Relay Goodness from Reno...

An amazing weekend with fabulous people. Some people are so fabulous that they actually find cardboard cutouts of themselves...because there's just not enough Pat Flynn or Gordy Klatt to go around! There was a really cute little gal who was having her photo taken with the cutout...and when the real (not paper) Pat walked up, she couldn't believe it! She had her pic taken with both the paper Pat and the real Pat!

I really loved being able to share this weekend with Jonathan. As he loves Relay himself, he finally got to see what I always talk about with the fantastic people at the division and national level and experience Summit. I love that he is content is a room where he knows no one, and can walk away with an entire roomful of new friends.

He introduced himself as "Mr. Shelley Mauss", which cracked me up when I heard it through the grapevine. Everywhere else I was using Sprouffske...and here he is, going old school. :) He represented our team (Team Connolly Tacon and Meserve) in the Top Fundraisers breakout and brought back some great ideas for 2009.



How much do I love that my name badge just hung over my belly? A good fill-in for the sweater that doesn't zip closed now. :)

Since we'd been working on this weekend since February (training-wise), it was so much fun to see this come to fruition. Some of the projects that had been in the works...

• A complete redesign of our fundraising training - incorporating the Top Fundraisers from the division who had been invited down to Summit. It turned out so well...great ideas and inspiration shared from some of the top Relayers in the 12 state area. Loved how it turned out. An extended version will be offered at all of the Relay Universities (31 trainings in our division alone).
  
  My favorite moment in the prep? Running into the amazing Doreen in the airport on Thursday afternoon, only to realize that she was just learning about her role in speaking during the training. :) I was so glad that she stepped right in and shared her story...a number of those people who heard her speak in the breakout were moved to tears. She is simply something else. And yes, it was her and Jonathan who were busy sticking foam thingies to their foreheads in their Friday breakouts. :) Our only photo together was with Doreen (above), taken by the great Kathy Cina.
  
• A great "new to Summit" orientation - offered to the 475+ brand new participants who had never been to Summit before.
  
• A sweet online video project - that will most likely debut this fall to all the Relays in the Great West Division. An awesome collaborative effort late Friday night (my marathon day) with (left to right) Mark H, Carrie Anderson, Jeff Ross, Angus and me, Anna Wales, Darcie Haigwood and Becky Lunders, Kaelynn Facer & Pat Flynn (who had already wrapped). We each filmed video segments -- Jeff, Pat and I had "welcomes" for team captains and team members, and we all did segments for incentives.
  
  The hardest part? During taping, none of us were allowed to speak because it would pick up on the mics. Try to put all of these loud people in a room with no words. Close to impossible. So we were allowed to make "happy hands" -- the sign language equivalent of applause any time anyone rocked it. The first versions went out today...and it was hysterical. I can't wait to see how this turns out!

Some of my very favorite Utahans (is that a word?)...all decked out in their 80s garb. You've got to love Sid and Zach rocking the mullets, and Jamie's hot pink coolness. Zach and Jamie are on the Great West Division Training Task Force with me...and I absolutely adore them.

This weekend also marked the transition to when I started as chair of the Training Task Force for the upcoming year...which I am so excited for. Thanks to Grandma Mauss, who will be on hand to help with Angus during the first training in February, the transition should go smoothly!

Below...some of my favorite peeps from Issaquah...who won the heart of Relay award for youth involvement. Karen (in purple in the middle) and I have been friends since we met at Summit in 2003 (my first) and they came down to the Tacoma Relay when I was chairing the 20th anniversary.

Both of our teams (Team Aloha from Issaquah and Team Merrill Lynch from Tacoma) were the first two teams in the Division to ever qualify for the Nationwide Team of Excellence award, which we finally received this weekend for the 2007 fiscal year. Both of our teams raised $62,000+ with a per cap of $3,333+ each. It rocked.

And yes, that's a cutout of Dr. Gordy Klatt.

After Jeff's "fight back" ceremony on Friday night...he took off through the crowd, and everyone had their glow sticks waving...

Had the great opportunity to facilitate 4 sessions with Bob MacKay. Loved it. He was so much fun to present with, and was a lifesaver on Friday when I disappeared for an hour to speak to the RVPs/Supervisors and the Top Fundraisers. He also let me take a break on Saturday from standing, to rest my "big fat feet" as he called them. :) Didn't clarify that I was pregnant to everyone, just that I had big fat feet. Gotta love guys!! Very excited to work with him again next month in St. Louis, for the national Fundraising focus group.

This is what we looked like at the end of Summit.

My very favorite moment? The passing of the torch to the best team in our division...who is also the top team ever in Relay's history. Team Davis, from Anchorage, Alaska - who raised $335k in just 3 weeks. Simply amazing. And way to shatter that glass ceiling!!

Thanks, Kathy, I stole the above pic off your blog. :)

And while I'm talking about Kathy and Relay...are these not the cutest little wee bee hats that you've ever seen? And it all raises money for Relay...

Me thinks Angus is going to need one. It can go with his "My First Relay" shirt I picked up in the 6-9 month old size for his first Relay (outside the womb!!)...

An awesome weekend...heading now into Relay U season this fall. It's so funny that the Relay season for me is now the "Relay offseason", since all the training happens when Relays aren't happening! :)