Correction Appended
They sat in pumpkin-colored leather chairs over low tables sipping apple martinis, pale green with slivers of Granny Smith at the top. They said they did not come to Aubette, a swank bar with auburn lighting, for intimacy. But as they spoke, their eyes discreetly scanned the room.
The crowd was young, black, college educated and upwardly mobile. They were hip, yet decidedly not hip-hop. A conversation with anyone in the room could have started at the Ivy League, turned to philosophy or the stock market and ended with a date or a business deal. At least that was the hope of the young entrepreneurs who created Black Diamonds Entertainment, the promotional company that organized the event.
Black Diamonds parties, like the weekly after-work mixer at Aubette, on East 27th Street, are designed for the African-American elite, culled from carefully screened databases. The list of invitees -- about 10,000 of the young black bourgeoisie in New York, Chicago and Washington -- is Black Diamond's bread and butter.
The crowd was young, black, college educated and upwardly mobile. They were hip, yet decidedly not hip-hop. A conversation with anyone in the room could have started at the Ivy League, turned to philosophy or the stock market and ended with a date or a business deal. At least that was the hope of the young entrepreneurs who created Black Diamonds Entertainment, the promotional company that organized the event.
Black Diamonds parties, like the weekly after-work mixer at Aubette, on East 27th Street, are designed for the African-American elite, culled from carefully screened databases. The list of invitees -- about 10,000 of the young black bourgeoisie in New York, Chicago and Washington -- is Black Diamond's bread and butter.
The founders use the list to set up networking events, dance parties, and other social gatherings, e-mailing invitations to clients at least once a week. In a questionable move, they have also begun to sell the list to companies seeking the attention of wealthy black consumers, at 20 cents a pop.
There is no denying a certain haughtiness associated with the Black Diamonds list. Pamela A. Pickens, 33, the company's president, and Derek K. Corley, 35, the vice president, describe their clients as ''quality people.'' ''It's a person who has money; a positive, forward-thinking person who can get things done,'' Mr. Corley said. The company focuses on African-Americans from 21 to 40, with an average income of about $45,000 and a college degree.
''You have to be upwardly mobile and exhibit a certain class, a certain way of being that's sort of mainstream and dignified, and a way that's not going to create fear in people,'' Ms. Pickens explained. ''But it's not income driven. Would we say someone who volunteers for the Peace Corps with a heart good as gold 'we won't take you'? No. We have standards, but it's not elitist in that way. It has more to do with your intellectual experience than your income level.''
The Black Diamonds profile reflects a segment of the population that was long overlooked by event promoters and corporate marketers. For a long time, Ms. Pickens said, it was difficult to find groups of upwardly mobile African-Americans anywhere in New York, because clubs and bars were wary of holding any party for black people under 40. But now, Black Diamonds is just one of several promotional groups that concentrate on African-American professionals. And companies have become increasingly interested in reaching their clients.
The people on the list take pride in its discerning tastes.
''You've got the top 5 percent here,'' said Vanessa Abukusumo, 35, a special event planner for the chief executive officer of the Swatch Group in Weehawken, N.J., looking around the back room Aubette, tipping her champagne flute in time with lilting jazz. ''I don't want to sound elitist, but everyone here works hard for their money, and with the kind of high-stress lives most of us lead, we don't want to make the mistake of stumbling into the wrong atmosphere.
''At the end of a hard day, we get on the phone and say, 'Where are the Diamonds?' '' she said. ''They're always going to have a certain caliber of people, the music will always be something that will not jar you, and you're going to be able to unwind.''
At one of Black Diamonds' Friday night dance parties, at the sprawling Metronome club at Broadway and 21st Street, the atmosphere was less subdued and the music was hip-hop, but the attitude was about the same.
Gary Anthony Ramsey, 36, a television news anchor on the cable channel NY1, was standing to the side of the dance floor with two of his friends, talking about the Black Diamond events he attends regularly.
''We're in our mid-30's, gainfully employed and college educated,'' he said. ''But we're not uppity, we're not interested in being in an environment where we worry about the whole being seen thing. And we don't want to have to worry about getting shot, either.'' He added, ''I know in a surrounding like this I'm more likely to run into a female opposite of me than the female with three kids and an ex-boyfriend at Rikers.''
And while clients are rubbing elbows, Black Diamonds offers them something they cannot get at a typical club -- gifts. Liquor companies like Grand Marnier, Seagram and Bacardi are regular co-sponsors for Black Diamonds events, offering free ''tastings'' throughout the night. Music labels like Jive and Sony come with tapes and posters for recording artists they want to promote.
''The best way to create a buzz for your product is field marketing, hand-to-hand, or in person we give out a little cassette of music or fliers or posters,'' said Jessiah Milk Styles, national director of rap promotions and marketing at Jive. ''If I go to a Black Diamonds event and I'm trying to promote an urban act, or a rhythm and blues act, like R. Kelly, then 9 times out of 10 they're going to be receptive to what I'm trying to give them.''
Although some partygoers might be put off by the idea of becoming a target market, many of Black Diamonds' guests indicated that they did not mind.
''It's part of the appeal to me,'' said Terrence R. Winston, 29, a sales manager for MetLife in Harlem. ''They have contacts that expose you to something you've never tried.''
More debatable is Black Diamonds' decision last year to sell its list to companies that have nothing to do with its parties. For example, when Deloitte & Touche was looking for minority accountants and bankers earlier this year, Dexter A. Bridgeman, chief executive of Diversified Communications Group, which organizes some of the company's career fairs, bought the list, screened it for candidates in appropriate professions, and mailed them invitations to the event.
Ms. Pickens said she had fielded no complaints from clients about advertising from companies that purchased the list. ''People don't mind getting information in the mail about job opportunities, and that kind of stuff,'' she said.
But other promotional companies disagree. Carl O. Gray, president and chief executive of the NetLinkz Group, another promotional group focusing on African-American professionals, said his group frowned on the idea of selling mailing lists to groups not sponsoring an event.
''When you have someone sign on to a mailing list, you're basically creating a confidentiality agreement that we're not looking to pass this information on unless there's disclosure,'' Mr. Gray said. ''There are some people who might look at this as an infringement on their right to privacy, opening them up to a lot of junk mail.''
He said his company once conducted a little experiment to see if clients would be upset if their names were given out. The company sent members an e-mail advertisement identifying itself as a separate company, without indicating the source of the names. ''I got a lot of that feedback saying 'please get me off this list,' '' Mr. Gray said.
Chris Forde, president of Round 2 Entertainment, which promotes activities for African-American singles and families, said he was more concerned about the condescending nature of the Black Diamonds list
''I don't like it when a group gets to a point where they say, 'I'm not going to take you, or I'm only going to take you,' '' he said. ''We like to take people for face value, not for who they're hanging with or if they have money or they don't.''
But Ms. Pickens said selectivity was the key to Black Diamonds' success. While the owners of some other promotions companies focusing on African-Americans -- NetWorkz 2000, ProLinks Inc., and Socialstep.com -- promote parties in their spare time, Black Diamonds has done well enough let Ms. Pickens quit her job as a corporate event planner for Viacom and work at Black Diamonds full time.
Ms. Pickens said Black Diamonds' events had been responsible for about a half-dozen marriages and had ''helped to foster relationships for hundreds of businesses.'' The company has held parties to introduce Envy magazine, aimed at black professionals, and the Web site Black Planet. And this year, the group has helped to sponsor events for the Studio Museum in Harlem.
More difficult to quantify is the impact of Black Diamonds' networking events. Lawrence Otis Graham, the author of several books on the black bourgeoisie, including ''Our Kind of People'' (Harper Collins, 2000), said black social clubs had long played an important role in business relations for people who are often excluded from white business relations. He said some barriers had been removed for African-American professionals in recent years because some newer networking tools, like Internet chat rooms and e-mail, are essentially colorblind.
''What does remain the same is that country clubs and other private clubs where people make connections with other influential business people are still not available to blacks no matter how much money they have,'' Mr. Graham said. ''So, minorities are still restricted in their ability to network to some degree. That's why these networking groups would remain popular and necessary.''
There is no denying a certain haughtiness associated with the Black Diamonds list. Pamela A. Pickens, 33, the company's president, and Derek K. Corley, 35, the vice president, describe their clients as ''quality people.'' ''It's a person who has money; a positive, forward-thinking person who can get things done,'' Mr. Corley said. The company focuses on African-Americans from 21 to 40, with an average income of about $45,000 and a college degree.
''You have to be upwardly mobile and exhibit a certain class, a certain way of being that's sort of mainstream and dignified, and a way that's not going to create fear in people,'' Ms. Pickens explained. ''But it's not income driven. Would we say someone who volunteers for the Peace Corps with a heart good as gold 'we won't take you'? No. We have standards, but it's not elitist in that way. It has more to do with your intellectual experience than your income level.''
The Black Diamonds profile reflects a segment of the population that was long overlooked by event promoters and corporate marketers. For a long time, Ms. Pickens said, it was difficult to find groups of upwardly mobile African-Americans anywhere in New York, because clubs and bars were wary of holding any party for black people under 40. But now, Black Diamonds is just one of several promotional groups that concentrate on African-American professionals. And companies have become increasingly interested in reaching their clients.
The people on the list take pride in its discerning tastes.
''You've got the top 5 percent here,'' said Vanessa Abukusumo, 35, a special event planner for the chief executive officer of the Swatch Group in Weehawken, N.J., looking around the back room Aubette, tipping her champagne flute in time with lilting jazz. ''I don't want to sound elitist, but everyone here works hard for their money, and with the kind of high-stress lives most of us lead, we don't want to make the mistake of stumbling into the wrong atmosphere.
''At the end of a hard day, we get on the phone and say, 'Where are the Diamonds?' '' she said. ''They're always going to have a certain caliber of people, the music will always be something that will not jar you, and you're going to be able to unwind.''
At one of Black Diamonds' Friday night dance parties, at the sprawling Metronome club at Broadway and 21st Street, the atmosphere was less subdued and the music was hip-hop, but the attitude was about the same.
Gary Anthony Ramsey, 36, a television news anchor on the cable channel NY1, was standing to the side of the dance floor with two of his friends, talking about the Black Diamond events he attends regularly.
''We're in our mid-30's, gainfully employed and college educated,'' he said. ''But we're not uppity, we're not interested in being in an environment where we worry about the whole being seen thing. And we don't want to have to worry about getting shot, either.'' He added, ''I know in a surrounding like this I'm more likely to run into a female opposite of me than the female with three kids and an ex-boyfriend at Rikers.''
And while clients are rubbing elbows, Black Diamonds offers them something they cannot get at a typical club -- gifts. Liquor companies like Grand Marnier, Seagram and Bacardi are regular co-sponsors for Black Diamonds events, offering free ''tastings'' throughout the night. Music labels like Jive and Sony come with tapes and posters for recording artists they want to promote.
''The best way to create a buzz for your product is field marketing, hand-to-hand, or in person we give out a little cassette of music or fliers or posters,'' said Jessiah Milk Styles, national director of rap promotions and marketing at Jive. ''If I go to a Black Diamonds event and I'm trying to promote an urban act, or a rhythm and blues act, like R. Kelly, then 9 times out of 10 they're going to be receptive to what I'm trying to give them.''
Although some partygoers might be put off by the idea of becoming a target market, many of Black Diamonds' guests indicated that they did not mind.
''It's part of the appeal to me,'' said Terrence R. Winston, 29, a sales manager for MetLife in Harlem. ''They have contacts that expose you to something you've never tried.''
More debatable is Black Diamonds' decision last year to sell its list to companies that have nothing to do with its parties. For example, when Deloitte & Touche was looking for minority accountants and bankers earlier this year, Dexter A. Bridgeman, chief executive of Diversified Communications Group, which organizes some of the company's career fairs, bought the list, screened it for candidates in appropriate professions, and mailed them invitations to the event.
Ms. Pickens said she had fielded no complaints from clients about advertising from companies that purchased the list. ''People don't mind getting information in the mail about job opportunities, and that kind of stuff,'' she said.
But other promotional companies disagree. Carl O. Gray, president and chief executive of the NetLinkz Group, another promotional group focusing on African-American professionals, said his group frowned on the idea of selling mailing lists to groups not sponsoring an event.
''When you have someone sign on to a mailing list, you're basically creating a confidentiality agreement that we're not looking to pass this information on unless there's disclosure,'' Mr. Gray said. ''There are some people who might look at this as an infringement on their right to privacy, opening them up to a lot of junk mail.''
He said his company once conducted a little experiment to see if clients would be upset if their names were given out. The company sent members an e-mail advertisement identifying itself as a separate company, without indicating the source of the names. ''I got a lot of that feedback saying 'please get me off this list,' '' Mr. Gray said.
Chris Forde, president of Round 2 Entertainment, which promotes activities for African-American singles and families, said he was more concerned about the condescending nature of the Black Diamonds list
''I don't like it when a group gets to a point where they say, 'I'm not going to take you, or I'm only going to take you,' '' he said. ''We like to take people for face value, not for who they're hanging with or if they have money or they don't.''
But Ms. Pickens said selectivity was the key to Black Diamonds' success. While the owners of some other promotions companies focusing on African-Americans -- NetWorkz 2000, ProLinks Inc., and Socialstep.com -- promote parties in their spare time, Black Diamonds has done well enough let Ms. Pickens quit her job as a corporate event planner for Viacom and work at Black Diamonds full time.
Ms. Pickens said Black Diamonds' events had been responsible for about a half-dozen marriages and had ''helped to foster relationships for hundreds of businesses.'' The company has held parties to introduce Envy magazine, aimed at black professionals, and the Web site Black Planet. And this year, the group has helped to sponsor events for the Studio Museum in Harlem.
More difficult to quantify is the impact of Black Diamonds' networking events. Lawrence Otis Graham, the author of several books on the black bourgeoisie, including ''Our Kind of People'' (Harper Collins, 2000), said black social clubs had long played an important role in business relations for people who are often excluded from white business relations. He said some barriers had been removed for African-American professionals in recent years because some newer networking tools, like Internet chat rooms and e-mail, are essentially colorblind.
''What does remain the same is that country clubs and other private clubs where people make connections with other influential business people are still not available to blacks no matter how much money they have,'' Mr. Graham said. ''So, minorities are still restricted in their ability to network to some degree. That's why these networking groups would remain popular and necessary.''
Correction: November 15, 2000, Wednesday A caption yesterday about Black Diamonds Entertainment, which organizes parties for young upwardly mobile black people, misidentified a couple dancing at one of the parties. They were Candace Jackson and Brian Monroe, not Kerri Harper and John Byers.
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