Pepper looked at Tony, her only show of surprise a tic in her left eye, that only he was in a position to notice. Immediately turning back to the table, Pepper set her Tablet to record, then pressed a few keys to lower the lights in the room by thirty percent, and bring up in the center of the table, a holographic display of the Queen Mary's decks. Each point of interest - ballrooms, meeting rooms, dining rooms, and guest rooms, were illuminated and color coded by type.
"The Queen Mary is an oceanliner dating back to the 1930s," she began, trying to pretend she was talking to the WCA at home, and not to these assholes, whom she more frequently wanted to tear into, rather than entertain. "The original Art Deco decor is intact and heavily emphasized throughout the ship, and so I've used that as the theme for the Maria Stark Foundation and Stark Industries Spring 2011 Charity Gala."
Next to some of the venue rooms, the names of performance artists appeared. Lady Gaga, Dazzler, Coldplay, Beyonce, and a host of others had been assigned to different locations, along with a date and time. "Because of the unique opportunities presented by our venue, this event will span an entire weekend," she continued. "Which means we have many more opportunities for entertainment. Almost everyone I've spoke to so far has been more than willing to perform for charity - meaning we don't have to pay their usual fees. However, I have offered them free admittance to the rest of the weekend and all of the benefits that entails, as well as a free room. My hope is that while they're not performing, they'll be generous about donating in other ways."
Pepper had been smart about choosing performers. Not only had all her guests been chosen from among those who were known for their generous and constant support of children's charities, every performer had come from the same list, as well. The deck was heavily stacked in their favor, but when that meant raising money for kids in need, she didn't waste a moment on guilt. "In addition to musicians, we'll have comedians," their names and performance schedules appeared as she spoke. "Magician David Blaine, Author and poetess Maya Angelou; today I had the sincere pleasure of having a former circus performer agree to do a solo show for us, us charity, and a professional archer, and a professional swordsman have both offered to auction off lessons in their trade, as well.
"Which brings us to profit." She didn't pause. Pepper could see a few of them shifting in their seats and knew they were wondering how much this was going to cost versus how much profit it would bring in. And for a charity, it had to be sufficient to cover expenses with significant overhead for the charities in question. "The ticket price for the event itself - full weekend - is one-thousand dollars. If someone can only attend one day - five hundred. Anyone staying aboard the Queen Mary books rooms on a first come, first serve basis, and this is after we've booked rooms we need, and leave a chunk open, just in case. To cover the entire cost of renting out the ship, they've given us a twenty percent discount. So we're charging guests the regular room rates, which ranges from $110-$410 per night, and we pay and additional fifteen dollars a head to cover all other costs - that's it."
Pausing for a moment for the murmur to fade, hoping it was approving, she tried and failed to ignore the impulse to glance over her shoulder at Tony. It was brief, her soft smile nervous, but confident, and then she went on. " We're having two celebrity chefs tape their show while we're there, and each has offered to do so for free, so we're saving money there. Night one, we'll be dining with Chefs Padma Lakshmi and Tom Coliccio and the contestants from Top Chef, and night two, we'll be dining with Gordon Ramsey and his contestants.