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

It’s a little early in the morning, oh ’bout 2:30AM, and I’m sorting thru the images for tonight’s HighBall Halloween event launch. It was a great day with all the pieces coming together in grand style. I have to say this is one of the most creative, talented and just downright fun teams I’ve had the privilege to work with. This is not going to be your basic slasher, frightmare Halloween. HighBall is going to absolutely pulse with creativity, self-experession and energy. Plan to be talking about this one for months.

Today (hmmm… technically yesterday now), we had our final committee meeting before the launch. The ideas were flying. It was as if hundreds of seeds had been planted over the last month and now all of a sudden they had really taken root and all these definitive concepts were ready to be harvested. The whole story will come out tonight, but here are a few details that are just downright fun…

Mark Moorehead and his team at Moorehead Design nailed the image for the event with a slammin’ logo and absolutely hot array of images. When you see the pics, you’ll get the idea.

We’ve decided to close High Street from Buttles to Hubbard. Thanks to Paul Liu’s amazing zeal for experiential happenings, we’re tapping into Haiku’s parking lot at the north end to stage live bands throughout the evening. At the south end of the strip, we’ll be offering up a fun-as-hell dance scene with a couple of Columbus’ hottest DJ’s… starting with DJ Moxy.

The costume scene is getting a real kickstart. We’ve already signed on two rockin’ fashion designers to begin creating original works of art for a runway scene. Welcome aboard Kelli and Esther. Our goal is to have a dozen Columbus designers really show their stuff.

More details tonight, including the Dogtober Howloween Procession, announcements about the costume contest and new of a certain national Entertainer of the Year lending a hand. See ya at Skully’s. 5:30P.

Now that Art al Fresco has made a successful debut, the Short North is turning its focus to the next big thing… HighBall Halloween: A Masquerade Party on High Street. On Wednesday, Sept. 10 we’ll unveil the full details during the event launch at Skully’s Music Diner, but right now the development committee is debating some of the key aspects. Charly Bauer (Jeni’s Ice Creams) wants to see “fabulous” costumes at every turn and an outrageous diva-emcee like Nina West. Dawn Friedman agrees that the “wow factor” should be off the chart if it’s going to be worthy of Short North status, but thinks there has to be a twist to the event. Ryan Morgan thinks inviting Columbus’ couture fashion designers to create original costumes for a Project Runway-style fashion showdown would get juices flowing. Walker Evans wants to see high-profile prizes for the best, most creative, and most outrageous costumes. The next meeting, tomorrow afternoon, will iron out the details.

There are also many logistics questions to answer by Wednesday. What part of High Street will we close for the masquerade? Should we have bands or DJs? Dancing or parades? Beer or wine!? Who gets to be the Joker!?

More to come…