Why the blog?
Toward the end of the summer I got an email from a former colleague, Jena Pierce. She was happily working for the Sunshine Memorial Foundation. It had been awhile since we’d found time to catch up so we enjoyed a long lunch that included lots of laughs. Along the way I learned more about the Foundation and its work. I also got the feeling she was going to try to recruit me for something!
Over the next few days we exchanged emails and she mentioned the idea of a blog. Would I be interested in writing the “secrets behind Sunshine Fest”? I thought about it for another few days. Then I emailed back.
To: Jena
From: Stacy
“Yes! Let’s talk again soon.”
It didn’t take her long to reply…
To: Stacy
From: Jena
“You’ve made my day!”
“While looking forward to my first Sunshine Fest I was curious about the ins and outs of such a big, annual event,” said Jena. “I spoke to a lot of people who had heard of the event but wanted to learn more. Knowing Stacy is a great writer who had a personal blog, I thought she would be a great asset to our marketing and media committee as a blog writer. And I was right!”
I guess the rest is history because you are now reading the blog. We met and discussed ideas for content. I quickly learned there are so many different aspects to Sunshine Fest that it didn’t take us long to fill a docket of posts. Our topics will cover registration details, sponsorship, volunteers and much, much more! We’ve also left some room for changes as details are ever-evolving and new ideas are always coming up.
The very first Sunshine Fest in 2010 included about 80 runners and walkers. There were over 900 participants in 2014. Let’s see how many of us can find some extra Sunshine in 2015!