Dear Pennies & Pens,
It’s still my birthday. And I’m still working. I told yall in the last post Behind The Ink: Why I Want To Quit My Job and Raise Capital for ISLP, this cycle never ends. If you’ve been following me and my work for awhile, you know that I have two businesses, 8515 + ISLP. In this post, we’re going to talk about why I want to quit my job and raise capital for 8515.
What is 8515?
8515 is a multicultural creative agency based in Dallas and Baltimore. 8515 is co-owned by Cacha Lopez and moi (LoudPen). We specialize in event planning, styling, writing and photography. We also offer branding, marketing and public relations. In between last year and this year, Cacha & I decided to focus on planning our own in-house events.
This way, we could generate revenue, attract potential clients and increase brand awareness. But seasoned event planners like us know how expensive it is to host an event.
Why are Events so Expensive to Plan
In Dallas, the venue rental alone is $2000-5000. Then there’s decor, food and drinks. There’s also marketing & PR. I mean there’s no point of planning an event that no one is going to come to. But here’s the problem — we have no capital to cover these costs. Hence why we struggle to plan events.
We need someone who will invest in us and help cover these costs. It would definitely be a great opportunity for a potential investor because nobody attends events like millennials. Millennials are literally obsessed with unique experiences. Millennials spends hundreds and/or thousands of dollars per year attending music festivals, live music shows, wine and beer events, fashion shows, art shows and much more.
Millennials (our target audience) love Events + Unique Experiences
In fact, according to Eventbrite, 78% of millennials would rather spend their money on a unique experience or event than something desirable. This means that as a whole, experiences matter more than things to this generation. Events also make millennials feel more connected to other people and the world. Which leads me to the next stat which is 77% of millennials (8 out of 10) say their best memories come from attending events.
Since 8515 specialies in creating unique experiences for multicultural millennials, we can truly be an asset to a brand looking to reach millennials. We understand how multicultural millennials think and what they are looking for because we are multicultural millennials. We are a part of our target audience so we inherently “get it”.
Events by 8515
If you look at our previous events such as Pensgiving and #MP3, you will see that they were unique and original as far as the content and execution. Pensgiving is an exclusive social event + dinner party for multicultural millennials and creatives. With 90s themed branding, a curated playlist of 90s Hip-hop and R&B and Vegan food, Pensgiving is unlike any other event happening in Dallas.
#MP3 link was a social event dedicated to celebrating the anniversary of #MakeUrPenLoud. Since this event brought multicultural millennials + creatives together, we were able to help attendees network to gain new business contacts as well as make new friends. It was truly amazing!
What Would We Do with Startup Capital
So as you can see, we’ve got some real potential. If only we could find someone with enough pennies to give us so we can quit our jobs and plan events full time. Then maybe we could live on Flavor Street permanently.
But seriously, if we raised startup capital, we would use it to plan dope events. We’d be able to cover the venue rental, food & drinks, entertainment not to mention being able to have goodie bags.
We’d also get some exclusive signage to display our brand and sponsors at the event. Now that I have ISLP and Cacha is launching a cosmetics line, events are truly the best way for us to reach new customers and increase sales. But we can’t do it without any pennies.
And there it is. de la Pen…All Pen Everything. With us, keeping it real never goes wrong.
