THE LAUNCH
The official launch was held in downtown Miami at the newly-minted, upscale EPIC hotel. It was well promoted online, in print ad in Brickell magazine and through forwarded emails. The hype and allure of name brand promoters including Mercedes Benz lent an air of exclusivity and an event not to be missed.

Upon arriving at 6:30pm, half hour after the slated 6pm kickoff, the bar was already crowded. My first time at the EPIC, I scanned the room and noticed it was downtown small, hence the bulging crowd at the entrance attracted curious passerbys.

While the venue was aesthetically ideal for this "see and be seen" event, it was an overpacked happy hour. Tight on space, soon I felt transported to my 20's at a local nightclub where elbow room was precious. Drinks were at our expense and there was finger food if you were willing to snake through the crowd to reach the food stations outside. But the view was picture perfect--boats, yachts streaming north and south along the Miami River. I had the opportunity to meet quality people. Actually these individuals didn't even know about the event. They just happened to visit for happy hour.

Later in the evening were the highly touted prize giveaways. The emcee struggled to speak over the din of happy hour to announce the winners. There were numerous prizes but the presentation was a bit chaotic and anticlimatic for a "premiere, exclusive" club. However there were many lucky winners of dance classes at Arthur Murray, and even a trip anywhere to Europe courtesy of Air Berlin.

The gift bags? Black eco-friendly textured bags with Mercedes Benz logo in white lettering left us in suspense. Opening and rifling through the Mercedes-Benz bags, the contents were mostly promotional brochures, no gifts except one $50 gift card to a beauty clinic. Nice touch. Not that we were expecting a free dinner certificate at the EPIC hotel. Maybe one small but memorable token to remind us that we're fabulous!

The asking price to join this new "exclusive" club--$250.00 is the number I heard at the event but nowhere is it listed on the website.

What does membership include? Not sure. The website (http://www.fabulousmiami.com/) lists the daily, weekly, and weekend events for which I'm sure each person must foot the bill, at least when it comes to dinner. Let's see there's "Mix Dancing" at Arthur Murray this Friday night, "Feng Shui" and "Pole Dancing" on August 10, and "Dinner at the Viceroy Hotel" on August 14. Yes I did write Pole Dancing. Indeed a healthy mix of Miami cultural activities!

Is it worth joining? I'm sure like many, it's a "wait and see" game. Wait to see if fabulous Miamians join this new club.

So what does the $250.00 get you? Stay tuned and I'll keep you "posted"! Let's hope this new club lives up to its hype and namesake. Best of luck to the organizers, Fabiola and crew!