I spend a lot of time speaking to businesses to secure donations of goods. Whether soliciting an in-kind donation of food for the opening party of your campaign office, or asking for donated space for an event, one of the biggest keys to success I've found is coming prepared. What's that mean?

Every organizer has THAT moment. The Showdown, the Fight Scene. The moments when you gather your supporters and march out, magic wand held high, ready to defend what is right and cast your great spell. Great as those moments are, they don’t happen every day. And if you spend all your time thinking about the big moment instead of focusing on the details, you won’t be prepared when it arrives.

I do a lot of location scouting and vendor management for our events. And if your events are at all like ours, you've got specific needs. But when I'm calling venues and vendors, I often get incorrect or inaccurate answers (especially on tech stuff). It's not that anyone's trying to mislead me (I hope!). Often the event planner or coordinator for a location either doesn't know the full answer, doesn't understand the question, or just doesn't bother to double check. And nothing is worse than