Hawaiian Hoops 2016: I cordially invite you to Week 5

Welcome to Week 5 with the Finch Fanatics!

We are two weeks away from the Mt. Pleasant Gus Macker Launch Party and could not be more excited!

Let me take a second to officially invite you with this graphic and persuasive grouping of words:

You, the lovely person reading this blog, are cordially invited to celebrate with the Finch Fanatics and 100 of our closest friends the Launch of the 2016 Mt. Pleasant Gus Macker Festival!

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 25TH

7-10 P.M.

HUNTER'S ALE HOUSE

(Cue visually appealing reminder)

What a lovely flyer that is to print out and stick on your fridge so you cannot forget this unforgettable event coming up next week :)

Our launch party is going to be pretty awesome though. Not only will there be trivia and $3 drink special wrist bands (only for attendees 21+ of course), but let me tell you about our silent auction.

We are collecting some pretty incredible items for attendees to bid on in our silent auction.

Example A: Hawaiian themed Men's Sperry's Top Siders. (Great to wear to a Hawaiian themed 3-on-3 basketball festival. If, in case, you ever find yourself at such event.)

Example B: No big deal, but a Finch Fanatic managed to get a football signed by all of the Detroit Lions' wide receivers. Including, oh you may know him, a fellow named CALVIN JOHNSON.

That's just a lil' sneak peek for those of you who may or may not be cordially invited to attend the celebration and may or may not want to know what kind of items will be up for auction. (Stay tuned as we continue to collect some pretty awesome items.)

Besides the Launch Party, last week registration opened up for all 2016 Gus Macker tournaments. You can register for the Mt. Pleasant tournament here.

So if you are interested in registering your team sooner than later, please feel free!

With that said, we also talked a little more about sponsorships this week because without help from our amazing sponsors, we wouldn't be able to make this incredible tournament possible.

Sponsorships are vital to any event which is why our sponsors get some pretty cool benefits. Just as an example, our $200 sponsors get a great package including:

1. A custom banner with their name on it on a court during the tournament.

2. A quarter page advertisement in the Gussette which is created by yours truly. This is customizable in whatever way the sponsor wishes. The Gussette is also in every player bag given to all participants in the tournament.

3. A 30 second PA advertisement commercial; 4 Saturday and Sunday.

4. The opportunity to put items in player bags. (You got pens with your logo on it? You have extra water bottles with your logo? You have something cool with your logo on it? We love pens, water bottles and cool things with your logo on it. That is going right into every player bag at our tournament.)

5. A free team in the tournament.

6. Photos of court banner and signage post event.

I bold and italicize number five for a reason. This is so awesome and I think it needs to be emphasized that because our sponsors are helping us out tremendously and donating $200 to our tournament, we waive the $140 fee to register a team and just give one to them.

So let me help you out with why that is so cool:

200 - 140 = 60

Technically, sponsors get all of this cool advertisement for just $60 AND get to participate in the tournament.

So if you're a business, looking for an awesome sponsorship opportunity...

I cordially invite you to look into becoming a sponsor for the 2016 Mt. Pleasant Gus Macker Festival because we love our sponsors, take immensely good care of them and would love to see you participate in the tournament you helped make happen.

We were also introduced to something new this year called the Pod Squad:

(From left to right: Rebecca, Maddie, Aaron, Jamie and Rachel)

These five have all been Finch Fanatics and a part of planning past Gus Macker Festivals. They will be assisting our court captains this year with some crisis management and are in charge of a group or "pod" of courts. If we need anything, they are here to help.

Thank you, Pod Squad. It's great to have you back.

That's it for Week 5 with the Finch Fanatics. Stay tuned to see what happens in Week 6.

Also, just a little shout out to this fellow Finch Fanatic, friend and all around talented and awesome person, Ashley Lonsway! Last week Ashley was offered and accepted the Marketing and Promotions Assistant position with the Lakewood Blueclaws 2016 season!