All last week the weather station had been calling for rain on Saturday. The weather is one of the few things a PR professional can definitely not control. We can confirm a location, a time and speakers. We can write the news releases and PSA’s and make sure they are sent out. We can create and put up posters. You can’t confirm sunshine. By a stroke of luck, Saturday was beautiful. We could have done everything PR related in the world (and it felt like we did) but if it had of been pouring rain Kermesse would not have been the success that it was.

Dragging a friend along, I arrived at Kermesse just before noon. Anticipating cold weather, I wore a sweater over my t-shirt but halfway to the IWK I had the sweater off and my jeans rolled up to my knees. We walked in through the play area, where lineups of kids were waiting to soak firemen in the Dunk Tank, squealing with delight when one of their five or ten pitches would connect with the target.

My first reaction, of course, was to check out all of the signage. The maps and thank you posters were up. I found a spelling mistake and felt a bit down, but then it took only about 30 seconds for me to get distracted by the candy table. It was only after I purchased a bag of creamy chocolate fudge did I realize I was here as an attendee, not as a coordinator or worker. I could relax and enjoy Kermesse.

We walked around for about an hour, watching the kids play games, checking out the crafts and enjoying Doc’s Dogs. I bought my friend his very first Sno Cone (he is 25...). Kids and adults all over the IWK grounds were enjoying themselves. Before I left for the day I saw a young boy watching as other kids played a game, so I gave him the rest of my tickets. He was so excited he ran to his mother and showed her what I had given him. I thought to myself, if one little boy is excited to have tickets to play a game I can only imagine how the kids that are going to benefit from the funds raised by Kermesse are going to feel.

In other news, Speak Out! is coming together well. It is to be held a week from tomorrow. I have been working on media materials for this, including a PSA, which is complete and sent out, a media advisory and a news release. We have a lot of work and phone calls to make over the next few days, but I am really looking forward to the event!