Steve blogs from the cocktail party.

Friday, September 29, 2006

At our meeting yesterday morning with CCT (Creative Children Therapy), Chung and I were invited to attend a cocktail party last night held by a foundation that supports some of the efforts of CCT and similar organizations. The very gracious people at CCT wanted to introduce us to many people who could serve as important and useful resources in our collaborations with CCT and the general growth of Project Copernicus. Unfortunately, I was only able to stay for about half of the party, and Chung had a dress rehearsal with the UM orchestra. Nevertheless, I had a great time and in a whirlwind I met many welcoming people who all seemed excited about CCT’s endeavor. I handed out a bunch of business cards and I put our website on the back and made sure to explain our connection, and what we are trying to do. Everyone I spoke to was very interested, and we were constantly tossing around new ideas for these projects. In fact, one gentlemen mentioned a contact he had in the Venezuelan Youth Orchestra system, where they have not only many strong youth orchestras, but also a program dedicated to serving children with disabilities. He said it may be a great resource and contact for us, and Yani from CCT said that she would get us the contact.

I was happy to get the chance to meet Maida Santander, the President of American Children’s Orchestras for Peace (www.americanchildrensorchestras.org). Chung and I had agreed that we really needed to make contact with them and discuss their efforts and ideas, after CCT introduced their program to us. Maida was very welcoming and I have no doubt that we can contact her at any time to learn about their project. She also mentioned that they are constantly looking to collaborate with new people, so we may certainly have the opportunity to work with them if we would like.

The cocktail party was held on Grove Isle, in Coconut Grove, which is quite a beautiful place I must say. It is a tiny little island that only has a hotel and condo building on it, and a ton of manicured landscaping. The foundation that hosted the event was "La Ventana De Los Cielos," (laventanadeloscielos.org) and they began to collaborate with CCT only a year ago, and the foundation aims to support the "development of children and teenagers, with physical or mental limitations..." It was a great event, and I am glad that CCT invited us and that I was able to attend, as I met some great people who will undoubtedly be friends of Project Copernicus as we grow.