Okay..........I dropped off the face of the Earth. For that, I am truly sorry.
Those of you who joined us at the last couple DYT moments may remember that I was accepted to a graduate program in theatre last spring.
It is eating me alive. It is the single most rewarding....and challenging and difficult......thing I have done in my life, but it - tied with a job and a half - has dragged me into a place where I simply could not keep up the DYT events. I haven't even logged on since April, if that tells you anything.
Anyway, I am sorry that this ball is one that dropped. I am hoping to pick it back up soon, but I will probably not be able to commit to anything on a monthly basis at this point.
Sometime life happens, I guess.
I hope, however, that this finds you all well and geared up for January 3! That line about looking forward to Hillary advising him from yesterday's debate was priceless, no?
The March Double Your Tip - Indianapolis event seems to have been a great success! Personally, I really enjoyed meeting everyone, trying out a new restaurant (mmmmm......coconut shrimp!), and supporting the Obama campaign all at once! I will update this once I have a final dollar count, but we did very well last night! UPDATE: WE RAISED OVER $1400 LAST WEEK! YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
That being said, it's time for the April Indianapolis event!
Join us for the Double Your Tip – Indianapolis April Event on Thursday, April 12 at 6:15 pm at Champps Americana - Downtown (49 W. Maryland…in Circle Center Mall)!
The focus of the April event will be "What can I do?" Come join us to explore existing campaign opportunities and possible even come up with a few of your own! Senator Obama has repeatedly said that this campaign has to be about US, so come to check out how you can leave your imprint!Champps is an all-American casual dining restaurant that was founded on the idea of a really great burger, but the menu includes a wide variety of fabulous items for every palate! See www.champps.com for the menu and driving directions.Please RSVP by Wednesday, April 4 at 5 pm. We have a 75-guest maximum, so get your reservation in today! Out of fairness to the restaurant (which is staffing the night based on our event) and potential diners (who get blocked out if the max is reached), please only RSVP if you plan to attend. Of course, we welcome your donation with or without a reservation. :)I look forward to meeting each of you that evening as we work together to elect Senator Obama as the next President…….20% at a time.
Not near Indianapolis? Do a quick search to see if there is another chapter near you or check out the group Double Your Tip for Obama to see how to start your own! This is truly an easy fundraiser to put together!
With just days left until the 1st DYT - Indy event, there are a few things I have learned:
* I haven't discovered a way to e-mail individual attendees. I need to ask - in the event listing - for guests to include their e-mail addy in their reservation.
* Be prepared for anything, number-wise. I was not quite ready for the response (76 diners) we got. My initial reservation was for 20. lol
* There are some GREAT online sites for coloring book pages! Those and some dollar store crayons will be found in my "kiddy packs" on Thursday.
* Cafe Press can be your best friend if you are looking for less expensive favors (though not needed).
* To allow guests many ways to donate and still have an idea of what you are raising, make simple anonymous donation pledge cards available and ask your guests to leave them in a gift bag.
* Print off voter registration forms for each guest. Ask them to pass it on if they are already registered.
* Do not assume a slow start just because your state is usually redder than a stop sign. I am AMAZED!
I am REALLY excited to meet everyone on Thursday!
Hi Folks,
Ok, we are going to bite here in Kalamazoo and try your idea. I have submitted the request to the site to form our group and it is awaiting site admin approval. One question: should I set up the fundraising page where the diners can contribute as my personal fundraising page, or can I create one as part of our new group?
On an unrelated matter, I too was unable to set up an event using Explorer. When I switched to Netscapte, it worked.
Anne
Yes.........I am THAT beside myself! At this moment there are 27 people signed up to attend the March 8 Double Your Tip fundraiser! I am so excited to meet everyone! This is going to be awesome, so if you haven't signed up yet...............sign up today!
And........I have the reservation set for April! Set aside April 12! The location will be announced at Bahama Breeze!
Yes, the winds of change ARE blowing…..and they have inspired the home of our first Double Your Tip Event!
Join us for the Double Your Tip – Indianapolis Kickoff Event on Thursday, March 8 at 6:15 pm at Bahama Breeze (3815 E. 96th Street)! Hmmmm……..for the night, maybe it should be Obama Breeze!
Bahama Breeze is a casual restaurant serving island-inspired dishes that include a little something for everyone. (And they take call-ahead seating! YEAH!) Check out www.bahamabreeeze.com for the menu. Also, using the locator function will even allow you enter a starting location in order to get driving directions!
Please RSVP by Monday, March 5.
I look forward to meeting each of you that evening as we work together to elect Senator Obama as the next President…….20% at a time.
Update on tech issue: It was an Explorer issue. I downloaded Firefox and it worked just fine! Sooooo..........the event is up and running! RSVP away!
OK......I will admit it: I am a high school teacher and I know nothing about campaign finance.
The good thing is that this site will do it all for you!
Hit the "My Fundraising" button and follow the simple steps to set up a donation site for your local! Use your local logo. Set your URL nickname as DYTCity (ie, Indianapolis is DYTIndy). Set your goal. Then plan away for your 1st event!
This is important since campaign finance is REALLY a job best left to those with more of a clue than I have. By allowing your group to donate online, it allows you to keep up with the donation amounts while keeping you hands clean and your track record free of pesky things like arrests for election fraud. :)
Simply make sure that your diners have the URL for the local's fundraising site and you are good to go! A business card or handout of some sort will work great! Make sure to set a time frame for the donations (no longer than 1 week after the event). This will make it more certain that the money actually comes in and allows you to post your proceeds here! PLEASE do that! Seeing the successes of others will help all of us stay motivated!
Event Guidelines
How to Host an Event
I was thinking in the shower this morning (yes.....I have some serious brainstorms there!) that I wanted to come up with an easy way to help in the campaign. Then it hit me: Double Your Tip.
A Double Your Tip dinner is a great way to get together, have a load of fun, and benefit the campaign, as well. You simply go out to dinner with the group, have a blast, and at the end of the night.....tip your server and match that amount with a donation to the campaign.
So.......I just started 2 groups. Search for Double Your Tip. The 1st is a national group set up to explain how to host a DYT dinner in your town that will be fabulously fun without driving you, your guests, or the restaurant nuts. The 2nd is for you Indy-dwellers. We will be having our 1st Indianapolis Double Your Tip for Obama Dinner as soon as we have a reasonable number of members. Both groups are pretty blank right now, but I promise they will be MUCH more detailed as the week continues.
I am really pretty excited about this opportunity. I have attended such dinners before, and they are a blast!
Another 20% isn't a lot to an individual, but it can mean a lot to our country.
