All In For Fox Cable’s Flannery

Will Flannery was an avid poker player; so in the months since the Fox Cable Networks exec died suddenly in September 2009, at 38, his pals figured a poker game would be a good way to raise money for Flannery’s daughters’ college fund.

But over a couple of lunches Flannery’s last two bosses, Fox Networks President of Affiliate Sales and Marketing Mike Hopkins and DirecTV Executive VP of Entertainment Eric Shanks, along with Fox Soccer Channel Exec VP/GM David Nathanson, realized that Flannery’s fan club extended beyond the Texas Hold ‘Em crowd.

So the execs formed an organizing committee along with four other friends of Flannery and are mounting a broader fundraising event in Los Angeles on May 10, the eve of NCTA’s Cable Show.

Within days of sending an Evite late last month to the “Will Flannery Casino Night,” some 150 attendees had already RSVP’d. Hopkins tells B&C he’s hoping for 300 guests but that they can accommodate twice that. “He had a lot of friends in the industry all over the country. We looked at the calendar, NCTA stood out and the stars aligned,” Hopkins says. “It will be fun–not a memorial, just a party in his name. Will would have gone to this.”

For info on tax-deductible admission, corporate sponsorship and donations, go to www.
flannerycasinonight.com.