2013.08.22 - Fund Raiser Collaborations

One of the less commonly known facets of Pepper's many duties at Stark Industries is the occasional management of the Maria Stark Foundation. The vast majority of the time, the Foundation's staff take care of everything, but every once in a while Pepper has to step in, particularly when there's a potential new account to be handled. 
Pepper had been told to expect Zachary Evingston, and had of course asked JARVIS to give her a bit of an idea what to expect from the man. She got called away to deal with an incident in R&D mere minutes before Mr. Evingston was supposed to meet with her, so she's running late getting back. She HATES running late. She'd already asked security to see the man to her office, and was hurrying back there now, teal bag on her shoulder and tablet in hand.
Standing there dressed in a blazer and such, Zachary Evingston III, although generally known as Zack or Zachary Evingston is the one waiting for the woman in her office. The dark haired lad holds a tablet under one arm and adjusts his classes as he waits, pushing them back into place in a casual manner. The teen tries to look relaxed and confident and manages it fairly well. He doesn't look old enough for this sort of thing but then families of his nature do tend to start young with this kind of thing. College thing and just general good press.
Pepper Potts hurries into her office, tapping at her tablet's screen and not immediately looking up at the man waiting in her office, at least until she's already halfway to her desk. "Sorry I'm late, Mr. Evingston, I hope I haven't kept you waiting too l..." she stops abruptly as sees Zack there instead of the man about Tony's age that she had been expecting. Is this some kind of mistake?
"Good day Miss Potts. I am here representing my family's charity. It's a pleasure to meet you." Zack says as he steps towards the woman offering a hand politely, blue eyes focus on Pepper's eyes intently from behind his glasses. He's behaving very very politely and pretends to not notice the delay,"Just a small delay, one would expect it of you given your position. No doubt some sort of event of fair importance kept you occupied."
Pepper Potts blinks twice, and then she's recovered from her surprise. She shakes the young man's hand and offers him a smile. "Thank you for understanding, Mr. Evingston. So, I was asked to speak with you on behalf of the board of the Maria Stark Foundation regarding a collaborative effort. How may we be of assistance?"
"We're attempting to organizing another function and this time we would like to work with some of the bigger names here in the states to attempt to raise even more money. The museum exhibit brought a fair amount of capital that we were able to invest in cultivating a self defense budget for underprivileged children in the Gotham area, as a hope they will break free of the problems there. We've begun a similar program here. However, we're going to need a fair bit more money." The teen says as he shakes her hand firmly and smiles politely, if guarded. Zack's doing pretty well considering,"We'd like to work with the Maria Stark Foundation to organize the event and further use the money to reach out to people and try and improve the lives of the poor. We're thinking of building a complex that people could go. The money from the event would pay for costs."
Pepper Potts ahs and nods, settling into her chair at her desk as she gestures for Zack to sit in one of the guest chairs across from her. The bag gets set on the floor by her feet and the tablet -- with an image of Peppermint Patty on it -- gets set on the corner of her desk behind two exotic looking orchids. "I think that sounds like an excellent idea. Do you have any preliminary plans for when and where you'd like to hold this event?" One hand touches the computer screen on her desk and it lights up, along with a virtual keyboard set directly into the desk's glass top.
"The where is the big question. My family's home here is not quite setup for something big. The Museum is out of the question for this event. The last time we could correspond with the loaning of certain antiquities. We are not merely an antiquities family and if all of our events here had the same theme then it would be rather dull. The when is a bit easier. We were thinking of August 1." Zack says matter of factly, "We have a caterer setup to use for the event, we need merely arrange the date and location and they're more than happy to do it and their fees are quite reasonable. They did an excellent job screening and handling the wait staff as well as providing adequate food for the event." Blue eyes track everything she's doing,"The trick is figuring out whether it should have a theme for the guests or just organizing a massive event."
Pepper Potts hms, alternately tapping at the screen or the keyboard, clearly pulling up a calendar of sorts. "Well, depending on the scale of the event, we'll occasionally open the ballroom of the Stark Mansion for smaller gatherings. For a truly grand scale events recently, though, Tony arranged to have the Botanical Gardens given over for our use for a day. So really, we can cover just about any possibility you can think of. August is probably going to be a scorcher this year, so I'd suggest something indoors at least."
"Yes. Perhaps something that will invoke a coolness to detract from the heat." Zack says considering this,"Or embrace the heat and go with something tropical." He says casually as he closes his eyes,"I do want to thank you though. Most people when they take a meeting and I end up being the one, many are far less polite in their shock." He says, even as he pulls out the pad from under his arm and begins typing at it,"I'm not sure. The Botanical Gardens could be useful because of the variety of plants and such that exist but the Ballroom of the Stark Mansion no doubt has an elegance to it, although the idea of wearing a tuxedo in August is rather dreadful."
Pepper Potts smiles and almost, ALMOST chuckles aloud. "I wasn't really looking forward to wearing formal attire myself. So, let's put it down tentatively for a tropical theme or similar. And an outdoor venue? I'll have the scouts look for someplace that either has plenty of shade or where we can put up temporary pavilions." She's entering information as she's brainstorming, the computer feeding back results as fast as she types. "I apologize for my initial reaction. I was expecting... your father, I suppose. I have to admit, though, I don't know how well he and I would have collaborated on this, based on the rumor mill."
"My father is a very forceful personality. He expects nothing but the best from anyone he works with to be honest. Of course he'd have been very polite but there would still be the expectation that he'd be taking lead." Zack says shrugging a little bit,"And he's quite good. Not as good as mother, who probably would have used a very soft hand at manipulating things to getting done the exact manner than she decided it would be done."
Pepper nods at Zack's words. "I look forward to meeting them both, once we get this event planned out." She's careful to not mention that she probably would have as much trouble dealing with Mrs. Evingston's delicate manipulations as she would Mr. Evingston's forcefulness. "But what about you? How do you handle negotiations to make sure that you come out with everything you wanted from a collaboration like this one?"
"I acknowledge first that what I want is not as important as the end result. Second I set two goals for any dealings I enter into. The first is those that I really want and the second set is that which I would accept as a positive outcome." Zack says trying to explain it. "I am sure that any meeting will be quite... interesting." He says smiling a bit, although it's unclear how exactly he means that one.
Very similar to her own mindset when going into negotiations of any kind. Pepper nods to the young man, clearly impressed by his apparent maturity considering how young he looks. "I would have to agree with you, though I have to hope that any meetings would be interesting in a good way." She's had more than her fair share of unpleasant meetings this year already, and it's barely July.
Well when he needs to be, Zack can be quite mature. However, when he cuts loose well... he's still mature than some of the people that Pepper knows no doubt. "It can be." He says noncommittally as he looks at his pad,"So we'll have to figure out how many people we think we can get and the actual theme." He says as he shifts something off his screen.
Pepper Potts considers for a moment, then offers, "You know, it is going to be the height of summertime. What about making it a softball game? That might be different enough to garner interest, and will be in keeping with the reason for the fund-raising, I think." Her computer blips then, and a cultured-sound British male voice speaks up. "Miss Potts, your next appointment has arrived."
"It is possible. That would mark the end of the time that you have for me." Zack says catching the voice and reaching into his pocket and removing a small silver case and removes a business card,"This is the contact information for me as far as this goes. It is my second project and the first my parents are not looking over my shoulder during." He says pleasantly as he places the card on the desk and turns to leave.
Pepper Potts gets out a business card of her own to offer to Zack, standing to walk him to the door. "Well, then I very much look forward to making this event a rousing success. If I'm not back in touch with you personally, someone from our Foundation's event planning department will be for sure. All right? Thank you so much for stopping by."
Category:Log