J.Genius’ Neighborhood

My events company, CLI Event Group helped market and manage this event this past wknd.  We were heavily involved with the first event, which was a success and was asked to be apart of this event as well.  This Harlem Trunk was bigger, better, and embraced by the community.  There were 20 different designers, artists, vendors, and caterers spread out through the New Song Harlem space on 121^st and Frederic Douglas.  It was very festive with all the decorations, face painting, and Santa Clause himself.  Memory Lane by Toya orchestrated the entire event from PR, marketing, designing, food, to reaching out to each and every vendor to fill the space.  Toya put her food in this event, which was a huge successful despite the first sign of snow for the season.  Personally, I thought the snow gave the event a even more festive feel to it.  Shout out to Melissa Carter of Worn, vintage clothing line, as one of the vendors and personal friend of mine.  Melissa is an amazing clothing stylist and designer, and it was great to see her at the event.  Everyone was just having a great time. Some of the designers and vendors included Hue-Man Bookstore, Smooth Skin Care Company, ChuchLyn, and more..

For all of Chuckcity’s Fashionistas, Tamara Mellon exclusively designed a Jimmy Choo collection for Swedish high street brand H&M. The collection not only includes shoes, but also bags and even women’s apparel. Since Tamara Mellon launched the brand in 1996, Jimmy Choo has represented independence, power and femininity. Now the luxury shoes will be available to all women who wanted to be a part of this universe but were not able to afford it! The collection has been available since November 14^th in selected H&M stores.

 

So, now you will be even more ready to snap paparazzi-ish photos at one of CLI Event Group’s events in the Washington D.C., New York, Boston area.

We went Ice Skating in Bryant Park yesterday after work and I was actually surprised about the ppl that came out.  The only reason I say that is because I planned this event w/ two other ppl and most of our close friends were excited about coming out.  Those 2 ppl decided not to come out for whatever reason and the ppls that showed are friends I haven't seen in forever.

In any event, we had a great time besides have ice skates from hell...  Lol..  The skates they gave us were the cheapest skates with absolutely no padding whatsoever.  Beside that is was great... Lol..  Naw, but for real, I stepped on the ice and was like "word!" I haven't done this in so long and it was something fun & different.  Need to bring my next date here i.e. 5 Ways to Date on a budget.   Definitely recommend ice-skating, but make note either bring your own skates or get ones w/ padding.

Swiped this pic from sneakerfreaker.com. I really like these for some odd reason. I'm not big on purple, but these will do. If you're planning on buying me these (thanks in advance), send me a message and I'll forward along my shipping information, lol.

I attended the NABA (National Assocation of Black Accountants) Professional Development event “2010 – A Year of Change for the Financial Sector” at the Morgan Stanley office in midtown.  The panelist for the event were very informative and laid out the issues they faced during the 2008-2009 recession and concepts that need to be used to further grow as the economy recovers as an institution as well as an individual maneuvering through these tough times.

 

Here are my tweets giving the play by play during the event.  Instantaneous views:

@_Chuckcity  At a National Association Black Accountants professional development event @ Morgan Stanley...

@_Chuckcity  Panel discussing Forward Change in the economy from the Financial Sector perspective... Changes, credit regulations, and capital mkts growth

@_Chuckcity  Assessing these recent past events. Credit tightened, banks failing, retail areas that suffered losses... And how things gonna be addressed

@_Chuckcity  Morgan Stanley is still think they will be a net winner in the business despite losing what they are calling "Best Athletes" bc/ salary caps

@_Chuckcity  Conflict of Main street vs. Wall street.. Banks owe to shareholders to make money, but Banks are getting shit holed for making too much

@_Chuckcity  Solutions for the moving forward: what tools are you going to use to be successful & understand volatile markets and models..

@_Chuckcity  Figure out ways to generate revenue and generate ways to engage your clients... MBA gives you that broad scope to think critically

@_Chuckcity  Finance dept at Morgan Stanley work very hard to move this firm forward. Everyone has a great morale which is important 4 overall productivity

@_Chuckcity  Thanking the panelist for their time and knowledge. Thanks so much.... Time to network.. Ttyl guys!

Buddy of mine Landon Dias is featured in the current  Ammo Magazine.  Landon Dias is a native Harlem resident, who graduated from Morehouse, starred on the BET show Harlem Heights, and recently ran for City Councilmen 9^th District in Harlem.  Landon is currently in Miami working on the Rudy Moise campaign for Congress #17th district in Miami, Florida He is a very influential young man in the community that is illustrating how young men and women can achieve whatever they put their mind too.  “We are not the except, we are the rule,”  says Landon Dias.

Here is a little of the article.  For the full version, go to Ammo Magazine.

What first ignited your passion for politics?

I still remember Jesse Jackson running in “88 and I’ve always had a political interest since then; I’ve just always paid attention. My first campaign I worked on was in 2000 for Gore, then Obama, and then my own campaign.

On the show, Harlem Heights, you were doing a lot of community work.  Are you still active in that program?

After the election I’m working on starting my non-profit through CitiWorks. It’s called the Uptown Residents Who Care; URC.

What were you doing before the show?

I was working on a few construction projects in the Tri-State area as well as a GED program that was based on teaching young men who had dropped out of high school.  A lot of them were going through legal problems and financial issues and helping them gave me an understanding of my community and what I needed to do really try to make a difference.

Sean “Diddy” Combs unveiled his new wax figure to an intimate audience at Madam Tussaud’s in Times Square. The statue is clothed in a replica of the outfit for his famous advertisement for the “I Am King” fragrance.  A white dinner jacket by Battistoni, black dinner trousers by Jones, New York, a white tuxedo shirt by Hugo Boss, black shoes by Ferragamo and a black bowtie, cufflinks and shirt studs by Pronto Uomo.