News & Events
'Spring-O-Rama 2005' Proceeds to Aid Tsunami/Hurricane Victims
Celebrity comedian and “Spring-O-Rama 2005” emcee Rob Stapleton
After a several-year hiatus, “Spring-O-Rama 2005,” a live entertainment and fashion extravaganza sponsored by City Tech's International Business Organization (IBO), came back with a bang in May. An audience of more than 700 students, faculty, staff, alumni and other patrons filled Klitgord Center Auditorium to near capacity, with a portion of the proceeds from ticket sales earmarked for UNICEF-sponsored tsunami- and hurricane-related relief efforts.
The event featured dozens of amateur singers, dancers, stand-up comics, fashion designers, models and other student artists and performers from City Tech and other metropolitan area colleges. Comedian Rob Stapleton, a BET “Comic View,” “It's Showtime at the Apollo” and “Def Comedy Jam” regular who is popular with college audiences worldwide, hosted the three-hour fundraiser.
Song and dance
“'Spring-O-Rama' not only provides aspiring young performers and fashion designers an opportunity to showcase their talents,” said IBO Vice President Ryan Persaud, who coordinated the production's promotional efforts, “but also provides a great learning experience for IBO members and other students majoring in business, fashion marketing, marketing management and sales and related programs. And this year's event gave those who put the show together and those who just came to enjoy it an opportunity to help people in this country and abroad affected by the 2004 hurricane and tsunami disasters.”
Fashion and modeling
IBO is a not-for-profit student club at City Tech established in 1987 by Department of Business Professor John Dixon and students interested in creating opportunities outside the classroom for students to learn about the field of business. In addition to planning and implementing all aspects of “Spring-O-Rama,” club members bring guest speakers from the world of commerce and industry to campus and organize a variety of networking opportunities that are open to all students. Recent speakers have included executives from CBS, Pepsi, Reader's Digest and other major corporations. Last November, Kingsley Gardner, one of the producers of the Bad Boys soundtrack, shared his entrepreneurial experiences with students interested in careers in the burgeoning music industry.
“IBO members worked hard to make 'Spring-O-Rama 2005' a success,” added Persaud. “The club really appreciates the pre-show coverage provided by New Tech Times and Student News as well as the efforts of the College's Office of Communications, which did a great job of placing stories about the disaster-relief benefit in community newspapers all over New York. It is also grateful to all the students and other people who purchased tickets to help those whose lives were turned upside-down by last year's natural disasters in Florida and the Indian Ocean.”
06/07/05
