Rockit Ranch Productions & Billy Dec invite you to the 2yr Anniversary Party for www.aChicagoThing.com!

check out my avatar coming to life in this video to make fun of me! haha.. just trying to get engage people in new ways to not only enjoy our 2 year anniversary party for my art, culture, trends & entertainment blog but more importantly, to help a really good cause!

it will be an awesome event, cool people, great music, signature food, specialty drinks & more! do not miss this! full press release below- its only a small $20 donation (or more) to help the 36% increase in poor people simply needing food due to the recession, from the greater chicago food depository. limited space- click here to reserve your spot!

special shoutout to all the local artists who helped create this amazing video! Director/Editor: Catherine Lynch, Cinematographer: Adam Dick, Sound: Sam Fell, Avatar Lead: James Pawula, Animation: Ian Beckman & Ari Flesch, Texturing: Arwa Dabbakeh, Modeling: Whit Alexander, Music: Don Meyer, Underground Music: DJ Kane, Make-Up: Brenda Arelano, Equipment: Zacuto, Invites: M13 Graphics

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Tags: A chicago thing, anniversary party, avatar, billy dec, Blog, blues, charity, Chicago Blues Beautillion, cook county, facebook, fight hunger, greater chicago food depository, grey goose, hunger problem, hungry, nonprofit, twitter

Local Restaurateur Billy Dec hosts a social media anniversary party to benefit the Greater Chicago Food Depository’s efforts to fight hunger

check out my avatar coming to life in this video to make fun of me! haha.. just trying to get engage people in new ways to not only enjoy our 2 year anniversary party for my art, culture, trends & entertainment blog but more importantly, to help a really good cause!

it will be an awesome event, cool people, great music, signature food, specialty drinks & more! do not miss this! full press release below- its only a small $20 donation (or more) to help the 36% increase in poor people simply needing food due to the recession, from the greater chicago food depository. limited space- click here to reserve your spot!

special shoutout to all the local artists who helped create this amazing video! Director/Editor: Catherine Lynch, Cinematographer: Adam Dick, Sound: Sam Fell, Avatar Lead: James Pawula, Animation: Ian Beckman & Ari Flesch, Texturing: Arwa Dabbakeh, Modeling: Whit Alexander, Music: Don Meyer, Underground Music: DJ Kane, Make-Up: Brenda Arelano, Equipment: Zacuto, Invites: M13 Graphics

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 19, 2011

2 years, 20,000 followers, 678,000 Chicagoans in need:

Local Restaurateur Billy Dec hosts a social media anniversary party to benefit the Greater Chicago Food Depository’s efforts to fight hunger

Chicago, IL—   After two years of writing his popular Chicago entertainment, arts & culture blog aChicagoThing.com, with a rapidly growing number of friends & followers on Facebook & Twitter (about 20,000 combined), Rockit Ranch Productions CEO Billy Dec is not only throwing a huge two year anniversary bash for all who have supported him online thus far, but he is recruiting this dynamic and dedicated social media network to help him feed the dramatically increasing numbers of poor & hungry, by making his blog anniversary party benefit The Greater Chicago Food Depository.

Guests of the “aChicagoThing.com Anniversary Party” to benefit The Greater Chicago Food Depository will enjoy signature food items from Dec’s award winning restaurants Sunda & Rockit, and creative cocktails by Underground & Grey Goose Vodka. In typical fashion, Dec’s guest list is sure to be a who’s who party mix of the most dynamic personalities in the city’s arts, entertainment, social media & philanthropic scene.

Dec explains the idea behind his event: “during the last couple years of our brutal recession, a 36% increase of an additional 178,000 people have gone hungry and needed food desperately from The Greater Chicago Food Depository alone.  In my yearly effort to support them, post holidays when donations are at their lowest, I’m excited to bring my new social network together to make a bigger impact.”

The event will take place on Thursday, February 3^rd from 7 p.m. – 9 p.m. at Dec’s restaurant Rockit Bar & Grill (22 W. Hubbard).  A limited number of advanced tickets will be available online at aChicagoThing.com for $20, and available at the door for $40.  There will also be a limited number of “VIP Supporter” tickets which includes access to a reserved area at the party, these tickets can be purchased for $100 in advance online at aChicagoThing.com or at the door for $200.  100% of ticket proceeds go towards benefiting The Greater Chicago Food Depository.  (http://bit.ly/h36SIk)

As for other social media related events and fundraising efforts, Dec is hosting a party for his first 10,000 twitter followers that he promised them on Saturday, February 19^th from 7 p.m. – 9 p.m. at Rockit Bar & Grill.  There will be live performance by emerging artists from the Chicago Blues Beautillion, a young blues mentoring project that pairs established artists with young emerging blues musicians to help keep Blues in Chicago alive and thriving! There will be $20 donation requested to support the Chicago Blues Beautillion’s efforts, advanced tickets can be found below. (There is also a Blackhawks viewing party on 2/24.  For more info, Billy can be tweeted at @BD.)

– To purchase tickets to AChicagoThing.com Anniversary Party Benefiting The Greater Chicago Food Depository on February 3rd, visit their site here -  http://bit.ly/h36SIk. —

– To purchase tickets to Blues Night benefiting The Blues Beautillion on February 19th, enter your information below –

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Tags: A chicago thing, anniversary party, avatar, billy dec, Blog, blues, charity, Chicago Blues Beautillion, cook county, facebook, fight hunger, greater chicago food depository, hunger problem, hungry, nonprofit, twitter

Happy Thanksgiving! And thanks for giving happiness..

I came across this cool old school Chicago story from the Chicago History Journal story that I wanted to share. A man named Issac Woolf, the president of Woolf’s Clothing House, which was across the Palmer House chicago, used to host a Thanksgiving Dinner every year, for 25 years, to feed Chicago’s hungry called the “newsboys’ dinner” (see pic above for an ad he put in the tribune).  It started off in 1882 with 100 people and got up to over 10,000 people by the last years!  It cost him about $5000 per year (which was a fortune back then!) & it was a feast of turkey and all the trimmings.  He made this contribution til the day he died, and therefore was no doubt a philanthropic icon for his time, which is why I wanted to give him a shoutout today.  For the full article, click here.

Issac’s story got me thinking that we could all learn a bit from him & while giving thanks for our own blessings this season, perhaps we can take a moment to help the less fortunate, who may not have food, warm clothes, shelter,.. and have little to be thankful for? I usually make an effort to help through the “Chicago Food Depository,” but I’m sure you can just google an organization in your own neighborhood organizing kindness if that’s easier or more helpful or fulfilling.. Every lil bit helps.. Thanks for giving happiness!

Tags: chicago food depository, chicago history journal, feed the poor, hunger, hungry, issac woolf, palmer house, thanksgiving, woolf clothing