It's mid-April and I'm on a family vacation. I'm finally drifting off to sleep and see an email come in from someone claiming to be from the Boston Red Sox. Not really reading the contents, and desperate to sleep, I delete and roll over. Hours later, my phone is pinging with a missed call and texts from Angie, the Western MA Engagement Director for the Massachusetts LGBT Chamber of Commerce, telling me the Red Sox wanted to work with me for Pride Night on June 12.
"Oh my gosh what?!" Was my immediate response. And by immediate, I mean six hours after Angie had reached out because I was in a different timezone.
"Yes!! The Boston Red Sox want you to plan and decorate an area for them for Pride," came Angie's response.
"Holy crap," was my super professional reply.
Long story short, I found myself on a call with Travis and Rina with the Red Sox Promotions Team discussing how I could help with Pride Night 2024. It was, in a word, surreal. After our call, I spent probably way too much time pulling together a proposal and budget, sent it away, and waited.
Obviously I got the gig or I wouldn't be doing a blogpost, but it was high stress days. I had never done a full-on decorating gig before and I was having intense imposter syndrome moments. Nevertheless, I moved forward with SO MUCH LOVE AND SUPPORT from my spouse and very dear friends.
I ordered all the flags you can think of, banners, streamer skirts, hanging lights, items for table centerpieces that included glow bracelets, more flags, unicorn lollipops, and pinwheels, five different kinds of adhesive, and, of course, matching t-shirts for me and my "team" (two wonderful humans I get to call friends).
Game Day came and we packed the car up for the nearly 2-hour drive. We were greeted with special passes that allowed entry into the stadium and a quick tour of the two spaces we were transforming in the next 4.5 hours: The Big Concourse and The Sam Deck. We immediately set to work, discovering some items needed assembly that I wasn't aware of (see lessons learned below). Regardless, my "team" worked quickly and soon the blank canvas started to look...less blank.
In addition to the decorative touches I brought in, 4-foot tall lighted letters had been ordered that we needed to change the lightbulbs out of. This is also when I discovered that the sandbags I ordered to hold the letters in place did not come filled with sand, as advertised. One team member suggested (jokingly) that we grab some dirt from the field, making this the only thing Travis did not laugh at all day. A professional balloon artist (Boston Balloon Art) was also hired to create a rainbow arch surrounding the lit letters, which served as a background for photos and a drag show later in the early evening.
Sparing you more details on the hard work that went into planning and budgeting for such a cool experience, I'll just say how grateful I am to have such a supportive, kind, and loving community that got me through the more not-all-that-fun bits, and to have a Chamber and a client that believed in little ol' me.
Lessons learned:
Double-check that everything you order comes assembled, or make sure you set aside many hours to assemble yourself ahead of the event.
Call a company to make sure that even though their posting says the light strands take 2 AAA batteries that they actually do so you don't need to run to Target and grab 60 AA batteries in the middle of set up.
Take more photos from more angles and get some with yourself, too.
Buy less adhesive.
Everything is going to take way more time than you think. Even more than that. Budget accordingly.
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