This year marks the 25th year of the Randy Smith Memorial Golf Classic, the experiential marketing industry’s largest charity event. To mark this event, to be held Oct. 4 at the Chateau Elan Golf Club in Braselton, Ga., the board of directors has made a number of changes.
A new logo has been created to distinguish this milestone, and the name of the event has been updated and shortened to “The Randy.”“We hope many of the previous recipients and participants will join us for a special time of celebrating lives we have all loved, and still love; lives that the Randy has supported over the last 25 years”, says Rich Johnson, one of the founders of the event.
The objective of The Randy is to help families in the exhibition industry who have suffered severe tragedies or face insurmountable medical expenses. The commitment is to provide financial and emotional support to all past and present recipients and their families.
The first event was held at Hidden Hills Country Club in Stone Mountain, Ga., in August 1995. The first two years the event focused solely on providing support for the family of Randy Smith, a project manager for an Atlanta-based exhibit house. He died tragically in an automobile accident on his way home after working long hours at the Sporting Goods Super Show in January of 1995. Randy left behind a wife and two small children.
In 1997, the decision was made to open up the event to other families who had suffered a similar tragedy or faced true hardship. Since its inception, The Randy, and its officially sanctioned ancillary events, have assisted over 170 industry families with financial and emotional support, raising nearly $2 million in the process.
Participation in the event is open to anyone in any segment of the exhibition industry. Many competing companies in their respective fields have known The Randy as the day they “lay down their swords” for the good of the overall cause.
For more info, visit www.rsmgc.org.
