Thursday, December 16, 2010

Countdown to CAPE Soiree: Following the Fellows of CAPE - examiner.com article

Countdown to CAPE Soiree: Following the Fellows of CAPE

http://www.examiner.com/asian-pacific-entertainment-in-national/countdown-to-cape-soiree-following-the-fellows-of-cape?cid=parsely#parsely

The executive leadership program, LA Fellows, has partnered with the Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment in leadership and skill training, career guidance, and volunteerism. We caught up with the three fellows as they were rolling up their sleeves on work for the annual CAPE Soiree.

Friday, November 19: 13 days and 7 hours to go
 
Heather Iniba, younger sister of Katherine Iniba, celebrity host of Halo Halo on La’s Channel 18, is crunched over a computer at the CAPE office. Ken Choy, who has taken over press and celebrity coordination, continuously adds to the pile of Heather’s to-do list. She scrolls through IMDB pages for contact information as well as credits in order to compile media fact sheets—who knew celebrities required so much research. In between banter about the latest Harry Potter movie, Ken asks about her interest in the entertainment industry.
Heather is a trained dancer but also has interest behind the scenes in development and production.

“I’m excited about the opportunity to be surrounded by a great group of individuals who are supportive and work hard to increase diversity in the entertainment field.”

Besides what Choy hands her, Jennifer Sanderson, Director of CAPE and other team leads for the Soiree assign the 27 year old tasks as well.
“For the Soiree, I am building and establishing relationships with new and existing In-Kind Sponsors. I am assisting with the silent auction, gift bags, ticket/membership sales and personally increasing public awareness about CAPE and the Holiday Soiree by word of mouth and through social media forms.”

We ask if she has felt the crush of having to fulfill everyone’s needs; she answers diplomatically, “I am motivated to work hard and help out in any way to help contribute to the Soiree's success.”

Saturday, November 20: 12 days and 10 hours to go.

Sharon Morgan arrives for an early morning production and volunteer meeting at a coffee shop across the street from Vibiana, the site for the Soiree, in downtown Los Angeles. In a few hours, they’ll take the group of volunteers to tour the converted church which has become one of LA’s hottest venues.
Sharon takes a moment to pause, “They are an incredible group of people who have achieved great success, and who are willing to volunteer their time and expertise to help others succeed in a very tough business. I'm honored to be associated with them.”

The notoriety and achievements of the individuals behind the scenes doesn’t stop Sharon from taking the lead on getting the volunteers oriented with the venue. While doing so, she makes mental reminders to update the team leads: Time-lapse camera (Jennifer); Tip Sheet (Ken); and on it goes.

“CAPE offers great educational classes, industry contacts, and exclusive job postings; working with CAPE has allowed me to meet people who work in a variety of roles in the business, so I can figure out where the best fit is for me.”

Roxanne V. Jackson, the third fellow, chimes in, “I’m excited about having a chance to meet with brilliant people such as Quentin Lee, Lisa Ling and Tzi Ma.”

As she rushes off to the kitchen with Ada Chan, the events planner, to finalize positions for the notable restaurants and caterers who will be offering their finest creations at the Soiree, she clarifies, “The most exciting and rewarding opportunity in working for CAPE, is that I'm surrounded around some pretty incredible people, from the Board members on down to the Intern. Not to mention, being on board and supporting the efforts of the Soiree.”

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