About COBS
2016 BLACK TIE &
TENNIS SHOES
Our mission is to change lives through challenge and discovery.
As the pioneer and leading provider of experiential and outdoor education in the United States, the
Colorado Outward Bound School offers more than 100 courses throughout the year, across the U.S.
and internationally. We served more than 2,200 students in 2015, many of whom received scholarship
support provided by individual and organizational partners. As part of the global Outward Bound
charter, COBS is part of a nationwide community of more than 1 million alumni, instructors and board
members.
Mile High Station
Denver, CO
OCTOBER 27, 2016
For people of all ages and all walks of life, Colorado Outward Bound School is the educational
organization that helps students discover strength of character, the ability to lead and a desire to
serve.
with special guest speaker
There is more in us than we know.
ERIK
WEIHENMAYER
On a Colorado Outward Bound School course, students are gently pushed out of their comfort zone in
order to help them understand themselves, each other, and the world around them. While the course
experience opens these new horizons, the true power of Outward Bound manifests when students
return home to their families, friends, communities, and schools and bring with them the life lessons
they learned on course.
COBS offers courses that range in length from 8 to 81 days for youth, adults, veterans, business
professionals, and community groups. Our courses take place in the farthest reaches of Colorado,
Utah, Wyoming, Arizona, Alaska and Ecuador. Course activities include mountaineering, whitewater
rafting, rock climbing, sea kayaking, mountain and canyon backpacking, canyoneering and
backcountry snowboarding and skiing.
84% of our traditional wilderness students are youth ages 12 to 24. In partnership with two strong
Denver Public Schools charter networks, STRIVE Preparatory Schools and DSST, and other schools
and nonprofit partners, COBS is piloting a long format wilderness program for high potential, high
need urban youth in Denver entitled ASCEND.
Evaluating our impact
Over the years, COBS has heard over and over from students that “Outward Bound changed my life.”
Among students who participated in a 2015 COBS course, after their program:
• 98% improved their teamwork
• 98% were more effective communicators
• 97% improved their tenacity and grit
• 97% had more self-confidence, self-awareness, and believed more in their ability to succeed
• 97% were better problem-solvers
• 97% were more likely to participate in community service
www.cobs.org/black-tie
e Pa Le Traveled
Each year, the Colorado Outward Bound School and our community come together to celebrate
and support our students and our mission through the Black Tie and Tennis Shoes gala. This year,
on October 27 from 6pm-9pm at Mile High Station in Denver, we are thrilled to host guest speaker,
Erik Weihenmayer in a discussion of the path less traveled. Erik is the only blind climber to summit
Mount Everest and all Seven Summits. He has since continued his work as an author, speaker and
ambassador of the No Barriers Mindset, pursuing and reaching new goals like kayaking the Grand
Canyon. Each of us face challenges and No Barriers is a universal message that “what’s within us is
stronger than what’s in our way.”
Last year with legendary climber Tommy Caldwell, we talked about elective hardships and the
importance of striving for new summits. This year, our journey continues along the path less traveled,
guided by Erik – to understand the tenacity it takes to challenge possibility.
We do things a little differently at COBS. We’ll kick off the evening with a community happy hour – an
opportunity to mingle with friends new and old, and to peruse our silent auction and food stations.
We’ll have an introduction from Director of the Colorado Outdoor Recreation Industry Office Luis
Benitez, who was also Erik’s guide on Everest, then we’ll sit down together around Erik to learn about
his adventures before finishing up the evening in direct support of our students. The Black Tie and
Tennis Shoes gala has become our signature gathering and we can’t wait to have you as part of our
community.
photo by Cara Befort
www.cobs.org/black-tie
2016 Black Tie & Tennis Shoes Sponsorship Opportunities
From growing our scholarship fund to buying sleeping bags to keep our students warm on high alpine
ridges, the support of our Black Tie and Tennis Shoes sponsors provides our students with the opportunity
to explore their own paths less traveled. Our sponsors help us to fulfill our mission to change lives through
challenge and discovery.
Your support builds a community of young people who have discovered the strength of their character, their
ability to lead, and a desire to serve. This is the springboard for success in life.
PRESENTING SPONSOR
$25,000, EXCLUSIVE
• Name/logo on all event collateral including:
o Invitations
o COBS’s website and Facebook page, including link to sponsor website
o Co-branded cover plus a full page ad in event program
o Event boilerplate and name mention in event press release
• Full day, custom Outward Bound Professional team building program for up to 25 participants
• Two seated tables for 20 guests
• 20 vouchers for Erik’s new book, No Barriers, coming in early 2017
SUMMIT SPONSOR$10,000
• Name/logo on event collateral including:
o COBS website and Facebook page
o Full page ad in event program
o Event slideshow
o Name mention in press release
• Full day, custom Outward Bound Professional team building program for up to 10 participants
• Two seated tables for 20 guests
• 20 vouchers for Erik’s new book coming in early 2017
EXPEDITION SPONSOR$3,000
• 1 seated table for 10 guests
• Half page ad in event program and room signage
• Name and logo on our event collateral including our website and event slideshow
• 10 vouchers for Erik’s new book coming in early 2017
VIP RECEPTION UPGRADE $1,500
∙ Available to Expedition level sponsors or higher as an add on to sponsorship; limited availability
∙ Pre-event VIP reception with Erik Weihenmayer at 5:15 on the evening of the event
∙ Supports a 2017 scholarship named for your organization for one student to attend a week of Colorado
Outward Bound School programming
BASECAMP SPONSOR$2,000
• 10 tickets, campfire style seating around our speaker
• Name and logo on our event collateral including our website, event slideshow, and event program
• 10 vouchers for Erik’s new book coming in early 2017
LIMITED NUMBER OF INDIVIDUAL TICKETS AVAILABLE AS WELL: www.cobs.org/black-tie
ADDITIONAL BENEFITS:
- Align your brand with Colorado Outward Bound School, the outdoor industry, and education partners
- Demonstrate your commitment to transforming the lives of young people
- Mentions on social media as an event sponsor
- Open to other ideas to suit branding goals
For more information, please contact Darcy Lattof, Director of Development:
[email protected] or 303-676-8237
About Erik
On May 25, 2001, Erik Weihenmayer became the only
blind person to reach the summit of Mt. Everest. In
2008 he climbed Carstensz Pyramid on the island of
Papua New Guinea, completing the Seven Summits, the
highest point on every continent. This accomplishment
closed the circuit on a 13-year journey that had
begun with his 1995 ascent of Denali. He is joined by
a select company of only 150 mountaineers to have
accomplished the feat.
As word spread about Erik’s remarkable achievements,
the world took notice; shortly after his summit of
Everest, he was honored with a Time cover story
detailing his conquest of the world’s highest peak. Since
then, he has authored multiple books, including his memoir, Touch the Top of the World. Yet for those who
had long known him, his propensity for taking on and knocking down the loftiest of challenges came as no
surprise.
Even as retinoschisis began to rob him of his vision by the age of 13, Erik resisted the idea that blindness
would sweep him to the sidelines of life. He established himself as a formidable wrestler in high school,
representing his home state of Connecticut in the National Junior Freestyle Wrestling Championship in Iowa.
As a teenager, he also discovered rock climbing and a natural dexterity for the tactile aspects of scanning the
rock with his hands and feet for holds.
After graduating a double major from Boston College, Erik became a middle-school teacher and wrestling
coach at Phoenix Country Day School. Yet it was atop the highest point in North America, the mountain
known in the native Inuit language as Denali, where his quest for adventure began to take shape. Erik’s
triumphs over some of the world’s most formidable mountains were fueling a growing aspiration to take the
lessons he learned in the mountains to help others shatter barriers in their lives.
To advance this idea, Erik co-founded not merely an organization, but rather a movement called No Barriers.
The mission is to help people with challenges, all of us to some extent, to turn into the storm of life, face
barriers head on, embrace a pioneering and innovative spirit and team up with great people to live rich in
meaning and purpose. The motto is “what’s within you is stronger than what’s in your way.” To this aim,
Erik continues to challenge himself to live a No Barriers Life and in September 2014 he kayaked the entire
277-miles of the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon. Erik is a Colorado native and currently resides in
Golden with his family.
www.cobs.org/black-tie