The Art of Planning a Milestone Event, Graniterock's 125th Celebration Podcast No.3

Ever wondered how to pull off a monumental celebration like Graniterock's 125-year anniversary? Join us as we invite Paul Cianciarulo, the leadership behind the 15 team member planning event, to share his insights on organizing an unforgettable night. From a strolling dinner amidst stunning marine life at the Monterey Bay Aquarium to thrilling casino games and a unique movie screening of 125 the Movie, get an insider's look at the meticulous planning that ensures every detail is just right. Listen in as we promise you a peek into the smooth logistics of transportation and accommodations, crucial for making the evening seamless for all attendees. 

Dive into the nitty-gritty of prepping for this grand occasion which is on February 22, 2025, with valuable contributions from celebration team members, Jeff Williams and Chandra Palacios. Discover what awaits you at the check-in, where you'll be greeted with name tags, drink tickets, and a convenient coat check. With only ten weeks to go, anticipation is building, and we couldn't have done it without the dedication of our incredible team. Whether you're part of the Graniterock family or a valued community member, this episode serves as your ultimate guide to ensuring you enjoy every moment of this historic celebration.

Hosted by Abbie Gordon

For questions about this event, please contact us at 125team@graniterock.com

Chapters

• 0:04 Granite Rock 125 Party Planning Details
• 10:27 Aquarium Check-in and Event Preparation

Transcript

Abbie: 0:04

take that out. Welcome back to our third and final 125 party podcast. I'm your host, abby gordon, and today we have the pleasure of having three out of our 15 team members join me. Today we have paul chincharillo, who is chairing our 125 committee, and this is Paul's first time overseeing a party event. Also joining us is Jeff Williams. Jeff has been on the celebrations team from the beginning and helps us steer in the right direction when it comes to the music, av and technical issues. And last we have Chandra Palacios, who joined this past year and is overseeing our Decor Committee.

Abbie: 0:51

As I mentioned before, this is our third podcast, so if you haven't listened to the first and second one, please go back to our Rock Talk app where they are posted there. So, just as a recap, party will be held at the Monterey Bay Aquarium on February 22, 2025 from 6.45pm to 11.30pm. This will be a strolling dinner for our event, including a casino which has about, I believe, seven tables, dancing and, of course, our Granite Rock 125 movie. Paul, first, give us your thoughts about chairing the 125 committee this year. Do you have sleepless nights over the event?

Paul: 1:38

Absolutely Well. First, good morning. Thank you for having me on the podcast. So, as you said in the introduction, this is my first time and I am not planning the party.

Paul: 1:49

I am just a participant on the team, and the way I got here was it was a year ago, and Peter Lemon, in an executive team meeting, expressed that the family wanted to have a 125 year celebration.

Paul: 2:03

He was looking for somebody from the executive team to help coordinate and arrange for this party, and so I slept on it for a night and I contacted Peter the next day and I thought maybe I could bring something to the planning, just because of my previous project management experience in the construction, with my 37 years of doing this.

Paul: 2:25

And so I brought that to Peter, and Peter thought that that would be a good idea, and so I quickly knew that I had to assemble an amazing team of people that really knew how to plan a party, and so I started with the people that had previously planned our 120-year party that was up in San Jose, which was a fantastic event.

Paul: 2:47

And so, abby, I came to you and I think after some discussion, you finally agreed and saw the way to join the team, and then after that we quickly put together a team of 15 amazing or 14 amazing individuals who have really been planning this event for the last year, and what I know is that on the night of the event, which will be on February 22nd, it'll just come together flawlessly and seamlessly. There's been lots and lots of hours put in by these 14 amazing individuals throughout Granite Rock and it's going to be a fantastic party for our team members and for the family and for our community members and government officials and all those people that have been invited to attend. I think we're going to be somewhere between 1,000 and 1,100 people and, with all of those things and giant fish swimming around and the backdrops, it's just going to be an amazing experience. I think it's going to be one to really be proud of.

Abbie: 3:46

Thank you and, coming from my experience, you've been a great leader. You've kept us on task, you've pinpointed things that some of us would not have thought and, of course, kept us on budget.

Paul: 4:01

Thank you.

Abbie: 4:03

Also, can you enlighten us about the transportation for the night and how that's going to flow from the hotels, ubers and parking garages?

Paul: 4:14

Yeah, perfect. Hotels, ubers and parking garages yeah, perfect. So the way that the team was assembled, everybody had different tasks that they brought to the table and a couple of things that I worked on was the transportation and actually the giveaways, which I know you'll talk about a little bit later. But specific to the transportation, we want to make sure that everybody can get to the party safely and leave the party safely. So if you're some of the people that are attending that are going to be staying at the Marriott or the Portola, which is in downtown Monterey, we've arranged bus transportation so the buses will start leaving the Portola there's kind of a central plaza area that separates between the two hotels and so the buses will stage and they'll start leaving for the event about 20 to 25 minutes before the two hotels, and so the buses will stage and they'll start leaving for the event about 20 to 25 minutes before the event starts and they will run through the evening delivering people to the event about every 15 or 20 minutes and then take you back, and I think the last bus leaves about 30 minutes after the event.

Paul: 5:12

There's also a parking garage and I apologize, it's a couple of blocks away. It's about a parking garage and, I apologize, it's a couple of blocks away. It's about a five to seven minute walk. But the buses, once they leave the Portola and the Marriott, they will stop at that four-story parking garage, which is down by Cannery Row. It'll be an additional pickup spot.

Paul: 5:29

It'll deliver you right to the front of the Monterey Bay Aquarium where you can exit, and then, of course, at the end of the evening, you can catch that bus back to the parking garage or back to the Marriott or the Portola. Additionally, for people that may need a little assistance at the end of the evening or, you know, your car breaks down or the transportation you thought you had isn't there, we're going to have Uber set up so you can reach out to one of the team members that are planning the party and they'll be readily identifiable at the event. We'll know who they are and they can get you a voucher for Uber to get you back to where you need to get to safely. So that's all in the works.

Abbie: 6:13

And this information will also be included in the invitation that's going out on December 9th.

Paul: 6:19

That's correct, Okay great Jeff.

Abbie: 6:22

can you give us some more information about the accommodations? That's been the biggest question on our 125 committee email.

Jeff: 6:32

Yes, as Paul had mentioned, we do have accommodations at the Marriott, the Portola and the International Continental Hotels and unfortunately, at this point, the Continental room block has already been booked out. So I think that's one of our frequently asked questions. People are trying to book there. They can't. That's the reason. So go ahead and book through the Marriott or the Portola Hotel. At this point going forward, you can do so by using the QR code that is listed in the save the date invitation. We'll also be on the invitation that goes out starting on the 9th and that's where you can find all that information and book your accommodations.

Abbie: 7:15

I know at the beginning for the 125 movie we had three time slots. Have we added an additional time slot?

Jeff: 7:23

Yes, due to popular demand, we went ahead and added a fourth showing, so the showing times will be 745, 830, 915, and 10 pm. The 7 45 show is already booked out again. You can reserve your time slot through the qr code for those additional time slots for the 8, 30, 9, 15 and 10 o'clock and so what happens if somebody misses their time slot or forgets to sign up?

Abbie: 7:55

will they be? Is there an option to stand in line and get into one of the time slots?

Jeff: 8:01

yes, it's my understanding that um auditorium seats 250 people, there'll be about 50 seats available for um walk-ins or say you missed your time and you have to join the next showing things like that, and they'll do their best to accommodate everyone that wants to watch the 125 movie.

Abbie: 8:20

Great Chandra, hi, good morning. Good morning, can you tell us about the giveaways that we have set up for the employees who RSVP?

Chandra: 8:33

Yes, we're very grateful to quite a few vendors that are going to be donating some gifts to give away. We'll be selecting winners at random, and a couple of the gifts that are included are a couple of Ulta Beauty gift certificates, bass Pro gift certificate, coyote Golf Course gift certificates, as well as quite a few top golf certificates. My understanding is that there may be a few additional that will be raffled off in February and also announced on the Rock Talk, and that information will also be able to be accessed through the QR code. Great.

Abbie: 9:08

Sounds good. Paul, can you tell me what the headcount is expected for the night of the event?

Paul: 9:17

Yeah, well, we don't know exactly how many people are going to be attending the event because obviously there's a lot of team members here at Granite Rock. But what I will tell you is that we've already had and invitations haven't even gone out yet. We've sent out save the dates, but the invitations will be going out on December 9th, so you'll be getting those soon. But we've already had 600 team members have responded and said that they will be there. So we know that we're going to have a great party. So get your. You know, respond quickly, let us know that you're coming so that we can plan for everybody that's going to be there.

Paul: 9:51

If you have any additional questions, there is a specific mailbox set up for this event. Several people have used that. You can reach out to the committee at 125team at graniterockcom. You can ask any questions that you may have. We'll send that email to the specific person on the team that's working on whether it be hotels or transportation or the food that's going to be at the event, or what time the event, or entertainment, or anything that you may have a question about. We can answer that. So I'm just looking forward to a great party and thank you for having me today.

Abbie: 10:24

Fantastic. Thank you, paul Chandra. Can you explain how the check-in process is going to work when team members arrive to the aquarium Sure?

Chandra: 10:35

There will be the main door usage for check-in. We're going to have volunteers helping with registration. You'll be able to check in your name as well as getting a name tag and your two drink tickets for alcohol. There also will be water and soda throughout the night, but the drink tickets are specifically for alcohol, so just keep that in mind. You will have the option of also having a coat check, just because nobody really wants to carry all their stuff around all night. So just be on the lookout for that at the very beginning of walking into the aquarium and making sure that you got everything you need.

Abbie: 11:11

Sounds great. I'm looking so forward to this event. Great, I'm looking so forward to this event. We are about 10 weeks away and as soon as the holidays are over, it'll come fast and furious. So thank you, paul, chandra and Jeff for attending our last podcast. It's been great being the host of all three of them. It gave me some great experience and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Paul: 11:40

Thank you, Abby.

Abbie: 11:41

Thank you.