Believe it or not, we had less then three weeks to plan Rebuilding the Bridge. Believe it or not, we had zero money - no budget - when we started. All we had at the start was an idea and five people with a burning desire to do something about the tragic, tragic earthquake in Sichuan, China. But what can five people do alone? We built a coalition and now five people became a unified community. The underlying premise was, “If Asians can’t come together for something so tragic, what will we come together for?” So this coalition of Asian non-profits, for-profits, old media, new media, political offices, and everything else became the body of a movement with compassion for a soul.

Now here we are, 13 hours away from one of the biggest, if not the biggest Asian charity event in NYC this year. In less than three weeks we secured Ryan Leslie, Planet B-Boy break dancing crews, J-Lim, Beau Sia, and Andrew Choi. We’ve had many artist and entertainers volunteer their time and services. Many of which we ultimately couldn’t fit. We’ve had an outpouring of support from Asian and non-Asian organizations and corporations alike. Without them, we would have no money, no venue, and no hope. All of those bricks were laid in less than three weeks.

I’m painting a rosy picture. Many times we were thinking it’s over; we just lost our venue, we just lost some sponsors, and we just lost our headline act (multiple times). All the issues and all the drama during this building process seems irrelevant now, staring at the event 13 hours in the future. When you think about the scale and reach of what we were doing and in the timeframe that we did it, literally a dozen small miracles had to have happened. Why put ourselves under such pressure to produce a show of this caliber in less than three weeks? This was the only timeframe we had to work with the Jabbawockeez…

So we lost our headline act about 4 days before the event; the act that we built this entire event around. As much as I want to get into why this happen, there are numerous reasons why it’s easier that I don’t. For the record, please don’t blame the Jabbawockeez members and managers for this. They really do care about what we’re trying to do and said that if they had a choice, they would be at our event in a heartbeat. They are the same guys that you’ve read about before this event, and the fame of winning America’s Best Dance Crew has not changed them one bit.

So ok, “life is like a rollercoaster.” These past three weeks was one of the most unforgettable rides of my life. Another popular, appropriate phrase here is, “Everything happens for a reason.” Funny thing is, having Jabbawockeez walk out was good overall. It caused a frantic search for a replacement headline act with 72 hours to go. Guess what? We got three headliners! One of which is Planet B-Boy presents the Battle for New York where two insanely good b-boy crews will battle for fame and bragging rights. The other two, are MUCH bigger than we could of ever hope, like Kanye big (but not Kanye exactly). However, I don’t want to mention their names. No, this is not a marketing ploy to force you to buy tickets especially since telling you who they are would guarantee ticket sales. We’re just about sold out of online tickets anyway.

This is about perspective. When the Jabbawockeez had to leave, we got calls from over two dozen angry people feeling that we cheated them. Let’s make this clear, not one person, not one entity is profiting from this. Every penny of the ticket proceeds goes to charity. Because of this, every cost of the events was donated, raised via sponsorships, or covered by us, the organizers of the event. Yes, every one of us has not only put in time, but our personal money as well. When you ask for your money back, you’re essentially asking for your donation back from the Sichuan earthquake victims. What’s worst is that we, the organizers of this event, had to cover the transaction fees for all refunds – dipping into more money we didn’t have. So if you’re coming to this show, we want you to have fun and enjoy yourself. It’s your reward for caring about someone other than yourself. While you can come as fans and supporters of the performers, don’t forget that the performers are there to support the earthquake victims.

Fortunately, only a small minority of the ticket buyers asked for refunds and even less acted rudely to the volunteers and organizers for this charity event. But still, it hurts personally. Blood, sweat, and literally tears went into this. Everyone here was just thinking about charity and the cause…

I’ve been trying to sleep tonight but can’t. The event is 13 hours away and I have so much to do and prepare. The logical part of me is saying, “You’re toast if you don’t get at least six hours tonight!” The adrenaline in me is saying, “Sleep is for the weak!” Since I’m pumped full of adrenaline, especially during these past few days, it wins hands down.

Rumors have already spread about who the other two headline acts are. Yes those rumors are true. We’re holding about 100 tickets at the door. These are last remaining tickets for the event. Come early, if you expect to get them.