I volunteered at The Huntington throughout the 80s and 90s propagating roses, working the plant sales and organizing, staffing, planning and working the Old Rose Symposiums and Rose Festivals. What is being complained about as "high ticket prices" are the lowest they have been in a very long time. The Symposiums cost in the hundreds to attend. The GROTW events had become rather expensive, more than the $50 minimum entry this year, until Clair deliberately worked it to reduce and maintain lower prices to permit more people to comfortably attend. Pulling something like this off is an outright b#@%ch. Someone is going to get bent out of shape for something. Guaranteed. I know. Been on both sides of that splintery fence many times. There are fixed costs which must be covered or the institution will not permit you to host the event again. Each of the honored guests have to flown in, driven around, fed and hoteled while there. Some require honorariums to come. Not all, but some do. There are security costs which are associated with the event, not to mention the loss of revenue from other events requiring the facilities this one occupies at this time. The price of the tickets far from covered the cost of hosting the event. A one day ticket wasn't offered because the heavier, more "meaty" talks were Sunday. How intelligent is it to potentially cut your revenue in half by making it possible to only pay for one day? Two days worth were offered to allow people to arrive in town, get settled and find their ways around as well as to sight see while there. Many of us took the opportunity to catch up with friends whom we don't frequently see and to check out old favorites on the grounds. I know of many, some local and many more from out of the area, who paid full price and were only able to attend the one day. You don't get a movie or play ticket for half price because you're only interested in half of the performance. You don't pay half of the restaurant price because you only want the desert. The admission price was posted for two days. Nothing was mentioned about one day pricing, so no expectations should be made they will exist. Saturday was the less formal day. It was also a fuller day for those of us who were there because we could wander around, see what we wanted to see, the people we wanted to talk to and go where we wanted to go. I wouldn't have enjoyed myself nearly as much had I only gone one day, though I DO understand not being able to attend both. Many times over the past twenty-five years, I've had to miss days of Symposiums, Festivals, etc. there because of work or prior commitments. But, I learned a long time ago, make the decision that if it's going to cost you full price for only a part of it, if it isn't worth it to you, don't go. If it is, enjoy. But, I never waste the gas and time getting there and then decide not to attend. If I'm going to make presumptions, they'll be that it will cost me full for part, and not that I won't stay unless they give me a break. That is YOUR choice and YOUR decision. No one wasted your time nor gas but you.

One of the things that I'd be looking at is the value of the house. If we're talking about a $100,000 house I wouldn't spend a grand on a ticket. If it's a million dollar house I'd be in. For a $250,000....maybe a $500 ticket? I'd try to scale your price to your market. I wouldn't sell a thousand dollar ticket if your house isn't a half million dollar home (appraised or tax assessed value). think of scaling your ticket price to your house value somewhat...ie a lot of tickets at 100 if it's a 200,000 or below price is likely to be more successful than trying to market a thousand dollar ticket for a house of that value. People are going to do a little homework on a grand price ticket so be prepared to have an appraisal that makes sense next to your tax assessed value. You throw me off when you say that the homeowners are going to get their full price no matter what....you mean they're not taking a bit of a loss here as a tax deduction? That seems....well like an easy way to sell a house. I'd come back a bit hardball on them. It's only a donation when you give something up. Getting full price and "offering" the difference to the HS seems a bit greedy..and a bit inappropriate. I certainly wouldn't expect you'd be paying all of the advertising costs etc. What on earth would their agent fee be? I think your HS might be getting snowed here. I've been involved with a lot of fund raisers....and this has a bit of a smell to it. Not on your part or the HS. I've seen charities take a hit when trying to take advantage of something that sounds too good to be true. People on the board don't think it through...the possible numbers make their eyes glaze over and they forget the downside. I think if you go forward as is with the homeowner expecting a full return, you're going to take a hit, not make money. You won't embaress yourself...the lottery winner will win something, but it could cost your society more than you might think. I'd go back with a reasonable return idea to the homeowner and the offer to split the costs of marketing, no matter the outcome. They can still take this as a deduction if it's a reimbursement to the HS. So it's still a decent deal for them.

Jersey Boys is a great show- but an 11 year old wouldn't enjoy it. The storyline isn't that entertaining so the play has to stand on the music which probably isn't something he'd like. I don't particularly care for The Four Seasons but thoroughly enjoyed the play. Hair- my 25 yr old daughter just saw it and told me it was boring. She liked the energy and some of the music but said the plot was too contrived. Mama Mia is too girlie. Friends took their kids to see Wicked and they loved it. But they also made sure their kids watch the Wizard of Oz to get the background story. Billy Elliot has had great reviews and you'd probably enjoy it - don't know about the 11 year old. You might consider Phantom of the Opera. I know it's been around a long time- I've gone 3 times with different friends. But it's a great spectacle and crowd pleaser and there's something for everyone- even an 11 year old.

I love that we all have a winning ticket! This takes me back to my high school days of marching band. We won the Contest of Champions, the ULTIMATE contest for our area, which means state champions, but also regional. We marched in the Fiesta Bowl parade, and hoped we would come in second so we would not have to march at the game. Exactly what we did. Bragging rights without the work. We got the day off. I'm pretty sure I'd prefer coming in second for this particular jackpot. Millions without the notoriety.