Red Justice. Direction Man. Street Hero. Their true identities disguised behind aliases and masks, these and other caped crusaders for safety and social justice gathered in Times Square in late October. But it wasn't Halloweenit was the first meeting of Superheroes Anonymous, an organization co-founded by Chaim Lazaros and Ben Goldman.
Superheroes Anonymous are volunteer Good Samaritans who dress in uniformnot costume!to draw attention to their efforts to better their communities. (Red Justice, in red boxers over jeans, encourages young people on New York's subways to give up their seats for the elderly and disabled. Direction Man, in an orange vest, guides lost tourists. Street Hero, in a black bustier, protects ladies of the evening using martial arts.)
These "real-life superheroes," as they're known, used to meet only online. But when Lazaros, a Columbia University film student, discovered them on MySpace, he devised the idea of organizing an in-person meeting so he could make a documentary about this worldwide phenomenon.
"I didn't have the money to travel to Florida or California or Italy to interview these people," Lazaros says. "So I thought I'd create an event where I could do my interviews and film them on their patrols."
Wonder TwinsWith help from a professional event planner, Lauren Fritz-Gibbs of Celebrate Flowers (who bartered her services for a promotional video worth $17,000 that Lazaros and Goldman made), Lazaros spent most of the year organizing the meeting. He pulled one, often two all-nighters per week; lost 15 pounds; maxed out his credit cards; used up his student loans; and almost got kicked out of school.
Why did he get so involved? "There's so much negativity nowadayspeople feel helpless," Lazaros says. "This is about people saying, 'I'm going to do something, and do it in a really cool, colorful way.' I knew this was a great story the world needed to hear."
Justice LeagueHe was right. Despite attracting only a few real-life superheroes, the meeting got worldwide coverage, by The New York Times, the BBC, TV stations in Japan, Brazil, Australia, and more. Thanks to the Times article, Lazaros, Goldman, and another friend, Phil Perkins, are now making a short film for Current TV, a cable station for young people launched by Al Gore. They plan to launch the full-length version in a year.
Lazaros wants to hold another Superheroes Anonymous meeting in the summer if he can get funding. "One of my biggest challenges was getting real-life superheroes to attend," he says. "In the past, the press treated them as a joke, and it was hard to convince them I wasn't going to laugh at them. But so many have contacted us since the meeting saying that if we do it again, they'll definitely come."
Originally published January 01, 2008For more ideas, tips, and tools for better meetings and events,
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