THE TOP 10 PROMOTERS/SOCIALITES OF 2010

In 2010, St. Louis has seen a record number of promoters in the area from the newbies (Hella Fly Promotions) and vets (Harry and Fred of 1st Fridays) alike.

Below are the Top 10 promoters who had the most frequency with promoting events in the area, the most attendance at other promoters events in the area and the quantity of post appearances of their events on OUTTOWN.

Before we get into the Top 10 Promoter/Socialites, we asked our readers to vote for their Top Promoter of 2010. The Reader's Choice is:

Ashley Puryear of 7Fourteen Promotions

AND

Before we get to the Top 10, here are Numbers 20 THRU 11 based on the criteria above:

20.Koncepts/Keith Harris

19.Aireez Darychuss

18.Soul Stylz/Cornell Boone

17.Loosecannon

16.Cafe Soul

15.Stress Free Fridays

14.MPAC/Mo Spoon and Maranda Spoon

13.Rockhouse Entertainment

12.Ashley Puryear/7Fourteen Promotions

11Fun E Katz/Maurice G

HERE ARE THE TOP 10

10.Jessie Taylor.

This brotha had a at least two comedy nites poppin' on Sundays at Pulse (Funny Sundays) and Tuesdays at Taylor Made Restaurant bringing in nationally working comics and spotlighting STL comics alike. He will soon have a nite at Glass of Laughs in St. Charles coming soon.

9.Freetime (Adrian Saddler, Daryl Freirson and Roy Robinson Jr)

These three brothas are the front men to this upscale promotions group. From their win of Promoters of the Year at the 2nd Annual Notice Me Awards to their co-promotion of the Arts, Beats and Lyrics at the Palladium in November, they have been active on the STL event scene, as a group and solo. They also had two stints at weekly events at The Loft (Groove Theory Thursdays) and The City (Chocolate Sundays).

8.Close to Famous (Triky Haley and Kelly Hall)

These two brothers continues to do their promotions thing mainly with other promotion groups, such as Koncepts and UC Me Entertainment (with St. Lunatics Kyjuan and MurphyLee) . With UC ME , they do the weekly UC ME Thursdays at The Label. They also specialize in annual themed events ("Grace" a Pre Thanksgving event). Of the two, Triky was the most spotted at various hot spot events in 2010.

7.Big Tah Knighten of 3 Way Promotions

His first time on the countdown, Big Tah was the party man of 2010. Not only was he seen at events done by promoters almost every weekend, but through his own promotions organization 3 Way promotions, he kept his monthly Summer In The City contests going as well as the weekly Martini Mondays at the Loft. He was also one of 11 promoters who came together for the Promoters Paradise networking party held at the Ambassador this summer. He also stepped it up with bus excursions out of town (Beale Street in Memphis) and wineries in Missouri. He will also have a bus set for NYE 2011 as well.

6.John Burns.

He is one of two promoters in the Top 10 who owned clubs and had it poppin on the weekends for his own events or for other promoters (Stress Free Fridays, MPAC). New to the countdown, Burns kept 2010 goin with his club Envy with weekly events throughout the week ( Monday Night Football, She Know She Bad Tuesdays, Seduction Saturdays) as well as re-introducing Club Plush in East St. Louis inside the Blackmon Plaza venue every Saturday and featuring major hip-hop concerts (Plies, Bun B).

5.Fred Finley and Harry Michel

The other promoter who owns a club, this veteran duo kept their Exo Nightclub up and running every Friday and Saturday for special events for other promoters that are listed on the countdown (mainly Koncepts, Major Brands) and their own (Sexy Saturdays). They also brought in various celebs for their events (Biz Markie, Farnsworth Bentley, Raheem DeVaughn)) and, of course, they packed them in at various venues, including Exo, for their monthly juggernaut networking event, 1st Fridays.

4.Soul U (Xplicit and Dj 76 Kid)

Last year's No. 1 group, these guys continued with putting poetry in motion with its weekly showcase Soul Stages and Soulace moving to various spots (Nubia, St. Louis Bar and Grill and now Legacy). In October they had a Death of Soulstage where they trimmed it from weekly to monthly. They also did a regular poetry spot at Inspot Dessert Lounge (set up by Dj 76 Kid) and had briefly a bi weekly poetry showcase Fresh Air held at Mister G's in Fairview Heights, Ill. They also introduced the first Poetry Ball Awards held at Legacy Books that was monumental for the STL poetry scene. Meanwhile, Xplicit spent most of 2010 travelling across the country to promote his CDs and set up Soulstage networks. Dj 76 Kid was a heavily requested dee-jay at various promoters' events and venues (eg. Lola's, Stress Free Fridays)

3.Mocha Latte of Monopoly Promotions

Dubbed the Queen of Promotions, this sista has been holding it down since OUTTOWN has been existing. More than half of 2010, she was the club host at the now defunct Karma Nightclub hosting the venues popular Friday Night Fixx and Sutra Saturdays with Loose cannon where they brought in major celebrities (Lloyd, Boris Kodjoe, Monica). She also copped Host of the Year at the 2nd Annual Notice Me Awards and 3rd Annual Traffic Music Awards. During her "off" days, she attended many events held by most of the promoters on this list. After Karma's demise in the fall, she continues her hosting duties at The Label introducing Open bar Saturdays and Mo Spoon's Martini Mondays at Envy. She was one of 11 promoters at Promoters Paradise held at the Ambassador this summer and also promoted the popular and packed Kings Magazine Contest held at the Loft in November that brought in singer Tank and brought back her seminal poetry showcase Got Lyrics that she did on a monthly basis at different venues. She also put pen to paper with her popular column in the EveningWhirl.

2.Hella Fly Promotions (King Kerry and Dano Johnson)

Mainly catering to the urban hood rich crowd, this newbie duo showed the veterans that they were unstoppable in 2010. New to the countdown, this group started the year off right winning Rookie Promoters at the 2nd Annual Notice Me Awards. They were the most constantly promotion group of 2010 whether it was Dano promoting his own rap career or hosting (he was more of the front man) their events which included Cocoa Cola Bottle Tuesdays at the Junkyard (and having their own Coco Coca Bottle Models at events) $4 Fridays at The Broadway or their most popular networking event Sexy as You Wanna Be with Rockhouse Entertainment at the Label where they featured many special events (June 5th's Red Bottom Contests, Aloha's CD party). For brief stint they had Day Parties at various venues (Envy) and they also have the popular monthly event Facebook Meet and Greet also at various venues. They also attended many other promoters events and co-promoted with various other promoters including Liquid Assets brief Friday Night Lights at the now defunct Lure Nightclub and Promoters Paradise where 11 promoters joined together this summer for an event at the Ambassador .

AND THE NO. 1 PROMOTER/SOCIALITE of 2010 IS:

Liquid Assets

(Ill Will Fitz, Phil Assets, and Chelsea Dawn/Sasha Fiercsome)

This promotions group is like the equivalent to the music group Black Eyed Peas--each member not only have their own events going on, but also as a group put on some of the most well attended events in St. Louis. Spearheaded by Phil Assets, this group started out the year with their annual Notice Me Awards , a popular vote award show selecting the Best Promoters and Socialites of the Year at their headquarters, the now defunct Lure Nightclub. Up until October, Liquid Assets had events there every Thursday (the immensely popular Red Hott Thursdays), Friday and Saturday. They also collaborated with various other STL promoters as well (mainly Delux Magazine with Select Saturdays at Lure ). Chelsea Dawn, the model in the group also did her share of events at Lure as well as the Social House where she held bachelorette parties and promoted the venues' weekday happy hours. Ill Will, who won Mr Facebook at Notice Me Awards, was also a host at most of their events as well. They also brought in major recording artists to the venue (Wocka Flocka, Will I Am). But after Lure and Red Hott Thursdays,made early fall headlines for club violence outside the club, the city shut it down. But soon after , a new club arose from the ashes--Club Amnesia and the group continued on with Relaxed Thursdays, the newly formed monthly event Black Hollywood red Carpet (and soon to be Fierce Fridays ) and Successful Saturdays. They also was one of 11 promoters who was part of the summer superpromotions events Promoters paradise held at The Ambassador this summer.