Frostiball: Part Deux

Tickets to the DMI Frostiball are in the mail, meaning the event is less than 2 weeks away. It’s crunch time  if you’re still looking for a last-minute dress or accessory, trying to get fitted for a tux, and rallying the troops for a festive night out.

 Although there are many couples that attend the event, the party is not exclusively for pairs.

The night is an excellent opportunity for singles to cut loose in style. For example, last year saw the debut of Women Behaving Badly, a group of women (some single, some not) that took Frostiball as an opportunity to strut their unique flair. For them the night became a showcase for their personalities and individuality and a chance to show attitude in the ambiance. Group members were given points for “bad behavior”, such as wearing non-traditional dresses, wardrobe malfunctions (none as racy as Janet Jackson’s), and dance theatrics. The night became, for them, the Frosti-brawl; an outlet for their inner, irreverent debutante.

It all started in December of ’06 when Amy Gribb, founder of WBB, was contemplating going solo to the Frosti. She found compatriots Christina Rose, Ruth Mathe and Robin Pharrow through Melissa Meyer, and the idea for Women Behaving Badly was born. The group had no specific plans for mayhem, just dinner at the Concourse before going to the gala, but once they arrived, the bizarre and hectic fun followed en suite.

The group’s signature act was a dress; a bright pink and purple 1950’s ball gown, complete with a hooped skirt, which Ms. Gribb made by hand and wore to the gala. The unusual, florescent concoction was declared a “showstopper” by Susan Schmitz and stood out in the sea of formal black attire. Gribb has made a hobby of creating elaborate gowns, and is grateful that the Frostiball exists as an opportunity to show her “art”. Amy is so excited about the upcoming gala that she recently started a blog about WBB and the Frosti-brawl to get others excited as well. Although blogging is a new and untested venture for her, Amy is hopeful that it will highlight the group and its formal-wear adventures and encourage others to branch out. For her, Women Behaving Badly is more of a concept than a credo. The main goal is to engage people and make them show-stoppers in their own right, with or without brightly colored ensembles.

There’s no secret code or initiation to be a Woman Behaving Badly, but Gribb’s blog indicates that planning for and attending the Frostiball is a significant determinant. The group has not indicated what they’re plotting for the 2008 Frostiball yet, but the buildup to the date could be just as exciting. You may see a few more ball gowns around town than usual in the next few days.

 Do you have great photos of previous years’ Frostiball events?  Email them to Rachael Weiker at rweiker@downtownmadison.org for future Frostiball articles.  See you in a few weeks!

What do football, presidential elections, and hemlines have in common?

The game of economics is to predict accurately what will happen in the next month, year, or decade.  While there are many modeling systems to assist in this goal, some of the strangest economic indicators make us wonder how the story started! 

The Hemline Indicator:

Stock broker Ralph Rotnem observed, rather casually, that the long-term trends of stock prices and of the hemlines on women’s skirts appear to be in concert. Skirt heights rose to mini-skirt brevity in the 1920s and in the 1960s, peaking with stock prices both times. Floor-length fashions appeared in the 1930s and 1970s (the Maxi), bottoming with stock prices. This is not likely a frivolous observation. In my judgment, it is not unreasonable to hypothesize that a rise in both hemlines and stock prices reflects a general increase in friskiness and daring among the population, and a decline in both, a decrease. – Robert R. Prechter, Jr., Pioneering Studies in Socionomics.

You didn’t read that wrong.  The basic theory is “if hemlines are going up, so are stocks.”  Unfortunately, the spring trend toward lower hemlines might mean slumping economic indicators, according to the International Business Times.  So the 2008 trend toward mermaid-like dresses with dramatic hemlines means economic interests are trying to distract you?  

The Presidential Approval Ratings Indicator:

The Presidential Election Year Cycle, of course, holds that the stock market does better or worse depending on how close we are to a Presidential election. Its author is Yale Hirsch, former editor of the Almanac Investor Newsletter, and father of that service’s current editor, Jeffrey Hirsch.–  Mark Hulbert, MarketWatch

While this indicator may initially seem bizarre, the correlations do make some sense.  The argument is that in or just before an election year the administration will do everything it can to make the economic situation appear to be good, thus providing a clear argument for the party affiliated with the administration. The stock market generally performs better in the third year than the fourth year, possibly indicating the preparation for change that stockholders begin to make.   

The NFL Indicator:

According to the indicator, which has a surprisingly accurate track record, a victory by an old NFL team means a gain for the Dow Jones industrial average in the following year. “It’s been correct just under 80 percent of the time – I don’t know of any other gaggle of gurus that has a record that good, Of course, I certainly wouldn’t put real money into the market based on the game. But it’s nice to know if it’s on your side.”—Bob Stovall, managing director and strategist at Wood Asset Management. 

This sounds to me like a great excuse (if you need another) to cheer the Packers on to victory.  Since both the Chargers and the Patriots were AFL teams before the 1970’s merger, if they win we can expect further economic downturns.  In my own spinoff interpretation of the NFL indicator, the team that’s been in the NFL for longest would signal the highest upturn of stock prices.  Therefore, the 1925 New York Football Giants need to lose to the 1920 Green Bay Packers to achieve the maximum effect.  (You can read more about this at About.com.)

Whatever economic voodoo you use, we hope you find 2008 a successful year.  And go Pack!

Filling in the doughnut

Madison adopted a Comprehensive Plan in 2006, guiding economic development, land use, housing, and planning for the city.  The downtown was recognized as a special place, a shared space where mixed uses create a vibrant and energetic feel to the city center.  We recognized that however well we made the doughnut, the center would have to taste different. (We’re assuming some kind of bismark or long john, for the sake of the metaphor.)

Now it’s time to fill in the center, and the city staff is working closely with DMI representatives to make sure we do it right.   Building from the Downtown Advisory Report written by Schrieber Anderson & Associates, the new Downtown Plan will address downtown living, working, moving around, visitors, recreation and entertainment, and building a sense of place into the development and redevelopment process. 

The DMI Economic Development committee has created a subgroup to meet regularly with city staff to review their progress and provide expert input throughout the process.  Though meetings have just begun, already there is discussion about forming another group of design professionals to think big and think ahead, giving the city staff a polishing box for ideas and concerns.   

The DMI MetroBeat blog will keep you informed, and please—add your comments as we move through the process!

The DMI Office Remodeling Story

Some of you may know that the DMI offices got a bit of a facelift last spring. It made for an interesting experience, especially when half the staff were without office space for a few days. Thankfully we were able to catch most of the events on the office camera. Here’s a recap with “exact” quotes.

 

 

 

Hey John! The office is being remodeled and you’re getting a new desk!

 

  

 

We’ll have to put you in a temporary location for now. The board room is the only available space; sure hope it’s not too uncomfortable.

 

 

 

You’re going to need a lot more help while you’re in the bigger office. Luckily the GMCC and REDE (I mean, THRIVE) has troops to spare! Now you can do all the things that REALLY need to get done…

 

 

  

 

…like making sure those BID people don’t get loose…

 

 

 

…and substituting Mitch Freund with an evil twin.

 

 

 

 

Okay! The work is done and the office is ready. Time to leave the board room and go to your new desk!

 

 

And they all lived happily ever after in the new four-person cubicle.

The End.

Madison Plays and Compares Well with Others

Downtown Madison has proven to be an invaluable resource for downtown development both big and small.The downtown Madison economic and business development model seems to be an apt comparative for other similar sized-cities, smaller suburbs, and even larger cities. 

The New York Times recently ran an article about downtown White Plains, NY, a “suburb city” 30 miles north of NYC, that has achieved massive advancement in the last ten years. It claimed its success through borrowing elements of downtown development used in Boston, Chicago and Madison. Though its size is much smaller than these three cities (about 60,000 residents), planners were able to use comparative data to incorporate the New York influences with high- and low-income housing (both new and old) to obtain “the right mix”.

The recent Downtown Market Analysis (carried out by the UW Extension) compared Madison’s downtown model to other Midwest and Western cities to gauge our downtown’s economic and business development (the executive summary can be found here). The market analysis results indicated that, in comparison to cities similar in size, University affiliation and state Government connection, Madison’s downtown mix is quite healthy.

This attention and comparison is impressive considering the fact that the City of Madison has not had a new, comprehensive economic development plan in 24 years. The city will be creating a new plan this year, and will have a first draft out next month. The city held listening sessions with business owners and the public over the last two months to determine what its role should be in the future, and hopefully we will be hearing about more cities using downtown Madison as a model for growth.  

Frostiball: Part Une

It’s the time of year when the big holidays are over but it’s still freezing outside and the winter doldrums are about to set in.  What better time to break out the black ties and satin skirts in glamorous Overture Hall? 

This year marks the 22nd annual Frostiball, coming directly to downtown Madison on February 2nd. This year’s event will feature 3 different venues within the Overture Center for the Arts, food from Catering a Fresco, and music by the Dick Judson Orchestra. This is the event in Madison; a signature night of pure and simple celebration, unique from any other event downtown. 

Susan Schmitz, who has attended nearly every Frostiball since its inception, says that the event is much more than just a “grown-up prom” because “you can do so much more with it”. Although it’s black tie invited, the welcoming and open atmosphere encourages people to step out of the normal formal-wear boundaries. Other than Halloween, this is the day of the year that you can wear a ball gown, top hat, dress kilt or feather boa in front of a crowd. Whatever your interpretation of dress-up is, wear it to the Frosti.

Like Halloween, some have been planning their Frostiball ensemble for six months. Others may scramble in these last few weeks before the event, checking out downtown boutiques, local designers, consignment stores or even a friend’s closet. Both Elizabeth Wewerka of Lady Moxie and Schmitz noted that many women will recycle dresses and accessories or trade with friends, a sensible option considering there are few other occasions in Madison with so much style. (Just try to search The Daily Page  for “gala”.)

If you’re still out there looking for what to wear, there are still plenty of classic and trendy options to go with. According to Susan, long skirts and black are always timeless and elegant.  Lately long gloves and bling bling jewelry (large, glittery pieces) have become very trendy items. Her best advice to men and women is not to limit yourself, especially with dramatic pieces; “Where else would you wear it but to the Frostiball?”

Elizabeth also has good advice for Frosti-goers: “Sexy  or trendy is what you feel good in. If you feel uncomfortable, it’s going to show. Wear something that you feel good in and that confidence will be hot.” She contends that Frostiball is a great event for people to have fun dressing up; short skirts, long skirts, tuxes, kilts and suits are all acceptable. Even a minidress could work if done right.

So, whether you want to stand out in the crowd or just do your own thing, the Frostiball is a welcoming reprieve from the ordinary.