T
he final hours before the official start of the American Red Cross of Southeastern Pennsylvania's annu- al Red Ball is organized chaos, yet orchestrated with precision to ensure that when the doors swing open and the first footsteps hit the red carpet, everything is perfect.
The Red Ball on Saturday, March 10, 2012 is in its 13th year and coincides with Red Cross Month. This year marks the event's fourth at the Please Touch Museum in Philadelphia’s Fairmount Park.
What takes eight months to plan must be set up in less than three hours because, not one auction item, not one plate, not a single appetizer, and no part of the stage can be put on the floor until every last visi- tor to the museum has left the building.
The waiting sometimes can create a few anxious moments. Katerina Koperna, director of special events for the American Red Cross of Southeastern Pennsylvania (she plans the Red Ball), recalls an incident last year that she won't soon forget.
"It was 5 o'clock. The museum was officially closed, but one little boy refused to leave. He ran around the museum crying and screaming, hiding from his par- ents. Until he was caught and his parents left, we couldn't set up,” Koperna says. "My entire timeline was jeopardized.”
Timing is critical because even though the event is taking place at a children's museum, preparation for it is certainly not child's play.
Luckily, the delay
involving the little boy did not last too long, and more than 50 restaurants, vendors and entertainers were able to complete the massive job of setting up with only moments to spare.
The Red Ball has always been a formal evening filled with great food and dancing, but in year's past, it was very similar to other charitable fundraising events around the city.
Aside from having been hosted at acclaimed venues like the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts and the National Constitution Center, not much about the event truly stood out. For this reason, the Red Ball committee decided to create a more unique experi- ence for attendees and shake things up.
The first such decision was to move the Red Ball to the recently relocated and newly redesigned Please Touch Museum. One of the very first galas that this museum hosted, there were some growing pains for the Red Ball in its first year, but the Red Cross
In addition to its rebranding, the event also added a photo booth, a fortune teller, a painter, juggler and a magician who roamed the floor throughout the evening, providing even more interactivity and fun.
Mid-Atlantic EVENTS Magazine 67
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