To celebrate and say thanks to our 166 backers, we hosted a Simplifiers party right in the heart of Nottingham, England with our UK team, complete with beer and cupcakes in a very traditional pub.
Old Market Square + The Cross Keys pub, Nottingham, England
Our Kickstarter was successfully funded, as of 2:11am CST on Thursday, February 11, 2016. Together with your help, we raised $12,022 USD, achieved 120% funded to our 10k goal and gathered a community of 166 backers (!!!), of which we’ve added 45 new mentors onto our global network!
Backers, from the bottom of our superhero hearts, we thank you and welcome you to The Simplifiers family. It’s time to put on your red cape, my friends and avenge horrible internships wherever you are in your part of the world.
In celebration, we had a massive dance party online these last two days.
Well, yes…yes it does.
I want to take a moment and acknowledge the true undercover superheroes in my life that help make it all happen. First and foremost, my husband, Garreth. Thank you for being the superglue to our life of adventures and entrepreneurism. Thank you to my children for the extra cuddles and cheering me on!
Thank you to my team at The Simplifiers…so many talents, so much passion, all aligned to one mission, one vision: we want to STOP horrible internships by giving mentors all the tools they need to better train and empower their interns.
Thank you for stepping up to the challenge, bringing your A-game every day as we grow in leaps and bounds! And thank you to our advisory board (Aubri, Chris, George) as you continue to inspire me and serve as my sounding board for all those big-picture visions we have for the future.
from left to right: Bethany (filmmaker), Fanni (graphic designer), Ana (filmmaker), Chloe (community manager + marketing), Ryan (filmmaker), Mary (educator + undercover superhero) and (not seen) Minder (marketing) + Laura (blogger) + Millie (social media)
All goes well, Kickstarter will send us the moola in about 2-3 weeks. After a little time off for superhero recharging, our team will be back at it strong starting March 1st with software development, UX, shooting new training video footage and more.
In the meantime, keep visiting this blog as we will continue to churn out handy tips on working with Millennials, advice on booking more clients and how to be a great mentor.
Plus, let your friends in the events industry know, we are accepting pre-orders for our Fall 2016 release of The Apprentice Program. The license is only $75 per intern, per semester and they can lock that price in now for the Fall.
It takes a village and you, my friends, are THAT village. I hope one day we’ll look back on this moment and think,“wow…all it took was 166 people to believe in BETTER. Better training for interns. Better learning environments for mentors. Better for the events industry, as a whole.”
I have a feeling that The Simplifiers are on the cusp of something quite BIG here. And I’m thrilled to have each and every one of you onboard, taking part in this journey together.
Backers: don’t be surprised if I reach out to you for your expert insight, opinions and feedback in the product development process. After all, we are building this thing for you. Let’s make it EXACTLY how you want it, solving your greatest challenges as a mentor.
well done, you guys…we did it!
The stress of finding an internship…the time-consuming process of writing your resume…and then figuring out where to send it…the nerves felt during the interview…am I saying the right things, am I asking the right questions?
The pressure is mounting. The competition is fierce. The whole thing can be super stressful.
It doesn’t have to be that way.
We spoke to another superhero who has backed The Apprentice Program thru our Kickstarter campaign – Stacey Hoyt CMP, CSEP – Special Event Manager at Blanton Museum of Art.
With two decades of experience, Stacey is both a Certified Meeting Professional and a Certified Special Events Professional. She has a long-standing involvement with the International Special Events Society, including holding the position of President at the Austin chapter 2010-2011. As well as working with Blanton Museum of Art, Stacey owns her own event management firm, Stacey Hoyt Events.
“I have complete faith in Mary’s vision” ~ Stacey Hoyt CSEP, CMP – Blanton Museum of Art, Austin, TX
Today, we spoke to two of our fantastic backers – Lauren Chumbley and Kristi DePew, co-owners of Eclipse Event Co, based in Austin, Texas.
With over 15 years combined experience in the events industry, Lauren and Kristi plan events around their three pillars of excellence:
Lauren has been a member of the International Special Events Society, where she served on the Austin board for two years, while Kristi is currently a member of the Austin chapter of the National Association for Catering and Events (NACE) and has just accepted a position on the board as the Fundraising Chair for 2016.
Lauren Chumbley (left), Kristi DePew (right) – Eclipse Event Co, Austin, TX
