My first draft.

The wheels are in motion folks...

“One Night Only”: Fundraiser for the American Cancer Society.

Note - Through the genesis of ideas for this project; my idea to host a simple cancer research fundraiser has grown into an animal in and of itself. Though not being afflicted by cancer myself, I have come to find out that several family members and personal friends have been affected by different types of cancer in various stages of development. Because of this, I have decided to utilize all of my affiliations to raise money for a cause that has become dear to me as well as several people around me. Personally and professionally, I have put a stake in this project which I hope can become a successful yearly event in which individuals will be able to come together for a common cause while enjoying a dynamic show at the same time.

I. Concept – Taking a cue from the various hip-hop dance competitions found across the country; I would like to use b r e a t h e. as my platform to host a dance competition of my own. In developing the idea, I had to find a way to make this competition stand out from the rest by making it a fundraiser with a twist. As with all competitions, teams will compete for a prize based on talent. However, a portion of the scoring will be accounted for by how much money each competition team raises through a set period of time to be determined before the actual competition night. Throughout the course of the competition, audience members can “vote” for their favorite teams by pledging certain dollar amounts for their favorite team. Much like a telethon/voting competition; the team that raises the most money overall, combined with their total talent score will win the competition. Thus, because of this type of audience participation; teams will be forced to draw a crowd of supporters leading to a larger audience.

II. Venue – Capacity to sit at least 500 people. Set-up will consist of arena style seating or supersized cypher; three sides surrounded by the audience while the fourth side will serve as the DJ booth and backstage area reminiscent of Battle 2006 at Rutgers New Brunswick. Venue should be able to cater to a standing room only crowd and be able to admit people of all ages. Also, a separate area where various vendors will be able to set up will be ideal.

III. Budget – Because this is a fundraiser, I will be asking each business to donate their time if not money to this event. From DJs to lighting and sound to venue itself; this will be a 100% grass roots production where all work should be pro bono. If this does not fall through, a separate fundraiser will have to be set up for the fundraiser in question to occur. I am in the process of looking into corporate sponsorships for the fundraiser. In the event that costs become inevitable; I would like to sell tickets beforehand and at the door to cover those expenses. Once costs are accounted for and reconciled, 100% of the profits will go to the American Cancer Society. B r e a t h e. or I will not be profiting from this show.

IV. Third party vendors – As with all events; I’d like to have third party vendors such as t-shirt sellers (ARKANE, etc.), music sellers, various other organizational booths. Here, vendors will be able to keep their profits, where I only ask that they pay a small fee that will cover part of the costs.

V. Talent and Judging – The show will be a dance competition. All invited teams will be pre-screened and then further separated into two divisions: Collegiate and Street. This way, schools will be able to gain recognition alongside established “professional” teams. Each team will be given a seven minute block in which they will be judged on criteria including but not limited to: musicality, choreography/unity, costumes, overall impression. In order to aid in the process of collecting money between acts; I plan to have 2 music acts to be showcased. Invited judges will be asked to judge based on criteria agreed upon before the competition and their scores will be added to the score based on $$ amount to find the overall champions.

Talent shortlist includes:

Dance teams (Street)

Blade

Fr3sh

Moshn

Rythmology

Cultureshock NY

Dance2XS

Dance teams (Collegiate)

PDC – Stony Brook University (PUSO)

PARE – St. John’s University

IFA – New York University

RDT – Rutgers University (RAPS)

Philanova – Villanova

Musical/Host

Ciello

Karla Garcia (IFA Alum; Broadway dancer in “Hot Feet”)

Jay Legaspi

Warhol Soup

Deep Foundation

VI. Marketing – Through the contacts I have maintained over the years at part of FIND, PUSO, and Delta Chi Fraternity; I am prepared to create a marketing campaign that will reach deep into the Filipino-American community in the tri-state area. However, I would like to open the event up to a broader audience to attract a bigger crowd in order to get the message across. This is where I will need help the most. My strength lies in the Filipino collegiate and post-collegiate community as evidenced by my talent shortlist. I am open to suggestions as to how I will be able to go about securing more than just a Filipino audience for this event. I have a primary contact at Planet Philippines and they will be able to help me get word out as early as December.

VII. Time Frame – This event will be a huge undertaking if done correctly. I aim for this fundraiser to open the new dance “season” during the first months of 2007. Either late January or early February will be ideal. This competition can also serve as a preview of things to come at Battle of the Barrios; Seton Hall’s FLASH Dance Competition; FIND Spring Conference Cultural Show; the East Coast Dance Competiton (ECDC ’07); as well as the many barrios and PCNs many of these teams will be part of in early 2007.