Cuba Nostalgia Fundraising – The Final Push (Updated)

I need to nail down the specifics for the Cuba Nostalgia exhibit no later than next Friday. That will give me three weeks to get everything done. The extent of what we can do depends onhow much money we have in the till. So far, we have collected about $2600, which is, I believe, the most we have been able to collect for any of the conventions so far. A huge thanks to all that have donated a few bucks for the Babalu Pavilion at Cuba Nostalgia.

So, if you havent already donated a few dollars for the convention, please consider doing so. Today is San Cheque, after all.

I still have plenty of Mafia tshirts left, they’re $15 a piece or two for $25. Shipping is included in price. (Please specify Large or XLarge, English or Spanish. You can pay via the PayPal button below or if you rather send a check or money order, please email me.)

If you have already ordered a tee and havent heard from me, please gimme a nudge by dropping a comment here or emailing me. I’ve got a lot of stuff on my plate and dont want anything to fall between the cracks.

I have also got a limited number of Che? Still Dead! tee shirts in Large size only, so if you want to have your anti-che tshirt ready for the summer, order ’em now.

There are also a limited number of Babalu Eyes tee shirts, in XL and Large sizes, and those are available for a donation as well.

A breakdown of last year’s convention costs is below the fold.

Update: As of 2 pm eastern today, the contributions total $2941.60. Once again, a huge thanks to all for their sacrfice and support.

– DSL CONNECTION AND ONE MONTH SERVICE: $200
– DSL/TELEPHONE INSTALLATION: $60 (Convention center only allows one contractor for phone installation)
– VIDEO PROJECTOR, PROJECTOR SCREEN RENTAL & INSTALL: $300 (Includes installation and take down, cabling, connectors and computers/audio board tie-in)
– AUDIO BOARD, SPEAKERS RENTAL & INSTALL: $200 (Includes installation and take down, cabling, connectors and computers/video board tie-in)
– COMPUTER CAMERA HUB (ONE PC, ONE LAPTOP): $100
– MISCELLANEOUS ELECTRIC/PC HARDWARE: $150 (Includes webcams, network cabling, power cabling, powerstrips, miscellaneous connectors and installation hardware/materials)
– SOFTWARE: $80 (Google Earth, FTP applications, audio/video compression and reformatting software, etc..)

– FRAME CANOPY/CANVAS: $50
– FRAME FABRICS: $60
– FRAME CANOPY SEWING/PREP: $100 (Includes some sewing materials and labor)
– FRAME BANNERS: $300 (Cost for only 6 of 16 new banners printed last year only.)
– FRAME MISCELLANEOUS HARDWARE/TOOLS/MODIFICATIONS: $180 (Steel modification to frame material, grommeting, ropes, frame connection hardware and tools, tie-wraps, tape, touch-up paint, spray glue, corner pieces re-upholstery, etc…)

– FURNITURE, TABLES/CHAIRS: $500 (Includes 4 bistro table sets bought specifically for convention.)
– CENTER TABLE AND CHAIRS: $120

– RUMBERAS AND RUMBERA OUTIFTS: $250

– PRINTING AND MOUNTING: BOARDS: $110 (includes sponsor boards four color printing and mounting, Letter to ENCASA board printing and mounting, Email fidel board printing and mouting.)
– MISCELLANEOUS OFFICE SUPPLIES: $200 (includes printing paper, printer inks, board easels, etc…)

– TSHIRTS & PRINTING: $200
– TSHIRT SHIPPING EXPENSES: $100 (includes postage, envelopes)

The above numbers are from last year’s convention and I’ve rounded them down – not up – for simplicity. The tally, not counting last minute items and expenses comes to $3260. Not included in the above are the cordless drill I had to buy last minute as mine blew ($180) during frame installation, new wireless modem purchased $80, and other last minute expenses.

The DSL and connection charges are a must, there’s no point to being at the convention without blogging capabilities.
The video projector and audio board are the least expensive solution for audio/video presentations, however, in the past two years, these have cost over $1000 and while the a/v quality has been adequate, what we can do with these is limited. For example, I had planned on showing convention patrons how they could use Google Earth to find their homes in Cuba, however, the video images would not display sharply enough to make the effort worthwhile. Rental of a large flatscreen tv, including delivery and installation, was over $600 for three days, plus insurance, over half the cost of a new flatscreen HDTV purchase.
The camera hubs were purchased in order to be able to upload photo files at the convention from all different type digital cameras, as well as accompanying ftp software and cabling.

My father built the frame for the convention the first year, last year I made some minor modifications to it by adding a canvas roof and some canvas corner pieces. I only reprinted 6 banners last year of 18 banners that hang at corners of steel frame. These are full color enlargements of entry posts printed on vinyl canvas with grommets for installation. We could re-use the same banners this year, however it will be the third year in a row with the same posts/banners and most folks visiting the convention have already seen these. I offered all the Cubiche bloggers to print up one of their posts and thus hilight their work and blogs this year but have had no one take me up on the offer.

Last year we set the booth up like an internet cafe, which is most likely what we will be doing again this year since the ’60’s era Cuban exile living room decor will most likely blow the budget, given that the furniture must be purchased and upholstered. No Miami area prop suppliers have anything akin to this kind of set and thus rental of the entire set is not possible.

I print a new sponsor board every year, full color and dry mounted. Last year we printed up and dry mounted our “reply to ENCASA” letter and had visitors sign our petition. This year, printing costs will increase as four new boards will be needed, one for the sponsors, one for emailing castro, and two for the El Exilio project. Plus brochures/pamphplets for the project to help spread the word and get participants willing to record their stories on video.

Add to the above the cost for Articles of Incorporation and the application for teh 501 (c)3 non-for profit organization for the El Exilio Project.