It is the season for events and activities in the Permian Basin and wonderful opportunities to support many great causes abounds!

One of those events that happen every May is the American Cancer Society Round-Up. This year it happened at the Horseshoe Arena - a huge venue yet perfect for this event.

And as in any “on-brand event review” we look at what was ON BRAND, what WORKED and what DIDN’T WORK.

So, how did this year’s ROUND-UP do?

FOOD: It was another stellar year for Round-Up. It appears that they’re food vendor from last year joined us again and did a wonderful job with a very ON BRAND menu for ROUND-UP 2008. In fact, many of us in the serving line saw the biggest pot of beans we’ve ever seen! We missed the Basic Energy chocolate shots - but the only ones who truly noticed were the chocolate lovers from last year. And, Suzie’s South Forty kickers were so good that at the end of the night everyone, including the tear down staff and the security officers, were hunting for any kickers that were left behind. I’m sure David and Suzie that you are enjoying this story!

ENTERTAINMENT: Rodney Adkins was wonderful! He engaged the crowd, had the group up dancing in the dance area, had wonderful conversation with the crowd and even sat down and sang while he was signing autographs. When he jumped off stage to sign some more autographs, I thought there might be a security issue as the crowd went wild. He definitely put on a show! There were a couple of time where his notes were a little flat yet understand that in the Horseshoe Arena when the airconditioner is blowing it’s tough to even hear yourself. I’ve had experience on a stage in that arena and I know having some good feed on the sound from the stage is a challenge! I don’t understand the whole t-shirt and jeans look. Even when the Dixie Chicks performed many, many moons ago at Round-Up when it was at the CAF Hangar, they dressed down. I would hope their publicity people would let them know what a conservative community we are and that at least a nice shirt with a good pair of jeans would be best. It’s one of those things you just wonder. When LoneStar performed at the event when it was held at the Midland College Chaparral Center, they were dressed perfectly - like you would see them on their album. And, Blake Shelton, well he just wore what he usually wears - long sleeve shirt and a torn pair of jeans, but that’s his brand so he was definitely ON BRAND.

The dance band that played was pretty good too except they would take a little too long between songs which made for awkward moments on the dance floor when people were just standing and staring - waiting to see what was going to be played next. And, having the speakers on the floor really took alot of their sound quality and power away. For Rodney’s portion, the speakers were hung from the ceiling - making for GREAT SOUND QUALITY and providing any table from any angle to get a good view of the stage.

VOLUNTEERS: Another passionate group of volunteers at this event! They were happy to help and happy to be of service. Game playing was fun, they were enormous help at the silent auction area, helpful in directing around the room and KUDOS FOR POSTING SEATING CHART for the hundreds of tables at the event. If it was around last year, I missed it. Yet, this year, it definitely drew loads of great comments and “atta-boys”.

Great MC’s - I love Mike and Dana - you can tell they have a passion for the event plus they’re so great at “off the cuff” comments and “fill time” when needed. There were some great spotters for the LIVE AUCTION - and those definitely help to make for a successful event. The auctioneer - Steve Taylor - truly was a positive feather in the cap for this event. He really knows how to make an organization LOADS OF MONEY for their event. First, he works and walks the room prior to the event. He learns who all the PLAYERS ARE. He visits with all the SPONSORS and LEARNS THEIR FIRST NAMES (this is key - remember what Dale Carnegie said ages ago “the sweetest sound to anyone is the sound of their own name”. He shakes hands with those most passionately affected by this disease and who are pouring every bit of their time, talent and treasure into this event. Then, HE MASTERFULLY USES all that info from the stage. He calls out Larry’s name and encourages him to “jump in the water’s fine”; he says things like “c’mon Claytie work with me”; he calls out sponsors by names and lavishes kudos and gratitude like no other. And, when he feels an item plateau he pushes it forward by either calling on a couple of passionate people and asking them to throw their hat in or he offers his own money. The whole room “ooed and ahhed” when he said, “I’ll thrown in $2000 of my own money because I think she’ll got to $15,000 let’s do this together.” He gave another $2000 when the auction for the breast prothesis came - recounting stories of how it helped women’s self esteem and confidence, going to the daughters of these women so that they could share their personal triumphs. The LIVE AUCTION had stalled at $97,000 when Steve Taylor said he knew he just wanted this to go to $100,000 so he was going to throw in $2000 of this own money now who was going to help to get us past $100,000. The crowd responded on their feet, with applause as that portion of the auction went to $124,000 just that night with pledges for more coming in as people made cell phone calls encouraging their circle of influence to pitch in. He is a MASTER AUCTIONEER and I’ve seen no other like him. There are a couple of guys in Van Horn, Texas that come awfully close and I’ve seen them deliver the same level of professionalism and social skills and stockshow events. I’m sure the coordinators of this event are glad about how everything went!

SPONSORS: This is an area that needs improvement at the event - recognition of sponsors. I hear everyone talking about “the cause” and “the need”. And, I think those are the most noble reasons to be involved with the event. Yet, understand BUSINESS is BUSINESS. And, if a sponsor becomes involved to promote, highlight, spotlight their business - then that has to happen. Other than the listing on the program there’s not much other recognition. There are “generic banners” around the arena and as a personal brand strategist - I don’t like those because they’re “generic”. I would much rather see logos or something so that you would quickly recognize the company. The society is smart in that they reserve that type of recognition to their big donors who hang from the stage. Yet, a whole bunch of $1,500 sponsors doesn’t hurt the bottomline of any event. Just show them a little more love and you’ll be just fine!

Now, here’s the only thing I don’t understand about the event and I’ve seen it happen 2 years in a row.

The event is supposed to end at 1 a.m. and it shuts down at 12:15 a.m.

This is the second year for it to do that. Dancing ends at midnight. Even though you’re supposed to be able to “kick up your feet until closing” (read the program - that’s what it says) and yet it closes early every year. Curious right? It would be different if the event was empty - but it wasn’t. It would also be different if they didn’t start cleaning up at 11 p.m. but they did (tables were already being broken down then). Just something I’d like to know more about.

The EVENT WAS STELLAR this year - Kudos and a landslide of BUZZ POINTS! Amazing and wonderful event!

People Are The Brand -

Maria Elena Duron

Chief Buzz Agent & Connections Coach

click my name to Google Me!

www.buzz2bucks.com

“building brands and higher level connections”