Finding the right venue is a milestone. Keeping your event fresh in that same location, year after year, is the real art. Since 2021, Palmer Event Solutions has helped Drink Local Drink Tap (DLDT)’s Annual Giving Splash Party evolve within its home at Gordon Green – using our four-phase approach to transform repetition into rhythm and tradition into energy.
Phase One – Project Design + Development
From the earliest conversations our team immerses itself in DLDT’s mission, audience, and aspirations. We start each planning cycle by revisiting the “why” behind the Annual Giving Splash Party. Yes, it’s a fundraiser, but it’s also a moment for awareness as a gathering that embodies DLDT’s values of community, equity, and impact. With that groundwork, each planning cycle becomes an evolution, not a reinvention – an opportunity to refresh the guest experience while keeping mission and message at the center.
Phase Two – Pre-Event Planning + Collaboration
We then revisit the foundational elements – venue layout, vendor relationships, and branding templates – to layer in curated new features for that year’s fundraiser. These may include live entertainment, signature cocktails, unique mission moments, and creative ways to utilize the venue’s physical space. For the 2025 edition, project lead Katie and team are applying lessons from prior years to refine guest flow, optimize the program, and introduce fresh entertainment motifs that highlight the nonprofit’s strengths.
Phase Three – Event Implementation
On event day, our behind-the-scenes orchestration allows the DLDT team to be fully present in the moment. The Palmer Event Solutions team coordinates vendor deliveries, run-of-show details, audiovisual cues, guest experience touchpoints, and contingency management.
For 2025, we’re again crafting a seamless journey from cocktail hour to seated dinner, mission program, guest entertainment, and an engaging appeal segment. Because we’ve stewarded this event over multiple years, we continue to fine-tune pacing, staff and volunteer needs, and energy arcs to sustain excitement from start to finish.
Phase Four – Post-Event Debrief
After the night ends, the work continues! We lead a formal debrief with DLDT, asking what delighted guests, what strained team members, what to carry forward, and where to innovate next.
We also assist with wrap-up deliverables including retrieving invoices from vendor partners, collecting photo highlights from photographers, and compiling planning notes for future gatherings. Our goal is to turn each year’s learnings into fuel for the next year’s magic.
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Through a shared commitment to planning with purpose, Palmer Event Solutions and Drink Local Drink Tap have turned consistency into a creative advantage – proving that when an event finds its rhythm, it can keep inspiring year after year.
