What's it like to win a six-figure prize for a client? In a word, fun.

Working with the team from the Burchfield-Penney Art Center and Materials Re-use Project (the co-presenters and not-for-profit beneficiaries of Art On Wheels), Flynn & Friends wrote and produced a live presentation for the March, 2002 grant competition held by the 21st Century Fund of the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo. The winner-take-all prize was $125,000.

Our process involved a lot of meetings in our conference room, a lot of coffee, a lot of Powerpoint design and programming, a lot of script writing, a lot of revising, more coffee, and a lot of rehearsing. Of course, $125,000 is a lot of money. We were all shaking when the big night arrived.

There we were, up against four other worthy projects, each of which held the promise of a better Buffalo. An audience of two hundred 21st Century Fund members would vote on which presentation was most compelling. A first round of voting left Art On Wheels and a second contestant in the semi-finals. A second round of voting produced a winner--and we were it. A lot of people said it was the combination of the writing, the Powerpoint presentation and the skill and polish of the project speakers that carried the day. We'll concur.

Winning the 21st Century Fund grant money gave Art On Wheels instant credibility--just what it needed to successfully undertake its next phase of sponsorship solicitation. Not coincidentally, Flynn & Friends continued its contribution to the project by further tailoring the 21st Century Fund Powerpoint presentation to a variety of potential corporate sponsors including car dealerships, financial institutions, and supermarkets.

And what do you do after you win something like that? Celebrate with champagne! It's capitalism at its finest!

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