St. Josaphat Fundraiser @ the Westin River North

Lights! Cameras! Toilets!

What?

That so did not sound right. Not that the above statement is uber-cliché, but toilets simply do not have a true connection with lights and cameras. However, at the recent fundraiser that Jon Hood and I recently participated in, a better combination could not be fathomed. Jon and I were the deejays and sound engineers for an amazing fundraiser at the Westin River North. This was for the St. Josaphat School, a Catholic institution in need of a new bathroom for their students, teachers and faculty. The theme of the evening was movies, and the whole bottom floor of the Westin was decked out with bright lights, glitter, movie posters, and guests walking down a red carpet in their best evening wear. The night was held in three parts: a silent auction, dinner, and a live auction (with smaller fund-raising contests mixed in). This evening contained numerous wins:

1) Jon and I did the final meeting/walk-through together, which totally helped in understanding the flow and purpose of the event, as well as connected us to our clients/contacts.

2) We had a huge 6-speaker setup that was split among the rooms: Two 10" speakers were placed into the silent auction room (which worked great, although two 15's would have worked a lot better); two were outside in the lobby; and two were in the main dining hall. When the silent auction was finished and just before everyone made their way into the ballroom, I retrieved the two speakers that were in the lobby area and put them in the ballroom (making the total number of speakers there four). Although this was more of a three-person setup, Jon and I made it happen and everything sounded great.

3) We worked with an exceptional emcee/auctioneer by the name of Jim Miller, who did a fantastic job keeping the guests abreast of the auction and the other goings-on in the event, as well as leading the audience superbly in the auctions. A lot of the funds that were raised were due to his energy and commanding presence.

4) We had a packed dance floor during the entire night—guests were ready to party right after the auction ended. At the end of the night, we received a rousing, riotous chant for "one more song," and with the go-ahead from the hotel, we played "Last Dance," which worked for the most part, but a lot of people disliked it. Here's the rather amusing (and somewhat upsetting) factoid: One woman was about to give me $40 just to play "My Humps" as the last song! The money was nice to look at, but I just could not take the request. Still, people danced and enjoyed their time.

Additionally, Jon used me well throughout the entire evening, from the first meeting all the way to the event itself. He used me best with setup, sound checks, and times when he needed someone to talk his thoughts and feelings to. This was a star-studded night, and I certainly hope to be a part of it next year.

How would I describe this event as a whole? Oh, let's just say it was a royal flush.

– Brent Rolland, resident fig deejay

(My heartfelt thanks goes to Lindsey, Renee, Jody, Peter, John Burdett, everyone of the St. Josaphat school, and all the great people at the Westin for a fabulous evening!)