I had the honor of attending the 3rd annual "Men in Black Awards: Sintra Edition," a philanthropic event in Atlanta created by Andre Hill, that "is a breakthrough concept recognizing outstanding achievement in our city. The goal of Men In Black "Sinatra Edition" is to create a unique event series designed to recognize male leaders of influence in key industries to accelerate economic development in Atlanta, according to the event's Facebook Page.

Philanthropy is an essential component for any city to thrive but with Atlanta developing into a multimedia powerhouse the "Men in Black Awards" aims to recognize charitable men in the areas of film, music, and digital entertainment. The financial statistics back up their goal to honor men in those specific fields because according to the Georgia Department of Economic Development, "the economic impact of entertainment industry projects handled by Georgia Film, Music & Digital Entertainment office in 2013 was approximately $4.4 billion."

The Event

Tickets

Ticketing for the event was handled through Eventbrite so it was very easy to purchase tickets. General Admission tickets were $30 and VIP tickets were $40. On the Eventbrite event page there was no marked difference between the VIP tickets and the General Admission tickets so we purchased two General Admission tickets. We were informed once we got to the event and sat down that we would have to either "stand or sit at the bar" because the only available seats were for the VIP ticket holders and once they were all seated then whatever is left over is for general admission. I offered to just pay the extra $20 to upgrade my and my guest's tickets so we would have somewhere to sit but the women who was checking names declined, even though there were still tickets being sold at the door.

Time

The event page and the tickets stated that the event was from 7 p.m. until 10 p.m. We arrived at 6:50 p.m. and there was no one at the door to check our tickets and we were told to just find a seat, which didn't last long as you read prior. After talking to a worker I discovered that the venue booked another event that ended at the time that the "Men in Black Awards" was supposed to begin. As we waited for the event to begin the only correspondence that we received was at 7:55 p.m. by the women who informed us that our money didn't secure us seating. At 7:58 p.m., the venue began setting up from the award show. At 8:28 the event had still not started and the venue was full of guests, mostly standing or crowed around the bar. The event finally began at 8:48, an hour and 48 minutes after the listed start time.

Dysfunction

The event, that we waited for almost two hours to commence has finally begun and the ambient noise was blaring. The venue, Atlantis Restaurant & Lounge, according to a bar tender working the event, was unprepared for the second event because it was "demanded that the event secured the 7 p.m. time slot." The venue ran out of stemware and sliverware, it didn't prepare the table setup in advance and moved tables and chairs around guests, the guests were not informed that the venue only accepted cards with RFID chips and if your card didn't have a chip they pointed you to an ATM next to the bar to withdraw cash, the venue failed to turn the televisions on mute and it wasn't until I asked a bartender to do so that it was done, the venue was actually too small to hold all of the guests and honorees inside comfortably so there were guests that sat outside for the majority of the event.

The problems continued as the first speaker gave his introduction because the audio technician was failing to regulate the sound and the distortion was almost unbearable. Since we were forced to sit at the bar near the speaker I thought we would have an easier time hearing but that was not the case due to the sound issues.

As the event continued, the first honoree was honored and prepared to make their contribution to the charity that the event was raising finances for except they did not know who they were donating to as made clear by the wife of the honoree when she asked over the microphone, "who do we write the check out to, we're ready to donate but to who?"

When looking over all of the event documents online no where was it listed what charity the proceeds of money was going to. Raeha Kim, main host and sponsor, then informed her and the event that proceeds were going to "Hosea Feed the Hungry and Homeless."

The main pull of the event was not the honorees more so than the alleged celebrity guests that were supposed to make an appearance. The big names listed on the flyers and event page were: Tyler Perry, Polo Da Don, Fonzworth Bently, Chris Tucker, Nick Cannon, Neyo and Bu Thiam. None of those special guests were present.

We mustered through the sound issues and continued to attempt to enjoy the event. The event ended with a fashion show but the venue was not big enough for a runway so the models walked through the tables and around the honoree guest section, where guests were eating and had drinks.

The event ended at 10 p.m., after only starting closer to 9 p.m.

Raeha Kim

What saved my entire experience was being able to interview and chat with Raeha Kim, the sponsor of "Men in Black Awards", Founder of Raeha Speaks and Entertainment Attorney. Raeha Kim was a breath of fresh air through all of the confusion and dysfunction but the interview went as follows:

K: "Can you please state your full name?"

R: "Sure, it's Raeha Kim."

K: "So for those who aren't familiar with the event what do you want them to know?"

R: "I want them to know that male leadership is so important. I also want them to know that access to delicious and healthy foods should not be denied to anyone and we should never leave anyone behind."

K: "This is now the 3rd annual awards, how do you feel about the turnout?"

R: "I think it was a fabulous turnout, it was beyond what we expected and I'm just so excited to be here. Everyone is still here we're still mingling and connecting it's just an awesome energy."

K: "Philanthropy is a big part of community development are the honorees usually very generous?"

R: "I think absolutely, that's a no brainer, honorees are very generous, not just, um, with the dollars and the cents, because that does matter too. But with each honoree that I was fortunate to present tonight, every single of them had a movement, a non-profit foundation and it was so heartfelt and was generosity to the umpteenth power, absolutely."

K: "What drove you to sponsor such an amazing event?"

R: "It was an no brainer, um, Raeha Speaks, I'm an entertainment attorney and I really speak for millennials and the women and I think we have to educate our youth leaders, our ladies, and the gentlemen about some of the stuff that we don't really talk about as much in the media. You know, we get so caught up on what quote on quote is really going on that we forget to appreciate and acknowledge the leaders that have paved the way for us. And the other thing was from the "Eat fresh, Be Fresh" campaign that Raeha Speaks launched in conjunction with the Austell international farmer's market, it was for "Hosea feed the hungry," no brainer, I just spoke with the Atlanta city council, um, as a keynote speaker, with the restaurant entrepreneurship event and we are launching an "Eat fresh, Be Fresh" campaign so it was absolutely a no brainer for me."

K: "How do you think the venue handled such a prestigious event?"

R: "Wow! haha! You see it's easy for me to answer that if I didn't have all the background information but, haha, I think the venue did excellent, um, the owner Nana Addaquay, is, you know, from Ghana, he was born in Ghana, raised in UK, is a dear friend of mine and we worked very closely with Andre and I think collaboration, the communication, everything was so awesome, um, in fact the hors devours that was prepared for the VIPs, um. I worked on the menu with Nana, with the chefs, it was a collaborative effort from Austell International farmer's market and the Atlantis Mediterranean Bar & Grill."

K: "That's awesome! Is there anything that you wish could have been done better or are you overall happy with the entire event?"

R: "I think I'm happy, extremely, extremely, happy, that the first lady of Atlanta is in the house, we had Silk in the house, Tony Tony, I mean we had everyone who just melt my heart in the house. I think the only thing I wish, was um, if we could have had a little more space to bring more honorees and make it into something that's more talked about because I don't think we give it enough light."

K: "Is there anything else that you would like to add?"

R: "I would like to add, please be on the lookout for the "Eat Fresh, Be Fresh" campaign with Austell International Farmer's Market along with Raeha Speaks will launch multiple movements with different restaurant industry leaders in Atlanta, so you'll be hearing a lot of delicious stories. I also have a back to school back to business speaking empowerment boot camp brunch coming up, where I hand pick only 30 women entrepreneurs who want to, and millennials, because those are two of my sweet spots, to really hone public speaking as a vehicle to amplify their brand and grow their revenue, so please be on the lookout for that. First launch is October the 1st and the location is Secret for Now, but please be advised that it will be very nice, haha!"

Thoughts

This event has the potential to be great but there seemed to be several levels of miscommunication from the individuals that were responsible for putting it together. There were so many things that went wrong that it was hard to pay attention to the reason for attending, which was charity. I think addressing the issues that were experienced at the event and communicating more effectively with the venue, the guests and the honorees can lead to raising more funds and creating a more positive environment for the attendees.