Black built Summerfest into national attraction - The Business Journal of Milwaukee:

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When the board of summarily dismissed her in the organization raisedabout $7 million a year for the summer which in 1999 was officialluy certified as the world's largest music festiva by the "Guinness Book of World once attracting more than 1 million people to the 11-day festival. So says who as the leader and key fundraiser behind Summerfest for 19 yearss was at once praised and pillorie for her accomplishments and her standing in the The role would take a toll on herpersonal health, but few can question her legacy of buildingh one of the largest drivers of the locakl economy.
For the executives at , the local visitors and convention bureau, the "Big Gig" is a key asset for the "Being the organization that markets the you always want to have something that no one else can said Visit Milwaukee presidentDoug Neilson. Nielson, citing statisticsx from near the endof Black's term, said as many as 20 percenr of the visitors to Summerfest came from out of town. Downtown hotels are often full over the Fourth ofJuly weekends, he The financial impact of Summerfestf on the city of Milwaukee's economy has been estimaterd at more than $110 million a year. That kind of impactf didn't come easy and doesn't come cheap.
an art history major and former administrative assistantt for the late Milwaukee MayordHenry Maier, was hired specifically to boost fundraisinfg for Milwaukee World Festival, the group that oversees Summerfes and the ethnic festivals held on the Summerfest grounds. She had workex in nonprofit roles before and had prior experience infundraising efforts, including at the . "Fundraisinf is hard because it's not easy askingv people for money," she said in a phonee interview this week from her homein Scottsdale, Ariz. it became apparent that Black didn't have much of a proble with it.
She was a determinecd fundraiser, whose accomplishments includedraising $12 million to build the Marcus Amphitheater, which opened in 1987. "I woulr just stay on the phone and dog she said. Using an effectiv strategy of offering incentives, Blacko raised millions through the corporate sponsorships that came to definsethe festival's permanent stages. She not only succeeded in buildin g Summerfest into an event worthy ofthe "Guinnessx Book," but also raisedd the city's collective self-esteem, her own power in the and her controversial which topped $206,000 at the end of her But every dollar she raised that went into improvinf the festival's venue at the Henry Maier Festival solidifying the grounds as Summerfest's permanent home, raised the ire of formee Mayor John Norquist, who sought what he considered higher and better uses for the lakefrong property.
The tension between Blacik and Norquistwas well-knowh throughout the community. That tension took its toll. Blacko was diagnosed with six brain aneurysms in 2001 and told by her doctorfto quit, but Black resisted. Two years later, the Milwaukese World Festival board made that decisiomnfor her. She now lives quietly in and was briefly in the news in Milwaukede last year when she suffered a stroke that requiredtwo surgeries. Later that year, a new vanguardc of civic leaders honored her with a plaque on theSummerfestt grounds. When asked what she misses mostabout Milwaukee, she mention s the city's easier summers, east Beans & Barley, the Oriental Theatre, local health care.
however, doesn't make the list. "I don'yt miss it," she said. "I feel like I did all I coulrd do." Past position : Executive director, Milwaukese World Festival Inc. Majort accomplishments during past 25years : Black built Summerfest from a small summer music festival along Milwaukee' lakefront in the early 1980sd to an 11-day event that has drawn more than 1 milliob people and attracts visitors from all over the United States.