by J. Brooks Terry
Staff Writer
The success of an organization, no matter how strong its leadership, may in fact come from its ability to work as a cohesive unit. An example of this cohesion is found within the ranks of the City’s Office of Special Events, which functions as a full service entity to produce everything from the Spring Music Festival at Metropolitan Park to the Georgia/Florida game to the Sea and Sky Spectacular activities.
“We coordinate all facets of downtown events,” said public relations coordinator Wendy Raymond Hacker. “We handle, not only the planning and the advertising, but also the hiring of the volunteers and security, too. We even take care of logistical things like restrooms and vendors. I don’t think people realize that.”
Currently, the Office of Special Events is putting the finishing touches on the annual Jacksonville Light Parade — the first big event of the holiday season. The parade, which promises to “transform the St. Johns River into a dazzling display of lights, sounds and holiday spirit,” kicks off tonight at 7 p.m. on the downtown riverfront.
“The great thing about the parade,” said Hacker, “is that everyone is really having fun with it. It’s like planning a party for you friends and family; if your family had 100,000 people in it.”
Hacker says that the citizens of Jacksonville are always encouraged to get involved with events planned throughout the city.
“The great thing about the Light Parade is that anyone can be a part of it. As with all of our events, there are volunteer opportunities. If you have a boat, you can be in it,” said Hacker.
From the time the offices open at City Hall until the end of the day, Hacker, who has been with the City for six years, insists that there is no such thing as “a typical day at work.”
“Multitasking is a big part of our jobs,” said Hacker. “We are always working on so many different things that it’s really important to learn how to adapt and react to whatever comes up throughout the day.”
Theresa O’Donnell Price, the director of special events, explained that, in addition to having a skilled staff, teamwork has really helped staff rise to a level of unprecedented, continued success.
“It’s really all about strong partnerships and teamwork,” said Price. “We’ve had the privilege of working with great people and the City and local businesses are always accommodating, too.”
Price, who is a Jacksonville native and Bishop Kenny graduate, has been with the City for nearly 18 years and four mayoral administrations. In that time, she says that while she has been proud of every event in which she has been involved, that doesn’t stop her from wanting to raise the bar every year.
“I think that’s only natural to try to outdo ourselves,” she said. “Everything we’ve produced is challenging in its own way, but every year we like to try something new. Obviously some things work better than others and people have been really great in letting us know what they like.”
In addition to the many annual events produced by Price and her staff, there have been instances in the past when the opportunity to organize an event — truly special in more ways than one — has presented itself.
“In 1998 after the wildfires, we put together the Celebration of Heroes event,” said Price. “And of course there was Sept. 11.”
Price explained that when an something like the Sept. 11 attacks takes place, the importance of what she and her staff do really becomes self-evident.
“We were all changed after that day.” said Price. “Something we’ve organized like that, really reflect what our city is going through.”
The future of the Office of Special Events is clearly headed in one direction: up.
“In the coming years I would expect growth in both scope and number of all the events we plan,” said Price. “As the city, and downtown especially, have grown it’s in our best interest to do the same. The more people that know who we are and what we do for the City, the better. Even now, it’s gotten to the point where scheduling events at Hemming Plaza has gotten more difficult. That’s a good problem.”
Additionally, the Office of Special Events will be working in conjunction with the NFL for the 2005 Super Bowl in a manner that Price described as “highly collaborative.”
Price explained that, although her job is both physically and mentally challenging, she isn’t about to stop.
“When we look back after it’s all said and done, we really realize that the long hours of planning and hard work are worth it,” she said. “We know we’ve hit a chord when people actually show up for the things that we’ve been involved in; that they’ve taken time out of their lives to be a part of it.”