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"Just a quick note to say 'thank you' for allowing me the opportunity to be a part of Grapes and Apes this year; the class was a blast to teach, my students seemed to have a great time, and the event itself
was a great deal of fun.
I'll happily offer my services for next year; never too soon to get things in order for it, right?"
- Tyler Haas, Boost Your Wine IQ teacher
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Greetings!
 I remember as a kid the excitement of counting down the months, yes months, not days, leading up to the holidays. I simply loved the anticipation and preparation for my favorite time of year. Years later I look back and realize in nearly anything that has happened in my life, I have enjoyed the journey far more than the actual destination or the anticipation far more than the actual acquisition of something I longed to get. Simply put, I am a planner. Ten months may seem like a long time, but ten months from now, we will be looking critically backward while we start our planning for 2013. You might think such a forward looking view to be a little crazy, but as we continue to grow Grapes & Apes, we can never over anticipate or over plan. The luxury of time never lasts as long as we wish it would so the more we can accomplish well in advance, the better we can sweat the little stuff when we need to. Immediately after March 26, we started to hold discussions with the good folks over at Naples Zoo to help guide our goals for growth next year. We've taken all of the notes we compiled from our critical analysis of 2011 (see document link at left) and worked to dream within reason to get a little bigger and make a lot more money to advance our charitable giving. So what does 2012 look like? In a nutshell, we will shift the geographic area clockwise around the zoo loop. This means we will extend to the northeast past Black Bear Hammock as far as the lions. In the other direction we will again utilize Alligator Alley down to the lakeside to the other lions and the zebras including the lake cruises. Ticket sales to patrons will increase from 800 last time to 1,200 which we believe will not require a significant change in infrastructure, just better distribution of food and wine. But that has already been anticipated as one of the big improvements we need to make anyway. We're also in the midst of a feasibility study for an exciting opportunity to do a VIP extension of the event but there are still meetings underway with potential contributors in this endeavor. It's going to be an exciting time of preparation! I love the journey and I am pleased that you are one of my fellow travelers.
Sincerely,
Rich Ahrens
Gorilla-at-Large
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| 2012 Ticket Sales!
An email blast was sent on May 15 to 600 email addresses collected both from Pot of Gold and Grapes & Apes patrons. It has been very effective in kick starting our ticket sales for next March 24. Pre-sales are available only until June 15 at the discounted price of $50 per person.
Jim Scartz has stepped forward again to chair ticket sales and Jim Connell will assist Jim using the expertise he gained from his many years of running the Orchid Show. So far we have sold about 100 tickets of the 1,200 we plan to make available for 2012. If we can sell all of the tickets at an average of $75 each, we will gross $90,000 in event ticket sales alone.
At a still to be determined date, another pre-sale period at a slightly higher price will take place showing that we are serious about raising our price toward the ticket face value of $100 per person. We'll continue special ticket releases gradually charging more each time.
The demographics of our last event was very interesting and something we should be proud of as well as committed to preserving. We had guests from their mid-20's up through their 80's enjoying "The Party of the Year in Naples." By careful marketing with secret web links, we will encourage our younger crowd to buy online at attractive ticket rates. The eventual newspaper ads will sell at higher prices for those who send checks or buy at our various ticket kiosks around town.
The present strategy is to give our past patrons the exclusive chance to buy early at a discount.
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Sponsorship Committee
Before our first Grapes & Apes had even been executed, Jason Shimko was already plotting and planning for 2012. Back in February, Jason started to sketch out designs for promotional materials as our marketing guru. He has already created a terrific looking packet for potential sponsors so our team is ready to hit the ground running very soon.
Randy Kurtz has agreed to serve as sponsorship chair and Michael Orden will act as Randy's right hand to create a strategy, assemble a prospect list and assemble a committee of aggressive and enthusiastic members who can help us take Grapes & Apes to the next level. Randy will do a terrific job in this position as a long time Rotarian and very respected member of the Naples business community.
Sponsorships are one of the four major financial components to our club's signature fundraiser. The other three are event ticket sales, raffle tickets and auction income. Last year we managed to get $20,500 in cash sponsorships without any history or track record! This year we have a vault of images, great community buzz and club members who were there and are excited to tell the story of The Rotary Club of Naples and Grapes & Apes. The bar for 2012 is set high at $75,000 for sponsorships. If you have ideas for prospects, please tell Randy or Michael soon. |
Progress Report
There is so much to be done but fortunately, at the moment, there is also an abundance of time to prepare. Last year's expenses are still being reviewed and the budget is being prepared for 2012. Hopefully we will release it soon so committee chairs will know how much can be spent and planning can accelerate. A couple of weeks ago, Sonny Grech arranged a meeting with Coastal Beverage who provided our import and craft beer displays. Coastal was extremely pleased by their reception and has enthusiastically agreed to participate again without hesitation and will double their beer stations from two to four next March.
Also on the topic of sponsorships, Jason has been cultivating a relationship with Costco since last winter in the hopes of getting them on board with an in-kind donation to cover water and our volunteer hospitality food. Jason is meeting with Costco on Tuesday to try to get a commitment. Soon to be inducted new club member Nick Jaksich (hurry up, Sam) owns EmbroideMe where we get our club's clothing. Nick is working on a promotional t-shirt for our members wear in the coming months with a call to "Save the Date" and the event website on the back to build awareness. Nick is also exploring some options to offer several clothing choices to our volunteers for 2012 at various price points from free to the volunteer to high end where the volunteer can pay for the level of quality they desire.
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