Advertising the event at "Marion Cafe"

When the task to think to a "STAR" project was first introduced to me, I was intimidated by the thought of organizing a project. I worried first about what project I could think of and secondly, who I could count on besides myself to initiate and follow-through with the idea until its conclusion.
I felt that I had thought of a fun and unique plan to promote health and share information with the community. My original idea was to have a "panel of experts" host an FAQ session where the questions would be spontaneous, like a talk show.
Initially, I thought that some of the administration members at my place of employment would be supportive of my efforts. As it turns out, securing a venue so that I could host my STAR event was one of the more challenging aspects of my plan. After I encountered a few dead-end locations, I decided to host the event at the senior dining site where I volunteer. Marion Senior Services was very accommodating and supportive of my ideas and interest in the seniors they provide services to.
The next dead-end I encountered was recruiting a pharmacist to participate on my panel. After it became apparent that I couldn't gain support from my contacts, I decided to forge ahead with my idea by modifying original plan and continuing on with the participation of myself and a physician.
I set up an area to collect questions from my audience. Prior to the event, I collected the questions that had accumulated. This gave me a chance to make sure that we had some knowledge of the topics.
The day of the event I arrived early to set up the materials I had brought. When Dr. Sal arrived, we went over our plans and which topics to cover first. I was disappointed at first because there were only about 9 people when the session started (at 10:30 a.m.). As the presentation continued, more people gradually filed in.
I was pleased that as material and topics were covered, the participants thought of other questions and scenarios for discussion. I felt that Dr. Sal was an excellent speaker for the seniors in attendance. He did not use a lot of medical jargon and told several "real life" stories. I could see that the audience identified with him and was interested in what he was saying.
Overall, I am very pleased with how my project turned out. Although the planning and preparation was stressful, I enjoyed this event. My audience was very grateful and thanked myself and the doctor for our time. After we were done with the session, Dr. Sal indicated that he enjoyed teaching and sharing with the seniors. He even said he would be willing to teach other sessions if needed.
I felt that even though not everything I had planned came to fruition, that it was still a valuable experience for myself, Dr. Sal, and our audience. I passed out some evaluation sheets at the end of the event and the results were all very positive (except for one). The audience indicated that they learned something, that they enjoyed the event, and that they would be willing to participate in similar events if the opportunity presented itself.