February 14, 2011
My Dream Date Botswana
I bet a lot of you are probably wondering, “Why the long silence on the blog?” Well, let’s just say history has a way of repeating itself. This update might sound a lot like the Family Fun Day story a few months back…If you’ve read a few of my earlier blogs, you probably know I’ve been spending the majority of my internship trying to mobilize resources, locally. One of the major challenges presented to me by the Hospice management is that international donors are very particular about what funds are used for, and can make it difficult for the Hospice to establish its own priorities. So I figured what better way to give the Hospice some flexibility, not to mention local publicity, than to spearhead a high profile fundraiser in partnership with local artists and media personalities? Hence, the conception of My Dream Date: Your chance to win a date with one of Botswana’s Most Beautiful Celebrities.
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| My Dream Date organizers and celebs! |
This event was supposed to take place last year, on December 7. Unfortunately, due to lack of time for promotion, we postponed it until closer to Valentines Day. One of the first things I did upon return to work in January was set up a meeting with the management at one of Botswana’s most exclusive clubs. We were told we could use the venue on a Thursday night, since it would be less busy, and we would have to split the proceeds, 40/60 with the venue owners. We had learned from last year that a P200 ticket (about $32 CAN), including dinner and a drink, was too expensive for most people in Gaborone, especially once you consider the additional cost of bidding for a date. This time round, tickets were P50 for entrance only, to encourage younger people to attend, even if it was just to watch the show.
We had already printed posters and done several media interviews on Monday morning, when we passed by our venue, just to check on the stage and DJ set-up. It was then that we discovered our venue was under new management, and would be closed for at least the next two weeks, and would no longer be available for our event on Thursday night. You can imagine the look of anger, disappointment and panic on our faces. We had three days to secure a new venue.
Thinking quickly, we raced to Cresta Lodge, where the management had been very friendly and supportive, in providing us with two dinner vouchers valued at P400 each. With the sweetest and most desperate appeal, we asked if we could use the Sports Bar venue on Thursday night- unfortunately it was already booked. The manager offered us a Saturday night instead, but upon surveying some of our celebrity personalities, we learned most of them would not be available. We didn’t know what else to do.
We sat with our head in our hands for a long time, with a feeling that Family Fun Day was happening all over again. We couldn’t cancel; no one would ever take us seriously again. We couldn’t change nights; all the posters were already up, our celebs were booked, and we’d been advertising on radio and in newspapers. All this was making us very thirsty, so I went inside to get us some drinks. Imagine my surprise when Tumie Ramsden, the marketing executive of Yarona FM, female voice of The Real Enchilada, and one of our celebrity dates, called me over to her lunch meeting, and said, “You look stressed, what’s the matter?” I explained what happened to our venue, and that we were in a panic. She reassured me something would work out, and introduced me to her colleague across the table, Mr. Joshua Ntsuke, Manager of Sales and Marketing for Cresta Hotels across Botswana. He asked me more about our event, and assured me that Cresta President Hotel would be available on Thursday, and would get back to me about booking the facilities. I felt completely elated, as if God had answered our prayers.
Within 24 hours, we had booked the conference room of Cresta President Hotel (readers of the Ladies No. 1 Detective Agency will know a little about this place) and we were doing two radio interviews per day, notifying everyone of the change. A few of our celebs were no longer able to attend; however most were still completely on board. Pearl had managed to get complementary beauty treatments for all of our participants at Gaborone Technical College from the department of hair dressing and beauty therapy, and everyone was delighted to be pampered – especially the guys!
On the big night, we started on Africa Time, and members of the press had shown up and were taking pictures and interviewing us about our event and the Hospice – which was also a huge step, considering a lot of people in Gaborone have never heard of our organization.
At this point, I wasn’t entirely sure how the audience would interpret the first event of its kind in Botswana – Motswana are used to auctioning of cattle, not people! Beforehand, we had each of our celebrity guests fill out a profile of their interests, talents and idea of a perfect date, which really helped people get in the mood for bidding. By far, the best profile came from K-Bos, “Economist by Day; Hip Hop artist 24/7” who indicated in the section marked, “Anything else your date should know about you?” that he has two puppies, Rena and ZigZ – which is proof he’ll be able to afford a baby! You should have heard the ladies in the audience “Awwww”-ing in unison! He also serenaded us with one of his rhymes, about true love. (It should come as no surprise that I walked away the lucky winner of dinner with K-Bos, including a bottle of wine, at Chatters Bar and Restaurant at the Cresta Lodge!)
The night continued on with lots of laughs and fun, as the Canadian girls started to interact with our Mr. Botswana bodybuilders, who took off their shirts to reveal massive six-packs, bulging shoulders and biceps, and Eddie/Major hoisted our little Leigh onto one arm and swung her around as she showed off her best body-builder impressions!
The night was a huge success, even though I’m sure no more than half our audience had any idea what was going on at any given time! Towards the end of the night, even the cleaning and wait staff of Cresta President were peering in to see what all the hooting and hollering was about! We managed to finish up the auction at about 10 pm, and turn the room into a club, where all the audience members got to shake their thang with our celebs! So many people came up and told me they had a blast and thought My Dream Date was a really creative idea! Our celebs were so happy to be a part of our event and all of them went home smiling.
We ended up raising about P5000, which is close to $1000 CAN, but we still have a few ticket sales to chase up, and several of our winning bidders appear to be taking the “lay-by” payment option (luckily I know where they live!).
If there’s anything I have learned from My Dream Date, it’s that you have to be able to admit when you’re wrong, be flexible and be extremely patient. Things have a way of working out, and you can really only ever rely on your friends to be your greatest source of strength and support through the tough times.
A special thanks to all of our sponsors and celebrity guests:
Guys
4 Mr Botswana Body Building Finalists
Scar
Zeus
Oneal
Simba
K-Bos
Girls
Fatima
Olga
Ana
Amy
Joanna
Media
DUMA Fm – official radio sponsor
Yarona Fm
Gabz FM
The Gazette
The Voice
The Mirror
Global Post
Beauty Treatments
Gaborone Technical College
Restaurants
Cresta President Hotel – venue and dinner for two
Cresta Lodge - 2 dinners for two
Cattle Baron – dinner for two
Embassy Indian Cuisine – 2 dinners for two
Grand Palm – dinner for two
Linga Longa/Mugg & Bean/Bull & Bush – 2 dinners for two
Maharaja- lunch for two
Pavilion- 2 lunches for two
Primi – dinner for two
Rodizio – dinner for two
Sanitas Tea Garden – lunch for two
Spur – 2 dinners for two
