate way, of course. Without volunteers, we would be nowhere!

But we people… We’re still the same. Our beauty and our ugliness are heightened as we jump into global networks. As we try to let others know, “Heck yeah I’m a cool kid,” by dropping Facebook status updates every other minute, the funky, scared little person inside us is hoping that we’ll be noticed, that we’ll somehow connect.

It’s nice to see content out there that is directly targeted at my demographic. Yes, people have spent time and money to be relevant to ME. But it really doesn’t fulfill me as a human being. What does? To start, connections and relationships with real people I think is where it’s at. Where we’re not trying to rip each other off. And then I think it helps to have an end point, goal, place that we’re all headed toward. The same place. That’s important.

There’s been a lot of crap happening lately with so many friends of mine, which leads me to this question: What’s relevant in a marriage? Well that could be answered in a million different ways. Love, hope, self-sacrifice, self-control… The list can be endless. But I also think a lot has to do with two people who are connected and have decided to moved in the same direction and will do what it takes to help the other get there. The two individuals can be completely different yet they totally become the same life force (yes, I said those words) when they choose to connect to each other and head out into the world together, as one entity. A husband is relevant to his wife when he really wants to help her get to where she should go. His actions, advice, prayer, words, touch, etc, all are for her benefit to see her light up when she gets closer to where she wants to be. And of course a wife can be relevant, timely, accessible, helpful in the same way for her husband. But don’t you think relevant is such an odd word to use when it comes to marriage? Maybe not.

Sometimes I think the word “relevancy” has a tinge of insincerity to it. Like big mega corporations or churches or whatever are trying to pull a fast one. They seem like the know what their talking about, but peel a few layers back, and all you’ve got is the same humanity that the rest of us share. It can be ugly. But we can redeem the word relevant or relevancy, by putting it in its proper place. Yes, relevancy is totally important. But what is more important is that we’re bound by humanity. We’re all people, and we are due dignity and honor and respect. All of us. Having right motives and intentions and understanding that we’re here to help each other will naturally make us relevant. No hidden agendas, total acceptance and love should do it. An honest pursuit for truth so that we can be free. Heck, let’s have some grace for one another!

We will never completely agree with one another. We will never get people to conform to our ideas 100%. Thank God. (We need to be about conforming to One to transcends all of us!) But our living will only be relevant when we get our hearts and minds straight. SNAP OUT OF IT!! Wake up and see the world around you. You can learn about the fancy clothes and media tools any time. For now, it’s time to unlearn what you think will “work” on others and start to see them as the unbelievable people that they are. How can YOU help them? Let’s appreciate all the beauty and strength in our community, then let them know it!

In the words of a very old rap (yes in the 80s): “Check yourself before you wreck yourself.” You’re the only one who can change you. So let’s get busy!

21st Century Edu in AZ

The US federal deficit topped one trillion dollars on July 13, 2009, reflecting a history of unprecedented borrowing and spending. And it’s no secret most states are in a budget crunch as well. With a current shortfall somewhere between $1 and $2 billion, Arizona is having to make tough choices regarding budget cuts and taxation. Yet in such dire economic times, the people of Arizona need to hold onto both essential values and relevancy when it comes to budget appropriations. I believe that building a relevant education system by incorporating emerging technologies and evidence-based practices will help build a strong future for Arizonians.

Arizona believes in education. Close to 50% of Arizona’s budget is reserved for kindergarten through high school education. But compared to other states, Arizona students rank near the bottom for performance. It’s likely that that giving this broken system even more money would create more of the same problem, namely students under-prepared for college, work and life. I whole-heartedly believe that teacher’s salaries ought to be increased and more money could be used on purchasing technology, etc., however, I believe that there needs to be drastic reforms in the approach we take to education. The state ought to invest in relevant research of best practices for education as well as the quick implementation of such research.

We need to prepare children for a 21st century, first world economy and this is not happening. Why are we encouraging teaching methods that were fashioned during the industrial revolution? Tomorrow’s workplace will focus on “collaboration over competition, participation over observation, and people over personalities.”** Revise the standards to include more technology-based, collaborative opportunities. Train teachers to not be afraid of incorporating fresh, research-based, intuitive methods that really work. Quit boring teachers with “in-service” days and make them create solutions for their students that they can implement. Give teachers a say in the budget! Heck, gives students a say. Creating community and having each individual take responsibility for an incredible school system would only build a skilled and happy workforce in Arizona’s future.

What revenue sources should be used for reinventing the school system? Raising taxes in tourism (if we still have that industry during this economic crunch!) would certainly be pleasing to Arizonians since it doesn’t affect the majority of us. Raising property taxes, even by a marginal percentage, could sting a little but is a viable option. However, if Arizonians understood that this money was going into a healthy, evidence-based, technology-supported system, then it may not be such a bad idea. Of course, reorganizing some of the government’s infrastructure and reducing needless spending is of the utmost importance. The bottom line… hard-earned money should be invested into a hard-earned, rewarding school system. It will be a long road to convince the “old guard” to hand over education to the reformers, but it is desperately needed and will be well worth the effort.

(**See “Manifesto” at www.gangplankhq.com)

If you don’t already, follow: http://twitter.com/breakingnews

Pyongyang, the leader of North Korea is out of control!

According to Yahoo news, the US and other countries, “have threatened North Korea with punishment if they launch the long-range missile.”

Apologies for my daily post being so short! Time to start praying everybody.

God bless you!

Michelle

The election is over. The pundits are regrouping to figure out their next topics of discussion. And there was no rioting (as far as I know) in the streets. It is certainly an historical day this November 5th. Barack Obama will be our next president.
Last night I listened to both McCain’s gracious concession speech, and Obama’s victory speech. I became more optimistic while listening to both. McCain is really an incredible man, who is a true leader and has undergone so much in his lifetime. Obama is about to embark on the ride of his life. He urged Americans to each take responsibility for making this country great. I totally agree and I hoped people caught that. Honestly I walked away from last night not really placing my hopes in any administration, old or new. Change really just begins with every individual…. Me, to be specific.
Anyway congrats to the new President and family. We are praying for you. And thank you McCain for putting your best efforts into making our country great.