Strietzel | Startup ProBono | The Pond Collection

Startup ProBono by Jonathan Strietzel – Let me start by saying that once in a great while, I come across something special.  This year I was introduced to the Pond Collection of cars and I instantly fell in love.

The Pond Collection | Setorii PondThe Pond Collection is the famous collection of Robert, Josie and last but not least, Setorii Pond, famous LA socialite, Couture Fashion Designer and renowned Car Collector.  In short, the collection was breathtaking and it needed a home on the web.  So, in a joint effort, Strietzel.Co and Pond Automotive joined forces and constructed   The Pond Collection which freezes this amazing car collection in time.  We started with a massive list of all of their elegant automobiles and our research and digging began.  We found ourselves digging up all of the purchase data from each of the cars in the collection in order to properly document each vehicle on the new website.  This was nothing short of a massive undertaking, with some vehicle files providing more than enough data on each car to certain files containing almost no relevant data other than things like purchase price, date and location.  Although tracking some of this info down was difficult, we managed to collect a ton of accurate data on each of these magnificent vehicles in record time.  Each car now has its own home on the newly constructed site.

 

1934 Packard

1934 Packard

The Pond Automotive team and I took a celebratory outing to the annual Palm Springs Film Festival Gala in one of the prize cars in the collection, the 1934 Packard to celebrate the website’s completion, courtesy of the wonderful Josie and Setorii Pond.  We pulled up to the red carpet in the most dazzling car of the evening.  The press instantly turned as we pulled up and the flashes started going off.  I was in amazement to turn back and look as the press line kept photographing the car as if it were the star of the event.

 

 

 

 

Setorii Pond | Dale Chihuly | Josie Pond

Setorii Pond | Dale Chihuly | Josie Pond

The hosts and guest of honor for the evening were Setorii Pond and Josie Pond along with Mr. Dale Chihuly.  Mr. Chihuly and his lovely wife Leslie have been dear friends of the Pond family for years and attend this annual event every year.  Pictured to the left is fashion designer and car collector Setorii Pond, World Renowned Artist Dale Chihuly and the beautiful and distinguished Josie Pond, our gracious host and sponsor for the evening.

 

 

 

Jonathan Strietzel | Dale Chihuly

Dale Chihuly | Jonathan Strietzel

One of the highlights of my night was hanging out with Mr. Chihuly during the Gala and after the Gala at the Parker Hotel.  I recall the first time I was introduced to Chihuly art was when I graced the lobby of the world famous Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas for the first time during its grand opening.  If anyone of you readers have even had the opportunity to grace the Bellagio lobby, you will see one of Mr. Chihuly’s master pieces on the ceiling in a dazzling display of color.

The Gala was a smash hit and it was the only way I could imagine celebrating the launch of The Pond Collection site.

The Pond Collection team has been a complete joy to work with and I intend to do so for many years to come.