Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Generates Buzz With Idea Loft

Meghan McGuinness
Meghan McGuinness
Photo: Courtesy of Meghan McGuinness

In 2006, Meghan McGuinness became the director of the Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation, a charity to benefit underprivileged children in New York. Every October she runs the annual Alfred E. Smith Dinner, which has a history of drawing political bigwigs, including Barack Obama and John McCain this year. Previously, McGuinness worked on a capital campaign for the bicentennial of the Archdiocese of New York. These days, on the side, McGuinness produces more than a dozen events for the Inner-City Scholarship Fund and Catholic Charities.

Advertising: “Idea Loft is a new company that I have been working with for the past year. They take care of many of our advertising and design projects. For this year’s Smith dinner we had a brilliant save-the-date that Daphne Baxter and her team worked on with us. The theme was 'Who said there’s no humor in politics?' It was a teaser that linked to an exclusive Web site for the dinner. This created an overwhelming response with our ticket sales and an exciting buzz for the event. The dinner sold out a month in advance. The team at Idea Loft is incredibly creative, diligent, and easy to work with.”

Photography: “I recommend Ryan Brenizer, who takes the most amazing pictures—including portraits and group shots that truly capture people. After the event, the photos are immediately put on a Web site where all of our guests have the option of ordering or downloading them.” 

Printing: “Abigal Press does excellent, consistent work for all of our events. They do our invitations, journals, and programs, and they always make our deadlines.”

Product Design: “Kyle Myers and his company, K.A. Myers Designs, was our product design consultant for this year’s Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner. Because we were having both presidential candidates we wanted a historic and memorable gift for each of our guests. K.A. Myers Designs created a one-of-a-kind pair of silver-plated donkey and elephant salt and pepper shakers. Each gift was put in a special box with the foundation’s logo and the date. The company makes beautiful products, and the gifts were a great hit with the guests.”

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