Behind the Scenes of Planning Izzi's Family Fun Day
I had the pleasure of speaking with Angel Chang, Izzi’s Marketing and Communications Manager, to get a behind-the-scenes interview to our Family Fun Day event and understand what goes into the planning. By: Jonathan Oei
When did this start? Why is this an important event for our Izzi community?
We had our first Family Fun Day in 2019. I forget the idea of how it exactly came about. We had just celebrated our 35th anniversary with a fundraising event in October 2019. We were throwing around different ideas to engage our entire family community in a way that we’ve never done before. A walkathon? An international food fair? We landed on community info fair at San Mateo Central Park Recreation Center. That year, we had a father figure community conference on one side and a community info fair with different partners tabling on the other side. We had a few of our staff also lead a crafts and activity table too. I remember that year, San Mateo County Library had a table where they brought a 3D printer. That was really popular with the families to see.
It was an important event, because it was the first time we’d host something for all our families to join us, especially to have it at the end of Week of the Young Child.*
What goes into the planning efforts for this event? Why this venue?
We chose San Mateo Central Park Recreation Center in 2019, because it is 1) centrally located and 2) indoors in case of rain. There’s a lot to coordinate, but first like any big event is to secure the venue much in advance. We have to consider spring breaks and Easter holiday weekends to confirm a date. To get our sites and programs involved, we ask each of them to host a carnival booth for games and activities. We think about musical entertainment, a wellness space, and if we want to bring food. Capacity is limited, so we also have to really take crowd control into consideration and ask families to pre-register in advance. Free events can also be tricky, because there’s no true obligation to show up and an estimated guest count won’t be accurate. Hoping for a good turnout still!
What’s new about this year?
Many of our favorite partners are coming back like Mike and Mike leading outdoor activities and Lori and RJ entertaining from the main stage! New this year, we have Soccer Shots joining us on the back outdoor lawn. We have San Mateo County Library and our very own Izzi Father Figure Cafe co-hosting the lobby “cafe and books” vibe. Lunch logistics was a struggle last time, so we’re offering free ice cream instead while encouraging families to pack their own picnic lunch. We’re also having a new board engagement event a few blocks away!
What do you hope families walk away with or the hopes for how families will feel as they leave?
This is truly an Izzi community event. We’re going to have our teachers and staff help with registration and carnival games. We have community partners helping us host different activities. We’ve invited all our Izzi families to join us. I hope our families walk away with a sense of joy being a part of the Izzi community. We love our families. We really do and want to celebrate them.
What are some of the biggest challenges you face when planning the event?
For this event, our biggest challenges will be crowd control with the capacity limits. Like I mentioned, having a free event makes it hard to have an accurate headcount. Parking will also be limited for our guests, since this venue is located in downtown San Mateo. That said, this will be our 3rd year at this space with the return of many of our vendors and staff helping out, so hopefully we can work through some of these familiar challenges.
Do you see the event growing in the future, and if so, how?
Absolutely! We’d love to keep this an annual signature event for our community. Given that space has been an issue in the past, we’d love to consider expanding to a larger and possibly outdoor space (weather pending) to better host all our families at once. We’d also welcome more vendors and community partners to join in. Lots of possibilities! To be continued. :)
*Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we didn’t have our Family Fun Day in 2020-2022. For the 2023-24 program year, we hosted our Family Fun Day in conjunction with our 40th anniversary October event at Curiodyssey.
Thanks Angel Chang for sharing your behind the scenes insights and looking forward to a great Family Fun day 2025!
