magical memories - Dance-a-thon with Madonna

Among many other things, AIDS Project Los Angeles holds various fundraising events throughout the year, including AIDS Walk Los Angeles. Back in the early 90s, I walked one year and then ended up getting involved with the company that puts on the fundraising events for APLA, so I did a lot of volunteer work having to do with AIDS Walk L.A., both in getting more volunteers to help and working the day of the event as well. I'd been doing this for a while, and then they decided that in addition to the walking event, they would also hold a Dance-a-thon - similar idea except that participants got pledges for the amount of time they were dancing. I was again involved with various volunteer activities during the planning phases, and I also volunteered to work the day of the event.

The day before, all the event-day volunteers attended a meeting so we could be told what we would be doing the next day. I was never able to find out how they decided who was assigned to do what, but to my surprise, my day-of-event position was going to be assistant to the entertainment/show co-ordinator. I know I'm getting her title wrong, but that's a vague description. There were various celebrities who would be showing up during the course of the 5-hour (I think that's how long it was) dance event, and there were bands playing in addition to the DJ music, and there were all kinds of other things that would need to be taken care of that day. Yeah, that's who I would be assistant to. It worried me a bit at the time because I'd never done anything like that before, and I was a probably mid-20s female and not particularly assertive. Yeah, ok, I was a little different back then.

So the day of the event came, and I showed up when and where I was told. There were various badges that people wore which gave them access to different places. Because of my position, I had an all-access pass. I also had a clipboard with all the information I'd need for the event, as well as headphones and a radio with mic and probably other apparatus on me. I was still a bit nervous, but the person I would be assisting was very nice, and she explained how things were supposed to go. I was basically going to be her shadow, and I would have to know where and what she was doing at all times. There would be calls over the radio for her on a regular basis, but if she was in the middle of something, she'd have to turn her radio off, and in that case, I was to respond to whatever calls came in for her, and I would either have to resolve whatever the issue was or bring the matter to her attention when she had a minute.

At first, I was very tentative, but as the day wore on and the event time drew nearer, there was just too much to do, and I got more comfortable with my position. It wasn't really possible to be a shrinking violet under those circumstances - too many people needed her attention, and she couldn't be spending every minute answering their questions, so that's what I did. Earlier in the day, I remember showing the guards at every checkpoint my badge so they'd know to let me through. As the day wore on, and especially once the event started, I barely paid attention to the guards or even whether they could see my badge. I was running around everywhere, and I think my demeanor made it clear that I was allowed to be wherever I was going, and it probably didn't hurt that I had the clipboard and headphones and mic, and if they'd been paying attention during the day, I was usually around the show runners.

Madonna was *the* major celebrity at the event, and there was a lot of talking in code about when she arrived and who would be escorting her and such. I paid attention only enough to know what was going on, and at some point, I was running around looking for someone or something (I can't remember details), so I was going from room to room. At one point, I wandered into a room that seemed like it had a crowd of people in the middle. People happened to part enough for a second that I noticed it was Madonna sitting on a couch surrounded by her entourage and such. I registered that it was her, but since she wasn't who I was looking for, I moved on. When I told the story to various friends later, they were all surprised that I wasn't more impressed with seeing her. Yeah, she was a big star at the time, and it was cool, but I was doing a job that I had gotten really into and had really gotten to like. She was just another part of it. I'd also been involved in various activities where I periodically ended up being around some levels of celebrities, so I wasn't nearly as star-struck to begin with in general.

I don't remember very many specifics about the rest of the day and the evening. I know that I got bolder in knowing what my responsibilities and authority was, and as the day wore on, I spent more and more time answering the calls for the person I was assistant to since she was off-radio a lot. I remember someone pushing hard for something or to be able to talk to her, and whereas I probably would have been flustered earlier in the day, I was not so by that time and made it clear what could and could not be done.

The event went well, and I was exhausted by the end of the day, having spent the greater part of probably 12 hours on my feet, but I remember having such a good time. I'd had some part in being involved backstage at a show before, but nothing on the scale of this.

I was involved in volunteering for that company for a few more years and then for various reasons, moved away from them, and while there were some not-so-fond memories, there were also many really nice moments associated with that time, but this particular event is what I remember best about my involvement.