Chamber Day
Contributor
Now that the event is behind us, allow me to single out some of the people who work behind the scenes (some for up to six months) to help this whole thing run smoothly.
ERIKA LADD (Ocean Adventures)
Normally this has been the purview of her dad Steve but Steve's moving into retirement mode and has not only turned over day-to-day operations of OADC to Erika but she also inherited the brunt of the work acquiring prizes for Ch-Day. This involves not only initial contact with the mfgs but also following up, stockpiling prizes as they come in, sporting into Day/Eve/boat raffle prizes, making sure everything ends up in the right place, contacting the Day winners via their boat or DM, and overseeing the Eve raffle prize distribution, including the little prizes we had at the door on the way out. if you like what you won, thank Erika. (If you didn't like it, you can blame me.)
SUSY HOROWITZ
Susy is our Stuffing Committee chairperson and is constantly making sure that we had enough evenings set aside (we refer to them as "Stuffing Parties") so that we can get out all the required info and tickets to everyone. Each person who signs up for Day, Dutchman, or Evening gets a letter from us with a hand-written paper ticket and a cover letter, plus raffle tickets, Chamber Eve ticket, VDG package, and anything else they've bought and need actual tickets for. We end up sending out well over 300 of these during the course of the event.
MARILYN LAWRENCE, BETSY SUTTLE, & OLIVER (the dog)
Betsy and Marilyn (along with Oliver for emotional support) join Susy and myself as the laborers on the Stuffing Committee. Marilyn generally generates mailing labels, Susy & Betsy stuff, I enter the raw data from the website and make sure we have enough copies of forms, plus stamps and envelopes. This event involves many trips to the post office to get things in the mail to you.
SHIRLEY PARRY
Betsy & Marilyn add Shirley to the mix for Chamber Eve and act as our bankers, keeping track of all the cash and credit card transactions that take place on-site throughout the evening, which are - as you'd expect - numerous. Plus Shirley, who has the nicest hand-writing around, is the one who actually fills in the mock check we present to Karl Huggins.
PAUL DIMEO, ERICA NOREIGA, TAMERA SCHULZ (AQUARIUM OF THE PACIFIC)
These three keep everything running smoothly for us on the Aquarium side of things. Paul is the DSO so makes sure that we've got volunteers to work the evening, that we've got the conference room space and other areas to assemble in, as well as he serves on the overall Committee. (He wasn't here this year to do the welcome speech, so that fell to Grady Scallon.) Erica is the Aquarium's person in charge of special events and make sure we have not only the overall facility, but things like the stage and lighting, AV stuff, tables, easels, and the other props we need to pull Scuba Prom off. Tamera is the point person for Savor who are the folks who do the catering and feed you as well as in 60 minutes, starting at 6PM, they set out all the tables, linen, and silverware that greets you when you walk in the door. The transformation of the Great Hall from an open space into a dining area is truly amazing.
THE BOAT CAPTAINS, THEIR CREWS, AND DMs
They're the ones that make the logistics of Chamber Day work. There's actually a fixed schedule of who goes to the Chamber when so you're all not piling up on one another, the DMs not only run the day but also deal with raffle tix and shirts, and the captains obviously are donating their time and vessels to make all of this happen.
AQUARIUM DIVE VOLUNTEERS
The short version is that we couldn't pull off Ch-Eve without them. They help us set up, sell raffle tickets, help you find your seats, shepherd people around, answer questions, man the VGD VIP area, hand out prizes, and just generally do all the little things that need getting done. There are usually close to 30 of them working the event.
TABLE AND BOAT SPONSORS
Generally dive shops and clubs, they help us promote the event and sell spots to their peeps. Without the vast support of these groups, it would be hard to pull this thing off. They sell tickets or direct their people to the website to sign up, and generally keep us visible to the diving public during the two months leading up to the event.
ANTELOPE VALLEY DESERT DIVERS
They made Chamber Day history this year by being the first dive club ever to donate $5,000 to the Chamber Challenge. They've usually donated $1,000 in the past but really stepped up their game this year. On top of that, they hosted two tables at Chamber Eve. Would that more shops and clubs followed their lead.
KARL HUGGINS
I don't think many people realize how much work this is for Karl. And this is all on top of his regular Chamber duties. He not only has to create/design/update the website but he also monitors the influx on web signups, which he then has to process and relay to me for posting or mailing, he's keeping track of things like the Challenge and posting donor names, keeping track of Flying Dutchman names for our skull design on the front of the shirt, working with our logo artist Jewely Aguilar, co-ordinating with the t-shirt folks at CB Designs, all the while enduring repeated phone calls from me about when something will be done or do we need this or whatever. He puts in a lot of time and a lot of long hours. (And he puts up with me, no small feat in and of itself.)
I'm sure I'm leaving some people out but this hopefully gives you an idea of some of the folks who toil to make this all happen but may not be as prominently acknowledged as they should be during the event.
So thanks again to everyone - volunteers and participants - who made this year another success and here's looking to doing it again in 2019.
- Ken
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ERIKA LADD (Ocean Adventures)
Normally this has been the purview of her dad Steve but Steve's moving into retirement mode and has not only turned over day-to-day operations of OADC to Erika but she also inherited the brunt of the work acquiring prizes for Ch-Day. This involves not only initial contact with the mfgs but also following up, stockpiling prizes as they come in, sporting into Day/Eve/boat raffle prizes, making sure everything ends up in the right place, contacting the Day winners via their boat or DM, and overseeing the Eve raffle prize distribution, including the little prizes we had at the door on the way out. if you like what you won, thank Erika. (If you didn't like it, you can blame me.)
SUSY HOROWITZ
Susy is our Stuffing Committee chairperson and is constantly making sure that we had enough evenings set aside (we refer to them as "Stuffing Parties") so that we can get out all the required info and tickets to everyone. Each person who signs up for Day, Dutchman, or Evening gets a letter from us with a hand-written paper ticket and a cover letter, plus raffle tickets, Chamber Eve ticket, VDG package, and anything else they've bought and need actual tickets for. We end up sending out well over 300 of these during the course of the event.
MARILYN LAWRENCE, BETSY SUTTLE, & OLIVER (the dog)
Betsy and Marilyn (along with Oliver for emotional support) join Susy and myself as the laborers on the Stuffing Committee. Marilyn generally generates mailing labels, Susy & Betsy stuff, I enter the raw data from the website and make sure we have enough copies of forms, plus stamps and envelopes. This event involves many trips to the post office to get things in the mail to you.
SHIRLEY PARRY
Betsy & Marilyn add Shirley to the mix for Chamber Eve and act as our bankers, keeping track of all the cash and credit card transactions that take place on-site throughout the evening, which are - as you'd expect - numerous. Plus Shirley, who has the nicest hand-writing around, is the one who actually fills in the mock check we present to Karl Huggins.
PAUL DIMEO, ERICA NOREIGA, TAMERA SCHULZ (AQUARIUM OF THE PACIFIC)
These three keep everything running smoothly for us on the Aquarium side of things. Paul is the DSO so makes sure that we've got volunteers to work the evening, that we've got the conference room space and other areas to assemble in, as well as he serves on the overall Committee. (He wasn't here this year to do the welcome speech, so that fell to Grady Scallon.) Erica is the Aquarium's person in charge of special events and make sure we have not only the overall facility, but things like the stage and lighting, AV stuff, tables, easels, and the other props we need to pull Scuba Prom off. Tamera is the point person for Savor who are the folks who do the catering and feed you as well as in 60 minutes, starting at 6PM, they set out all the tables, linen, and silverware that greets you when you walk in the door. The transformation of the Great Hall from an open space into a dining area is truly amazing.
THE BOAT CAPTAINS, THEIR CREWS, AND DMs
They're the ones that make the logistics of Chamber Day work. There's actually a fixed schedule of who goes to the Chamber when so you're all not piling up on one another, the DMs not only run the day but also deal with raffle tix and shirts, and the captains obviously are donating their time and vessels to make all of this happen.
AQUARIUM DIVE VOLUNTEERS
The short version is that we couldn't pull off Ch-Eve without them. They help us set up, sell raffle tickets, help you find your seats, shepherd people around, answer questions, man the VGD VIP area, hand out prizes, and just generally do all the little things that need getting done. There are usually close to 30 of them working the event.
TABLE AND BOAT SPONSORS
Generally dive shops and clubs, they help us promote the event and sell spots to their peeps. Without the vast support of these groups, it would be hard to pull this thing off. They sell tickets or direct their people to the website to sign up, and generally keep us visible to the diving public during the two months leading up to the event.
ANTELOPE VALLEY DESERT DIVERS
They made Chamber Day history this year by being the first dive club ever to donate $5,000 to the Chamber Challenge. They've usually donated $1,000 in the past but really stepped up their game this year. On top of that, they hosted two tables at Chamber Eve. Would that more shops and clubs followed their lead.
KARL HUGGINS
I don't think many people realize how much work this is for Karl. And this is all on top of his regular Chamber duties. He not only has to create/design/update the website but he also monitors the influx on web signups, which he then has to process and relay to me for posting or mailing, he's keeping track of things like the Challenge and posting donor names, keeping track of Flying Dutchman names for our skull design on the front of the shirt, working with our logo artist Jewely Aguilar, co-ordinating with the t-shirt folks at CB Designs, all the while enduring repeated phone calls from me about when something will be done or do we need this or whatever. He puts in a lot of time and a lot of long hours. (And he puts up with me, no small feat in and of itself.)
I'm sure I'm leaving some people out but this hopefully gives you an idea of some of the folks who toil to make this all happen but may not be as prominently acknowledged as they should be during the event.
So thanks again to everyone - volunteers and participants - who made this year another success and here's looking to doing it again in 2019.
- Ken
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