It Doesn’t Come Free
To the tune of "Acres of Clams"
I live like a king on my houseboat
Secure in the lifestyle I've found,
Feeding the quackers and honkers
Enjoying the great Puget Sound.
I owe it all to the 'Sociation
Of Floating Home Owners, you see
All of this legal protection
Remember it doesn't come free.
There's swimming and fishing and boating,
There's ducks walking in our front door
And so with my dollars I'm voting
To keep our Lake Union secure.
We've had auctions & cookbooks & parties
And T-shirts, home tours and much more
We keep working to keep our debts settled
Let's stay in the black evermore.
Years ago we used to sing this song at every FHA annual meeting: See sidebar.
Cute, and still rings true!
Our last association fundraiser was the Houseboat Tour of 2008. The funds raised by that tour enabled us to hire legal help, a lobbyist and various experts including funding a study of juvenile Chinook salmon in our waters, all to champion our community against the encroachment of the proposed Shoreline Master Program revision. This battle continues.
It is time to begin work on the Houseboat Tour of 2010, scheduled for Sunday, September 12th. As you all know, it is a huge undertaking – we put our whole community on display for over 1000 people! We need help from the entire community to organize and execute the tour.
Cathi Major (Westlake houseboater) has volunteered to be Tour Chair Person this year, and we thank her for taking on this position. Cathi knows that being a leader means not doing all the work herself, rather coordinating the many arms of a large and involved committee. What I'm saying is:
WE REALLY NEED YOUR HELP!
Below, are descriptions of the various projects and tasks that create the tour. If you have interest or skills in any of these areas, or you'd just like to pitch in, please let us know. Don't feel afraid -- these jobs have been done before, and there is plenty of source material. You won't have to invent the wheel. The positions of Tour Chair, Press Agent/Publicity, and Houseboatique Coordinator have been filled (but of course those folks can always use additional help). To pitch in, please email Cathi Major, cmajor@cmajorpr.com; Marty Greer, marty@water-color.com; or Jann McFarland, jann@seattlefloatinghomes.biz, and let us know how you would like to participate in this event that is so vital to the health and well-being of our community!
TOUR CHAIR PERSON - (Filled: Cathi Major) Overall coordination of the houseboat tour, including selection of houses, theme, and coordination of various functions, including volunteers, advertising, logistics, sponsors, and maintaining production calendar and schedule, etc.
HOMES SELECTION COORDINATOR - (Need Volunteer) Is responsible to spearhead the selection of homes on the tour, and maintain ongoing communication with those homeowners to ensure dedicated participation. Will evaluate physical layout of each house and work with Volunteer Coordinator to determine number of volunteers needed to host in the house and to move and safeguard the public.
LOGISTICS MANAGER - (Need Volunteer) Arrange for and coordinate the various physical items needed for tour success, including: porta-potties, bus and/or boat transportation, espresso/food stands, signage, flowers and flags, and permits.
VOLUNTEERS COORDINATOR - (Need Volunteer) Work with Homes Selection Coordinator to determine the number of volunteers required to staff the tour. Also, work with the houseboat community to gain volunteer support and involvement, and coordinate the volunteer corps for tour day.
COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR - (Need Volunteer) Is responsible to gather whatever communication modes are used by each dock and/or co-op and communicate via those methods with them regarding information and needs of the tour committee.
MARKETING COORDINATOR - (Need Volunteer) Is responsible for getting advertisers and sponsors to offset printing and other tour costs and to enlist area businesses in potential value-added ticket program. Interface with area businesses for participation and then coordinate graphic layout of ads and coupons.
GRAPHICS COORDINATOR - GRAPHIC ARTIST - (Need Volunteer) Will help determine artistic representation (logo) for the tour and handle electronic layout of poster, postcard, e-card and ticket.
SOCIAL MEDIA COORDINATOR - (Filled: Laura Lowery oversees but needs another person to work with) Will incorporate theme, logo and advertising into various web-based formats, creating Facebook and MySpace pages, e-blasts, twitter campaign and blogger content. Will help launch viral campaign via the houseboat community members.
PRESS AGENT/PUBLICITY - (Filled: Laura Lowery) Will write an informative press release using the established theme and home descriptions, and distribute to press list (provided) in time for long lead publications, then calendar listings. Will pitch interviews to local papers, websites and bloggers, and coordinate interviews and photo shoots as necessary. Will communicate with the Concierge Association and the Convention and Visitors Bureau to engage the tourist population, and with radio and television stations to gain promotional support.
HOUSEBOATIQUE COORDINATOR - (Filled: Tricia Rendina) Coordinate and staff the Houseboatique products booth during the tour.
DISTRIBUTION AGENT - (Need Volunteer) Is responsible to distribute posters/flyers to posting service and to each dock for further distribution by members and will also help throughout the scope of the tour carting and delivering items.