The director of special events for the mayor's office, Susan Christian, told me that it's been a challenge all year long to find sponsors. She said because the New Year 's Eve Live celebration is a young event, and since New Year's Eve events are traditionally is marketed for adults, it's been a challenge to convince sponsors to buy in to Houston's "family friendly" New Year's Eve event.
Earlier this year, the city pulled the plug on the Thanksgiving Day Parade, only to reinstate it after securing sponsors. Christian said it's easier to get sponsors for a traditional Houston event. She said the two events are very different.
"We love the event. The market is still soft for our there for event marketing. It's also a New Year's event," Christian explained. "I think there's is an opportunity to bring it back in the future, but in order to do that, we must secure the funding through private donors."
This is the first year that the city of Houston has been in charge of securing the money for the New Year's Eve event. For the past three years, Houston First, the company that manages the George R. Brown Convention Center, raised the money.
Find Foti on Facebook at ReporterFotiKallergis or on Twitter at @FotiKallergis
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