“CAN I TALK MY ISH AGAIN!!!???? I’M A BE LATE THOUGH…I GOTTA FIGURE OUT WHAT I’M FINNA WEAR” – K. West, “We Major”
I’m not quite sure where to start with this recap. It’s been almost a week and people are still talking about this event but it all seems like a blur in my mind. To be honest this post started out as a style breakdown of what I wore to #EXHIBIT30 but I’m sure you all hear enough about clothes and sharing the moment seems like it would be way more interesting.
I’ll start with a bit of the behind the scenes of what me and the @youknowear team had to get done to pull this event off. Its finally been revealed that the #EXHIBIT30 was held in an art gallery that most people in the city don’t know exist. The only thing that was provided was the lovely space, the restroom and the expensive minimalist art exhibition. The pieces were from various artists from around the world and per the exhibition info and tour guide the pieces ranged in price from $30k to $127k. Sometimes that’s what it takes to heighten the atmosphere. You have to provide people with elevated aspects of culture. In order to bring the gallery to life and make it suitable for a party we had to put on a full production. Food, drinks, sound, dj, lights, supplies, staff…everything. #EXHIBIT30 required real live event coordinating and not just party promoting, which is normally what I’m used to. I’ve never been scared of a challenge besides I’ve helped produce and coordinate one or two events in my day. My prior experiences schooled me not to attempt this event alone so I called on some helped as needed.
Seeing as how ticket sales online ended on the Wednesday before the event I knew there would be people calling and scrambling around to purchase customized, glow-in-the-dark, #EXHIBIT30 wristbands to attend at the last minute. We did what we could to accomodate folks. We meet in malls, parking lots, barbershops, where ever we had to be to get passes to the excited guests.
While doing our best to get passes to guests we were faced with the big challenge of accumulating all the materials needed for the party, getting them to the venue then setting it up within a two hour window. By all the materials I mean the Pinot Gris from Japiro‘s Taste of Collins wine collection that featured customized 30th birthday labels, all the other spirits, the bar equipment, the sound equipment, the furniture, the lighting equipment, the dish ware, the desserts and of course the food. Not to mention going over the gallery rules, filling in the doorman and fielding calls for misplaced wristbands and directions to the secret location. On top of that I had guests arriving from NY and Philly who needed to be picked up and accommodated. There were a few mishaps and obstacles that made the day even more challenging but we did such a decent job compensating that guests would never know so no need to bring it up.
Now on to the good part! Being the stickler and perfectionist that I am I didn’t leave from setting up the venue until 9:25 pm luckily the only guests that were there were guests who were already assisting @youknowear. As time grew closer for me to dash out and change for the party I realized I left my bow-tie home. Just must luck because I wasn’t going back home to change. I made arrangements to stay in a hotel downtown so that I’d be closer to the party. So I had my roommate pick up my bow-tie and drop it of to me after he changed and came back to the party. While I was on the elevator to the 28th floor where I was staying it dawned on me that I also left my shirt home too. The only things I had with me were my suit, Condo scarf and my shoes. Despite what Ye did with the lavender suit years ago, bare-chest in a tux in is NOT a good look. Of course this delayed my arrival to my own birthday party but hey it was my day so I can be a little late I suppose. I still made it in time to enjoy myself and see everyone who was there to show love.
I’m not sure what happened before I arrived but I’ll just assume everyone was having a good time and stuffing their bellies because most of the food was gone. That’s a compliment to the caterers who blessed us with great finger foods like meatballs, pasta, chicken kabobs, and avocado eggrolls. Even the bartenders did well. From what I’ve seen and understand guests tend not to tip at open bar events, but #EXHIBIT30 was exceptional. As I opened the glass door to enter the gallery I could feel anticipation in the air. The guests really were waiting for me and I felt kind of bad. I apologized to everyone I could for my lateness but they really didn’t mind. I shook every hand and gave every hug possible before I hurried to the dance floor which is usually the last place in a party. The vibe felt pretty prestigious and regal but not so much that things got stiff or boring. I have to give DJ K-Money credit for playing all the best tunes and keeping the energy lively all night. I could go on and on in this post dropping tweets like this about how great the party was or how nice everyone looked but its probably better for you to see for yourself. Check out the link below of the photos courtesy of my main man since 1995, @devanlegend aka Devanwithacamera. Since I was so late and everyone was having so much fun I was granted permission to extend the event for another half an hour. During that time I gave a little “thank you” speech. I felt the need to emphasize that #EXHIBIT30 was my birthday party but the event wasn’t really put on for me. I could’ve taken my money and went out of town or blew it on something I really didn’t need. #EXHIBIT30 was for people in Baltimore who wanted a different outlet where they feel comfortable and appreciated for putting their best and sharing moments with like-minded classy individuals. It may seem hard to believe but I cared more about other people enjoying this event than I did about enjoying my birthday. Since my partners and I first started promoting parties back in 2004 we always cared more about how everyone else felt about our events more than what we felt because ultimately we were providing an outlet and service. Its not 2004 anymore but I still feel like I’m trying to provide the same things but on a higher level. that higher level is events like #EXHIBIT30.
Once again thanks everyone for attending, having fun, representing in such a classy manner and for looking so damn good. Don’t forget to check out the photos in the link below. There’s also some video footage that you may or may not see soon. I may hold on to those moments just for me. Thanks for starting a movement with #EXHIBIT30 and remember “if you’re going to go somewhere dress nice, if you’re going to dress nice go somewhere.”
