This past Wednesday, August 12, 2009, I celebrated my websites 1 Year Blogiversary with 150 guest at Nightingale Lounge in Manhattan. What most people don’t know is, the event was planned in a little less than 30 days.
I found out July 13th that I had been selected to become one of fifty Bloggers around the country to become a Gap Brand Enthusiast (Brand Ambassador). Originally we discussed having the Gap Born To Fit party in my home with 25 female friends, but I am not the type of person to color within the lines, loll. My reputation is on the line… Kitty Bradshaw is a BRAND! If I’m going to throw a party, it will be an Upscale Event filled with the elite!
Also, this is New York… New York City in the Summertime! Who wants to be cooped up in the house looking at a bunch of broads?! To throw a party in New York City you must do it right, or don’t do it at all!
I saw an opportunity to pull my high-profile connections together in one room while celebrating my Websites Milestone; and at the same time Premiering Gap’s new Born To Fit 1969 Line of jeans!
First things first: find a venue- Nightingale Lounge.
Second: Put together an Awesome list of guest which included staff from printed publications such as Essence Magazine, In Touch Weekly, Boys+Clothes, Marketing/PR Specialists, High Fashion Models and Stylists, Recording Artists, Restaurant and Club Owners, and members of the new world order of journalism…fellow Bloggers such as myself. We even had a representative from the Mayor’s Office come to the event.
Third: track down additional sponsors. Yea, I know giving my guest jeans was interesting… but quite frankly I am tired of receiving ridiculous Swag Bags with stuff you don’t take a second look at. Literally I have a Swag Bag Graveyard in my room of stuff I haven’t looked at since I attended the various parties.
Don’t get me wrong, having Gap Jeans is great! I don’t want to ever just settle for great… I wanted my Swag Bags to be 2nd only to the Oscar Nominee Swag Bags, lollll! Mission Accomplished!
Who knows… If I would have had 60 days to plan, I possibly could have pulled off plane tickets in my Swag Bags… *winks* lolll j/k
One thing that worked in my favor was that when I reached out to companies, I requested a low amount of items (75 to be exact).. so companies had no problem sending merchandise! I think they were so offended by the low amount requested, they doubled the shipments, loll.
Sponsors:
The Gap- www.gap.com
Gap in the end sent me a little over 100 pairs of jeans both men and women.
South Pole Shoes- www.southpolefootwear.com
South Pole Shoes donated 100 pairs of shoes.
Rock And Soul Apparel- www.rockandsoulapparel.com
Rock and Soul Apparel donated High End Designer Shirts
Sprite Green- www.thecoca-colacompany.com
They donated bottles of Sprite Green.
Cake Man Raven- www.cakemanraven.comCake Man Raven was gracious enough to give Red Velvet Cup Cakes.
Passion for Pretty- www.passionforpretty.comThey donated Massage Oil…
Cabot Creamery- www.cabotcheese.com
They came to the event and served their fantastic cheeses at the event. Unfortunately, I never got the chance to sample the cheese or the cupcakes from the event. I was so busy running around talking to everyone, I missed out. However, I heard wonderful things about both!Yum Yum Candles- www.yumyumcandle.comThe most delicious smelling candles on earth!!! 🙂
Carols Daughter- www.carolsdaughter.com
Carol’s Daughter donated full size bottles of Almond Cookie Lotion which was F A B U L O U S!
Uptown Magazine- www.uptownlife.net
Uptown Magazine donated their August issue to all the guest!
Fyxx Water- www.fyxxwater.com
Donated their flavored water to all the guest…
LjfeBeat- www.lifebeat.org
Donated Flavored Vibrating Magnum Condoms
Final step: Models! – One good thing about not having the party at my house is having the room to spread out the jeans… the swag bags had to be pre-packaged. I surveyed all the guest for their pants and shoe sizes. I recruited 6 models to come to the event wearing all 6 different styles of jeans; network around the room, talk about the jeans, and take pictures.
The males were all professional models and the females were 3 Socialite Bloggers from New York. The 3 females are very connected and know all the whose who of the NYC Urban Scene.
Click here for more pictures…
In the end, I received offers for sponsorships for my next party, several request to help plan parties/ co host parties, various invitations for appearances at events. My male models got job offers from a couple of different companies.
Kitty says: I am so much more than throwing events…
Final Credits-
No one person can do any event alone… without the people below I wouldn’t have pulled this together! I can not express my appreciation enough…
The Diva Lounge
Irene Myers
Talib Nichiren
Seen and Heard Around the Web!
www.thebeautifulstruggler.blogspot.com
to name a few…
David Dust August 14, 2009
It was a FANTASTIC event – with fabulous people and incredible sponsors.
All in all, a job well done, my darling!!!
XOXOXOXOXO
Jac August 14, 2009
It looks like a wonderful party!
I am glad everyone had a good time…
mrsFAB August 15, 2009
I am so proud of you, Kitty. Looks like fun times indeed! Hats off to you for planing such a FABulous event in such a short time.
Eb August 15, 2009
Amazing post Kitty… and thx again for involving me. I had a blast… but uummm… whazup with the massage oil shooooooooo that might come in handy if I happen to get lucky one night…lol
Naturally Alise August 16, 2009
Looks like you had a blast!
Mina August 16, 2009
Thx Kitty -great turn out met some cool peeps- cant wait for the next event -luvly !
Serious Bok August 16, 2009
We had a great time! Glad to be there & be part of the movement. The future looks so good.
http://www.luxekultur.com
Yas August 16, 2009
Hey I’m just hearing about your blog through Wes’ blog [HoneyBrownSugar–‘read it religiously, lol] but what are the names of the 2 jeans the models are wearing on the left in the last pic? [Male model in black shirt, female model in blue] Thanks for reading.
Yas August 16, 2009
Oops I mean what’s the style name the jeans are being sold under
Nikki @ Blasian Baby August 17, 2009
From what I can see, you def had a great party. Shame I’m not in your area! Great blog, I’ll be back.
Rembrandt August 19, 2009
Great job KB! Maybe I’ll be like you when I grow up!