The Diversity Roundtable of Central Indiana
Along with
&
Presents the DRTCI 10th Anniversary Celebration
2008 Awards Luncheon
Featuring Guest Speaker, Tavis Smiley, Host of Tavis Smiley on PBS & Tavis Smiley on PRI
To be held on Thursday, October 23, 2008 from 11:30 AM - 1:30 PM @ The Murat Theatre
PURCHASE TICKETS NOW!
Please join the Diversity Roundtable of Central Indiana as we celebrate our 10th Year Anniversary! To commemorate this significant milestone we, along with our media partner, RADIO ONE, cordially invite you to attend the Inaugural Diversity Awards Luncheon and Business Fair. The Diversity Roundtable of Central Indiana is pleased to present this year’s special keynote speaker, Tavis Smiley, host of TAVIS SMILEY on PBS and THE TAVIS SMILEY SHOW FROM PRI. Mr. Smiley is an award-winning journalist, author and social advocate for change. He is affectionately known as one of Indiana’s most favorite son.
SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITY INFORMATION
The 10th Year Anniversary Celebration Luncheon will be held on Thursday, October 23, 2008 at the beautiful Murat Shrine Ballroom located at 510 N. New Jersey St. in downtown Indianapolis, IN from 11:30AM to 1:30PM.
Our luncheon program will last approximately two hours. The DRTCI will honor a number of key companies that have exhibited the principals of outstanding achievements in the arena of diversity. In addition to these presentations, we will present Mr. Smiley with a Lifetime Achievement Award for Outstanding Contributions in the fields of Social Advocacy and Diversity Initiatives.
Over the past ten years, the DRTCI has provided a forum for leaders, advocates, and supporters of organizational diversity efforts to network, enhance diversity competencies and advocate for diversity sensitive policies and practices. The DRTCI is a non-profit 501c(3) organization that fosters communication regarding diversity issues within the greater Indianapolis area.
Corporate tickets will be available for a cost of $75 each or a corporate Table-Top Sponsor level at the cost $1,500 (includes 10 tickets). To become a sponsor for this luncheon event, or purchase tickets, please contacting Lori Morgan, DRTCI Board Member and luncheon coordinator by calling 317-808-6100 or via e-mail: DIVERSITYSPONSOR@YAHOO.COM. Corporate sponsorships and corporate tickets are only available either via the Diversity Roundtable of Central Indiana website (www.DRTCI.org) or via the Radio One Offices directly. Sponsorships are available on first come, first serve basis.
If you are interested in a sponsorship opportunity for this exciting event, please email download a sponsorship packet directly from our website. (PDF) You can also contact our Director of Marketing and Community Relations, Lori Morgan at: DIVERSITYSPONSOR@YAHOO.COM.
As we look to the future our organization, your participation will ensure that the legacy of the Diversity Roundtable of Central Indiana will continue. In addition, it will assist us in providing education and forums that will assist your organization’s diversity initiatives improve. We appreciate your sponsorship consideration. On behalf of our board members, we thank you for your continued support of the Diversity Roundtable of Central Indiana as we celebrate our 10th Year Anniversary.
The Diversity Roundtable of Central Indiana provides a forum for leaders, advocates, and supporters of organizational diversity efforts to network, enhance diversity competencies and advocate for diversity sensitive policies and practices. The DRTCI is a non-profit 501c(3) organization that fosters communication regarding diversity issues within the greater Indianapolis area.
Featured Speaker - Bio of Tavis Smiley
From his celebrated conversations with world figures, to his work to inspire the next generation of leaders, as a broadcaster, author, advocate and philanthropist, Tavis Smiley continues to be an outstanding voice for change.
Newsweek profiled him as one of the “20 people changing how Americans get their news” and dubbed him one of the nation’s “captains of the airwaves.”
Smiley hosts the late night television talk show, Tavis Smiley on PBS, and his radio show The Tavis Smiley Show on public radio is distributed by PRI, Public Radio International. Smiley is the first American ever to simultaneously host signature talk shows on both public television and public radio.
Smiley, who started his career as an aide to the late Los Angeles mayor Tom Bradley, also offers political commentary twice weekly on the Tom Joyner Morning Show. In addition, he has authored eleven books. Smiley made publishing history when the book he edited, the Covenant with Black America reached #1 on the New York Times bestseller list. His latest is What I Know For Sure: My Story of Growing up in America (Doubleday). In 2007 Smiley moderated and executive produced the Democratic and Republican All-American Presidential Forums on PBS. This marked the first time in history that a panel exclusively comprised of journalists of color was represented in primetime television conducting a presidential debate.
Newsweek profiled him as one of the “20 people changing how Americans get their news” and dubbed him one of the nation’s “captains of the airwaves.”
In 2004, Texas Southern University honored Smiley with the opening of The Tavis Smiley School of Communications and The Tavis Smiley Center for Professional Media Studies, making him the youngest African American to ever have a professional school and center named after him on a college or university campus. Smiley cemented his commitment to TSU with a $1million gift to the Center.
The mission of his nonprofit organization—Tavis Smiley Foundation—is to enlighten, encourage and empower Black youth. Tavis Smiley Presents, a subsidiary of The Smiley Group, Inc., brings ideas and people together through symposiums, seminars, forums and town hall meetings.
Smiley has received numerous awards and honorary doctorate degrees including one from his alma mater, Indiana University.
One of ten children, Smiley lives in Los Angeles. In his spare time, he enjoys a good game of Scrabble with friends.
What People Are Saying About TAVIS SMILEY…
Jay Leno of The Tonight Show dubbed him “the king of late night public television.”
The Los Angeles Times says he’s on the “fast track, left lane.”
The New York Post screamed, “Look out Larry King, here comes Tavis Smiley!”
The Washington Post declared that he’s “winning friends and influencing people.”
The Philadelphia Inquirer says Smiley is “one of the most important political voices of his generation.”
The Cleveland Plain Dealer summed up Tavis' appeal best: "In the age of high-decibel, in-your-face talk shows, Tavis Smiley keeps the volume low and the content high. He also gets the best guests in broadcasting - presidents, the pope, A-list entertainers. Smiley's style of easy and engaging conversation makes them all feel comfortable. And it works."
Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Daily News columnist E.R. Shipp writes: "He does what too little of talk radio or television does these days: conducts civil conversations with a broad spectrum of politicians, newsmakers, performers and writers in a forum where one first has to declare one's political alliances. He's comfortable with conservatives, liberals and the undeclared; with the profound and the profane, with elder statesmen and the hip-hop nation. With such stratification in the country, he provides one place that helps promote dialogues that might not otherwise take place before audiences who might not otherwise think that they have anything in common.”
DeWayne Wickham in USA Today declares that Smiley is “arguably the nation's most influential black journalist.”
Vanity Fair inducted him into their Hall of Fame.
Website: www.tavistalks.com
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