Top 10 Magical, Memorable Moments of 2021
1) Having The Woz, Steve Wozniak, himself on our livestream!
Yup, that’s the Apple Co-Founder himself on our livestream with our clients Postman Galaxy. What a nice guy!
2) Demanding Justice for Angelo Quinto Thru a Candlelit Livestream in the Park
Photos by Neil Yuzon
It was an honor to partner with the Justice for Angelo Quinto coalition to demand justice for this young man whose life was taken far too soon by police during a mental health check in call.
3) Producing one of the Most Inclusive Events with Othering & Belonging
Video by Amyra Soriano
The UC Berkeley Othering & Belonging Institute has been an absolute joy to work with especially since accessibility is such a focus for this nonprofit. We helped coordinate Closed Captioning as well as ASL (featuring deaf and hearing interpreters!) which was a new concept to us, but as we learned is really impactful for people who use ASL as their first language.
4) Featuring Jazzy Jeff on our Livestream with Winter Music Conference
We’re huge fans of Jazzy Jeff, and bonus points, he is one of the most kind people ever! It was so amazing to partner with this iconic music festival normally hosted in Miami to bring their IRL event to the virtual space, as well as sit on a panel ourselves to talk about the future of virtual events.
5) Hosting 350+ Pinays at our First Hybrid Pinayista Summit
Video by Amyra Soriano
One of our all-time favorite events that Make it Mariko sponsors every year, we were so grateful to be able to gather with our amazing Pinay community in person and virtually to build Pinay sisterhood and find the necessary healing we all needed during this crazy time through Pinayista.
6) Re-Launching UNDISCOVERED SF with an Epic Cultural District Crawl Outdoors
Photos by The Mogli
We did it – we brought back our favorite Filipino Night Market, but re-imagined it during the pandemic as a safe, outdoor daytime Culture Crawl of the SOMA Pilipinas Cultural Heritage District! Over 10 Venues, 45+ Vendors, 16 Performers, and our biggest day of retail sales EVER!
7) Working with NPR & Guy Raz for the “How I Built This” Virtual Summit
Video by Amyra Soriano
Yes, Guy Raz himself!! We’re huge fans of the How I Built This podcast and were so honored to partner with NPR to help bring this important Summit to virtual-land, as well as help them with strategizing programming content.
8) Making a Comeback to IRL with Ciel Creative Space “Rebirth” Event
Video by Amyra Soriano
We finally made it back to in person events! June 15th marked re-opening day for California and we were partnered with Ciel Creative Space to re-launch their new, expanded studio spaces with a big industry party like the pandemic had never seen.
9) Almost Purchasing Our First 20-Acre Event Center!
Yup, we took a big leap this year to pursue what is the ultimate goal and purpose of Make it Mariko — to own and operate our own event space and retreat center in Northern CA! We raised over $700K from all women of color investors, and put multiple offers on a 20-acre property, but it wasn’t meant to be this year (thankfully).
10) Closing 2021 with Brown is Beautiful and all the Creatives We Love!
Photos by Neil Yuzon
What an honor it was to host our industry creatives for our first Holiday Party celebrating POC creatives! It was an epic way to close out a traumatic and crazy year with the ones we love filled with JOY, dancing, and safe hugs.
