As a community volunteer, I volunteered at a recently held a car show at McMillin Farm Brewhouse in…read morePuyallup as a fundraiser benefiting our local area veterans. While we appreciated being allowed to use the event space at no charge, unfortunately, the experience had several significant issues that affected both our organizers and their participants/volunteers.
The event check-in began at 8:00 AM (with check in at 7 am) and the show ran until 2:00 PM. Despite this, the main entry gates were not opened until 10:00 AM, even at the organizers request to please open it by 7 am. The response was an adamant "NO" . This created a major problem because the directions provided through MapQuest directed attendees to that entrance. Participants arriving for an 8:00 AM event were therefore unable to access the property as expected. While there was a back entrance to said location, there was no signage directing attendees or participants to that particular entry.
The organizers were also told that they could not have a food truck providing a free breakfast for their participants because it would compete with the venue's food service. The problem was that there was no breakfast service available to our attendees during the time they were arriving and participating in the event. For a fundraiser supporting our veterans, having the opportunity to provide a complimentary breakfast would have been a meaningful benefit to the participants.
Communication was another major concern. There was little to no signage directing attendees, no apparent advertising or promotion of the event by the venue, and very limited communication with the organizers before or during the event. When you're hosting a public event, particularly a charitable fundraiser, clear communication and coordination are extremely important.
I understand that the event space itself was provided at no cost, and I'm sure the organizers are grateful for that. However, "free" does not eliminate the need for reasonable communication, accessibility, and coordination--especially when an event is being held for a charitable cause. The event location must realize their name is also tied to this event and after what I and several others witnessed, I would never support anything at this location again.
My hope in sharing this review is that future event organizers will ask very specific questions about gate access, signage, food options, event promotion, and venue responsibilities before booking an event here.
I'm sure the organizers wanted this to be a positive experience for their participants, volunteers, attendees, and, most importantly, to raise funds for our veterans. Unfortunately, the lack of communication and coordination made that considerably more difficult than it needed to be. In fact, given last year's event welcomed well over 100 cars, this year it attracted only 22. The organizers were lucky to have broken even. But the biggest loss was to those whose time, and energy, committed to participating and volunteering, for an event that had such a low turnout, was wasted.
