Better Fund-Raising through Cleavage

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Once upon a time in history, I went to my first black-tie fund-raising dinner. The food was great. But I was more amazed at the dresses the women were wearing. It wasn't only the money that went into the dresses, it was the "enhancements" (so to speak) that also went into those expensive dresses.

At the time, X and I made light of things with new tag lines like "Better Fund-Raising through Cleavage" and "Boobs for Babies." Apparently the black-tie dinner demographic is shapely.


Either things have calmed down with the economy over the years or I've become a bit more accustomed to the whole black-tie environment. Anyway...

Several times a year I speak on behalf of the March of Dimes. In my role as a family ambassador, I share the story of @ and N's early birth, @'s challenges to survive, and how it has affected our lives. On Monday, I was invited to do some fund-raising speeches at a company's kick-off events.

I took the day off of work, but had to do an 8a conference call to start off the morning before heading to Milpitas to do the speeches. The whole daylight savings time-change gig got me a little off my game, so I was running a bit late and got dressed in a hurry.

When I got to the facility, I was surprised by the number of chairs set up. I'm used to conference rooms and such, but this was actually a warehouse. A warehouse with 900 chairs. Yowza. I was scheduled to do two speeches. Luckily, the warm-up was only about 400 people. The afternoon session filled the seats. (Amazing what happens when it's both a mandatory event and the raffle prizes include an iPad and a huge flat-screen TV.)

The podium microphone wasn't working properly, so the speakers had to pass a lapel mic. The company president introduced me and handed me the mic to clip on to my blouse. Which is when I looked down for a place to clip it. And standing in front of a room of 400 people, a thought went through my mind: "Huh, better fund-raising through cleavage indeed."


Word to the Wise: Consider potential microphone placement needs when selecting a presentation wardrobe.

Comments

TRohde said…
Okay, Kim. I read this whole thing . . . and there was no mention of what you were wearing! Ha ha!
June 01, 2011
Anonymous said…
1. The headline worked.
2. Reference to trying to find a place to clip the mic.
3. No pictures either :-)
June 01, 2011
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