This is a post that I wrote on my other website, thesnow-ball.com, which gives you a behind-the-scenes look at what went into creating the 2016 Snow Ball dance.
The 2016 Snow Ball started out as the vision of three homeschooled graduates: Luke Ruffing, Elizabeth Phillips, and Petra Jackson, living in central Maine. During their high school years, they had attended the Forget-Me-Not Ball, a prom for homeschooled students, and had really enjoyed the event. They had all, at one time or another, worked on the Forget-Me-Not Ball. Now that they had graduated, they were looking to start a new tradition for homeschoolers who had moved on to the next chapter of their lives, and so the Snow Ball was born.
In late October, 2015, Luke contacted Petra and Elizabeth to ask for their help in creating an event that would be unforgettable. This would be a challenging project for them all, but they both accepted the offer and set to work.
The first things that had to be settled upon were a name for the dance, as well as a theme. They came up with the Snow Ball, a winter formal to be held early the next year, just a scant two months away.
The next question to be answered was when? Hosting an event during the holiday season might be tricky, so they selected the second Saturday in January: just enough time past the rush of Christmas and New Year’s, but still in the vacation window of their friends in college.
Finding a suitable venue was next on the list. After much discussion, they decided to go back to an old favorite of theirs, Hallowell City Hall. This had been the site of previous Forget-Me-Not Balls, and was the perfect destination for the Snow Ball.
The City Hall is a beautiful old building set in historic Hallowell, Maine. The double doors and beautiful spiral staircase provide character right from the start. A short hallway then leads you through a doorway to the dance hall. This fantastic space, equipped with large glass windows that look out onto downtown Hallowell and the river beyond, a balcony over looking the dance floor, an elevated stage, and room for 125 people, is perfectly suited to what they were looking to do. After the initial $100 investment from Luke, the hall was theirs for one special night of the year.
Finding the perfect location was important, but the next step was a crucial one as well. It is hard to dance without music and lights that complement the music. They turned to Douglas Moore, a homeschool graduate and engineer, who likes to have fun and has the tools to do so. He accepted the position and played the music that kept everyone moving.
Most of the Dominoes were lined up for a successful dance, but a few still needed to be placed. The first of these was creating tickets for the event. Luke took the initiative and, using the tools in Photoshop, created the image that would be used for the tickets.
To make this venture profitable was another concern for the crew, with reserved tickets priced at just $10 a head ($15 at the door), they knew they needed to attract at least 60 graduates. With no idea of how large the market for an event like this was, it seemed a lofty goal.
The marketing process began. Elizabeth created a Facebook event page to generate interest. To go along with this page, they went and proactively sought out their friends and fellow graduates through private messages and meetings in person. Using this aggressive marketing strategy, word quickly began to spread. Before December had drawn to a close, they had sold more than 50 tickets and had 20 reserved for pick-up at the door.
All of the work that had to be completed before the day of the dance had now been accomplished. By this time they had added Bridget Ruffing, the current head of the Forget-Me-Not series, to the crew to bring fresh insights and another set of eyes to the process.
January 9th dawned bright and clear. The crew assembled at Hallowell City Hall to begin the process of turning it into the winter wonderland that they had envisioned. Along with the organizers, a couple of new faces showed up to help: Colin Phillips and Abby Deschaine. By three in the afternoon, the room was ready.
Like any new project, not everything went off without a hitch. It became clear that more money and thought needs to be allocated to refreshments, and the general format will get tweaked.
The morning following the dance, the organizers gathered the receipts and tallied all the expenses and profits. It soon became clear that the Snow Ball had attracted more than 90 people and turned a profit of more than $400.
The entire team will be back for the brand new edition: The 2017 Snow Ball.