Anyone can tell you, arranging a glamorous event is anything but glamorous. There’s a lot of drudge work that has to happen — permits to get, beer truck arrangements to be made, figuring out who’s going to pick up all the trash — it’s a thankless job. Sure, people will remember the amazing costumes; they’ll reminisce about their first sip of a Halloween HighBall (the official drink of HighBall); they’ll flash pictures to prove they were there. But do you think partygoers stop to pay tribute to the behind-the-scenes work? No, not if you did your job right. When things go seamlessly well, it’s due to the invisible but vital work of folks like Candice Watkins. She makes amazing events happen for the Hot Times Community Arts & Music Festival, ComFest and The Ohioana Book Festival. We’re damn lucky to have her on HighBall.

What’s your favorite kind of Halloween candy?

Candy Corn

Least favorite Halloween candy?

Candy Corn. I eat way too much of it sending it from a favorite to not a favorite in short order!

What was your best ever Halloween costume?

The blue moon sequined outfit with a beautiful mask.

Which celebrity costume do you hope you DON’T see this year?

Britney.

What part of the HighBall are you most excited about and why?

The whole thing is a unique and unusual experience for us all. I look forward to the whole thing going smoothly!

We know many of you are most excited about the Costume Couture Fashion Showdown — and well you should! This is what’s going to set  our Columbus Halloween celebration apart from all other cities’ celebrations. As you know Columbus is one of THE most creative cities around — don’t let our football reputation fool you! As proof, we had two designers on this season’s round of Project Runway and both Kelli and Terri have agreed to be part of the show. Here’s some of Kelli’s advice about making YOUR Halloween costume memorable!

When choosing a costume for Halloween, I usually try to incorporate my natural design aesthetic into the idea. In my case, the costume ends up looking, “pretty ugly.” Just think— ”vintage doll meets psychotic lunatic!”

Although “pretty” is key, I strive to avoid “sexy”. Being scary is what Halloween is all about, and I LOVE applying the over the top makeup!

Last year, I was interested in painting myself, as well as creating a unique costume that both my boyfriend and I could be a part of.

My initial plan, as always, was to think of something that was pretty, but was also “mean.” My boyfriend was interested in being a witch doctor, so immediately I thought, “VOODOO DOLL!!!!”

Once the idea is in place, there is no stopping me. I started by buying burlap and whipping up a dress. Then I  ripped apart a grass skirt and made straw for the tulle underneath the skirt. The most difficult part was getting the pins to stick in my neck! I did some research, and discovered that I could layer latex and shove the straight pins in BEFORE I glued it to my neck……that REALLY made the outfit complete.

My suggestions for creating YOUR Halloween costume is to find out what kind of image that you want to present. Do you want to be Sexy? Scary? Funny? Next, try and find one key “shock element” that will scream your idea, and you can easily build from there.

If you’re somewhere around Grandview and have the urge for some truly decadant, truly fabulous ice cream (and c’mon, that must happen at least once a week, right?) then you must of course head to Jeni’s on Grandview Avenue (and if you’re somewhere else, don’t worry because they have stores all over town now). Whether you need to feed your spicy chocolate cravings with Queen City Cayenne or would rather something light and autumnal like Riesling Poached Pear Sorbet, Jeni’s has your number. They also have Hannah Adkins, who runs the Grandview Store. When she’s not making sure her customers’ every ice cream wish is being met, she’s helping out with HighBall. If you’re looking to volunteer (and our need for you, dear volunteers, is great!) she’ll help figure out where you’re going to go and what you’re going to do. She also, as you can see, makes one hell of a Pinocchio. (You’ll have to come to HighBall to see what’s she got up her costume sleeve this year!)

What’s your favorite kind of Halloween candy?

Candy corn mixed with salty peanuts

Least favorite Halloween candy?

Necco wafers

What was your best ever Halloween costume?

Pinocchio, last year

Which celebrity costume do you hope you DON’T see this year?

I love all celebrity costumes…i don’t want to see another french maid or sexy kitty.

What part of the HighBall are you most excited about and why?

The costumes! It’s fun to be someone else for a night.

A tie between Moby and skinny Chris Elliot

John D’Angelo [sic]

Costume Couture Fashion Show

Check her out!

Without Morgan, who works for the SNBA, this whole HighBall shindig would be much more of an uphill battle. Her organizational help at the meetings takes a great big enormous load of of everyone especially because she’s taken on the enormous task of managing the volunteers along with set-up and tear down. Speaking of volunteers, head on over to our HighBall volunteer sign-up sheet and go ahead and pick out something fun to do. Morgan will get your submission and follow up with you. Not only will you win our deepest gratitude, you’ll get to say that you were in on what’s destined to be a Columbus legend from the very beginning. Those bragging rights are priceless!!

My first costume was a tiger. I was so ferocious that I scared myself. When I saw my reflection, I burst out in tears.

I better not see Cloris Leachman, Tyra Banks, Hannah Montana, Bret Michaels, or the Cloverfield Monster.

Howloween will be cute, but I’m amped about the couture fashion showdown with Terri Stevens and Kelli Martin.

No, Macey would eat her costume before she’d wear it.

Being co-owner of the Surly Girl Saloon along with fellow Surly Girls, Liz Lessner and Marcy Mays, Carmen Owens (she’s on the far right there, sneering behind a skull) knows it takes teamwork to make great things happen. That’s why she’s co-chairing the HighBall with an emphasis on the all-important food and drink aspect. That makes sense, too, since Surly Girl Saloon is known for their fantastic comfort food with a twist (and their Western-style but more decor).

What’s your favorite kind of Halloween candy?

Anything involving chocolate

Least favorite Halloween candy?

Anything that tastes like anise

What was your best ever Halloween costume?

Medusa, but this year’s is going to be pretty darn good

Which celebrity costume do you hope you DON’T see this year?

Palin…..ugh.

What part of the HighBall are you most excited about and why?

Seeing how everything comes together in our first year

If you have a pet, do you dress it up for Halloween?

No, but my one-eyed cat already looks like a pirate and my fattest cat looks like an ottoman

Chris Shirer is the president and chief executive of Madison & Fifth, (formerly imedia, inc), a premiere interactive marketing agency providing clear strategy and gorgeous web design for small to medium-sized businesses including local legends like the Cameron Mitchell suite of restaurants and Short North’s new addition DeepWood. Chris has a passion for supporting local businesses, which is what led her to serve on the board of the Short North Business Association. Naturally when it came to crafting a fabulous web site for HighBall, Chris and her crew came through!

What’s your favorite kind of Halloween candy?

I am an unabashed fan of candy corn but only if eaten properly, one color layer at a time. Yellow-orange-white only, please. I am a purist.

Least favorite Halloween candy?

Gum of any kind.

What was your best ever Halloween costume?

The made-from-scratch fabric pumpkin costume my mother made for me when I was somewhere around 5 – 7 years old.

Which celebrity costume do you hope you DON’T see this year?

Sarah Palin. No one can outdo Tina Fey. This ‘costume’ is hers.

What part of the HighBall are you most excited about and why?

The contests – from general costume competitions to the Fashion Couture event. It’s a chance for the creatives in Columbus to really shine and I don’t think we’ll be disappointed.

If you have a pet, do you dress it up for Halloween?

I have two dogs and they have informed me that if I ever place anything on them other than a collar, they will run away to the circus. So, the answer is no costumes for The Rocket or Boomer.

Walker Evans is one of our city’s biggest fans so it’s no surprise to find him front and center on our HighBall planning committee. Besides serving on the North Market Development Authority Board of Trustees, the Create Columbus Commission, the Columbus Chamber of Commerce and the Columbus Metropolitan Club, Walker is the founder of Columbus Underground, the virtual community of the movers and shakers in Columbus. Walker is wearing several HighBall hats: Marketing Committee, Online Promotions and Volunteer Recruitment.

What’s your favorite kind of Halloween candy?

Anything sweet.

Least favorite Halloween candy?

Those unidentifiable chewy things wrapped in orange or black wax paper.

What was your best ever Halloween costume?

I loved going as Mario when I was a kid.

Are there any celebrity costumes you don’t want to see?

Sexy Sarah Palin Outfit

What part of the HighBall are you most excited about and why?

I’m looking forward to the party-in-the-street ambiance that you can’t find at any other Columbus Festival

HighBall keeps taking more strides toward becoming Columbus’ newest signature event. And though it never ceases to amaze me how much effort it takes to create a high-quality event, it also never ceases to amaze me how fun it can be when all the pieces begin to interconnect.

HighBall earned its stripes with the city this week when the department of transportation signed off on closing High Street from Buttles to Hubbard for the night. Though we had crossed our fingers for 6:00PM, we’re quite happy with the 6:30PM close time we were granted. This is a big deal. Closing High Street on a regular work day right after rush hour isn’t something that happens all that often. In fact, High Street event closings of the last five years have really been limited to holiday timings, such as Doo Dah’s 25th anniversary on the 4th of July. Everyone from the city to COTA to the Convention Center have now weighed in on HighBall. The question: “What is the balance of community experience versus the temporary traffic flow inconvenience?” The answer: “Extremely positive!”

Earlier this week, Charly Bauer and I shared the HighBall story with our friends at Experience Columbus. Paul Astleford, Pete McGinty, Xenia Palus, Beth Ervin, Kari Kaughman and the rest of the team (nearly 40 in all) were thrilled about the potential the event represents. In fact, we reconvened a few days later and discussed a regional push that involves sharing the story with upwards of 2,000 writers! Stay tuned on that front. Maybe we can get the entire state talking about it.

The key is the vision for the event and the role it plays in Columbus’ offerings. The development committee has been working extremely hard to make sure HighBall IS an artistic, experiential, wow-factor event… and that it IS NOT a mindless beerfest. This is a question looming for many folks watching the evolution of HighBall. This weekend I ran in to Haley Boehning at the Gallery Hop. She wasn’t shy about expressing her concern that an OU Halloween-bash-clone was in the works. I can understand her trepidations, but I have faith in the creative class of Columbus. If we start this event by taking the artistry dimension to the max, we’ll set the tone for years to come. The eye-candy we create this year will set the bar for the event next year. It’s our competitive spirit. The costumes will become even more elaborate. The staging more magical. The event more experiential.

If we inspire, challenge and reward… it will happen.

Now, I’m not saying that every person who comes to HighBall has to create a 9′ tall, flowing fabric, Priscilla Queen of the Dessert, screaming drag queen ensemble. A few would be cool! Expectation: maybe 10% of the attendees will really take it over the top and invest the energy to make a real statement. The other 90%? They will be there to see what the 10% do! And that’s just fine. That’s all it takes to make the difference.

So here’s to HighBall: the launch, the experience, the evolution. Let’s make it our experience. Columbus’ experience. And let’s make the region buzz with envy that we can pull it off!

Next up… convincing the mayor he would look great in a Venetian Carnivale mask.

Ciao, for now.

ja