PERC stands for Physics Education Research Conference. It’s a gathering of Physics students and educators to discuss the future of their field and strategies to continue engaging future generations; especially in minority groups.

The 2022 PER Conference was held in Grand Rapids, Michigan and as the organizers were playing the event they wanted to hold a sanctioned, non-alcoholic (all ages), reception for the participants to replace a less-then-ideal non-official event that typically happened and caused concerns regarding underage drinking and exclusion of the younger students.

The theme of the 2022 conference was “Queering Physics” and when the organizers were looking for someplace to hold the reception they found Joule’s Molly House. The perfect combination of science, sober, and queer.

As the owner and main organizer of the Joule’s Molly House event I worked closely with the PERC, located throughout the United States, to organize a fun and colorful variety show and silent auction. The silent auction helped to raise money for Joule’s Molly House. Joule’s was, at the time pop-up only location and was saving money toward a brick & mortar permanent location.

Decor, Design, and Color Palette

Variety Show

The variety show element added to the atmosphere and brought connection and collaboration to to the forefront. Comedians, a spoken-word artists, and drag queens, celebrating the queer arts.

Silent Auction Items and Setup

The silent auction raised roughly $1,000 for Joule’s Molly House. We used Galabid.com to organize and control the auction and streamline payment.

Designing the look of the event was a collaborative effort between myself and Elizabeth Paige, our Social Media Marketing Lead and designer. Elizabeth created the special PERC logo and color palette for the event. This included a style sheet and layout for the auction signs and variety show program.

I took the lead on decoration and menu development. PERC requested light snacks along with a custom menu from Joule’s. Joule’s renamed some drinks and created a few new ones for this special event.