42nd Black Tie Dinner, MirrorBall, is Saturday at Sheraton Dallas
TAMMYE NASH | Managing Editor
nash@dallasvoice.com
With less than seven days left til the 42nd annual Black Tie Dinner: MirrorBall, Black Tie co-chairs Regina Lyn Pierce and Dustin Vyers on Tuesday, Oct. 24, balanced between being confidently on track and scrambling to get those last-minute details handled.
“For Dustin and I, this year has been one of ‘Oh my gosh we’re so far ahead!’ to ‘Oh my gosh, we have so much to do!’” declared Pierce, this year’s senior co-chair.
But, junior co-chair Vyers added, “We are actually ahead right now.”
Being ahead, though, doesn’t mean the two don’t have plenty to do. Vyers said their next step was to “move into the Sheraton,” which was set to happen the following day, then get busy with all those details — including setting up the silent auction and making sure the new-this-year digital ticketing system is up and running.
“I am really looking forward to the dinner this year,” Pierce said. “I am excited about our talent we have opening and closing the evening. And Dustin and I have really tried to take a good look at the program as a whole and refresh it overall.
“I mean, you have certain notes that you have to hit every year of course,” she continued. “But the two of us have been very hands-on in scripting the program. And there will be tons of costume changes, of course!”
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Black Tie Dinner Honorees and Special Guests
• Portia Cantrell, Kuchling Humanitarian Award
• Cynthia Nixon, Media Award
• Jesse James Keitel, Visibility Award
• Dr. Eric Cervini, BTD Equality Award
• HRC President Kelley Robinson, guest speaker
• VINCINT, entertainment
• WFAA Anchor Megan Mitchell, emcee
Beneficiaries
• AIDS Services of Dallas
• Big Brothers Big Sisters Lone Star
• Black Trans Advocacy Coalition
• Cathedral of Hope United Church of Christ
• Coalition for Aging LGBT
• Dallas Hope Charities
• Equality Texas Foundation
• HELP Center for LGBT Health & Wellness
• Human Rights Campaign Foundation
• Legacy Cares
• Northaven United Methodist Church
• Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas
• Pride Frisco
• Resource Center
• Synergy Wesley Foundation
• Texas Health Action
• The Women’s Chorus of Dallas
• Turtle Creek Chorale
• Uptown Players Inc.
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New digital tickets
One of the biggest changes this year has been in what Black Tie tickets look like and how they are delivered. Instead of the traditional paper tickets distributed to table captains to hand out to guests, digital tickets have been delivered via email to each guest. Each guest then registers online and receives a QR code to download to their phone.
Then on Saturday night when guests arrive at the Sheraton, Black Tie volunteers simply scan the QR code and direct the guests to where they need to go.
“The ticket process this year is new and very different,” Vyers noted. “It’s important for people to know how it works. Everyone should already have received their email with the information on how to get their ticket, and everyone needs to know to have that QR code on their phone for the express check-in.”
Pierce stressed that the layout for checking in is different this year, too. While in past years, guests would go to the third floor on arrival to present their tickets and check in, this year guests will go directly to the skybridge on the second floor to scan in with their QR codes.
Tne Black Tie Dinner committee
“Then,” she said, “you’ll either be escorted upstairs to the VIP party, or you will go on in to pre-convene outside the ballroom where the dinner will be held.”
The digital ticket process requires that guests input credit card information, but for those who chose not to do so or who had some problem with the digital ticket process, there will be registration assistance available in one of the smaller ballrooms at the hotel, Pierce said. “We are not storing credit card information, and we are not charging the cards. That is a simply a convenience for later, if you choose to participate in either the silent auction or the live Luxe auction. But we do understand some people might not want to input that information.”
Pierce and Vyers also noted that, in another effort to streamline things for dinner guests, drink tickets will be available between 2 and 6 p.m. on Saturday for those who choose to purchase them in advance. Tickets will still be available outside the ballroom prior to the dinner, too.
Auctions
Another detail to see to this week was setting up the auction floor, arranging silent auction items and adding in the last-minute auction donations, Vyers said. Getting those late donations added in, he said, was a priority because the silent auction — underwritten by Tangram Interiors — is already open for bids online through BlackTie.org.
The silent auction offers lots of art, home décor items, smaller travel packages, gift cards, jewelry and more. The jewelry, Pierce pointed, includes a Tiffany bracelet sporting 18 carats of diamonds.
The live Luxe auction taking place during the dinner on Saturday night includes a “Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen” package with a trip to New York City for a live taping of that show, a Palm Springs trip with a shopping spree and a number of other travel packages that include a European trip. Vyers said that Visit Dallas, “another one of our great partners,” has donated an Aspen Gay Ski Week package and “a couple of other great trips.”
“And,” Pierce said, “we are still selling raffle tickets for the car!” Vyers added, “That’s something we are definitely ahead on for this year.”
The car is an all-electric 2023 Mercedes-Benz EQB SUV provided by Park Place Motorcars Dallas.
“We are selling 2,500 raffle tickets total this year, compared to just 2,000 before, and you do not have to be present at the dinner to win the car,” Pierce stressed. “I think this is the 15th year that Park Place has partnered with us to donate the car for the raffle. They have been wonderful partners for Black Tie, along with our presenting sponsor, PNC Bank, and all our other sponsors.”
Raffle tickets, which are $100 each, are also available online.
Speaking of sponsors, the co-chairs agreed that in a year that has seen some entities backing off their connections to the LGBTQ community and its events due to attacks from the homophobic right, Black Tie’s sponsors have stood firm.
“I think that the sponsors that engage with us know what we’re about. They know what we do, and they see that as an important alignment for their companies and for their employees,” Vyers said.
“Some of our sponsors have looked at their companies’ DEI initiatives and made some adjustments to the benefits they receive from sponsoring — like a sponsor might say they cannot accept the benefit of a table at the dinner, but they still want to donate to Black Tie.
And one of our sponsorship committee members actually just signed an agreement with Coca-Cola!”
“That,” Vyers interjected, “is the kind of big fish we always want to play with.”
Black Tie Dinner ends again this year with the two-hour After Black Party at the Sheraton, underwritten by Morgan Cox and Derrall Hill and open to all dinner guests. Then, once all is said and done, checks from this year’s proceeds will be distributed to beneficiaries at a Dec. 14 event at Gilley’s, underwritten by Lexus.
“I have to say, it has truly been an honor to serve as Black Tie co-chair,” said Pierce, who officially steps down at the Dec. 14 event after two years in that role. “I am very excited for Dustin’s journey as co-chair, both for this year and for next year when he is senior co-chair.
“And I also want to say a huge thanks to everyone on our all-volunteer board of directors,” she continued. “They are the most dedicated, hard-working people I know, and they are truly passionate about the mission and the vision of Black Tie Dinner, and this event would not happen, and it would certainly not be so amazing without them.”
Vyers added, “We are all excited to come together to celebrate our beneficiaries and all the wonderful work they do. That’s what Black Tie is all about, and that’s what our theme this year, ‘MirrorBall,’ means.
“Individually, we all have our own little shimmer inside of us. Sometimes it’s hard to be yourself, depending on your family situation, maybe, or where you live. But when two people come together, you can both be more confident and shone a little brighter. Then more people join in and soon, it’s all about the community coming together and being a big burst of light from all these individual mirrors, all of us reflecting each other’s joy.”
