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October 24, 2003
Cross Media Forum 2003: Night of the Media Heavyweights
Representatives from most forms of media gathered to debate the advertising and marketing effectiveness of their mediums. The main theme was that the world’s change and consumers react to advertising different. Everybody agreed that a mix of different advertising mediums is important. The event took place at the Equitable Building’s auditorium and over 500 people attended. The following organizations were represented onstage: Cabletelevision Advertising Bureau, Direct Marketing Association, Magazine Publishers of America, Newspaper National Network, Interactive Advertising Bureau, Outdoor Advertising Association of America, Radio Advertising Bureau, and Television Bureau of Advertising, and Mediaweek, Advertising Research Foundation, American Association of Advertising Agencies and Kraft.
Posted by lawrencehecht at 07:45 PM | Comments (0)
Manhattan Nonprofit Day
Funny as it may seem, this event took place in Queens, in Citibank’s Long Island City building to be exact. There were classes provided during two breakout sessions. It was one of several recent trainings sponsored by Citibank. Consultants from the Nonprofit Connection, a technical service provider based in Brooklyn, led the training sessions. I attended two workshops. One was on community needs assessment. The other was on branding. Afterwards there was lunch and Manhattan Borough President Virginia Fields showed up late.
Posted by lawrencehecht at 07:43 PM | Comments (0)
October 17, 2003
Common Grounds Replication Conference
Inspired by continued requests for information about their projects, Common Ground Community, Inc. held a two-day to provide information about supportive housing. Over 100 people came from around the world to learn how to replicate the Common Ground model.
Supportive housing is defined by the Corporation for Supportive Housing as a cost-effective combination of permanent affordable housing with services that help people live with more stable, productive lives.
Common Ground was led the effort to buy and refurbish the historic Times Square Hotel and the Prince George Hotels. These hotels have many studio apartments and house a variety of tenants, including the elderly, formerly homeless, mentally ill and HIV/AIDS patients. Common Ground believes that solutions to homelessness include more than just warehousing people in shelters. Instead, they provide social services to tenants to help them adjust to the “real world.” Common Ground's success was recognized in 2001 when its founder and president, Rosanne Haggerty, was awarded a "genius grant" by the MacArthur Foundation.
Common Ground has established a Foyer model supportive housing facility at The Chelsea in New York City. Based on programs popular in Europe, it is especially used to help kids aging out of foster care. This is only a start at feeling a huge need - there are only two city shelters, with a total of 100 beds that are dedicated to young adults. Common Ground is also working on projects at the Andrews and Prince Hotels using a program called First Step Housing, which develops single room occupancy (SROs) facilities like flophouses.
The conference featured classes on financing property development and establishing partnerships. One lesson was to consider separating property management from social services - this way there is less of an adversarial relationship with the tenants and social workers.
Finally, another important lesson is to mix types of tenants so that there are role models for residents.
Posted by lawrencehecht at 07:20 PM | Comments (0)
October 15, 2003
BiZBash Jacob Javits Meeting and Event Expo
Over 1,000 event planners attended this two-day conference produced by BizBash. It included twenty five educational sessions and a tradeshow. The classes I attended emphasized the need to work weekends and provide 24/7 handholding to clients. The most interesting panel had representatives from New York City, Chicago, Southern Florida, Los Angeles and Las Vegas comparing the benefits of holding events in their hometowns. Some of the best tidbits about the cities were:
- Chicago: Food is a central part of society life. There is a huge local community of interior designers that can design custom sets and event locations.
- Las Vegas: Gone are the days of family entertainment. Sin City is back!
- Los Angeles: The weather is always great. The glitz of Hollywood is a draw. Movie sets can be used for events.
- New York City: Events have to push the envelope to get attention. The city has the more raw space than any other metropolitan area.
- Southern Miami: Many events use a water theme and boating is popular.
Posted by lawrencehecht at 07:23 PM | Comments (0)
