The Sean Man
1st Level Yellow Feather
- Joined
- Feb 11, 2002
- Messages
- 3,101
- Points
- 0
To answer the question: "Where the hell have you been?", here goes:
As many of you know, I've been involved with the Relay For Life here in my area since 2001. This year, they made me chairman. I took the job very seriously, which is good. Took it so seriously that my personal life got tossed into the closet, which is not good. I upset a lot of people by practically dropping off the radar completely. Forgive me
Since they started many years ago in our area, the relays have been held in the parking lot of an old outlet mall. We were plagued by lack of power, assorted problems, and most of all....shitty, and I do mean shitty weather. Last year we were hit with MASSIVE thunderstorms, that left most of the parking lot flooded. We ended up having to cancel the event with only four hours left to the finish line.
Over Xmas, I had the bright idea to approach the local Sports Dome to see if they were interested. I couldn't have expected a more enthusiastic and positive response. In early, January, my committee met with myself and the people from the Dome to talk about the possibility of someday holding the Relay there. What was intended to be a quick meeting went for an hour and a half, with every aspect of the Relay covered. Problems we had at the old site could be solved at the Dome. We then decided, with four months go-time, to move the whole shebang to the dome.
You have to understand a few things:
1) I hate being in charge.
2) I hate being responsible for any projects like this.
3) This was a major league gamble, and I was responsible for it.
When we informed everyone at the first Team Captains meeting, the response was unanimously positive. Buzz started building immediately. The next thing to do was convince several key committee members who were dead set against this to see the light. After taking them to the dome, and explaining how everything would work, they "got it" (much to my relief). Everyone was now on board.
In the following months, though i learned the art of delegation, I found myself handling a lot of work for the event. More than I should have been handling by myself, many did say. But I kept pushing. This whole thing had to work, and I knew in my heart that it could be incredible. I spent quite a bit of time in the car and on the phone going after new teams, corporate sponsorships, finding a stage for the entertainment, putting together a raffle for my radio station's team (which, by the way, was mighty sweet....30 rounds of golf at 9 area golf courses, brand new golf bag with built in cooler, with one winner taking all), and dealing with the radio commericals and ads to promote the event.
I was pretty calm during this whole planning time. The day before the Relay (Friday)? I got to work when it all hit me at once....I felt an honest to god panic attack coming over me. It took several hours to force it away.
Following my show (5:30 to 9 am), I went to the dome, where I spent the rest of the day settting up for the relay. We had 59 teams this year, and I did my best to help them get their gear and campsite equipment set up. The stage was 10 sections, each one weighing about 100 pounds, no kidding. My back, knees, and every other inch of my body didn't appreciate it.
###Note- I'm trying not to come off as whiny and complaining...I had no complaints about all this work...being a cancer survivor, I'll do anything to make an event like this succeed, even at my own expense####
The Relay started Saturday morning. I've never heard so many positive comments. Everyone had SUCH a good time, and loved the benefits of the new location, I felt like a million bucks. Tired, sweaty, and moving around like a ninety year old man....but I felt great.
All of the participants that weekend pretty much agreed that the dome was the new home for the relay. A few complaints were there, but they were bookended with "this place is so much better than the old one".
At the closing ceremonies, as chairman, i had the honor of giving the final total. The previous year, despite pouring rain and ending early, we raised $171,000....and I told everyone during this year's planning stages, that in our new location, we could do $200,000.
I had the honor of telling everyone, while choking back great emotion, there that we had raised $215,916, a record for our section of Michigan. As a cancer survivor, I was proud that we had raised so much money to battle cancer. As a human being, I was proud that I had jumped into the deep end of the pool and discovered that I was a hell of a swimmer.
I'll repeat as chairman for the 2006 relay, and, even though we don't have to start planning for another five months, I've already started. No fear or nervousness this time. And I'm gunning on breaking that record next year
Sorry I've been gone. I missed y'all. But as George Costanza would say:
"BABY, I'M BACK!"
The Sean Man
As many of you know, I've been involved with the Relay For Life here in my area since 2001. This year, they made me chairman. I took the job very seriously, which is good. Took it so seriously that my personal life got tossed into the closet, which is not good. I upset a lot of people by practically dropping off the radar completely. Forgive me
Since they started many years ago in our area, the relays have been held in the parking lot of an old outlet mall. We were plagued by lack of power, assorted problems, and most of all....shitty, and I do mean shitty weather. Last year we were hit with MASSIVE thunderstorms, that left most of the parking lot flooded. We ended up having to cancel the event with only four hours left to the finish line.
Over Xmas, I had the bright idea to approach the local Sports Dome to see if they were interested. I couldn't have expected a more enthusiastic and positive response. In early, January, my committee met with myself and the people from the Dome to talk about the possibility of someday holding the Relay there. What was intended to be a quick meeting went for an hour and a half, with every aspect of the Relay covered. Problems we had at the old site could be solved at the Dome. We then decided, with four months go-time, to move the whole shebang to the dome.
You have to understand a few things:
1) I hate being in charge.
2) I hate being responsible for any projects like this.
3) This was a major league gamble, and I was responsible for it.
When we informed everyone at the first Team Captains meeting, the response was unanimously positive. Buzz started building immediately. The next thing to do was convince several key committee members who were dead set against this to see the light. After taking them to the dome, and explaining how everything would work, they "got it" (much to my relief). Everyone was now on board.
In the following months, though i learned the art of delegation, I found myself handling a lot of work for the event. More than I should have been handling by myself, many did say. But I kept pushing. This whole thing had to work, and I knew in my heart that it could be incredible. I spent quite a bit of time in the car and on the phone going after new teams, corporate sponsorships, finding a stage for the entertainment, putting together a raffle for my radio station's team (which, by the way, was mighty sweet....30 rounds of golf at 9 area golf courses, brand new golf bag with built in cooler, with one winner taking all), and dealing with the radio commericals and ads to promote the event.
I was pretty calm during this whole planning time. The day before the Relay (Friday)? I got to work when it all hit me at once....I felt an honest to god panic attack coming over me. It took several hours to force it away.
Following my show (5:30 to 9 am), I went to the dome, where I spent the rest of the day settting up for the relay. We had 59 teams this year, and I did my best to help them get their gear and campsite equipment set up. The stage was 10 sections, each one weighing about 100 pounds, no kidding. My back, knees, and every other inch of my body didn't appreciate it.
###Note- I'm trying not to come off as whiny and complaining...I had no complaints about all this work...being a cancer survivor, I'll do anything to make an event like this succeed, even at my own expense####
The Relay started Saturday morning. I've never heard so many positive comments. Everyone had SUCH a good time, and loved the benefits of the new location, I felt like a million bucks. Tired, sweaty, and moving around like a ninety year old man....but I felt great.
All of the participants that weekend pretty much agreed that the dome was the new home for the relay. A few complaints were there, but they were bookended with "this place is so much better than the old one".
At the closing ceremonies, as chairman, i had the honor of giving the final total. The previous year, despite pouring rain and ending early, we raised $171,000....and I told everyone during this year's planning stages, that in our new location, we could do $200,000.
I had the honor of telling everyone, while choking back great emotion, there that we had raised $215,916, a record for our section of Michigan. As a cancer survivor, I was proud that we had raised so much money to battle cancer. As a human being, I was proud that I had jumped into the deep end of the pool and discovered that I was a hell of a swimmer.
I'll repeat as chairman for the 2006 relay, and, even though we don't have to start planning for another five months, I've already started. No fear or nervousness this time. And I'm gunning on breaking that record next year
Sorry I've been gone. I missed y'all. But as George Costanza would say:
"BABY, I'M BACK!"
The Sean Man
