March 2018 Memo to Explorers Club Washington Group Members, Associates, & Friends

Save the dates: Columbus Day Weekend, Friday, October 11 – Sunday, October 13, 2019

In 2013, ECWG became just the second chapter outside of NY to host the Explorers Club Lowell Thomas Annual Award Dinner and Weekend. The ECWG event was highly successful and achieved our primary goal of replenishing funds for our Student Grants Program.

To ensure ECWG can continue to help young explorers complete their scientific fieldwork, ECWG applied for—and was recently awarded—the honor of hosting the Lowell Thomas Annual Dinner and Weekend in 2019. So please mark your calendars now for what will be a wonderful weekend of camaraderie and fantastic events, as well as a chance to bolster the ECWG grants program.

The weekend will feature multiple outstanding events:

• Dinner Friday at a Washington, DC Embassy;
• An awards ceremony on Saturday morning;
• The gala dinner Saturday evening at the historic
  Mayflower Hotel on Connecticut Avenue, with a
  speaker and live and silent auctions;
• Sunday brunch at a beautiful venue; and
• Local excursions on both Saturday and Sunday.

To organize and carry out these events will require many willing hands, and we are asking for your help. The members listed below have already volunteered to play significant roles, but we need your assistance. Please review the following list of anticipated areas of assistance and advise lonnieschorer@gmail.com where you are available to assist. Whatever time you are able to give will be much appreciated. We also need your help to spread the word and generate excitement! Participation by our Members, Associates, and Friends is critical to the effort and to the success of Lowell Thomas Annual Dinner Weekend 2019!

With appreciation and thanks from the Lowell Thomas 2019 Chairs,
Lonnie Schorer/Chair
Debbie Bell, Jay Kaplan, Susan Sawtelle/Vice Chairs

LTAD 2019 preliminary planning – as of March 20, 2018 Anticipated areas of Assistance

Auction

• Live
• Silent
• Setup/display
• Online
• Auctioneer
• Packing, shipping arrangements

Audio Visual (AV)

• Awards program
• Gala

Contracts/Agreements/Legal

• Memo of Understanding with NY – who is responsible for what?
• Mayflower Hotel, Embassy, National Geographic, Cosmos Club, AV (2)

Transportation, Valet parking company at Mayflower

Excursions

• Choice of 3 (?) Saturday afternoon destinations
• Directions, maps, logistics

Financial

• Refer to Contracts/Agreements/Legal
• AV contracts (Awards and Gala)
• Bus/van contract
• Other contractual commitments
• RSVPs and ticket payments
• Gifts, awards
• Comp tickets for gala
• Hotel rooms for speakers and awardees
• Auction/winning bidder payments
• All financial transactions and final accounting with NY (with Legal)

Hospitality

• Check-in, registration (Saturday evening Awards and Gala; possibly Embassy dinner)
• Coffee, doughnuts (Saturday morning awards program)
• Coat check
• VIP Liaison, upgrades, gifts (Mayflower book)
• Board room
• Parking

Liaison with NY, Mayflower, embassy (to be determined), National Geo (tent.), Cosmos
Club(tent.)

Main Events

• Friday evening Embassy dinner
• Saturday morning Awards program (National Geographic?)
• Saturday and Sunday excursions
• Saturday evening Gala
• Saturday evening Auction
• Sunday Brunch (Cosmos Club?)

Marketing/PR

• Save the date: postcards, e-mails, website, mailings
• Media
• Photographers (event and wildlife)

Menus & Table settings; related matters

• Embassy dinner, gala, brunch
• Wine selection
• Table linens
• Table décor
• Table assignments (ECWG handle!) – coordination with NY
• Gift for the Ambassador

Printed material: design & production

• Save the date
• Menus
• Programs
• Table charts
• Table numbers
• Registration lists
• Name tags (?)
• Signage
• Table place cards

Security

• Access control
• Bracelets/gala

Speaker; Gala MC

• Coordinate speakers’ topic with theme
• Hospitality for speaker.

Sponsorships

• Personal
• Corporate

Theme development

• Coordination with NY

Transportation

• Bus/Van transport to Embassy, Cosmos Club and excursion destinations
• Valet parking at Embassy dinner
• Valet parking at Mayflower
• Airport information (distances, Metro access)

Volunteers

• Eagle Scouts
• Others

Wildlife

• Certificates of Insurance
• Permits
• Access control
• Birds, snake, cheetah?
• Dedicated photographer