It was agreed a table quiz would be a good way of raising more funds and an added extra was that it was something that I could organise in a relatively small space of time.
First off we sussed out the local pub (i.e. local to work) and they offered us a room upstairs for nothing so we were off to a good start.
Then one of the girls in work volunteered her husband as quiz master. This came as a big releif to me as I was already a nervous wreck and the thoughts of being the focus of a room full of people did not in the least appeal to me. I wanted people to enjoy themselves on the night not witness a nervous breakdown!
I knew the next thing that I had to do was get some prizes for the raffle that would be held on the night and the important thing was to try and get these for free.
As part of my process for psyching myself up for 'the begging' I convinced myself that I was doing local businesses a favour. After all I was going to have a huge number of people at the quiz (me, being positive) and sure it would be great publicity for them for all these people that would be attending on the night to know how generous the businesses had been.
The actual asking though was intimidating. I called it my 'Walk of Shame' as it tended to leave you feeling quiet exposed and at the same time anything could happen. I know, I shouldn't take these things personally but believe me this is easier said than done. In one shop I had the guy tell me that he had never seen me before and asked whether I actually shopped there. Now he was lucky. I had had a tough day at work and so I wasn't at my best. If I had been the guy's ears would still be hurting and his box of chocolates would not have been displayed to their best advantage. However I behaved myself, thanked him for his donation and left....and then started my bitching!
Overall people blew me away with their generosity and it was hard (particularly as I was hormonal) not to break down in tears. I did mentioned that I was pretty stressed at this stage didn't I? As well as being successful in my requests to some local businesses, people in work and friends also asked for donations on my behalf. In the end I ended up with a really good mix of prizes that I felt people would be genuinely interested in winning.
Next we had to get our questions organised and we got the majority of these from the same guy that gave me the drinks raffle tip. Also, the pub didn’t have a microphone system and after a bit of asking around one of the guys in work brought in his for us which saved us a fortune.
I found it hard to get people to actually commit to coming along on the night. I know myself that the last thing you want to do on some nights after dragging yourself home is to drag yourself back out again but you still hope that people will make the effort. Unfortunately a lot of the people that I had counted on to be there couldn't make it. For a while there it seemed as though I had more 'can't make its' then 'cans' and it reminded me of why I'd never done the whole big party thing. It was hard to keep the insecurities at bay. I just hoped people would turn up!
But in the end we had 10 tables of 4 which was great considering. Friends who did come along dragged along family and friends and there was a real positive vibe in the place and everyone seemed to really enjoy themselves. What was more they were all sooo generous when it came to buying the raffle tickets and we cleared nearly €700 after taking into account the money I paid out for 1st and 2nd prizes.
I went home that night having sweated about 5lbs from nervous tension. It took me ages to wind down but with the help of a large G&T I eventually managed to fall asleep...with a big smile on my face!
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