Miami Gardens Mayor and Congressional candidate Shirley Gibson hosted a cocktail party for nearly 175 supporters Tuesday night in Wynwood. Coordinated by Circle of One Marketing, and held in the company's enclosed parking lot, the event strayed from the traditional small fund-raiser format that political campaigns are known for.
“The event and the candidate [presence] is pretty important to a donor as they like to be able to talk to the mayor and be around other supporters,” said campaign manager Mark Goodrich. “If you just ask for a check through direct mail or through email, it's very impersonal—we thought this would be something different.”
Goodrich said the traditional campaign fund-raiser format consists of intimate 12- to 20-person parties at supporters’ homes or meet-and-greets at local restaurants. To attract attendees to the event, Gibson’s campaign team formed a board of five local supporters who reached out to their friends and brought more people than five smaller events would have garnered.
Circle of One reached out to 13 local caterers and chefs, who set up food stations around the perimeter of the event space and served small plates. The Rumcake Factory and the Feverish Ice Cream truck supplied dessert.
DJ Al and three jazz and urban musicians provided the night’s entertainment. The party wrapped up around 10 p.m., making it more than twice as long as Gibson's other campaign fund-raisers.
