Hosting a meet

[Gymdad2]

The first year we had a meet we used the home gym. We had problems with the venue as it wasn't really idea for a large group of gymnasts/parents, so the next year we rented a middle school for the weekend. Great venue, good seating and lighting, cafeteria for concessions, place for a judges room, restrooms, parking and very very expensive. By the time we paid the school and rented equipment, paid for liability insurance and janitor fees we spent $3,000 and that didn't include all ther other expenses (judges, food, decorations, program printing, advertising, awards, etc.). We didn't make much profit the first couple of years but the upside was that we were able to put on a fun meet in a very pleasant and convenient environment and gyms were happy to come back the next year. The meet has now grown to where it is one of our best fund-raisers. The most important thing about a meet is to get other gyms to attend, and in an area like ours where there is a lot of competion you have to make your event special and the building comfortable or gyms will go elsewhere. Good luck.