Writing Dailey

Rambling blog and long-winded tangential stories aside, I’m a fairly organized, straightforward, and structured individual.

Over the years, I’ve been told I should be a personal assistant, a secretary, or a day-of wedding coordinator, which are all fine compliments and testaments to my orderliness. Truth be told, in high school, I did want to be an event coordinator or a wedding planner.

I thought I had the gumption to whip plans into shape and exceed the expectations of clients and attendees. Ultimately, I do possess those abilities, but I am so grateful that wedding-centric shows like Bridezillas, Say Yes to the Dress, and My Fair Wedding with David Tutera were all airing at this pivotal juncture in my life because I realized dealing with stressed out individuals and their families and friends and having to make copious phone calls just wasn’t my golden ticket.

Did this blessed future career realization dissuade me from helping plan and organize in my personal life—absolutely not. I love putting together plans for parties, gatherings, and the like for friends and loved ones. From niece sleepovers and spooky movie nights to holiday gift exchanges and making out-of-town plans and accommodations, I love facilitating fun events and happenings. I am usually the first person to start rattling off possible dates for said gatherings and thinking up menu ideas—I’m an action-taker.

It is worth nothing that planning does come with a manageable dose of stress—will my friends think my apartment is cute and clean; will people like the food I made or think the game I selected is fun, etc. These concerns are low-hanging fruit on the tree of stress; however, these events are predominantly contained within my personal life, so there’s some wiggle room and grace that come along with the territory. Where planning gets a bit more intense is when you’re doing it in a professional capacity.

For the past few years, I have been event planning with the C.S. Lewis Festival. Helping to put together, host, and facilitate events like book discussions, film screenings, keynote addresses, performances, seminars, and more.

And before my involvement with this literary-based nonprofit, I was steeped in the world of Crooked Tree Arts Center, which hosts a litany of year-round events in downtown Petoskey. I was only in charge of one event—the Young Writers Exposition—but I was very involved with all of the lectures, performances, wine tastings, holiday happenings, exhibit openings, and fundraisers the organization hosted.

So, it was only natural that I pump up my event planning experience numbers by diving head-first with three friends into creating a brand-new event in Northern Michigan—being organized, I’ve got the skills, right?

You may recall that earlier this year, I shared information about the Storykeepers Ball, a literary-focused, entry-level soiree for all readers and lovers of stories, and with each passing week, my team and I are getting closer to the inaugural event.

Storykeepers Ball is happening Saturday, May 2, 2026, a little over five months from now, and there’s much to do. We have procured a venue (The Boathouse on Lake Charlevoix), a photographer (Mike Gady of Trekking Trails Photography), a DJ (DJ T-Bone, who rocked it out at Muskrat Distilling on Halloween), bookish vendors (McLean & Eakin Booksellers, Rain & Revelry, and more!), table sponsors (Harbor Springs Festival of the Book, Dust & Blush Book Shop, GioWerkz, and others!), door prizes, and book décor, and we’re in the process of solidifying a caterer, putting together our book-themed scavenger hunt, and fine-tuning everything.

It takes a lot of work and creativity to plan a large event, and I’m so thrilled to be doing it with such a fun and talented team. Together, we’re collecting quotes, setting up meetings, doing follow-ups, securing commitments, promoting the event, and creating a lot of content featuring costumes, books, and silly antics. And the best part is that each of us brings unique skills to the proverbial table.

Becky excels at public speaking, has extensive cocktail knowledge, and is willing to wear almost any one-piece character costume. Dustin is a social media and marketing ace, knows how to command a crowd’s attention, and can do back flips upon request. Jasmine possesses stellar graphic design skills, makes the best lattes (we Storykeepers obviously require caffeine), and can rock a mermaid tail. And I can whip together dialogue or written content on the fly, artfully follow up with vendors and sponsors (my inner secretary comes out), and keep things organized.

Where the circles of our Venn Diagram overlap is in the sectors of being well-read, creative, having community connections from all of our jobs, having business experience, and storing extensive fantasy book knowledge in our heads. So many skills are being put to good use in our planning, and we can’t wait to share our creation with the community and attendees.

We haven’t even had the inaugural event yet, and people are already asking about other events we plan to host and whether we’ll host youth events in the future. I feel like that’s a really good sign when people are asking for more, even though our vision hasn’t come to fruition yet.

If you’re interested in learning more about Storykeepers Ball and all the event planning, behind-the-scenes, and creative organization that’s going into it, sign up for our monthly newsletter, follow us on socials, or just be bold and buy a ticket!

We hope to grow this event into an annual event for book-lovers to attend and find community amongst other readers. We also plan to promote literacy and nurture a love of reading within our Northern Michigan region and beyond through this and potential future events.

It may be months away, but we are excited for what spring 2026 has in store. We hope to see you at our event so we can all celebrate stories together after a year of fun and well-organized planning.

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Monday, December 29