iDignity Fundraiser at Ember

Terry told me about the iDignity fundraiser at Ember. Admission to the fundraising event was $15 which is apparently how much it costs to acquire one Florida ID. I was instructed to slip my drivers license into the lanyard I was given to wear around my neck. Everyone in the room wore their IDs with pride. I sport a full head of hair on my drivers license photo but no one noticed. I found Terry at the end of the bar. She was working the event hoping to find some promising leads. I took the seat next to her and started to sketch.

I had been introduced to the charitable work of iDinity once before by Hannah Miller. They get IDs for the underprivileged. Without an ID it is impossible to get a job so this is the first step in empowering someone. I have seen that crowds of people show up when the IDs are being processed. I hope to get out to sketch the process soon.

The woman next to Terry was talking about how she had once tried out to be a Magic dancer. She didn't approve of the process and she dropped out. The Magic were playing the New York Knicks that night. It was a home game, so there was a crowd at the Amway Center a few blocks away. After a beer and tasting the food, Terry and I decided to leave early to avoid the mad traffic congestion that would happen when the game let out.

Florida Film Festival - Filmmaker Welcome Party

Right after the animated shorts screening, I rushed downtown to go to the film maker's welcome party at Ember. The bar inside wasn't very crowded, but I noticed on of the large glowing Orbs that Full Sail uses to advertise. Ember has a large outdoor area with three different bars. The woman at the entry asked if I was there for the Florida Film Festival party and when I said I was, she gave me a leather trinket which was good for one Peroni beer and a red rubber wrist band which was good for Macker's mark which is a brand of Bourbon. I immediately stepped up to one of the bars and asked for a Peroni. I then wandered around wondering what I should draw. I rather liked the tall arched architecture of this bar in the corner, so I sat at a wrought iron table and got to work.
It would be nice to say that I networked with some high powered Hollywood types but that didn't happen. There was a brightly lit area where a photographer shot pictures of people. Rather than rather than doing any high powered networking, I just sipped my beer and watched the crowd. As I was sketching in the people, I realized that I recognized a local theater producer, so I stopped sketching for a moment and wandered over to shake his hand. One of the owners of the Plaza theater also spoke to me for a while and that contact might result in my covering more musical acts at that venue.
Once my sketch was finished, I packed up my art supplies and headed home. I didn't cash in my free Bourbon, I'm not even sure I would have liked a Bourbon, I never tasted one. I will have to leave that life experience for another day.