The Future Forward's Top 10 To Watch in 2011

As we celebrate the new year we decided to create a countdown, recognizing people we should look out in 2011. These individuals have been extremely recognizable in 2010. Because of their amazing success stories we can't wait to what they are going to bring to the table this year.

Here is The Future Forward's Top 10 to Watch in 2011.

Sizzle 2010 Recap Videos

So If you missed Sizzle Miami 2010 you can get the recap right here from all your favorite bloggers... And of course you will love them!!!

3LWTV



The Skorpion Show



ACONNECTION TV

Get Ready to SIZZLE

Dwight Powell is doing it again! This week he presents once again the hottest circuit party in the country. This year he adds different events and draws a host of sponsors that keeps Sizzle fresh and Sizzle attendees anticipating and returning year after year. This year attendees will party from sun up to sun down beginning Thursday, May 27th until Tuesday, June 1st. Some of the new events added this year include the “Hyatt Live” where bloggers and vloggers Skorpion and Makael of The Skorpion Show, Lonnel of 3LWTV, Newnue of YoBoiNewNue.com, London of ISoLoveLondon, Tron of WhatsTheT.com, and myself Dwight Allen O'Neal will take over the Sizzle village inside the Hyatt for a live broadcast where visitors will interact with all the bloggers on a custom built Sizzle platform. The event is free and will add an extra enhancement to the Sizzle Village where Sizzlers gather to see and be seen while enjoing great music, taking in great food and drinks, and being apart of the coolest and hippest crowd. At SIZZLE LIVE comedians Leslie Jone aka Big Les and the hilarious Luenell will be in the building causing you to die of laughter. The event will be hosted by New York’s own Harmonica Sunbeam.

The Annual White Party which is being held at the host hotel Hyatt on Sunday evening and the infamous Booze Cruise are two popular events that are returning and of course the Booze Cruise is already sold out!

Each year the nightly parties at Sizzle grow larger and larger with it’s maximum club attendance over 6000 at it’s signature Sunday night event at Club Space. This year Sizzle has once again secured some of the top and world renowned nightclubs in Miami including the 42,000 sq. foot Karu n Y Nightclub, a venue that Sizzle has been trying to nab for the past 5 years, Mekka Miami formerly Metropolis (a 5 clubs in 1 venue), and The Ice Palace which will be host to a new event Dwight Powell is incorporating called “JUBILEE”. According to SizzleMiami.com, the event will be dazzled with glitter, glam, and breathtaking entertainment including showgirls donned in elaborate custom made costumes, gorgeous male trapeze acts, and aerial silk performance. Dwight Powell calls it one of Sizzle’s biggest challenges to date production wise. Two of Sizzlers favorites nightspots still remain, the infamous Space nightclub on Sunday night where Sizzlers party until 10 in the morning on the rooftop and Gloria Estefan’s Bongos Nightclub on Monday night with an all male revue.



Another popular event that returns is the Sizzle Luah which is on Saturday at the Hyatt Regency pier which over looks the Miami River. This year, Zerrick from Model City will be hosting the Luah along with authentic Hawaii drummers and fire dancers, a swimwear fashion show starring Sizzle Miami 2010 model Jared and the Men of Sizzle, as well as a hot body contest, great food, drinks, and music along with the liveliest crowd

For more information on Sizzle Miami and the festivities log on to www.sizzlemiami.com and for more details on all of the daytime and nightly events log on to www.sizzleevents.com.

Photographed for SIZZLE

Miami is a coastal city in southeastern Florida and is the seventh-largest metro area in the United States with over 5.4 million residents. In 2008, Miami was ranked as "America's Cleanest City" according to Forbes Magazine for its year-round good air quality, vast green spaces, clean drinking water, clean streets and city-wide recycling programs. In 2008, Miami was also ranked the 3rd-richest city in the United States and the world's 22nd-richest city in a UBS study.

On May 27 – June 1, 2010, Memorial Day Weekend, join me as I produce Dating Dwight from Miami for the 2010 Sizzle Miami Party. Miami is one of great world capitals for gay circuit parties, with a steady roster of parties held throughout the year. One event that's been gaining rapidly in popularity each year is Sizzle Miami, a five-day event held over Memorial Day Weekend and catering to gay men of color. Since 2002, Sizzle Miami includes dozens of wild parties - its success has led promoters to bill it "America's most celebrated and anticipated black gay event." I had the wonderful opportunity to sit down with Jerry Boles and chat with one of the power houses who assists in presenting this event and who is the infamous photographer known for capturing the faces of the beautiful Sizzle Models and many other works of art that you have probably seen far and wide. We begin discussing his own photography business and finished off with the latest Sizzle Miami dish.

1. What made you decide to explore photography? Photography manifests from my former days in the modeling, beauty and fashion industry. After serving my time on the stage and in several movies, and even running my own Modeling Production House back in Chicago, I needed something that was more challenging. I have always enjoyed photography, especially high fashion photography. Some years ago I met a photographer by name of Antonella Pizzoli who was from Rome, Italy. She allowed me to sit in on photo sessions and ask questions while also learning how to work the camera. Although, she gave me the initial start, there are so many other photographers that have offered me advice, techniques and some times trade secrets.

2. What direction is photography going in the future? Is it influencing your work? I don’t think you can put a trend on photography. There are many trends in “post production” as it relates to Photo-Shop and creating what we call digital formatting in post production from a graphic artist point view. Photography is like DNA. You find some variance in each photograph from each photographer photographing the same subject.

3. What has been one of your most memorable photography experiences? That is a hard question because every photo-session is unique at that moment. Memorable to me is the stories behind the photo sessions. Some of the people I have photographed are not models but may have been through something in their lives. Being able to photograph those individuals and capture the beauty of their souls is very powerful

4. What publications have you shot for? My work has appeared in magazines, newspapers, billboards around the World. I couldn’t begin to name the numerous of publications where Jerry Boles Photography was featured in. I do owe a lot of gratitude to Dwight Powell former CEO of CLIK Magazine as it is one of the many magazines where you would see Jerry Boles Photography almost in every issue.

5. What photographer’s work do you get inspiration from? Wow…I look at many photographers work almost every day and all of them inspire me some sort of crazy way. However, there are people in my early days that “WOW” me with their work, Victor Skrebneski Photography (Lord & Taylor) Bob Frame (Marshall Fields Department Stores Chicago) Francesso Scavullo (For Cosmopolitan Magazine and who have also shot Elizabeth Taylor, and Grace Kelly), Antonella Pizolli (the lady that inspired me to take on this photography). To me these photographers were my first inspiration into the industry and I would gaze at their work for hours at time.

6. Do you do all the photography for Sizzle Miami? 99% of all the photographs for Sizzle Miami since 2005 were from my camera lenses and that includes the Sizzle Models.

7. How do you select the face of the Sizzle Miami campaigns? Selecting the faces to represent Sizzle Miami is a challenging process, especially with the Male aspect. We try to find someone during the Sizzle Miami Week, which would best represent Sizzle for the following year. Representing Sizzle Miami is position we feel, requires Professionalism, Great Attitude, Mannerism and the look of a Professional Model.

8. What other role(s) do you play with Sizzle Miami? I have had the opportunity to incorporate some of my other skills within the Sizzle Miami Family. I bring 15 years in Catering, Event Planning and Productions with 5 years in Special Security Details and Body Guard Services. Those combined experiences allow me to serve in many capacities before, during and after Sizzle.

9. What is one of the largest challenges you face in preparing for Sizzle Miami? The challenge we face every year for Sizzle is making sure our guests have a great experience. That is our number one concern.

10. What are some exciting things that you are working on for Sizzle Miami in 2010? This year we added the Bloggers Café and I think this is so unique because it resembled the Oscars or an event where you have the news reporters interviewing the guests as they arrive and during a big event. It is going be interesting to see and hear what our Guest’s expectations, and their experiences about Sizzle Miami. It is also going to be interesting to hear the Blogger’s perspectives in their experiences as well. The White Party has grown over the year and it is certainly an event that our guests are excited to attend. We meet with the hotel to select a great menu, and exciting entertainment. The Booze Cruise is another event that we started small in the beginning but have grown to a bigger and memorable event during the Sizzle Miami Week. I must stress to our new guests and even many regulars who have not participated, in getting their tickets for the Booze Cruise. Last year we secured two large boats that had three levels and it explored the waters off the coast of Miami. The Sizzle Her for the Ladies and the Sizzle Him for the Men and I tell you the kids got their life. All I can tell you is that you had to be there to experience it.

11. What would be the wisest investment for a sizzler to purchase for Memorial Day weekend? The wise investment is to secure your room and airline ticket if you flying or reserve your car if you are driving and not wait on your “FRIENDS” who promised they are going to Sizzle, but for some unfortunate reason(s) your ‘friend(s) had to change his plans. I hear this very often from people who were set to come but “something came up” with another one of their friends that ruined their chances to be in Miami.

12.Is Sizzle Miami all work for the crew? Or do you all get the chance to play too? Dwight Powell, the CEO of Sizzle Miami, is the first to tell you that we are not there to enjoy Sizzle as if it was vacation time, we are there to make sure our GUESTS have a SAFE, Exciting and wonderful experience. We put in lots of hours during that week and our staff works tirelessly to make sure every event is 110% to our expectations. So, there is no room for play, we are serious about fun and we serious about are guests enjoying just that “FUN.”

Does It Take a Whole Gay Village to Raise Our Own Youth

It takes a whole village to raise a child is an old African Proverb that I would love to see reflected upon all youth. Growing up in Little Rock, Arkansas I was perceived as a young heterosexual man for my entire time living there and it was a lie that I was living, I had known since I was a little boy that I was different and that I felt an attraction toward other boys; however I did not want to be rejected from the village that I was being raised in. In our society we actually teach our children that it is not okay to be different without even realizing it, youth everyday are denying who they are just to fit in. Where is the village that is there to raise our young LGBT youth, since they are being forced out of this other village that society has created?

Earlier this year I heard two horrifying stories about two little boys who took their own lives because their classmates where bullying them because they thought they were gay and I was deeply hurt, because I felt like I was letting down my own. Although I did not personally know either one of these children I saw so much of a young Dwight in them and that was a connection I could not let go of. As I sat on my couch watching Oprah the tears began to run down my face and I revisited the memories I had of children teasing me and the many prayers that I sent up to God asking him to make me normal, this village that I was being raised in had brainwashed me into thinking that there was something wrong with me and that I would go to Hell for me being the way that I am. In my adult life I want to be that support system that teaches youth through my example that it is okay for you to be different, it is okay that you may not want to play sports with the other boys or with baby dolls with the other girls, God created each of us all differently.

As a young person it is very important to see role models that you admire, so that they can aspire to be great, it was not to long ago that some of the first black shows reached television and people of color old and young were very excited to see themselves on TV. One show in particular that comes to mind was The Cosby Show that showcased a very successful African American family that reflected the African American community positively, as a young black boy that meant a lot to me and I wanted to be just as successful; however I began to get sad as I struggled with my sexuality and had no one to see in a positive light to help me with those difficult feelings, questions, or curiosities. This is why I have put so much effort in my own work, such as my series targeted at young LGBT Christopher Street (which has been tagged as a gay 90210), my reality dating show Dating Dwight (which shows that gay men do more than just have sex), and my blog Dishin’ It with Dwight (which highlights different topics from entertainment, fashion, and self empowerment topics) powered by The Future Forward.net. I have put so much effort in all of these works to create positive images of gay men of color, so our youth can see themselves in the media doing great things. I want to be their gay Michael Jordan, Madonna, or Beyonce’ I want gay youth of all colors to look at me and say if Dwight Allen O’Neal can do it, so can I.

The catch phrase for my series Christopher Street is “How many people does it take to hold a street together.” By saying that we are recreating the old African Proverb and urging the LGBT community to come together and mold our youth, because our mainstream community many times fail them and if they do fail them we should be there to help our own and offer them love, support, and most importantly acceptance.

Sizzle Miami 2010

Miami is a coastal city in southeastern Florida and is the seventh-largest metro area in the United States with over 5.4 million residents. In 2008, Miami was ranked as "America's Cleanest City" according to Forbes Magazine for its year-round good air quality, vast green spaces, clean drinking water, clean streets and city-wide recycling programs. In 2008, Miami was also ranked the 3rd-richest city in the United States and the world's 22nd-richest city in a UBS study.

On May 27 – June 1, 2010, Memorial Day Weekend, meet The Future in Miami for the 2010 Sizzle Miami Party. Miami is one of great world capitals for gay circuit parties, with a steady roster of parties held throughout the year. One event that's been gaining rapidly in popularity each year is Sizzle Miami, a five-day event held over Memorial Day Weekend and catering to gay men of color. Since 2002, Sizzle Miami includes dozens of wild parties - its success has led promoters to bill it "America's most celebrated and anticipated black gay event." With all that success, Sizzle adds the concurrent women's circuit event, Sizzle Her, developed in 2007 and now takes place during four days over Memorial Day Weekend. Like Sizzle Miami, Sizzle Her is geared toward lesbians of color, although everybody - regardless of race - is welcome to attend either event. Sizzle and Sizzle Her parties both take place in downtown Miami throughout the same weekend, but all of the parties are held at different venues.

Launched today, Sizzle Miami revealed their 2010 COVER Model!!!! Get your rooms early; this is not an event to miss!!! Sizzle is rated the HOTTEST Circuit Party of its kind... Be sure to check out the WEBSITE AND THE NEW VIDEO!!!

www.sizzlemiami.com