The Kansas City Star’s INK magazine covered the party:

We were asked to come on the NBC morning show to talk about the party + the toy drive we setup @The Roasterie

A guest who attended the party, shot, edited, and posted a video blog of the night! It was so cool that Leah Stephens aka STELLABELLE did this!

Every year, we’re fortunate enough that we’ve had Zach Cobb donate his free time to take professional pictures for the party. This year, Zach and his business partner Simon, donated their time and services on behalf of their company, Westside Studio. Here are the official party pictures from this year’s party.

Some of our photos were even featured in the LA Guest of a Guest blog:

In planning this party, we (the steering committee) have found there’s a lot of people out there that sincerely want to do good in this world- they just don’t have the right opportunity to do it.  We, as a group of friends, have made it our mission to do good by planning this party and empower others to have an opportunity to not only do good, but carry the message about Operation Breakthrough.

In 2008 we raised $7,125.
In 2009 we raised $18,575.

This year our giving goal was $20,000…
…we raised over $26,000 in 2010 to donate to Operation Breakthrough.
We also donated over 300+ toys to the OB Christmas Family Program.

THANK YOU for helping us make our mark.

This is YOUR event Kansas Citians, that helps our great city.

THANK YOU to everyone who donated, attended, danced, clicked the “LIKE” button, RT’ed, volunteered and helped share our story.

In planning this event, we have learned so much more than just how to throw a party. These experiences and lessons learned, have truly made us all better people.  I get chills thinking about how a small house party has evolved into something much bigger. We are making a direct impact in the community, right here, in a city we’re all proud of, Kansas City.

This is how we are making a difference.  We’ve turned something ugly, into something truly …beautiful.

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When I vblog or event cast- I’m usually able to balance capturing good footage of the event while still having a fun attending it as well. But, I’ll admit- it wasn’t easy to do this at first and took a while to master this (it’s easy to get caught up in just shooting footage).

That said, I wanted to preface this video blog with the disclaimer that I wasn’t able to get all the footage I wanted. Not even close. In fact, I got so little- I was only able to scrape together bits and pieces. In my mind, this is WAY below average execution for me. Enjoy it for what it’s worth, but I thought I’d at least tell you first. I’m still posting it since I strongly believe in supporting our great Zoo here in Kansas City (disclaimer: they are a client of the firm I work for).

I snapped some photos and shot a video blog, check ‘em out. You’ll notice with this vblog — I’m trying some new things out, adding a little more mature ‘cinematography’ (if you will), basically I’m mixing up, just trying to try a different style. I want to evolve my presentation and find what works and what doesn’t. As always, love any feedback positive or negative from the community, it helps me get better!

Here’s the story behind the party:
The Ugly Christmas Sweater Party began in 2005, as a small holiday gathering hosted by a group of friends (me +2 roommates). While cleaning up in 2007, we decided to turn all of our hard work in to good for others, and raise money for a charity.

We chose Operation Breakthrough as our beneficiary because of the great work they do with kids in the Kansas City area. During our first visit to OB, we met with the children who benefit from their programs. That was all it took for us to become a supporter. The organization is truly amazing in all of its efforts and causes it achieves!

A steering committee of 15 volunteers made time to plan this party. We aren’t affiliated with any one organization – we’re just a group of friends who want to give back to our community.

Our goal is to make a positive impact by donating as much money and toys to Operation Breakthrough as possible. Our vision for the Ugly Christmas Sweater Party is to make it the biggest and best annual holiday fundraiser in Kansas City!

What’s amazing to look back on the entire effort in organizing this party, is all the wonderful things we accomplished:

Money. This year, our first year in organizing the party as a benefit, we raised $7,125.50 to give back to Operation Breakthrough! Yes, you read that right — $7,125.50. In my wildest dreams (and our Excel spreadsheet that had our estimated financial goals) we never even thought it was possible that we could raise this much in the first year. This pleasant surprise really validates a lot of the long nights and hard work myself and the entire steering committee put into planning this party.

Awareness. I’ve had more than a handful of people tell me they are now volunteering at Operation Breakthrough and had no idea of their existence until they heard about our party. How awesome is that!?! Furthermore, it’s great to see my friends engaging in the community and actively wanting to participate. Planning this benefit party really has made me realize there’s a lot of people out there that sincerely want to do good in this world, they just don’t haven’t had the right opportunity to do it.  We were also fortunate enough that two major local publications here in Kansas City published content about our party! Lawrence.com featured us on the COVER of their December issue.  Inkkc.com featured photos and a mini-story about our party as well!

Foundation. At the very first meeting with the steering committee I told everyone that the vision for “The Ugly Sweater Christmas Party” is to become the biggest and best yearly holiday fund raiser in Kansas City. We certainly have a long way to go in becoming the “largest” — but now that we have laid the groundwork, we’ve got great momentum going into next year’s 5th Annual. We reached out on our Website (www.kcsweaterparty.com), Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, and YouTube to connect with our audience — and there was GREAT reception in online the community.  Much more than we projected.

Watch my YouTube video blog from this years 4th Annual party:

Here’s some pictures (taken by Zach Cobb, a professional photographer who donated his services for the party!):

I wanted to share what I’ve learned throughout this process thus far:

1.) There’s a lot of people out there that sincerely want to do good in this world, they just don’t haven’t had the right opportunity to do it.

We live in a world where turning on the nightly news can put even the best of spirited person in a somber mood. Most people want to help, but just haven’t had the right opportunity to follow through with it. I’ve found that once you interact with others, the passion and charity “attitude” is completely and utterly contagious.

I’d equate it to making yourself go to the gym to workout (stick with me on this one, I swear). So… you want workout. You tell yourself you want to. Your friends do it. So one day your friends finally drag you along to workout and now the apprehension to do it is over. You just needed that extra push over the edge to get on your feet running.

When I talk to friends, family and business owners about this benefit — I’m seeing right before my eyes that once you illustrate there’s a channel in which they can help and it’s RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW – they’re instantly turned on to the idea. They want to help, they just need the right opportunity and someone to believe in. The message is even stronger when it comes from someone they know, not just a TV commercial or paper pamphlet they’ve received.

2.) The word “no” isn’t something one should ever fear. Don’t ever hold back because of the fear of rejection.

Being rejected only makes you stronger and better than you were before. You’ll learn from your mistakes. And you’ll learn quick. I’ve heard lots of “nos” and “sorry wish I could help”. All of which I walk away with the mindset to think of what did or didn’t work. But never do I walk away with my head down and less motivated than before. It comes with the territory and every interaction you have must be a learning experience.

In our committee meetings people suggest countless ideas. We all have personal ideas that we brainstorm, some of which seem completely unrealistic. However, what I’ve learned is that rejecting ideas before actually investigating it — worst. thing. ever. I’ve learned not to say “that would never work” until you really have tried it. If an idea is solid — it’s enough to have legs and there’s steps to get there, “make it happen” is the only attitude to have.

3.) Surround yourself with a group of people that make you better than you would be alone.

When selecting people for the Steering Committee for this party I knew one thing. I wanted the group to be smarter at planning this party than I would be doing it alone. I know my friends who are helping me plan this are smarter than me. I constantly ask for feedback, suggestions and look to empower individuals of the group with Projects. This leadership style I’ve found allows one to play to every one’s strengths and interests. It’s a great way to establish ownership within the individuals of the committee. We truly are a group that is embodies the principle: WE is smarter than me.

4.) Don’t panic. Solutions present themselves to those who know how to keep their composure.

The benefit planning process isn’t 100% smooth sailing filled with happy dancing monkeys and toothbrushes. When problems occur (because they will occur) and things aren’t going as planned — adapt. Re-tweak. Focus. As long as you have the composure to regain your footing you’ll find yourself able to clearly see the steps to the solution.

5.) Frequently take time to step back and see the big picture.

In the chaos of it all, there are times when you need to take a step back and ensure that the big picture objectives are still being met. Getting caught up in the details can lead to dropping critical big picture goal you want to achieve. Make sure you’re able to take a deep breath and evaluate how things all fit together and if certain aspects need more attention than others.

There’s so much more I’ve learned in regards to event planning, leadership, people and things about myself that can’t be encapsulated in a “Top 5″ list. These lessons learned have truly made me a better person. I still get chills thinking about how much of an impact we’ve already made on the community. I also get excited and extremely motivated knowing how much more we can accomplish.

**One thing is for certain, the best has yet to come.**
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Check out the costume I wore this year… Insepctor Gadget! The entire thing is pieced together. I actually had a fun adventure at the hardware store trying to figure out how to make the “helicopter” hat (it’s just, PVC pipe, wood and electric tape). My date was Penny — you know Inspector Gadget’s niece?

And waa-laa (see below). I whipped up together this quick vblog. A short and sweet history of the party. I’m planning on making more videos …hopefully funny and crazy ones.

I posted earlier this month about the benefit party I’m planning — which is help a local organization her in Kansas City, Operation Breakthrough.

I’m really proud of the fact the friends I’m working with are doing everything they can to make this party the best it can be. We’ve already secured the venue which is Tower Tavern — and we have a local “hip-hop” band that will be performing too!

It’s just amazing how much everyone is willing to help out. I can’t tell you how great of a feeling to watch this all come together.
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Now, if you re-rewind back to 2005, myself and a couple roommates wanted a reason to throw a party — naturally Christmas came to mind as one of our favorite holidays. Approximately 60-70 people attended our first party. Last year we had well over 100+. Every year since 2005 has been a great success. After cleaning up last year, it was unanimously in agreement that we need to turn all of our hard work in to good for others, and raise money to benefit a charity. This year I decided to aim to break new ground and build a foundation for the continual planning of this great party.

**The vision for “The Ugly Sweater Christmas Party” is to become the biggest and best yearly holiday fund raiser in Kansas City.**

That being said, we’ve got a long way to go in becoming the “largest”, but I’ve formed a steering committee of about 10 people who I consider good friends, I trust, that can make this event a success. We want to focus on planning the best party we can this year that is fun and helps a great organization, Operation Breakthrough.

I should note, we decided on Operation Breakthrough because we wanted an organization that wasn’t already highly established and we wanted to keep it local. We could of easily picked Toys 4 Tots, but they already have several large companies helping to their cause. Our benefit is homegrown and requires us to build exposure about our event.  Why not build exposure for a organization that is up-and-coming as well? We think it’s a win-win situation.  Take this into consideration; 49% of Operation Breakthrough’s funds come from private contributions.  In order to survive, they need OUR help. Anything we can do to help contribute to that 49% is considered success.

So, stay tuned — we’re currently working to secure a venue for the party (we’re thinking Levee, John’s Upper Deck, Tower Tavern or Harlings) and a logo and website are coming soon!
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