Ann DeSanctis’ September Update

The month of September I fully embraced my role as event planner/organizer while also stepping up to the plate for several other opportunities. Work with PGE, after a highly successful seed saving class, was focused on finding a space for the nutrition class I have been planning as well as trying to find a venue for the Harvest After Party. The nutrition class was taken care of with some help from our friends at the JCC and will be held at Colfax elementary. I put the second half of the seed series, the Seed Swap, on all of the appropriate calendars and then things started picking up steam for the HAP venue search. Once a venue is confirmed, doorprizes and bands can be confirmed as well. The Symposium once again took the main stage but two important pieces fell into place: a venue (the Zoo) and a grant (from SARE). I spent many hours working with the PSE support staff and contacting the presenters to build a registration brochure to our liking with all of the proper information. The final version is still underway. I also drafted a press release, which will be sent out soon, and started working on catering details. On top of that I facilitated my first PFPC by myself and followed up with the minutes and other pertinent documents and also organized and participated in a conference call with the symposium speakers. I kept up a steady pace for Yum with seven facebook updates, five more ‘likes’ and four blog posts. I also attended the Food Day planning meeting and contributed to the event planning for that. I continued to send my weekly schedules to Deb in the office, participated in the monthly staff meeting, and watched one webinar for professional development. I also assisted Heather in gathering descriptions and numbers for her PSE report. The SCA and MWCDC trail day was a great success (thank you weather) and I contributed with lots of flyering, contacting folks to volunteer, and taking pictures day-of. I also helped other SCA fellows with the Lawrenceville Business Blast, the Riverview Trail Day, YERT tabling, and the Transportation Exploration. Additionally, I did some volunteering outside of SCA: I became a regular volunteer at Global Links and will continue to work there and I worked for the Taste of Grow Pittsburgh event. I also registered for the Greenbuild conference in Toronto as a volunteer.