Earlier today, I met with a new contact at a local charter school (New Roots) who invited Way2Go and some local transportation partners to join for an event with EarthForce, their youth program focused on sustainability in workforce development.
Our BikeShare partner wisely pointed out that youth don't always have a lot of questions to ask in these settings, so I asked that our partner at the school to give the students a bit of advance homework in the form of a "Mobility Challenge".

I asked for the students to approach this at their own level of ability (accessibility is a huge part of transportation!), be that walking their dog in a different direction, or committing to a full day of work or activities via the bus, or without ever using a single-occupancy vehicle.
(For reference, over 30% of Tompkins County resides within Ithaca, and nearly 50% of car rides are less than 2 miles distance.)

Whether it's uneven sidewalks, poorly-or-well-lit streets, notes on bike culture, or any number of other possibilities, participants are basically all but guaranteed to have SOME observations about their experiences between now and the event in 10 days.

I can't make everyone excited about the fact that we're getting "smart" lights to adjust to emergency response vehicles, but I CAN help people think more outside of their own day-to-day experiences, and how these logistical realities do actually impact the quality of life in their own neighborhoods.
(They were excited about the idea of students coming in without a "blank slate" and already thinking about transportation, and I'm confident they'll give us fun and informative conversations as a result!)

I have been trying to think of a good event to discuss and since I haven't been in CCE long. The event that really comes to mind is Camp Beachwood. My first week here in CCE I went and supervised for the Camp. It was a really good time for all and one of the reasons it was fun was because it was well organized. The counselors were well trained and had a tasked planned out for each time they needed to. Briefers were planned and arrived on time. When a briefer got done early the counselors were right there to help do another fun event.
When events have a good solid schedule and plan for issues it can really make it run smoothly and ensures fun for all. I am a big schedule person, so it was nice to keep to it. I have been to many events where they have a schedule, but they do not go by it. For some people that can really cause them to not be able to enjoy the event. For example, if the event is scheduled to end a certain time and it goes over by an hour. Many people make plans after events, so it was nice to be on time.

I haven't been a part of very many programs in my time here aside from meetings of the master gardener volunteers, which I've organized. They were pretty low key events. We did a garden tour of different gardens for the July and August monthly meetings. I didn't have to do much facilitation beyond organizing the meeting and keeping the schedule, making introductions, ,etc. We did have the county youth fair in August. It's a very small event, focused on children. I think the activities we (the MG program) organized as part of the fair were a great success. We had a number of volunteers doing garden related projects and programs at different stations in our demonstration garden. The volunteers planned out each activity in great detail and I think it really showed. The event ran smoothly and I think it was due to a lot of forethought and preparedness. I hadn't thought to tell volunteers to bring lunch because I thought there would be food trucks, but there were not and everyone was hungry after completing their 4 hour shift. It does go to show that things like food and breaks, etc. are important considerations. Next year I'll be more prepared.

I know I am supposed to pick one specific event and reflect on it, but so many different experiences come to mind for this question. I haven't planned or attended many CCE events yet, but I have witnessed colleagues plan large events such as the Broome County Fair and a Wellness event at our market center. Although I was not involved, as an outsider, I could see the hard work and passion put into the planning and the tedious hours it took organizing and communicating these events months in advance. In my previous job, as an equestrian center manager, I planned and put on many events such as our re-occurring 3-day Road Dog Trial. Months of preparation and communicating with staff, clients, participants, and owners went into these events. Just as our reading states, its important to detail the tasks so that it can be communicated with all thoroughly and accurately, whether they have experience helping at this event or not. It is critical to note the activities in sequential order for a successful event, if someone is started on a task where they need 3 other ones done first in order to finish, that is a waste of time and resources and will need to be re-done again eventually. Then, if you have a timeline or an itinerary for everyone involved, they know exactly the times each task should be done by and this allows for a smoother flow of the day. What I have learned, especially working on a farm with so many horses, they are living beings that have a mind of their own and a farm is a very dynamic field, is that no matter what event you are planning and no matter how large or small like a birthday party or family bbq, unexpected things can happen. You must be prepared for people to not show up, one task may take longer than planned so how do we make up for this? Maybe you need to rearrange your schedule and move task 3 first and work through it. It is always important to have a plan B and a plan C! The biggest tip I would give would be plan for your ideal event but also plan and expect the worst, be able to problem solve on the spot and adapt to the situation. Being able to spot or foresee a problem, come up with a solution and adapt to the change is a critical part of leading a team and putting on a successful event.

A well planned program should include an implementation plan. Just like a special event like a wedding, there is a timeline, important players, expected activities, etc.
Looking at an implementation plan, the program timeline is a must. To know where benchmarks are in the program and when certain things should be done it helps to continue to the flow of the program.
In the implementation plan, important people should be included. It may not be a specific name, but the player such as "lead nutrition educator".
The actual task that needs to be done, materials needed for the task, etc should be part of it. However I think micromanagement is not effective way, but having some key points to make sure others know what needs to be completed.
Contact info is important for key personnel. If there is an issue, it is an easy way to find who needs to be contacted.
Obviously, there needs to be an end goal. And lastly there needs to be someone checking in periodically to make sure the plan is being followed.

One easy example is the staff holiday party. We know the date and then the benchmarks (need to have menu planned by, need to have shirts ordered by, etc).  

Last year, I did help out and with many cooks in this kitchen, having a well thought out plan allowed for many to help without stepping on toes, etc.

Junior Iron Chef

1. An existing template--reviewing what's out there
We created a Junior Iron Chef program after attending a similar event in Vermont. This is a cooking competition that highlighted lunch and breakfast foods in a school setting. The youth competed in teams to create a dish within an hour using items that were on the USDA commodity list and were seasonal/local. We reviewed the 4-H programs at Texas A&M as well.
2. Community support
It was one of those times when things came together so easily. We had a group from Whole Foods visit the Farm for a professional development day and they offered to host our event at their store and provide us with the food. We had a radio station we worked with who provided an emcee and a live feed for the radio. We got sponsors through an existing grant for aprons and prizes. We had "celebrity" kids judge--we had some youth who had competed in some reality cooking competitions who lived on Long Island.
3. We had a need
We constantly lose our teens to other programs/sports. Cooking allowed us to tap into our HS base and our existing 4-H Club program. We highlighted use of local in season food and what was available to school cafeterias. We also focused on the nutritional value of the food (if they cook it they might be more willing to eat it) and on public speaking as they had to present the dish.
4. Scaleable and replicable
Because of the size of the venue we were not able to scale it up, but we were able to share our knowledge and create a statewide program. We did add a demonstration portion for our elementary students as the years went on. We are moving to a new location this year (we haven't been able to do the program since 2019!) and will be able to increase the number of teams and add components because we will have access to different equipment. This will be an opportunity to re-assess and restructure.

The best part of this was our ability to move on things quickly. We started with our venue which was going to be very limiting. Once we had an alternative site (that came with resources--both people and stuff) we were able to move forward quickly. We also were able to make the career connections by holding it a working site and they got the bonus of us bringing in 200 shoppers for the day.

While teaching ago, I created an after-school program called EcoFusion, which combined environmental stewardship, creative arts, and community service. I led the program for several years, and while the numbers/attendance fluctuated depending on the year and activity we were doing - and what sports were happening at the same time, I felt like it was a very successful program qualitatively; for the youths who attended, it was what was missing elsewhere in the school: a place to be themselves, a place where they didn't need to conform to school dress code or peer pressures or fit the mold of the sometimes limiting/strict Catholic school they attended, and they could plant a garden, make a meal, design, brainstorm, dream, and more. I think that, in this case, opening up a space for youths - who were often the more ostracized ones at the school - to explore their interests - or discover new interests, and showing up for them each week in a positive, encouraging way (as a trusted adult), went incredibly far.

More recently, while serving as an AmeriCorps member, then Director of Education for a nonprofit in Oregon, I led a group called Changemakers, which felt well-thought-out and effective. I utilized the book "Do Something" as a starting point, and guided youths through the process of figuring out a need in their community and how they might address it. One of the youths saw a need for more nature programming for youths, and I worked with her - encouraging her to make a lot of the decisions - to create a summer program, which was a huge success, and well-attended. Following those experiences, I worked with the Civic Engagement PWT to shape our recent mini-grant opportunity, for which some Wayne County youth applied - and were awarded. I appreciate how past experiences can shape current and future programs.

I think the biggest piece of advice I'd give is to take time for reflection - what went well and what could've been more effective? Why did the certain things fall short, and why were certain aspects successful? I taught science for several years, so I think back to the scientific method - how can you make this success replicable? Part of that is knowing and documenting the steps it took to get to that point.

In all the events, programs, fundraisers that I've been part of I feel like the most important take aways to make them successful are clear roles and responsibilities, planning timeline, day-of timeline and a point person to make sure people are supported in their roles and responsibilities and oversee sticking to the timelines.

An effective implementation plan requires a great deal of forethought, preplanning and expert insight into all phases of your project. I personally am a very detail oriented individual and prefer making detailed list outlining tasks and action steps and ultimately correlating these to a schedule/timeline.
A few years back I was in charge of organizing a youth Iron Chef event. I was relatively new to CCE at the time so of course wanted to insure its success. Before meeting w my core team, I contracted a detailed list of all tasks needing to be carried out. From concept development, selecting location for event, to promotion, set up, prizes, judges and so much more. Well, here is where the saying, "it takes a village" truly rings true. Without all of our educators and my colleagues input and willingness to follow through on assigned tasks, the event could not have run so smoothly and successfully. I relied on each persons experience and expertise in specific area to follow through accordingly and timely otherwise, other aspects would fall short. I learned a lot from this initial experience and the value of teamwork to insure action steps do not fall to the wayside.

So, I have attended both well and poorly planned events. I have also participated in both well planned and poorly planned events. However, it is the poorly planned and poorly planned and excuted events that stick in my mind the most, which further emphasizes how important event planning is. By far, the worst event I have ever been to was the Sound on the Sound music festival in Bridgeport in 2022. I know a music festival might not seem very applicable, but a well planned event is a well planned event. Firstly, the organizers did not ephasize where people should stand or sit on blankets. The event was jam packed, and people soon began arguing over where they should be able to stand. Mind you, this was a folk music festival, so not a typical place to see people about to fight eachother. By not thinking ahead, the planners let the crowd do whatever they wanted, resulting in some very upset people. Additionally, someone passed out from heat exhaustion in the crowd, and paramedics couldn't get to them for over an hour. So, right off the bat, organizers lack of crowd planning made people upset and created a potentially dangerous situation. On top of the crowd being angry at each other, the organizers couldn't get the sound right on one of the stages, which delayed multiple acts, further agitating the crowd. The organizers also allowed one band to play almost 15 minutes over their allotted stage time, cutting into the stage for the act on the other stage, which made people even more upset. It is critical to make sure performers or presenters understand their timeframe, otherwise everyone's schedule gets messed up and people (attendees and presenters/performers) will get upset. In addition to all the aforementioned mess-ups which could have been avoided with better planning, water ran out the water stations and where only a couple food trucks that eventually ran out of food. If you really want to upset attendees, deprive of them of food and water. Let's just say I will not be attending another round of this music festival. Moral of this story; if planning an event, make sure that all technological aspects are ready to go and that sufficient and trained support staff are available to assist, identify the area which the presentation/event will be occurring to assess maximum attendence, for you want to avoid majority of your crowd standing due to a lack seats (people who are standing for a presentation, in my experience, are more likely to leave part-way through a presentation, which can be distracting for the audience and presenter), make sure there is an event organizer/moderator keeping track of the run time of presentations, so everyone stays on schedule, and make sure there is food and water available to keep people from getting hangry (seriously, food and coffee availability at events is important).

So, that was an example of poorly planned event. As for a well planned event I have attended, the National Shellfish Association conference in 2023 is a good example. The event had multiple sections (shellfish aquaculture, genetics, ecology, restoration, etc.) with plenty of seats. Almost every presentation I went to, I was able to find a seat. At each presentation, there was a moderator who kept track of presentation run time, resulting in a perfectly timed conference where I never had to leave a presentation before it ended in order to make to another presentation. Although lunch was the responsibility of the attendee, free coffee was available throughout most of the day, which was a big plus. Really, I think most of the conferences I have been to or presented at were well planned. Unfortunately, I think I remember the bad experiences more vividly because they elicited a stronger emotional response (further emphasis on why a well planned event is so important). However, it is okay to learn from other people's mistakes, so I think reflecting on what I have seen that didn't work is very important when planning my own events so I can be like "I've seen that fail firsthand. How can we avoid that with our event?"