Let's Go Logo; Hero Quest Logo Reveal!

Hello my dear readers! (All two of you.) I must apologize for missing a post last week. The life of a 22 year old entrepreneur is one of pandemonium. And that is all that I am going to say about that.

So let's talk about logos. But let me start by expressing my love for in-laws. Do you know why I love in-laws? Because they add talents and resources to the family that were not already there. For example my family never had a piano player until my brother married Lacie, who is an awesome pianist, and now that gap in our family resume is filled! And our most recent family addition, my sister in-law Michelle, is a graphic artist! That is like the in-law jackpot for a girl trying to start a business off of favors. It honestly wasn't very long after the wedding that I started to recruit Michelle for Adventure Valley.

The Very First Adventure Valley Logo

She has designed all of our logos (and hopefully will continue to do so for the foreseeable future). If you've been to our website or Facebook page you have seen our main logo, which I love! She also did the logo for Christmas Expedition.

Christmas Expedition Logo

Most recently we have been working on our Hero Quest logo, and just got one finalized. It actually only went through a few versions--Michelle is amazing.

I gave her very little direction, because designing logos is so far from anything that I am good at. Basically she already knows the feel of our company, and our audience, and then I told her to add a super hero/greek mythology theme and set her loose.

First Go at the Hero Quest Logo

I was blown away by the first version. It captured the feeling I wanted so well, and with such little input from me! The one thing that was a little off when I first saw it was that is seemed more roman than greek; a distinction that I know would mean nothing to most people. I think it was mostly because of the red font, and the spears. So with that feedback she set to work again.

Runner-Up for Final Logo

The next round of logos were all so awesome that it was hard to choose between them. Devin and I independently picked the same two, but neither of us had a favorite! I don't really know how I chose, I think I asked for my family's input, and then mostly just went with my gut.

Do you love the logo! (<< Purposely not a question mark.) I do! What do you guys think? Any suggestions? Any funny logo stories? Share in the comments!

See you at Hero Quest!
-Whitney

Feeling Pretty Sure

Hello! How has your week been? Mine has been filled with ups and downs, but I suppose that is just what is to be expected. As far as Adventure Valley, however, everything is on the up and up!

The main thing that I have been working on is getting us some insurance! On the recommendation from my lawyer brother, our team had acknowledged the need for insurance a couple times. But for some reason it totally got left out of our business plan and proposed budget. (Oops.) That is actually the main feedback that our investor had when we presented to him two weeks back. He didn't say that we needed to find a way to fit it in our proposed budget though, so here's hoping he is planning to pay for the insurance outside of our budget.

Here's the thing, there is actually a pretty big market for event insurance out there. Did you know some people even get liability insurance for weddings and birthday parties? Who are you inviting to these things that you are worried is going to sue you? Anyway, the possibility for someone to get injured at events is real, and if it happens, I don't want to be stuck holding the cost. Unfortunately, (but actually totally fortunately) we have a train, and possibly a zip line, at our events. For us and our guests it means lots of added fun and excitement, but to insurance companies it means added risk, and for many of the basic event insurance companies it means denial for coverage.

As you know, we try to do everything in the least expensive way possible, and often times that means doing it ourselves. So I have been working on finding an insurance policy with help exclusively from my assistant, Google. But after working on this problem for a couple months, and even employing the help of my lawyer brother, I still had not made any headway on finding a policy that would work for us. This being an important enough thing, it was time to call in the professionals.

Luckily my father, who is also a business owner (admittedly on a much larger scale than myself) already had a contact inside an insurance brokerage that specializes in helping people find somewhat obscure policies. So I am finally making headway on this! I have an application and everything. I haven't gotten any bids back yet, so that still has the potential to steal this victory, but for now I am happy.

Now it's time to start getting serious about flyer distribution. One thing at a time, I guess. :)

See you at Hero Quest! T-minus 93 days!

-Whitney