Philadelphia

Zarwin Baum Ps & Qs of March Madness Party

March 27, 2013 by HughE Dillon

On Thursday, March 21, as basketball enthusiasts everywhere gathered for the first day of the
NCAA’s March Madness Tournament, Philadelphia firm Zarwin Baum DeVito Kaplan Schaer
Toddy P.C., HUB International (HUB), a leading Insurance Brokerage, and 2500 guests took
part in the March Madness mayhem by raising $40,000 and collecting 1000 pounds of food for
Philabundance – more than double the amount collected last year! – at the 11th Annual Zarwin
HUB March Madness. This year’s Zarwin HUB March Madness topped last year’s efforts by
$10,000!

 Today I’m posting a few more pixs and chatting about the room set up too.

 I cover a lot of events here and this was by far the best set up I’ve seen. Often the room is dark and hard to navigate, but this year Stacey Kracher, Marketing Director at Zarwin Baum did a great job at setting up the room. I like how the silent auction table was long and in the back of the room. It was done electronically, and you could register your credit card with Philabundence beforehand. (The annual bash is also a fund-raiser for Philabundance)

Great job lighting the “stage.” If there’s one thing that drives me crazy is having a stage with a speaker that is not lit. Mitchell Kaplan, partner at Zarwin Baum, and Dennis B. LeVasseur, HUB International.

I have to say last week when the United Way had their Women’s Initiative
night here at the Crystal Tea Room, Scott Mirkin also did a fantastic
job at lighting the stage. So PR people, lite the subjects, it makes a difference.

Another thing that is so great with the Zarwin/Hub March Madness party, not only were there plenty of screens to catch the latest NCAA games on TV, but it was also a great place to network, it was like a mini trade show with vendors who could help out with your business or your stress like Apple Vacations.

The Zarwin/Hub March Madness experience included a game room (swish Aida & Allison), with an adjoining cigar room. Former NBA player and current Director of Player Development for the Toronto Raptors, Alvin Williams; former NBA player Cuttino Mobley; former NC State basketball player and Fordham University basketball coach Dereck Whittenberg; former Mayor John F. Street; 610 WIP host and former Philadelphia Eagle Mike Quick; comedian Joe Conklin; a thin Sheriff Jewell Williams; he told me the doctor was going to put him on Insulin unless he changed his eating habits, and he did. Check out his picture in my PhillyMag column to see how great he looks.
Philadelphia Senate members Larry Farnese, Jose Miranda, and Shirley Kitchen; Philadelphia
City Council members Cindy Bass, Jim Kenney, David Oh, Kenyatta Johnson, and Jannie
Blackwell; Kevin Dow, Chief Operating Officer and Deputy Director of Commerce; Comcast
Network on-air host Arthur Fennell, other city leaders and a host of Zarwin Baum/HUB clients
and invited guests caught up with old friends and made new business connections, all while
watching 9 full hours of the NCAA tournament on large projection screens at the Crystal Tea
Room.

Where Jorge was able to make your cigar as you waited.
Lisette Gonzalez  Executive Director at Friends of Seth Williams and Zeli Colon Pennock, MMA, Director of Hispanic Outreach Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office

Joann Goodwin and Stephanie Luongo

Karin Copeland,  Executive Director Arts & Business Council of Greater Philadelphia
Happy Birthday Larry Giuffra of Replica Creative
Paul Smith and Pat Jankowski

The Brownstone PR firm was doing a fantastic job with the Social Media aspect of the party, creating a #ZarwinMarchMadness hashtag, which was helpful to me cause then I saw that Caria Brescia was in the room and I sought her out for a photo. (as well as several other folks.) (They have a cool new website too. Check it out http://www.brownstonepr.com/)

Cary Simons, Stacey Kracher and Carie Brescia
The annual Zarwin HUB March Madness has grown to be one of the largest networking events
in the city of Philadelphia; and a truly one-of-a-kind event to raise funds for Philabundance,
the region’s largest hunger relief organization fighting hunger and malnutrition in the Delaware
Valley, and an organization of which Zarwin Baum has been a longtime supporter. This year’s
March Madness event went specifically to support Philabundance’s efforts to build the nonprofit
grocery store, Fare & Square, in the city of Chester, PA.
Kecia Babb-Jordan  Director, Sales and Marketing at Amtrak and Mariska K. Bogle  communications marketing expert
Fashion Forward: Victoria Hammonds and Felicia Bethda
Roi Ligon, legislative assistant and job development liaison for City Councilman Kenyatta Johnson and Kenyatta Johnson
‏, Councilman-2nd District. Check out my PhillyMag for additional photos from this event, including former Mayor John Street who makes a rare appearance.
Founded in 1960, Zarwin Baum DeVito Kaplan Schaer & Toddy, P.C. is a full-practice law firm that
currently maintains offices in Philadelphia, PA, Bethlehem, PA, Marlton and Jersey City, New Jersey, and
now Wilmington, DE. To learn more, visit http://www.zarwin.com; follow the firm on Twitter @ZarwinBaum;
and ‘like’ the firm on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ZarwinBaum.