Just Another Day at The Enterprise Center

The non-profit where I worked for ten years and where I am now on the
board is known for its events, mostly that they attract such a
diversity of people. As my friend Jeff, who has worked there for nine
years, puts it: "Where else can you walk down the hallway and bump
into Katie Couric in the morning, teach a business class for inner
city kids in the afternoon, and host an awards banquet in the evening,
all in the same place?"

Still, even for The Enterprise Center, this morning's festivities were
unusually festive. Sunday is the fiftieth anniversary of the first
national telecast of American Bandstand, the original reality TV show
and the birthplace of rock and roll music and teen culture. It is no
exaggeration that an entire generation of pre-teens and teens gathered
around the tube at 3:30 pm every day to see what was going on at 46th
and Market Streets in West Philadelphia, and that whoever and whatever
was hot there became hot everywhere.

So Chubby Checker, Connie Francis, and Jerry Blavat were in the house;
the Mural Arts Program unveiled an incredible mural painted on the
inside of our Business Event Center; and teens from the School for the
Creative and Performing Arts bopped to 50's tunes. There were
"Regulars" (dancers from back in the day), entertainment folk, board
members, politicians, and entrepreneurs.

And lots of media (the first one has some nice pics from the festivities):

http://www.courierpostonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070802/NEWS01/70802008/1006/news01

http://www.nbc10.com/news/13808448/detail.html

http://www.whptv.com/news/state/story.aspx?content_id=854ac59d-f835-43a5-954b-adba2e05dcbb

http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/103-08022007-1387256.html

http://www.philly.com/dailynews/columnists/dan_gross/20070725_Dan_Gross___Gouging_the_concert-goers.html

In other words, it was just another day at The Enterprise Center.