Elegant Vintages, Indianapolis

I write while changing planes in Vegas on route back from Indianapolis.  We were there for Elegant Vintages, an auction benefiting the Indianapolis Zoo.  The event was a great success, and it appears that the auction at least matched last years, and may well have even exceeded the previous total.

Once again you have to look under the hood to see why this event has bucked the national trend.  Colleen and I agree that the secret strength of this event lies with the two chairs, T.J. Cole and Holly Banta.

They have been the Chairs prior to our becoming involved with this event, and that is least six years ago.  Apart from the obvious advantage of having two young, attractive, dynamic, food and wine loving individuals running the event, their continued involvement was particularly important this year.  They have a long term perspective, and know that the event is successful, though the totals may vary from year to year.  This removed the pressure to “out perform” the chairs of previous years.

Another advantage that comes with longevity is that they know what works.  Even though they were anticipating a drop in revenue, they insisted that the event maintained the same high quality that they were famous for in the past.  They knew that they would lose their audience if it was perceived that they had cut corners.  The wines for tasting during the evening were phenomenal!

Of course it is not realistic for most events to keep Chairs for anything like this period of time, and I am amazed at their generosity in taking on this role once again.  They both have full and busy careers, are in the midst of a major remodel and raise horses.  Thankfully they were helped some new lieutenants this year.