It was 2004 when a local nonprofit org (NPO) came to me and asked, “Can you review our project for us?” They had been working with a professional event planner, expecting that the agency would make their annual event more successful than ever before – but in reality, the gross profit had tripled while the net profit had been somehow cut in half. Big Buzz Idea Group was borne out of that project review. I found it difficult to believe that the NPO wasn’t getting all that it was expecting, and it seemed clear that they had been taken advantage...
In the summer of 2015, I was having lunch with a friend at Navy Pier, talking about how hard Big Buzz works to make an impact in the nonprofit arena. That conversation stuck with me for weeks. All I could think about was how we could make a bigger impact in the nonprofit sector than we were currently making. A few weeks later while driving down Lake Shore Drive, it hit me: Big Buzz Idea Group needed to offer more than just event planning services! After a quick assessment of my years of nonprofit service, I realized that I had...
It was October 1, 1999, when I began my first full-time position in the nonprofit world. I showed up excitedly at 9 am ready to dig in and get started. The president of the organization met me at the office, said the organization was looking forward to working with me, handed me the key to the office and walked out the door. Now what? As a staff of one, I was responsible for what would become 24 annual events, 12 newsletters and 8 committees. I remember looking around the office and trying to figure out where to begin. There was...
