Disclaimer: this is the personal blog of Alexa L. Barnett and does not reflect any position of her employer.
I want to share the honest, raw, version of who and what went into pulling off The Changemakers Summit on 1/25/2024.
ALL the little things that go into an event like this fell apart in the 72 hours leading up to The Summit. These surprises were out of our control, but co-chair Summer Weaver went above and beyond to find solutions with a smile. We could not have pulled this off without the months of time she invested in this, or the sleep deprivation she suffered the week of.
When the other volunteers on Muscle Duty had to back out for legitimate reasons, Andrew Riley handled load-in/out by himself, and kept us on schedule.
The "snowpocalypse" caused shipping delays for things we ordered waaaay in advance. The day before The Summit we learned that UPS had lost the Platinum Sponsor backdrop. It was not late, it was lost!
So, Nathan Morgan / Morgan Visual Productions setup AI tech for attendees to receive photos instantly via text with U.S. Bank and Brown & Brown Insurance logos. This was NOT part of our package and was a big ask to set up the day before the event.
UPS located the backdrop just in time, but Platinum Sponsors Amber Matz and Matt Sligh, M.Ed. were gracious before we had a solution to present.
Audrey Edwards did a mad dash the day before to individually insert 200+ name tags with the template Amanda Jones spent hours perfecting. The tags we ordered are still lost in the mail. Lol?
The gift boxes arrived late, so Brittany Southwood, Jodi Camasta, LaQuela Barnett, and Vicki Watanabe stayed up the night before assembling them, then came early the next morning to run setup so I had to time to do my hair and makeup before doors opened.
Tanya Iacabone drove around town the day before grabbing raffle items.
Vari lent us awesome stage furniture (again!), and when the weather forecast predicted rain, Peter Zolensky got us waterproof transportation.
But I forgot to mention we needed additional seating because we had 4 panelists this year, not 3. Oops. So two hours before doors opened, Tyler Murray brought us additional furniture. From. His. House.
On stage, I said it takes a community of people to support, and shape, your ideas. This is what I was referring too.
Alexa L. Barnett is the owner of CRE615, LLC, a networking, educational, and mentorship platform for the Nashville's next generation of commercial real estate professionals.