Post-Party Feedback
A quick note–thanks so much for all your help in making the 2008 Cigar PEG the success it was. And, before all the ideas for improvement are lost, please help me to capture those Ideas that we kicked around in New York. Below are some of my thoughts for improving the TPE “Total Party Experience,” please add yours ASAP:
> Need full-time dedicated DJ to cue music correctly; pre-auction, and post-auction music mix. Also to have a prearranged contingency if an attendee comes on stage and grabs the mic (like Mark did). DJ to kill the mic sound after 60 seconds if the attendee does not return the mic to the emcee.
> Better control of lighting
> It would have been okay to have had the food available earlier, I heard.
> How valuable is the first hour of no-charge booze?
> Keep to the Schedule!!! No impromptu auctions, no last minute adding of talent. The program (auction and comedy) must not last longer than 90 minutes. After 90 minutes, we are stealing time from the attendees, which I feel is unacceptable.
> Where in the program should the “eddie” award be given? What are your arguments for at the end, or other parts of the program?
> A casual “attendee engagement” activity should be planned for the time prior to the formal program
> No selling of shirts at the party–that sure worked out well.
> Any thoughts of who to ask to be auctioned celebrities for next year?
> Any thoughts or comments on BureauMatch?
> Any thoughts on the suite?
> What else can we “cost effectively” do to make the Benefactors feel even more special?
> How can we enroll sponsors?
Please forward your ideas and feedback and I’ll place your ideas in my 2009 party planning notebook–we did quite well, and I know we can do even better.
-Ed Rigsbee
August 8, 2008 at 3:22 am
Ed – on the Eddy award, that should be at the end, the climax, as it were. I agree with your other ideas, although I’d allow a sitting NSA president TWO minutes and anyone else 30 seconds.
-Robert
August 8, 2008 at 3:50 am
Also, on the free booze – the line was just too long for us to get the value out of this. I don’t know how much we paid for this, but we could just run a tab for the first hour and probably get better service. One bartender in the back bar just wasn’t enough for 300 people. I think my ideal for this was Atlanta, where we had perhaps 5-6 servers working seriously hard on getting our attendees lubed up.
August 11, 2008 at 9:39 pm
Great event…fabulous spirit…stage excellent, need bigger space. Should always try for a place where there is at least a good, convenient area for cigar smoking…that’s the name of the game.
It would be a good idea to have more promotion of items to be auctioned…more information and more visibility during cocktail and dinner hour.
Rather than a buffet with long line…it might be better to have serving stations open longer and spread out around a bigger room.
Over-all great…MC good, but needs to be more focused on auction duties…not a showcase for him…
August 13, 2008 at 3:10 am
I’ve grown up at the cigarpeg, matured at the cigarpeg. Learned all of lives little lesson at the cigarpeg, drank, made amazing contacts. If you can think of it I’ve done it at the cigarpeg. If you can’t imagine it I’ve done it at the cigarpeg. If you’ve never been you’ve never really lived.
How can so many levels of wrong be so right…
August 21, 2008 at 5:57 pm
This was my first year at the Cigar Peg suite and I missed the first free hour at the event due to my NSA Chapter dinner. I thought the whole organization, the ambassadors, the board, Ed, Robert, and everyone else were first rate.
I made the BEST and most endearing contacts at the CIGAR PEG suite and I will definitely be a willing ambassador to promote all of the events in the future. There is ample business and good things that happen at CIGAR PEG and anyone who hasn’t tried it out has got to look past the stereotypes and see the good things that happen!
Keep up the valiant work Ed and company!