Some Grand Openings for Charities
Don’t look now, but Orange County’s social scene is becoming synonymous with the “retail romp.”
Witness the recent gala openings of Emporio Armani and Cartier at South Coast Plaza. Or last week’s opening of the new Il Fornaio restaurant at Lakeshore Towers in Irvine. Or Sunday night’s launch of Trattoria Spiga restaurant at Crystal Court.
Each of the parties was conceived by a public relations practitioner to expose a client’s wares to its primary public. Each benefited a charity. And each attracted high-level members of local society (not to mention social scribes and paparazzi ).
What’s up? Call it party-giving where everybody wins. Society wins: It has a stunning party to attend. The vendor wins: His or her establishment is exposed to its target socioeconomic group. And the charity wins: With little effort, it ends up with cash in its coffers.
“It’s nice to have fun and not have to do all of the work,” says Margie Shackelford, director of development for the Newport Harbor Art Museum, the beneficiary of Trattoria Spiga’s $35-per-person “Strokes of Genius” party on Sunday.
But there’s a bottom line. “ Fund-raising ,” Shackelford says. “The retailers are asked to underwrite everything--the invitations, the decorations, the food.”
Shackelford is aware that nonprofit organizations can be manipulated by opportunistic retailers. “We have retailers coming to us all of the time,” she says. “But for us to become involved, it has to be the right retailer. That’s the key. All proposed projects are reviewed by our special events committee. The retailer has to have a product of the quality and taste that is in keeping with an art museum.”
On Sunday night, the owners of Trattoria Spiga not only had tasteful food--from Roman-style roast pork to northern Italian sweet bread--for members and guests of the museum’s Artisan Council, they had a 4-by-16-foot canvas on which party-goers could paint.
“We wanted to do something different, something fun, where guests could let their hair down,” says Frank Groff, who handles public relations for Trattoria Spiga. “And we wanted to build on the association between the way artists express themselves and the way chefs express themselves.”
To participate in this event, Groff says, the Newport Harbor Art Museum asked to make $5,000. Thus, the party’s $35-per-person price tag. Any additional money will be kicked back to Trattoria Spiga to help owners defray the cost of the invitations ($4,000) and the art supplies.
Groff calls the retail romp a “welcome wagon in reverse.” “Instead of the neighbors bringing cakes and candies to a new neighbor, the new neighbor has the party,” Groff says. “It’s a community outreach.”
Madeline Zuckerman, the public relations practitioner who last week coordinated the christening of Il Fornaio on behalf of the Orange County Performing Arts Center, believes that community outreach is public relations at its finest. “It’s a win-win situation,” she says. “The public relations people need the VIPs of a community to learn about a new entity. The nonprofit organization needs to make some money.
“I always tell clients that if they give to the community, they will get it back in spades. That’s the way I was trained. You give back--do something good. That’s the way it’s done.”
There are several ways to toss a retail romp. The vendor can underwrite the entire cost of the party and charge guests nothing. Or the vendor can underwrite the cost and invite the charity to charge an admittance fee (sometimes the charity gets all of the money; sometimes the charity gets what’s left over after the vendor pays his costs). Or the vendor can underwrite the party and make a donation (like the Emporio Armani party, where the Orangewood Children’s Foundation, the Newport Harbor Art Museum and the Special Olympics were each given checks for $10,000).
On Nov. 21, Roger Martin--manager of Chanel at South Coast Plaza--will welcome the board of trustees of the Newport Harbor Art Museum to a champagne and hors d’oeuvres party to preview the boutique’s new Diamond Mademoiselle fine watches and 1992 cruise collection. Also on display will be treasures from the museum’s permanent collection, which will remain on view for a week.
There will be no charge for guests. Chanel is picking up the entire $25,000 party tab.
“I wanted to have a party to launch the holiday season,” Martin says, “where I’d have the most visible group of people who are potential Chanel clients.
“The Newport Harbor Art Museum seemed a natural. We go for the same things: quality and a unique approach.”
Admittedly, the museum won’t make any money on this shindig, Shackelford notes. “But Chanel sells product, and we get an audience for our product.
“Plus, it’s fun to just have fun--to not always have to buy a ticket, because, practically everything people do in Orange County raises money for charity.”
Long live the, well, you know the words by now.
