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Rockin’ Roundup Gala at Austin Music Hall
The Austin Music Hall is a notoriously difficult venue to get just right. It can be too big or too small for certain events. The open floor downstairs is flexible, but that kind of freedom sometimes baffles planners. They try to do too much. A group can present performers on the stage, or add a runway, but not all artists are well served by the yawning space. The ancillary rooms downstairs and up are not easily connected to the main hall, and then there’s the in-house catering.
Steve and Kelly Stiles
Any Baby Can, which helps the area’s youngest, sickest and poorest children and their families, needed to hit a home run from their western-themed gala on Friday. Their worthy goals are threatened by the economy in general and cut-backs in social services in particular. They can’t afford a flub.
Kenneth and Jenifer Price with Austin Asset Management
They knocked it out of the park. The main hall was decked with tables for 600 guests. The upper balcony provided the right space for the silent auction. There was enough room to access the buffet stations. And Ricky Trevino was the right act for that stage.
Monica Allen and Albert Lin
A troupe of volunteers — wearing bandanas not unlike their counterparts at the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Austin Bandana Ball at Wild Onion Ranch the same night! — helped with the support services, including bucketing the checks and pledges from backers. In an effective move, the gala organizers displayed a digital boot that tallied the amounts received.
Brad Forest and Cassandra Cueller
A question for all groups like Any Baby Can: How much time to devote to the actual cause. The organizers of Rockin’ Round-Up chose just two representative mothers of small children who have benefited from the nonprofit. They spoke directly, movingly about the impact on their lives. Can’t do better than that.
A small note on the competing, western-themed galas on Friday: It didn’t seem to affect attendance or giving at either event. Nine hundred attended the Bandana Ball, 600 hit Rockin’ Round-Up. That’s just amazing.
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By Jan Gunter
March 29, 2011 10:29 AM | Link to this
Wow, 1500 people attending two western-themed events raising money for children and families in one night in Austin - that's a great story!
Jan