When hosting an annual fund-raiser for a children's museum full of eccentric permanent exhibits, planners don't need over-the-top decor. The directors of the Miami Children's Museum, Hannah Hausman and Deborah Spiegelman, along with marketing director Jordan Kenna, showed off the attractions (a giant sand castle by artist Carlos Alves, a mini cruise liner, and recording studios, among others) for guests to experience at their Be a Kid Again fund-raiser, which drew some of the area's top developers, politicians, and financiers.
To achieve their "Around the World We Go" travel theme, the directors relied, instead, on entertainment and food to tell the story. "We already have a great backdrop with our galleries," said Kenna. "We thought it would be fun to have different foods from different countries and performers."
The museum hired event planner Susan Holtzman of Eventures Special Events Productions to handle the logistical.phpects of the affair. Holtzman organized the silent auction, which featured art, children's furniture, and travel packages. She also set up the registration at the entrance with museum staff dressed as pilots and flight attendants with passports in hand. Karla
Conceptual Event Experiences provided decor and lighting, which included a serpentine red carpet entrance using red lights instead of carpeting; an eight-foot-tall Statue of Liberty; and a discotheque complete with mirrored ball, lounge banquettes, and a bar.
Inside, guests strolled the galleries and the various international settings. At the cruise ship gallery, New Image Steel played steel drum calypsos while fried plantains, empanadas, and roast pork were served nearby. Upstairs, drummers from Fushu Daiko thundered alongside Cuban troubadours Oriente, who sang boleros in the museum's world music gallery. Between sets, samba dancers from Corpo e Movimento Capoeria Academy gyrated through the crowd in feathers, thongs, and high heels.
—Juan Carlos Rodriguez
To achieve their "Around the World We Go" travel theme, the directors relied, instead, on entertainment and food to tell the story. "We already have a great backdrop with our galleries," said Kenna. "We thought it would be fun to have different foods from different countries and performers."
The museum hired event planner Susan Holtzman of Eventures Special Events Productions to handle the logistical.phpects of the affair. Holtzman organized the silent auction, which featured art, children's furniture, and travel packages. She also set up the registration at the entrance with museum staff dressed as pilots and flight attendants with passports in hand. Karla
Conceptual Event Experiences provided decor and lighting, which included a serpentine red carpet entrance using red lights instead of carpeting; an eight-foot-tall Statue of Liberty; and a discotheque complete with mirrored ball, lounge banquettes, and a bar.
Inside, guests strolled the galleries and the various international settings. At the cruise ship gallery, New Image Steel played steel drum calypsos while fried plantains, empanadas, and roast pork were served nearby. Upstairs, drummers from Fushu Daiko thundered alongside Cuban troubadours Oriente, who sang boleros in the museum's world music gallery. Between sets, samba dancers from Corpo e Movimento Capoeria Academy gyrated through the crowd in feathers, thongs, and high heels.
—Juan Carlos Rodriguez
Samba dancers got the party going at the Miami Children's Museum annual Be a Kid Again fund-raiser.
Food servers dressed as gondoliers represented Italy at the event's pasta station.
A Carmen Miranda impersonator wiggled through the museum's galleries, shaking her maracas.
Museum staff donned pilot hats and handed out passports at the entrance.
