ITS March Madness Party

Owned by SiddarthS
Last updated: Mar 14, 2016
3 min read

When scheduling and organizing the ITS March Madness Party, follow these steps for (hopefully!) a successful good time

Step-by-step guide

  1. Early March: Set Up Infrastructure
    1.  Find out when the NCAA Championship Game Is & Pick Party Time. 
      1. In 2016 it was announced March 9 ( http://www.ncaa.com/news/basketball-men/article/2016-03-08/march-madness-television-schedule-turner-cbs-announce-2016 ).  To find it I googled for NCAA Basketball Championship game and similar.
      2.  You will need to calculate what time the game is based on Eastern Time and Daylight Savings time.
      3. It is usually starting around 9 p.m. Eastern in early April, after the "Spring Forward" kicks in. That is 3 p.m. Hawaii Time. Based on that, I set 3:00-5:30 p.m. as the party time in 2016.
    2. Designate Money Collector and Cost. 
      1. In 2016 money collection was $10, and I asked Heidy (heidy@hawaii.edu) to be the central point for money collections.
      2. This money collection is to cover food and prizes.
      3. Before doing this, you may want to consult with best catering options (resources page TBD).  We are reviewing Kim Chee III, Gina's BBQ among others.
    3. Set Money Collection Deadline
      1. Recommendation from Heidy was ~1 week before should be deadline for money collection. We went with about 10 days before.
    4. Reserve Game Watch Location.  (TODO: Maybe split this off into a Cafe use page?)
      1. In 2016 I scheduled it in the ITC Cafe (see /wiki/spaces/IC/pages/15859716 for checking availability and booking the time)
      2. I reserved one hour prior for set up. So 2-3 p.m. reserved to set up, 3:00-5:30 p.m. for party.
      3. After adding it to ITC Calendar, I emailed Michelle ( laumiche@hawaii.edu ) to check if there was anything else I needed to do.  She noted that I can get large trash cans from 2nd/3rd floor, contact Jan Kawachi and Jonathan Trawick for help with this.
      4. Sidebar: Check with table tennis committee to try avoid conflicts since 2016 doubles tournament started on the same day. Maybe give them heads up on the date even before exact time gets posted since the scheduled dates are announced further in advance than game times
    5. Create a Flyer. 
      1. Contact a graphic designer/team. I contacted Cameron Ahana and asked him if Blake Hixson could help me with a flyer. 
      2. Provide them with the appropriate information: Event Title, Description, What time the event is, where it is, cost, and RSVP deadline.
      3. Sample flyer is attached to this page.
  2. Early To Mid-March: Advertise and Get RSVPs
    1. Email Invited Guests. (Sample Email PDF attached 2016_Email_ITS_March_Madness_Championship_Game_Party.pdf)
      1. Decide who is being invited. I emailed ITS Staff list <its_all@lists.hawaii.edu>,ITS Students list <its_students@lists.hawaii.edu>. 
      2. Recommend 2-3 emails: Once 2 weeks before RSVP deadline, once more 1 week before deadline, once very close to deadline.
      3. Include the same info that was posted on the flyer, and the flyer itself in the email
    2. Print Flyers and Post
      1. I printed flyers and posted in the break rooms on 3, 5, 6. I posted in the hallway on 4 where there was a bulletin board.
  3. Plan Games, Get Prizes, Agenda for The Day
    1. Once I had the date set, I started thinking of games for the day.  For 2016, we are planning on playing bingo and maybe halftime games. Details on bingo TBD
    2. For Prizes we are getting Cafe Bucks and maybe some prizes from CIO
  4. Coordinate Help/Committee
    1. If you need to have the table tennis table moved, ask Ryan Carvalho and Vernon Yoshida for help.  Alternatively find out who is on the table tennis tournament committee
  5. Week Before Party
    1. Close RSVPs and check with money collections what your total is. 
    2. Place food order
  6. Day of Party
    1. Get Food
    2. Set up Games (e.g., print bingo cards)
    3. Set up the room - may need to move the ping pong table