Planning an Anniversary Celebration

SUNATA 28 PLANNING an Wendy Johnston Director of Marketing and CommunicationsCelebration ANNIVERSARY This is a story about the celebrations we planned to have (and how we planned them); however, much like weddings in the time of Coronavirus, our celebrations have been duly diminished in size or have disappeared entirely from the calendar. Nevertheless, it is still an exciting time in the life of the school to look back at all that has been achieved and pause to celebrate those who have made it what it is – from its founders, to the teachers, parents and students who have passed through the school’s gates – how they have added to its rich fabric and how our past students in particular are living their lives after a St Margaret’s education. One of the first and earliest considerations we had to make was to whether to commit to a 125-year anniversary book, what form that book should take and who should write it. We gathered up a considerable sample of recent school history books which examined the past through many different lenses – from a predominance of historical facts, to celebrations of people, to a blend of both. Some were very text heavy, others more like coffee table books. Their production expense would have varied widely. The challenge was how to tell our story, appropriately, without spending an inappropriate amount of money, but ensure it was worthy of the 125-year milestone as well as being readable and not relegated to a tomb of dusty history volumes. It also had to be achieved in timeframe we had given ourselves – not ungenerous, but the economics and time constraints of offshore printing meant we had little luxury to ponder the matter for too long. The key was in the word itself: ‘story’. The stroke of brilliance came from the Principal Ros Curtis when she put forward her suggestion for our storyteller – prominent journalist and writer Madonna King – and the rest, as they say, was history – our history, told in an engaging and highly readable fashion. We chose UQP as our publishers – not just for a commercially appropriate considerations, but as well-respected Queensland publishers we believed it would add weight to our very worthwhile story and our meetings with them had been considerate and respectful of our thoughts and wishes while bringing the benefit of their vast experience to the table. Madonna was given access to a wide variety of people to interview and historic publications to view. Our archivist Bronwyn Perry was key to giving Madonna a window into the school’s history. The editor, Joanne Holliman, worked well with Ros, Bronwyn and I in choosing photographs, debating grammar, and selecting quotes and captions. The manuscript was pored over about six or seven times each by us all before the print button was finally hit. In the meantime, we had earnestly begun to plan how we could celebrate 2020. Much like the book, our focus was on getting the right balance. 125 years is a significant celebration but it’s not a centenary or sesquicentennial. Schools are busy places with already crammed calendars; how much more celebrating can a community commit to we asked? We formed a committee that crossed over our major stakeholder groups, including the primary and secondary schools, Parents and Friends’ Association, current and past staff, and Old Girls’ Association (OGA). With invaluable assistance from Media Officer Pru Reed, who has a wealth of events experience, we listed the events we hold annually and possible additional 125-year celebrations. Our preference was to have only a few additional events and flavour, where appropriate, the usual annual events with a 125-year celebratory theme; in fact, leverage the celebrations to maximise engagement over this time, trusting that sentimentality may prompt a few more people to reconnect with the school. The other consideration was how to brand and market the occasion. Our graphic designer, Pam Smiles, produced a suite of logos from which to choose and we also produced a small selection of branded merchandise. Again, the theme here was all about balance. We thought it inappropriate to aim for higher-end merchandise, instead selecting moderately priced items that would be accessible to all should they choose to purchase a memento. The final selections were a 125-year badge, teddy bear, boxed stemless wine glasses and mugs, a set of four coasters with historical images, a tie, and of course the book – the most expensive item at $55 each. We ordered modestly as well, not wanting to be left hawking 125-year souvenirs when we are 127 years old! We also elected to construct a microsite to promote the celebrations, sell the merchandise, have a dedicated historic gallery of images and also as a vehicle for our Notables project. In 2014, the OGA launched the project with the first 25 notables. The school took up the challenge with the ambition of naming 125 notables by the end of the 125-year celebrations. Halfway through the year and we are on track to have the 125 notable profiles on the website by the end of August. Again, Pru Reed’s work compiling the profiles must be acknowledged here. The criterion was straightforward: Old Girls who have had great success in their lives and careers and are inspirational role models to the current generation of St Margaret’s students and wider community. We also wanted to ensure that their success was by the standards of the era in which they lived. The next consideration is whether these profiles remain just on the website or we find some appropriate space in the school to frame each notables story as ongoing inspiration to the student body.

The six months prior to 2020 were busily spent designing and populating the website, sourcing quotes and suppliers for the badges and merchandise, planning the book launch for late November and our first events for 2020: a cathedral service and the Women’s Lunch (an amplified Mothers’ Lunch, organised by the P&F Association). The microsite was launched in October 2019 and merchandise from various suppliers started to arrive. We designed and produced special cards and stationery to use throughout the anniversary year and set about inviting our first additional notables. The day the books arrived was very exciting. We managed to unload them in between showers to Community House – the only place in the school capable of storing the 2000 books (1000 of which we hoped to sell throughout the heightened 2020 celebrations – that curve has been well and truly been flattened for now!). The book launch in November was a lovely evening. Madonna King spoke most affectionately about the stories she had uncovered through the process of writing the book and generously stayed on to sign books. Attendees – a good mix of current and past parents and staff and Old Girls – were all very excited to be amongst the first to receive their copies. It was a simple event of drinks and canapes and speeches by Madonna, Ros Curtis and President of the Old Girls’ Association Nicole Devlin, but the atmosphere was quite joyous and for a weeknight people stayed long after we expected them to have headed home. The dawning of our anniversary coincided with murmurs of a new worrisome virus. We were fortunate to be able to hold the cathedral service, where our badges were blessed by the Archbishop, and the Women’s Lunch just scraped in before large gatherings were scrapped. Our focus turned to online learning and our community celebrations were cancelled week upon week as the advice against large gatherings was extended. Plans for little wish list items like a small 125-year commemorative garden were also cancelled, preferring instead to save funds to assist our families, some of whom we knew would need some level of assistance due to the impact of the coronavirus. As we write this article there appears to be light at the end of the tunnel and we will be able to resurrect some of our celebrations. Reunions have been slightly reimagined and rescheduled to September and the MAYO Festival postponed to October can hopefully proceed. The opening of our sports precinct – the redevelopment of one third of our campus – was going to be much cause for celebration, including a sandshoe ball and grand opening, made all the more special by falling within our 125th year. For the moment, our celebrations will be the fact we are soon able to inhabit this magnificent precinct and our students will reap all the wonderful benefits it will bring. While our best laid plans for our 125th anniversary have gone astray and that’s unfortunate, this year there have been far more important matters to consider. Most importantly, our community, as they have throughout our history, have met this latest challenge with outstanding dedication to the school’s core purpose – the education of our girls. The coronavirus pandemic has given us cause to reflect on how the school has dealt with other challenges throughout its 125year history, including pandemics, world wars and the Great Depression. St Margaret’s has endured through all these when others have not. That alone is something worth celebrating. SUNATA 29