Throwback Thursday - When to NOT wear a tux!

Tom Danielson, Me and Jim Ritter

The year is 1993 and Hasselblad won a Mobius Award for print advertising. Even though it's normally an ad agency event, off I went to Chicago for the dinner and evening presentations. Just to say we were proud of the recognition would be a huge understatement.  

However, God forbid I should have to go to a rubber chicken dinner solo, so I talked my good buddy and Chicago resident, Tom Danielson, into joining me along with Jim Ritter, the Hasselblad sales rep for Chicago. 

Here's what I didn't know...the appropriate attire. So, I called and spoke with one of the more senior people at the Mobius Awards and I was told it was usually a mix of black tie and business attire. I think all three of us owned a tux, so why not represent Hasselblad as upscale as possible?

Here's the second thing I didn't know...that we'd be the only three in black tie out of a couple hundred people that evening! Seriously, three times I was given a drink order by somebody who thought I was a waiter! Had we been smarter, Tom, Jim and I should have taken their money and split the evening's profit.

There really is no moral of the story here, just a fun twenty-one year old flashback and a lesson learned: Always check with at least two sources when it comes to attire at any industry function.  

Oh, and one more, print your images. Had this been digital at the time it would have been on a floppy disc and long since lost. I'd be missing all the fun of Throwback Thursday!