| Q & A 10.16.08 9:00 AM |
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Cathy Brown Is Planning Halloween Events in Three Cities and Bracing for the Next Administration
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 | Cathy Brown
Photo: Courtesy of Children Affected by AIDS Foundation |
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Cathy Brown has spent more than 10 years as president of Children Affected by AIDS Foundation (CAAF), and for her, October always seems to be particularly busy. From her base in Los Angeles, Brown oversees the foundation's annual Dream Halloween event, a production-heavy affair that brings family activities set in a Trick or Treat village to three American cities. This year, the event comes to Chicago's Windy City Fieldhouse on October 18, New York's Roseland Ballroom the next day, and Barker Hangar in Los Angeles on October 25. The event is expected to draw 1,200, 700, and 2,200 guests, respectively.
Along with planning the three-city event, Brown spent the past year facilitating a surrounding campaign, which launched October 1. The campaign aims to raise funds and awareness for CAAF and features everything from specially designed Dream Halloween costumes to an interactive e-card available on the CAAF Web site and a promotional video starring Jamie Lee Curtis. We recently spoke with Brown about these efforts, building relationships with corporate sponsors, and working at a nonprofit in the current economy.
Give us some background on Dream Halloween.
Halloween is the second largest retail holiday, and it's a time of fun and celebration for both children and adults. Fifteen years ago, CAAF decided to capitalize on this and celebrate Halloween in a fashion that would also enable us to raise funds. This last year, we have expanded the event into a full-blown campaign that involves corporate partners, a Halloween e-card, and a text-message campaign.
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RELATED TOPICS
Children Affected by AIDS Foundation, Toys R Us, Mattel, American Airlines, Nickelodeon, Resnick Automotive Group, MySpace, Facebook, Disney, Jamie Lee Curtis, James Gandolfini, Melina Kanakaredes |
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| TREND SPOTTED 08.04.08 12:56 PM |
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Events Get Tagged With Graffiti
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 | A muralist at Angeleno magazine's summer release party.
Photo: BizBash |
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Whether it’s as entertainment, decor, an activity, or an art installation, graffiti has added an edgy vibe to several recent events.
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RELATED TOPICS
Angeleno Magazine, The Dark Knight, Warner Brothers, Kidrobot, Mini Cooper, Nickelodeon, Watermill Center, Sundance Institute, Art Gallery of Ontario |
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| GUEST QUESTIONS 12.07.07 3:22 PM |
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MTV Staffers on Snow Globes, '80s Tunes
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It's corporate holiday party time, so we're heading out into the cold to ask employees what they think about their companies' bashes. (That's the point, right?) Here's our second report of the season.
Last night was one of the biggies: MTV Networks' annual holiday party at the Hammerstein Ballroom, which arrived with the possibility of some Gawker-fueled demonstrations from freelancers over their health-insurance beef with Viacom.
As we shivered outside, the weary staffers (some slightly inebriated) from Nickelodeon, VH1, Comedy Central, and Logo voiced their thoughts whilst smoking or waiting for their rides home. Wary of corporate repercussions, nobody wanted to give a name and many were reluctant to tell us their titles, but plenty had something to say about the event. There was the usual complaining about overcrowding, but the people we talked to also offered up some opinions on the decorations, the food, and—naturally—the music:
"I liked the decor. The colors were lighter than last year, and there was sort of a theme: snow globes. There was a big snow-globe centerpiece with men and women models playing Twister inside."
—MTV employee, 30
"No matter where you go, all roads lead to MTV. This is my second party, third year working here, and everyone always talks about nothing but this party. The music is weird this year. What they should do is put a band on—that's the one thing missing this year. And the interrogating was not good; when I and someone else came outside for a cigarette, the guards accost you: 'Who are you? Where'd you come from?' Also, I think when I'm leaving later, I'm going to have the worst experience lining up waiting for all the cars to come. At least they're prepaid for us."
—Sales coordinator, MTV, 33
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RELATED TOPICS
MTV, Viacom, Nickelodeon, VH1, Comedy Central, Corporate Holiday Parties |
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