The Making of a Medley
Newsstand: November 23, 2009
Transit City and Transit Cities
The Daily Photoist: November 23, 2009
Televisualist: A Kinder, Gentler Televisualist
PROM attendees dance the night away. Photo courtesy of the ROM.
On Saturday, the Royal Ontario Museum held PROM, an annual fundraiser thrown by the Young Patrons’ Circle program. In its fourth year, PROM drew eight hundred attendees, including National Post columnist Shinan Govani and the hosts of the After Show on MTV Canada. In total, the event raised over fifty thousand dollars for the museum.
The official title for the fundraiser was the action flick-esque "PROM IV: Ocean Drive," and the dual themes appeared to cause some confusion over how to dress. Half of the attendees were ready for South Beach (white suits paired with pastel shirts, and low-cut dresses with stilettos) while the other half were ready for graduation (straight-from-work business suits, and conservatively cut satin-y dresses with corsages). Oops. In addition to a consistent dress code, for next year, the ROM should go more over the top with PROM. The bongo players were a nice touch, but where were the palm trees, the sand, or the mojitos that scream caliente?
Superficial quibbles aside, the event brought awareness to supporting the ROM, part of YPC's raison d'être. There's a lot riding on the success of YPC for the ROM: the museum has been trying to find ways to reach new audiences, ever since the expected attendance boost from the opening of the Michael Lee-Chin Crystal hasn't panned out. When the Crystal first opened, 1.6 million visitors a year were anticipated; in March, the ROM celebrated 1 million visitors in its fiscal year—a record, but still short of the lofty previous projections. Over March Break, the ROM attracted 71,675 people, an increase of only around 2,000 over the previous year. Worse, the ROM's operating budgets were based on the higher attendance projections, making fundraisers like PROM all the more important to its financial well-being.
The ROM's not taking the threat passively, though. The new Schad Gallery for Biodiversity will be opening May 16, 2009, and includes a sure-to-please live coral reef. As well, the ROM magazine has also been rebooted with a new look and new writers to broaden its readership.
And, of course, there's YPC, launched in 2005 by the museum to draw in a younger crowd of twenty- to forty-somethings not often associated with patronage of cultural institutions. Membership includes admission to the ROM, as well as invites to special events hosted by the museum to dine, learn more about exhibits, and network. As one PROM attendee put it, she felt YPC brought the "sexy" to philanthropy and proved that "you don’t have to be old and arthritic" to get involved.
Before Saturday, YPC had over four hundred members, "the largest philanthropic organization of its kind catering to the young demographic in Canada," says PROM co-chair Candice Best. The event is expected to draw in new faces as YPC member numbers typically jump by 15% post-PROM. In addition, "YPC is the first philanthropically-engaged ongoing endeavour for probably 25–30% of our members," notes Best. PROM may be a chance for a blast from the past, but with numbers like that YPC is working hard to set the ROM up for the future.
add to stumble upon
add to reddit
tweet this
post to facebook
Yes, but did you attempt to eat the decorative orchids?
I just wonder why they'd call it "PROM" rather than the equally punny but in my opinion vastly superior and apparently as of yet unused "Crystal Ball"? I'm frankly (ho ho! there's another pun) disappointed.
They don't use "Crystal Ball", because Reach for the Rainbow, a Toronto Charity that sends disabled kids to camp already uses it.
http://www.reachfortherainbow.ca/content.php?nav=events&id=4
And their Crystal Ball is ridiculously huge- Nets over a million dollars every year.
The Crystal Ball has never reached a 'net' of 1 million dollars - not even close.
In 2008 the net was around 500k - and when you subtract their staff costs, you'd be left with a net of 400K (if you're generous).
Makes sense.
I was just going by what Donna told me. But as the founder of the organization, she's probably likely to fudge the truth, in order to better promote? Maybe?