How Anyone Can Have Dinner with G

Give $20,000, get dinner with George Clooney, tennis lessons with Williams sisters
COURTNEY GARCIA June 6, 2012 1:30pm

LOS ANGELES - Looking for access to your favorite celebrity? Want to do a little good while schmoozing with the stars? It could be possible, but it will cost $20,000 or more.

Philanthropic group Charitybuzz, best known for online celebrity auctions, on Tuesday is launching an effort it calls "Do Good Dream Big," which it describes as a sort of "celebrity concierge" service with access to the stars for the right price.

Potential donors can go to a website, offer up their "dream" to, for instance, enjoy dinner with George Clooney or take tennis lessons with the Williams sisters for a minimum $20,000. If the celebrity agrees, the date is made and the money goes to a chosen charity.

"We have established relationships with top celebrities and corporations," Coppy Holzman, chief executive of Charitybuzz told Reuters. "This is our area of expertise, and as a result, we're able to produce upscale, unique experiences built upon our community of bidders."

The celebrity concierge concept was tested in May with a private focus group and raised several hundred thousand dollars. Based on that experience, Holzman predicts the public launch will garner millions of dollars within a year, though not every user-crafted event is feasible.

"Some experiences are well beyond the limits of personal space," he said. "One person requested to do a moon watch with David Bowie on Virgin Atlantic. Aside from being weird, that's just not going to happen.

"If you want to spend the weekend at Celine Dion's vacation house, that's not going to happen. But meeting her after her Vegas show is possible," he added.

If a celebrity thinks the idea is good but the donor's initial bid is too low, the star can counter with his or her own figure for the experience.

Holzman believes Charitybuzz will be able to confirm requests within a few weeks of receiving the idea and all experiences will happen within a year's time.

Building on what Holzman sees as a trend toward altruistic endeavors, the crux of "Do Good Dream Big" rests on empowering those who want to contribute to causes while also being rewarded for their efforts.

"Most people don't care what the charity is, they just want a viable way to contribute," he said.

Through celebrity auctions, Charitybuzz said it has raised over $65 million for nonprofit organizations. Some groups supported by Charitybuzz include St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital, the William J. Clinton Foundation, the Global Poverty Project and amfAR.

Those interested in participating can access "Do Good Dream Big" through the company's website, [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] - Reuters

[quote="davidarochelle"]Give $20,000, get dinner with George Clooney, tennis lessons with Williams sisters
COURTNEY GARCIA June 6, 2012 1:30pm

Let me just first say, that I like the idea of the monetary contribution going to charity. Then, lets also hope that the charity has geniune, caring organizers who are dedicated to seeing that the contributions go to the right places and not to fund their beach houses in the Virgin Islands.


Now, I would have to cough up $20,000 to have dinner with George T. ("Thorogood"-Bad to the Bone) Clooney. His jokes aren't all that funny. His looks are "tolerable" when he bothers to clean up and put on a suit. Technically, he is "Over the Hill" in age. I think he is on the decline.


Seriously, I think George T. would need to pay me to sit and listen to him ramble about himself. I do actually have questions for him, because I am doing research. At this point, my price is starting at $50,000 and this includes complete dinner with plenty of wine and champagne options. (I might need to numb myself around high voltage Clooney) Also, I would need to be picked up and taken home in a luxurious car. A Day at the SPA package prior to the dinner would help lessen my tendency to go to my DARK SIDE.

This seems reasonable to me.

By Devin Dwyer
Obama Launches Pick-Your-Own Celeb Contest

The Obama campaign is pushing a new twist in its Dinner with Barack fundraising sweepstakes: For as little as $3, supporters now get a chance to pick the next celebrity to dine with Obama and the three lucky grassroots winners and their guests
“You not only have the chance to sit down for a meal with the President and a guest of your choice. You also get to help pick the President’s guest,” writes deputy Obama campaign manager Julianna Smoot in an email to supporters.
“He’s had some pretty amazing dinner guests lately: George Clooney, Sarah Jessica Parker, and of course, President Bill Clinton. So tell us, who’s next?”
The appeal continues Obama’s attempt to leverage star power to attract campaign cash from his base of grassroots supporters.
A raffle for a chance to attend a fundraising dinner at Clooney’s house in May brought in millions of dollars for Obama’s campaign above the high-dollar ticket sales for the event itself, campaign aides said.
Democrats have also made a major push for contributions ahead of a splashy gala at Sarah Jessica Parker’s home in New York City on Thursday, airing its first national TV ad encouraging supporters to donate for a chance to attend.

I wouldn't fork out that much to meet GC, even if it was for Charity. Main reason, aside from the cost, would be that he was obliged to be there and I'd know that.

I'd rather be at a party and offer him a beer.

I was lucky enough to be at a party for the premiere of a James Bond film and have tickets to the after show party. I got on really well with one person in poarticular and that was James Coburn. A terrific guy and despite being near the end of his life was a party animal. I would like my meet with GC to be like that. I think I'll have to settle for shouting like an idiot to get his attention at his next UK premiere though

Oh what a lovely experience to meet James Coburn !!!
I can still see him in Magnificent Seven. LOL

Can I ask what you talked about ?

Didn't he "play" a large gong as a hobby ?



PS...gave you a Greenie

Well he didn't show me his gong

All we talked about was the party itself and drink. I was determined not to act like a fan and just be a normal guy. He was very quiet at the start and he got louder and louder as the drink flowed.

There were many things I would have liked to have asked him, but just didn't. It was a great memory that will last forever with me.

Interesting article here about him and a treatment he found to help
his R A called MSM

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James Coburn, one of those actors that made Hollywood cool!

Definatley. Very few true 'movie stars' around these days. There are lots of great actors and lots of glamorous people.

You only have to watch talk shows now and then some from the 70's to see that talent has changed so much. These stars could act, be cool, tell a great story and be genrally interesting to watch.

GC definately falls in to that catergory.

Seth,
I agree with you. Sometimes the older stars were "prepped" on how to conduct interviews, if they didn't naturally have the ability to be interesting on cue. Shier celebs treat the paps like an acting role, memorizing prepared lines. That is one of SK's biggest mistakes; she comes across as boring, when she just could've arranged something special to say.

Why bring Stacy into every comment on every thread ?

sorry....


I'd rather someone be boring and genuine any day
than the opposite, pretentious and insincere.

"To thine own self be true"

Joanna,
Because I am always guilty of going off-topic; the only way I know how to communicate my views is by giving personal examples. Then I discuss SK to try to connect with COH.

There are many "boring and genuine" people in this world. That is WONDERFUL, until they decide to be actresses and TV hostesses.

I must say that I am curious about the anti SK stance on here. Has she done anything wrong in particular or is it just because she is with George? Not trying to be provocative, well, not too provacative, well, a liitle provacative hehe - just interested.

Seth,
There ARE pro-SK fans. Personally while I'm glad she generally looks far, far better than when she was first on the scene, she is making huge mistakes if she wants any career in Hollywood. The biggest one being is that since she is not part of a "power couple" like Brangelina, she should be making G look much better. If she had any acting ability SK would be publicly complimenting G, "cheating the shot" when the paps are there by smiling at HIM and not always for the camera, lightly touching him in public, exchanging visual glances (even if HE doesn't respond), etc. Watch actors that play lovers or spouses in movies for more ideas. Worse SK's tweets are trite, silly, and when pushing cleanses, sometimes harmful. She may be a very nice person, and not having met her or known anyone who has I really don't know, but I don't see that in her tweets. It's difficult NOT to become body obsessed when you're constantly "picked apart" because of your profession. I would like SK better if she honestly addressed that fact in interviews, or had memorized something more worthwhile to say.

IMO she's doing only what she's ALLOWED to do. And I think her cleansing tweets are part of her job.

Her job is supposedly an actress so not sure why that requires her to tweet about cleanses. As for her being genuine, how does Joanna know that?? Does she know her personally?? In my opinion she comes off as completely fake and boring on top of it. No one is that smiley all the freakin time. She focuses way too much on the way she looks and talking about it all the time kind of makes her very one dimensional. Plus the set up pap shots that she does with George to keep her in the public eye, fake. Please note this is just my opinion and I don't know stacy personally to verify. However if someone on this site knows her personally and has examples of why she is genuine then happy to hear about it.

[quote="The next mrs clooney"]Her job is supposedly an actress so not sure why that requires her to tweet about cleanses. As for her being genuine, how does Joanna know that?? Does she know her personally?? In my opinion she comes off as completely fake and boring on top of it. No one is that smiley all the freakin time.

I actually had a funny, clever response to this statement, but the universe is against me and keeps taking away the great writing that was flowing through me.....either you want it or you don't. And the way my mind thinks, if you really wanted it, you wouldn't make it so difficult. At this point, I will keep it to myself and won't share.

playfuldeb wrote:James Coburn, one of those actors that made Hollywood cool!

Wow, when I was a kid I loved his films "Our Man Flint" and "In Like Flint." They were just so cool to me! I loved his red phone and the parodies that I didn't understand at the time but when I watched the films later enjoyed them even more!