Last night people involved in and sympathetic to the concept of Project:reversible met for food and drinks at the Delancey Bar in Manhattan. We met to discuss the project's development thus far, to meet each other in person, and to reveal the results of our internal community vote on which causes we will support with Project:reversible. Thank you all who took time out of your Sunday to be part of the event!
The Delancey Bar's rooftop deck is a gorgeous space with tropical plants and a BBQ grill. Around 25 people attended the event, they ranged from activists, to musicians, to designers, to journalists, to business people. The common thread was the interest in seeing a song serve as a creative epi-center for developing an expanding series of creative products (art, music, dance, film) that will serve to inspire people and promote and celebrate diversity. The group in attendance was itself a diverse blend of ages, races, and sexual orientations, which was exciting to see.
People gathered under palm fronds with their grill food and met and spoke with each other about life in general, which in itself was a lot of fun. After a bit of time, Sabrina Huff, who has been co-ordinating the project's expansion, spoke with people at the event about the time-line thus far, with help from Joshua Guthals, the song-writer of "Reversible." Joshua explained the inpiration for the project: a moving song he had written for a close friend who had struggled with homophobia and racism as a teen-ager, which had led to a suicide attempt. He explained that the goal of the project was to take a painful experience in someone's past and use it as insipiration point to create a beautiful song that could serve in a positive way to raise awareness around our continuing cultural struggles in the areas of suicide, homophobia, and racism through the artful products created by the Project:reversible team.
Key points in the project's development were discussed by Sabrina: a major one being simply to having shared the ideas of the project to 60+ people to gather their thoughts, inputs, and contributions toward clarifying the project's possibilities. More specific developments that have occurred: reaching out to musicians to donate their talents to the project, developing choir and strings arrangements, and securing a studio space next weekend to record the song. Other areas of expansion that Sabrina discussed: creating a design team comprised of a brand strategists, a web designer, and several artists that will create the unified look and feel of the project overall (the web-site, the album, and associated products). Also, she explained that a group of people have begun discussing a live art-installation event involving dance and fine art that would serve a public event and fund-raiser to promote diversity and raise money for Project:reversible's causes.
Sabrina also spoke about her having reached out to Columbia School of Business to work with three MBA students in taking the initial products that are nearing completion (the newly re-invented single of Reversible, the compilation album featuring music by the artists singing on the song, and the Project:reversible web-site space featuring a community forum to discuss the question: "What will you reverse?") and using their business accumen in areas of development, marketing, and publicity to create a successful fund-raiser brand called "Project:reversible." Working with the MBA students is a real boon and should serve the project well in making a much greater impact through success in these keys areas of development (generating interal operating funds through donations), marketing (achieving monetary success in raising funds using the products created with the project), and publicity (creating buzz in greater communities about the project and its intention of promoting diversity and acceptance).
Leah Worrell then revealed the causes that several dozen people interested in the project had researched and voted upon to be supported by Project:reversible: the Matthew Shephard Foundation, the JED, and the Darfur Peace and Development Organization. The Matthew Shepherd foundation promotes tolerance toward people of all sexual orientations, the JED partners with MTV and other groups to raise awareness around the stigma attached to suicide in college settings, and the Darfur Peace and Development Organization strategically works to increase educational opportunities in Darfur. These organizations all create tangible and measurable change in the keys ares of reducing homophobia, preventing suicide, and tackling racial/cultural divisions. Sabrina, Leah, and Joshua explained that they have contacted the organizations and explained the idea of Project:reversible to them and they have all expressed support and excitement to receive funding support through Project:reversible's success.
Mary Ellen Kramer, a board member for the Darfur Peace and Development Organization was at the event and spoke about her excitement about working the Project:reversible to generate funds and also about positive steps her organization had created in Sudan (such as providing textbooks to thousands of refugee children).
Leah then asked people for ideas on how to make the project a bigger success; people expressed concern that in the age of the free digital download, the compilation CD may no longer be able to achieve the kind of financial success as a fund-raiser as it could have in the past. People also expressed concern that the time-line was too fast for the project (the stated goal being to have the song, compilation disc, and web-site finished and available by November to go along with a live art event in November). These are good points to ponder, especially with the addition of the MBA students on the team, who may help with strategic deployment planning.
Overall the event was a pleasant and the company was excellent. People felt that they understood the intentions of the project and expressed excitement to hear the completed song and the compilation disc. People also made some generous offers (one person offered her Union Square apartment for future meetings, several people offered money toward recording costs on the song). After the gathering ended, most people stayed and talked and laughed and enjoyed the breezy rooftop at the Delancey late into the evening.
Thanks to all for your help in taking the project from concept into action.
Love,
The Project:reversible Team
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