I am back on the road and last week was hectic with an in out to Cairo followed by a trip back to the UK for a last minute meeting. The good thing was that I managed to be in Dubai for the Night of 1000 Drawings – Dubai.
The build up had been great with the organisers “Legion-DXB” throwing themselves headlong into publicity for the fund raiser with a number of “Doodle events”, features in Timout, radio interviews and even an appearance on CNN Arabia.
The output of this huge amount of work was a really cool evening showing 1000 drawings (they actually got 1200 pictures in the end) from all around the world. The team had recruited volunteers and pegged out the art around the gallery to good effect:
The format was quite simple. There was a couple of hours to have a good look around and decide what you might be interested in. Each picture was sale at 50 Dhs ($13). If there was something you really wanted there was a VIP option for 200 Dhs ($52) which gave you 15 minutes head start on the public.
The choice was bewildering. Though I really regret not grabbing the “Renata Giovanni” originals:
However, I did invest in a VIP ticket and was delighted to win a piece called “Phunky Phresh” by Foo Dog a local urban art compnay and here it is in pride of place in my home office:
and the reverse side:
As well as the art there was a doodle battle, a number of bands performing and the obligatory shwarma guys. Together it made for a really fun night. The important thing however was they raised an excellent 65,000 Dhs ($17,700) which is being donated to Gulf for Good who will then distribute the money to hand picked charities.
I know the organisers put their hearts and souls into this for the last four months and should be proud of what they achieved. I hope this becomes an annual event as this unusual combination of cool, urban art, hip and altruistic attitude is something we could all use a little of in this day and age.
there is another event coming up that you might want to check out – the UAE National Day Walkathon.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Stargate-UAE-National-Day-Walk-a-thon/189018563485
By: melvinmichael on December 4, 2009
at 12:38 pm
@melvin – thanks I will check it ou
@Resha – I will drop you a note
By: Aaron on December 7, 2009
at 10:34 pm
Dear blogger,
I’m a post graduate student writing a research on “the revolution of blogs and blogging in knowledge workers’ practices and the possibility of using intranet blogging to enhance HRM practices”
I’m searching for managers or employees in UAE who blog about their career. I’m looking forward to start a conversation with bloggers and listen to their point of view regarding using blogs for a better organizational communication.
please feel free to email me
resha.alhussaini@gmail.com
Resha al Hussaini
By: Resha al Hussaini on December 7, 2009
at 3:26 pm
Hey Aaron
I didn’t know that this was a dating site! I got the following email:
From: Corine Keddy [corinekeddy@yahoo.com]
To: undisclosed recipients:
Subject: hello
Hello dear,
my name is Corine. I am 25 years old from Africa. I want to share somethings with you.
Please send me mail so i can tell you more about me and send you my photos.
I got your email address from dubai dating site ‘englishmanindubai.com’I am waiting to hear from you soon. Your new friend,
Corine
;.)
By: nzm on December 10, 2009
at 9:23 pm
Crikey nzm – a dating site that is a new (and amusing) one!
By: Aaron on December 12, 2009
at 10:18 pm
I hope that you’re not blocked by the UAE IPs – they tend to not like dating sites! ;.)
By: nzm on December 12, 2009
at 11:54 pm