| EVENT REPORT 04.21.09 3:33 PM |
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Sixth Annual Buy Design Fund-Raiser Draws Guests With Social Media Campaign, Promises of Swag
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In a time of economic uncertainty, Windfall Clothing Service event manager Kelly Carmichael wanted to emphasize the return on investment for guests attending (or considering attending) the clothing bank’s "Buy Design 6: In Space" fund-raiser, held Saturday at the Fermenting Cellar. “We really wanted people to know it was worth it to come,” said Carmichael, who worked with Faulhaber PR to launch a social media campaign and Web site promoting the benefit’s purpose and perks.
“Facebook and Twitter are great ways to get a dialogue going with people about the event and our organization, which is especially important in times like these," Carmichael said. The face of the Twitter campaign, BuyBarella, a character inspired by the Jane Fonda movie Barbarella, tweeted about everything from outfit ideas for the space-themed event to hints about the night’s hors d’oeuvres (like herb-crusted lamb chops), and the gift bag (stuffed with full-size beauty products from sponsor Proctor & Gamble). BuyBarella's 477 Twitter followers had a chance to win one of three sets of tickets to the benefit.
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RELATED TOPICS
Windfall Clothing Service, Procter & Gamble, Smashbox, L'Oréal, Hugo Boss, Stonegate, TD Bank Financial Group, BMO Financial Group, Alterna Savings, Ontario Credit Union Charitable Foundation, Davis + Henderson, Mill Street Brewery, XOXO Wine, Skyy Vodka, Evian, Fashion Magazine, Now, The Globe and Mail, blogTO, She Does the City |
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| MY FAVORITE VENDORS 07.03.08 11:46 AM |
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Mill Street Brewery Relies on Unit 11
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 | | Steve Abrams |
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Steve Abrams, co-founder and marketing and events manager of Mill Street Brewery, is always looking for innovative ways to “drive liquid to lips.” Abrams executed about 240 events in the last year, double the amount of the previous year. He is currently preparing for the Toronto Festival of Beer at Fort York, and just wrapped Luminato, Toronto’s Festival of Arts & Creativity, where Mill Street Brewery ran an outdoor beer garden. Abrams has been with Mill Street Brewery since December 2002, when he founded the company with Michael Duggan and Jeffrey Cooper.
Rentals/Props/Decor: "Unit 11 created an amazing gallery for us [during Luminato]; they created an outdoor gallery space, and built our bars and displays for us. They created a 10 by 10 area with walls that were lit. We had a T-shirt design contest for Luminato so we displayed the shirts and the winning T-shirt. There was also a 50-foot bar that they set up and dismantled for the event. They’re really clever guys who work quickly and come up with great work."
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Mill Street Brewery |
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| EVENT REPORT 04.29.08 3:23 PM |
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Studio 54 Inspires Retro Vibe at Buy Design Fund-Raiser
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 | The Buy Design benefit
Photo: Courtesy of Faulhaber PR |
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Attracting volunteers to help organize Buy Design 54, the fifth annual fund-raiser for Windfall Clothing Service—inspired by the legendary New York nightclub Studio 54—held Saturday at the Fermenting Cellar in the Distillery District, wasn’t all that difficult, according to event manager Alessia Pugliese. “We never struggle to get volunteers,” said Pugliese, who credited the volunteer team for the event's success. About 50 volunteers, some of whom worked throughout the entire planning process (which began in July), helped pull off the fashion-conscious event, which raises money to support the award-winning charity that distributes new clothing and basic-needs items to Torontonians in need.
“For us, the biggest challenge, being a non-for-profit, is always money,” Pugliese said. “We put on this event on a very tight budget. We are very lucky because our volunteers are so young and most of them are in the media or fashion industry, so creativity is not a problem.” Adrian Mainella, the new host of CBC’s Fashion File, is one volunteer whose profile helped bring exposure to the event. Mainella, who has been involved with Buy Design since its inception, served as the evening’s host and donated a night out with him as one of the more than 150 items up for bid at silent and live auctions.
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RELATED TOPICS
Windfall Clothing Service, TD Bank Financial Group, BMO Financial Group, Mill Street Brewery, Now Magazine, Fashion Magazine, She Does the City, The Globe and Mail, BlogTO, Alterna Savings, Ontario Credit Union Charitable Foundation |
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| EVENT REPORT 04.08.08 12:22 PM |
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Lanterns, Tents Create Moroccan Vibe at CJPAC Party
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 | Tealights above a bar
Photo: BizBash |
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For its second annual Action party Thursday, the Canadian Jewish Political Affairs Committee wanted to switch things up by hosting the event in a new venue (the 2007 party took place at the Dominion Club). "We just like to change things up a bit and this is a very under-done venue," organizing committee co-chair Debbie Osiel said of the Manyata Courtyard Cafe in Hazelton Lanes. Although the spot is often used for film festival events, Osiel reported, "within our community it hasn't been done so much."
The committee worked with Designing Trendz to create the concept for the Moroccan-themed party for 500 guests. "Someone [suggested] the white theme but it's so overdone," Osiel said of the committee's choice.
A Morroccan theme was a wholly unique choice, either—it just so happened that the Jocelyn Foundation's Belle ball, held the same night, also featured Moroccan decor by Designing Trendz. The two events looked very different though—the Belle ball was decorated in black- and-white fabric with feather centrepieces, while the Action party featured two large tents as bars and Moroccan lanterns on tables—with one exception. The same tall, golden trees, surrounded by roses and adorned with hanging tealights, appeared at both parties. (And most likely nobody but us noticed.)
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RELATED TOPICS
Canadian Jewish Political Affairs Committee, PanFinancial, Mill Street Brewery, MIJO Corporation, Roots, The Courtyards of Upper Forest Hill, BMW Toronto, Jocelyn Foundation |
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