Select teams of 25 individuals from each of Elev8’s four sites around the country –  Chicago, Oakland, Albuquerque and Baltimore – came together along with representatives from Public Interest Projects and The Atlantic Philanthropies for an unparalleled learning opportunity: to share experiences, to build partnerships across Elev8 sites, and to expand on the expertise of all Elev8 participants.  Ginger Donnan Events coordinated all arrangements for this convening, including registration, travel booking to Baltimore, communication with attendees, as well as on-site management of 2 ½ days of workshops, learning tours, and dine-arounds.

This autumn was our busiest yet with seven single day events in New York and New Jersey and three multiple-day conferences in Chicago, Philadelphia and Baltimore.

We started the season by helping a law firm with a client conference at the Harvard Club in NYC when they were short-staffed. Ten days later we moved downtown for the Autism Speaks to Wall Street Chef Gala to manage the check-in process and volunteers. Then, mid-October, it was time for the five New Jersey Light the Night Walks that take place on two simultaneous Saturdays. One of our biggest projects of the year, we started working on the logistics for these events back in March and were thrilled to see the growth in attendance and funds raised by the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

This month, we executed two more of Public Interest Projects’ convenings, including our third for the U.S. Human Rights Fund and our first for the Elev8 middle school initiative, a conference that ends today. These events included booking travel for over 100 people each and coordinating meeting, meal and transportation needs.

None this would have been possible without the help of such a dedicated team. Now it’s time for the rest and recuperation that comes with the holidays and planning for 2012 events, including the 5th Annual Communities for Education Reform Convening.

What events are on your horizon?

November 7-9, 2011 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
June 14-17, 2010 in Los Angeles, California
January 11-14, 2009 in New Orleans, Louisiana

The 2011 convening “Using Human Rights to Achieve Racial Justice: We Shall Overcome,” hosted by the U.S. Human Rights Fund with support from The Overbrook Foundation, Ford Foundation, and Just and Fair Schools Fund, was attended by 150 advocates and funders. In addition to building the registration website, making travel reservations and communicating with attendees, Ginger Donnan Events coordinated arrangements for the course of events over the three-day convening.

The 2010 convening brought together 15 funders and 80 advocates working on three inter-related human rights campaigns to develop new campaign strategies and advocacy skills, and explore collaborations. Travel arrangements were made for the guests to attend the welcome reception:

2 ½ days of meetings:

three site visits:

and two off-site dinners:

The 2009 Global Strategy Exchange Convening was an opportunity for the organization’s grantees to meet and learn from key international human rights activists. The event included hotel and travel arrangements for 140 attendees, two days of meetings, two days of site visits around New Orleans and Mississippi and all food and beverage, including an off-site group dinner.

Working with Ginger Donnan is an experience unlike any other.  Convenings and special events are by nature a stressful experience for the hosts.  So many people’s needs to be addressed, so many details to consider. Ginger’s organizational skills expertly bring order to chaos.  She identifies a problem and is able to nip it before it has a chance to derail the process.  Ginger is a systems person.  She has event planning down to a science and navigates you through each bump and curve with grace and calm.  It has been more than a pleasure to have Ginger at the helm of our special events–she is magic.  – Sue Simon, Director, Human Rights, U.S. Human Rights Fund, June 2010

The Libra Foundation’s Grantee Convening

October 17-19, 2011

For three days in Chicago, all of The Libra Foundation’s grantees were brought together for the first time to network and get to know the work of grantee organizations from their three  priority areas: women’s rights, environmental sustainability, and social justice and drug policy reform, all working within a human rights framework.

We managed the budget, handled online registration and individual attendee communications, vendor coordination and meeting needs, transportation and travel booking, and on-site management, all while keeping the client fully informed through timely updates.

Photos credit: Hiroshi Landazuri

Highlights of the convenings include local site visits:

and performances by local entertainers:

Feedback

Link to a blog post by 2011 attendee Tina Dove, National Director of the Opportunity to Learn Campaign

From Melinda Fine, Director, Communities for Public Education Reform, Public Interest Projects, May 2011:
Ginger Donnan Events is an event planning firm extraordinaire.  Since 2008, Ginger has masterfully managed the planning process for the annual conference of Communities for Public Education Reform, a thirty million dollar funding initiative that annually convenes some 300 national education leaders, community groups, and funders from around the country.  In the months leading up to our recent conference, we relied on Ginger to manage every possible logistical element (venue identification, participant registration, travel and hotel accommodations, entertainment and food selection, room set-up, budget planning and tracking); we were thrilled with the results.  On site, she and her team were unflappable and resourceful in solving any problems that arose, allowing our staff to focus our attention where it needed to be. Ginger is terrifically well-organized, thorough, attentive to every last detail, and on top of it all, an absolute pleasure to work with.  We look forward to having her plan our conference next year, knowing we’ll be in exceptionally good hands.

From Julie Kohler, Director of Education & Civic Engagement, Public Interest Projects, 2008-2010:
Ginger Donnan’s handling of these events is nothing less than stunning. Not only does she attend to every detail flawlessly, but she also makes all of our participants feel so important and respected. The professionalism she brings to these events is an important validation of their work, and the fact that she has become, to many of our grantees, an extension of our staff team, is a testament to her warmth and compassion.Julie Kohler, Director of Education & Civic Engagement, Public Interest Projects, 2008-2010

Photo credit: Cara Fandel