Send Off Party Ideas
A send-off party can be a fun way to wrap up the end (or start) of a reign and celebrate the upcoming national competition.
When planning, keep in mind the actual goals of the event. Is it to thank your sponsors and supporters, raise money or just kick back before your next big competition? Perhaps it’s all the above!
So, let’s say you’ve got a location, date, and budget. I know… we’re skipping through the hardest parts, but those are pieces only you can do. Now, the marketing, to make sure people are there. Invitations and reminders now need to come in at least two different formats for people to notice and take action.
Ideas could be:
-Save the Date and invitation postcards
–Facebook event
-Regular social media posts with strategic interaction pieces, such as asking people to repost, invite, orchestrating a giveaway for complimentary tickets
-Sponsor or boosted social posts
-Ask your sponsors to post the event on their social
-Text invite campaign
-Post posters at local venues
-Try to tease some of the event happenings in your marketing material to stir up excitement. Is there a capacity to your event? You might want to mention something like, “limited seating-get your tickets now!”
However, I can’t stress this enough…whatever you do, do it well. You’re putting on an event. You’re asking people, in most cases, to attend somewhere on their personal time and dime. In my professional job in meetings and events, one of the biggest things that came out of the pandemic is that people learned that their time is extremely valuable. People need to feel like their time has been well spent, even if it is to support you.
So make sure you:
-Have a clear itinerary of the event and stick to it. There’s nothing worse than an event going well beyond it’s expected time. Have someone keep the time for you to stay on track.
-Visually, the event needs to be welcoming and themed starting from the moment they arrive at the venue. This means to have good signage, décor, and lighting. How is the parking situation at your venue? Is it easy for anyone and everyone?
-Think about the temperature inside the venue and all weather-related issues that could occur.
-Audio and visual needs are huge! Can everyone, no matter where they are sitting or standing hear and see what’s going on? Also think about music for when there is nothing going on before/after the program.
Now, to the ideas:
-50/50 raffle (check with your state laws on making sure you have the proper license)
-Silent or live auction
-Door prizes *click here for some fun ways to draw
-Autograph signing
-Interactive food stations such as an ice cream bar, s’more bar, candy bar, trail mix bar and of course, an actual bar
-Put on a fashion show with visiting royalty. Get a local boutique to sponsor the model clothing and ask royalty to bring an outfit or two.
-Showcase your pageant wardrobe
-Put on a mock national competition by answering questions from the crowd.
-Attendees want to feel like they are part of your journey. Think about ways you can get people involved such as having them sign a photo or guest book, leave a note of encouragement in a jar or post on a wall, a photo op or specific event hashtag.
-Entertainment such as a band, dueling pianos, cooking competition, DJ
-Food is always key! Have dinner and sell meal tickets.
-Have a food truck show up and have a percentage of proceeds go back to you.
-Sell event t-shirts or koozies
–Scan a QR code to donate on the spot
I wish you all the success with your event!
Katie Stien
Katie Stien is a wife, mom of two boys, meeting expert, pig show regular and cowboy boot aficionado. She is also a past title holder, pageant coordinator of more than 12 years, an agriculture advocate and enjoys helping youth be the best versions of themselves. Through Katie’s professional and personal career, she saw a need to connect those in the industry; hence how Queen Connection was born.