HAPPY FRIDAY

The topic of our blog today will be tonight’s big gala event – the MISSION: RED Experience Auction.

The journey started one year ago in the Chicago Red Cross offices with a handful of visionaries and a very ambitious dream: to create the marquee event of the Red Cross social season during, what would become, one of the biggest recessions in recent history. Looking back, it truly was a “mission” from the very beginning. But our core group did not waver. We met for weeks until we created our marketing idea - event vision, mission, goals and objectives.

Then came the auction items, with a team dedicated to securing unique experiences to auction off, matching the themes of the Red Cross’s own mission. Logistics worked alongside marketing and auction to secure the right location with the perfect setting. Sponsorship came into play after the event had more structure and was able to meet our goal for corporate sponsorship, giving us the ability to deploy the event that we dreamed out in the beginning.

As time passed, we gathered new team members and new experience auction items, sponsors and marketing momentum. As the economy toughened, so did our team. We met the challenges of the tightened finances of potential auction item partners and sponsors by getting creative and tapping our vast networks of contacts.

After months of meetings, hundreds of emails and thousands of hours of planning, we’re finally here. This is a HAPPY FRIDAY for the Chicago Red Cross, and especially for those of us who have dedicated the last year of our lives to this amazing event.

To all of you who will join us tonight, we look forward to a magical night and appreciate your support. And to all of my colleagues on the MISSION:RED committee, I say Thank You and Congratulations on a job well done!