Frankie's 95th Birthday Festival: May 2009, NYC

[frankiefest]

Dear Lindy Community,

As you may know, lindy hop legend Frankie Manning will be turning 95 years old next May! To celebrate we are organizing the biggest and most spectacular birthday for him yet!

From May 21st -May 26th, 2009 (Memorial Day Weekend) lindy hoppers, jazz musicians, tap dancers, friends and supporters from all over the world will descend upon New York City for six days of dancing, live music, workshops, discussions, tours, competitions, performances, and much more. This will undoubtedly be the largest and most significant Lindy gathering of our time and an event you will not want to miss!

More details will be announced over the coming weeks and months at www.frankie95.com but in the meantime, mark your calendars, start spreading the word, and stay tuned!

See You in New York,
The Frankie 95th Birthday Festival Team

[frankiefest]

Dear Friend of Frankie,

REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN AND MORE DETAILS HAVE BEEN ANNOUNCED!

Lindy hop legend Frankie Manning will be turning 95 years old next May! To celebrate we are organizing the biggest and most spectacular birthday for him yet.

From May 21st - May 25th, 2009 (Memorial Day Weekend, please note the slight date change) lindy hoppers, jazz musicians, tap dancers, friends and supporters from all over the world will descend upon New York City for five days of dancing, live music, workshops, discussions, tours, competitions, performances, and much more. This will undoubtedly be the largest and most significant Lindy gathering of our time and an event you will not want to miss!

What better way to celebrate Frankie than to showcase his legacy: lindy hoppers from all over the world gathering in his hometown, the birthplace of lindy hop!

Registration for Frankie Manning's 95th Birthday Festival is now open at www.frankie95.com![/b] There is a special deal if you register before January 15th, 2009. More details will be announced over the coming weeks and months, but in the meantime, mark your calendars, join the Facebook Event, and register now!

See You in New York,
The Frankie Manning's 95th Birthday Festival Team

PS: Please help us spread the word and forward this to all your lindy hop friends around the world!

[frankiefest]

Happy New Year from all of us at Frankie Manning’s 95th Birthday Festival Team!

As you probably know by now, from May 21st -May 25th, 2009 (Memorial Day Weekend), lindy hoppers, jazz musicians, tap dancers, friends and supporters from all over the world will descend upon New York City for Frankie Manning's 95th Birthday Festival. For five days and nights, there will be non-stop dancing, live music, workshops, discussions, tours, competitions, performances, and much more.

We are not exaggerating when we say that this will be the largest and most significant Lindy gathering of our time and an event you will not want to miss! The world is coming to New York City, the birthplace of lindy hop for this momentous occasion!

Early Registration is Ending Soon
As expected, interest in this event has been overwhelming! On January 15th early registration is ending and event package pricing will increase from $199 to $229. We already have 24 countries represented and based on the large numbers of early registrants we are expecting to sell out. If you have not yet registered we encourage you to do so soon by visiting www.frankie95.com/registration.php

For those of you booking travel and accommodations, the Festival begins on the evening of Thursday, May 21st and ends on Monday night May 25th. We are negotiating discount rates for local hotels and will have information on the website in the coming weeks... stay tuned.

"Frankie Week" (March 12-19th, 2009)
From March 12th to 19th, we are asking dancers from all over the world to come together to raise awareness about Frankie and the Lindy Hop, and to create two incredible birthday gifts that will be presented to Frankie during the festival in May. During "Frankie Week" we are asking dancers from all over the world to:

* Take photos of themselves (individually or in groups) to wish Frankie Happy Birthday
* Shoot a video of everyone in their local community doing a birthday shim sham for Frankie
* Educate dancers and non dancers in their communities about Lindy Hop and Frankie.

We'll be posting more information about Frankie Week very soon!

How You Can Help Promote Frankie's Birthday!
Those who have met Frankie know that he seems to bring out the best in people wherever he goes. Several of you have asked us what you can do to help make this the greatest birthday party ever, for which we are grateful. There's no lack of tasks that need to be filled, from distributing around flyers at your local dances, posting a button or banner to your website or blog, or offering to host a lindy hopper or VIP in New York during the festival. We have created a special webpage full of suggestions for how you can help make Frankie's 95th the best birthday yet.

Please visit www.frankie95.com/support.php

[frankiefest]

Dear Lindy Hoppers from Around the World,

First of all, we want to thank the 1300+ people from over 30 countries who have already registered for Frankie Manning's 95th Birthday Festival! We are totally overwhelmed by the community's response, which surpasses even our own ambitious goals.

In this short message, we want to update you on registration and give you more information about Frankie Week from March 12-22 and the Birthday Greetings. So let's get to it!

Registration
As of Monday, Feb 16th, Frankie’s 95th Birthday Festival is sold out of festival packages. We will have individual tickets for specific nights available and that information will be made public in the next two or three weeks. Please check www.frankie95.com for up to date information.

Frankie Week
As we announced in a previous message, mark your calendars for "Frankie Week", March 12-22, 2009. This week will allow Frankie fans from all over the world (whether or not they're coming to the actual Festival) to celebrate Frankie's 95th birthday by honoring him in a few special ways:
1) A Global Shim Sham: Lindy hop scenes from all around the world will video themselves dancing the Shim Sham (preferably to Jimmy Lunceford's "Tain't What You Do". We'll take the best videos and edit them into one compilation to show at the Frankie Festival.
2) A Birthday Card for Frankie: Dance studios, performance groups, local dances and individuals will be taking photos of themselves as Birthday Cards for Frankie. These will be presented to Frankie during the Festival. Be as creative as you wish!
3) Help Spread the Word: Use this week as an opportunity to tell others in your community (and beyond) about Frankie and lindy hop.
4) Fundraise for a Birthday Greeting: Raise funds to purchase a special birthday greeting for Frankie in the official program of the Frankie 95 Festival.

Please spread the word about Frankie Week. We can’t wait to see the creative submissions from all over the world! For more information on how you can participate in any of these activities, please visit: www.frankie95.com/frankieweek.php

Birthday Greeting
Frankie Manning’s 95 Birthday Festival will be the one of the largest and most significant lindy events of this generation. To commemorate this occasion, the Festival is putting together a special Frankie Manning 95th birthday program that all attendees will receive for free. Please join us in wishing Frankie a happy birthday by placing your very own Birthday Greeting in the program for Frankie and the rest of the international lindy community to see. Also, please note that the Festival is an entirely volunteer effort; all net proceeds generated by the event will be used to establish a Frankie Manning Foundation to be directed by Frankie himself with the purpose of promoting the lindy hop and swing music globally. Your Birthday Greeting is 100% tax deductible. Your support is greatly appreciated.

To purchase a Birthday Greeting, please visit: www.frankie95.com/birthdaygreeting.php

Yours on the 2 and 4,
The Frankie 95 Organizing Team

[frankiefest]

Today is the first day of "Frankie Week," eleven days for lindy hop scenes from Seattle to Shanghai to celebrate Frankie Manning and lindy through a number of fun local activities. We want to encourage all of you, wherever you are, to participate in one or all of these actions, which will help make this year Frankie’s greatest birthday ever!

The details are below, followed by information on special birthday greetings at the festival, and when registration is re-opening!

FRANKIE WEEK
Frankie fans from all over the world (whether or not they're coming to the actual Festival) can celebrate Frankie's 95th birthday by honoring him in four special ways:

1) A Global Shim Sham: Lindy hop scenes from all around the world will video themselves dancing the Shim Sham (preferably to Jimmy Lunceford's "Tain't What You Do"). We'll take the best videos and edit them into one compilation to show at the Frankie Festival.

2) A Birthday Card for Frankie: Dance studios, performance groups, local dances and individuals will be taking photos of themselves as Birthday Cards for Frankie. These will be presented to Frankie during the Festival. Be as creative as you wish!

3) Help Spread the Word: Use this week as an opportunity to tell others in your community (and beyond) about Frankie and lindy hop.

4) Fundraise for a Birthday Greeting: Raise funds to purchase a special birthday greeting for Frankie in the official program of the Frankie 95 Festival.

Please spread the word about Frankie Week. We can’t wait to see the creative submissions from individuals and communities all over the world! Will your scene be one of them? For more information on how you can participate in any of these activities, and for details on how to share your shim sham video and birthday card picture, please visit: www.frankie95.com/frankieweek.php

BIRTHDAY GREETING
Frankie Manning’s 95 Birthday Festival will be the one of the largest and most significant lindy events of this generation. To commemorate this occasion, the Festival is putting together a special Frankie Manning 95th birthday commemorative program that all attendees will receive for free (it will also be available for purchase by non-Festival attendees). Please join us in wishing Frankie a happy birthday by placing your very own Birthday Greeting in the program for Frankie and the rest of the international lindy community to see. This will be a unique souvenir for many, many years...make sure your presence is in it (birthday greetings start as low as only $20 US!)

Also, please note that the Festival is an entirely volunteer effort; all net proceeds generated by the event will be used to establish a Frankie Manning Foundation to be directed by Frankie himself with the purpose of promoting the lindy hop and swing music globally. Your Birthday Greeting is 100% tax deductible and greatly appreciated.

For more details and to purchase a Birthday Greeting, please visit: www.frankie95.com/birthdaygreeting.php

REGISTRATION REOPENING ON MARCH 23
We have heard the outcry from lindy hoppers far and wide who are just dying to go to the Frankie's 95th Birthday Festival. We have managed to open up a very small number of slots (including some tickets for individual nights), which will be available on March 23. So act quickly that day, if you haven't registered yet!

A One, A Two, You Know What To Do,

The Frankie 95 Organizing Team
www.frankie95.com

[frankiefest]

In this email, we want to send out our thanks for your "Frankie Week" submissions, update you about the reopened registration today, and remind you about the Birthday Greetings for the Frankie 95 Festival Program. So let's get to it!

"FRANKIE WEEK" THANKS
From all of us at Frankie's 95 Birthday Festival Committee, we want to thank the thousands of you who participated in "Frankie Week" from all over the globe, from Perth to Dublin, Korea, Argentina... even Brooklyn! We are blown away by the creativity of your submissions, and we're sure that Frankie is going to love them as well. Remember that you have until April 1 to get us your video or photo! Remember to head to our Flickr Group and YouTube Group to submit your photos and videos, respectively, and see what others have sent in. Please visit: www.frankie95.com/frankieweek.php for details.

REGISTRATION REOPENING ON MARCH 23!
Today we are releasing a limited number of Frankie's 95th Birthday Festival tickets, including tickets for individual evening dances for those of you who cannot attend the entire festival. These will all go on sale at 5PM EST today (Monday March 23rd), so don't delay if you haven't got your ticket yet! Head to this link to register: frankie95.com/registration.php.

BIRTHDAY GREETING
For Frankie Manning’s 95 Birthday Festival, we are putting together a special commemorative program that all attendees will receive for free (it will also be available for purchase by non-Festival attendees). Please join us in wishing Frankie a happy birthday by placing your very own Birthday Greeting in the program for Frankie and the rest of the international lindy community to see. This will be a unique souvenir for many, many years...make sure your presence is in it (birthday greetings start as low as only $20 US!) You have until April 9 to purchase your greeting.

Also, please note that the Festival is an entirely volunteer effort; all net proceeds generated by the event will be used to establish a Frankie Manning Foundation to be directed by Frankie himself with the purpose of promoting the lindy hop and swing music globally. Your Birthday Greeting is 100% tax deductible and greatly appreciated.

For more details and to purchase a Birthday Greeting, please visit: www.frankie95.com/birthdaygreeting.php.

The Excitement Keeps Growing! See you in May in New York City!

Keep Swingin',

The Frankie 95 Organizing Team
www.frankie95.com

[frankiefest]

April 21, 2009

Dear Friends of Frankie,

Birthday Greetings have been coming in from all over the world. There are only a couple more days to get your Birthday Greeting into the commemorative program. As you may know, they start as low as only $20.

Don’t miss out on your opportunity to wish Frankie happy birthday and to have you or your organization featured in the program. All 1200+ full-package registrants will be receiving the program for free and we will also have it for sale during and after the Festival.

Please visit www.frankie95.com/birthdaygreeting.php for details. If you have trouble with the website, you can simply send a paypal payment with directly to [e-mail] [/email]and forward the confirmation email you receive back from paypal along with your Birthday Greeting artwork to [e-mail].

If you don't have actual artwork you can put together, simply email us the text you would like and we can make it look pretty for you.

This is a great way for you to participate in Frankie’s 95th Birthday even if you cannot attend the Festival in May in person.

Keep Swingin',

The Frankie 95 Organizing Team
www.frankie95.com