There are a lot of factors involved with the planning of Veishea, and the marketing committee is one of the keys to the student-run celebration’s success.

The Veishea marketing committee is composed of 30 students who raise funds for the annual event.

“We have Veishea representatives that have gone out to local businesses to see if they would like to donate or sponsor Veishea in any way,” said Mike Gaul, co-chairman of the marketing committee.

Gaul, senior in agricultural studies, said the companies receive advertising for their donations.

“There are probably 75 to 100 businesses involved in one way or another,” he said. “Our representatives began contacting businesses after Christmas break in late January and early February. “

The committee members have gone through quite a bit of training, said Angie Pithan, public relations co-chairwoman.

“We began the process of marketing Veishea in December,” said Pithan, senior in public service and administration in agriculture. “During that time, we were informed about the proper way to go about and ask for donations.”

Pithan said committee members were then split up to cover different areas of Ames.

The committee did “really well this year,” Gaul said.

“The Ames community and area businesses were very receptive towards the marketing committee, which raised quite a lot of merchandise for Veishea this year,” he said. “We got a lot of things to give away this year at Veishea events, like the parade and the tournaments.”

Pithan agreed that all the hard work has paid off.

“I think we have raised around $20,000 in donations and prizes,” she said. “The marketing committee did a great job.”

Gaul also said the alcohol-free aspect of this year’s celebration is encouraging to businesses that sponsor Veishea.

“There has been above-average supporting by the Ames community and area businesses because of the alcohol-free Veishea,” he said. “It is good [public relations] for the businesses because they are putting their name with the largest alcohol-free celebration in the nation.”