John Stossel chats with a Florida Atlantic University student

The presentation was chaired by RLCers Philip Blumel and John Hallman, the Florida Director of FreedomWorks. The program was hosted by the non-partisan FreedomWorks.

Stossel delivered a no-holds-barred talk to students and locals at Florida Atlantic University. The talk followed the outline of his book Give Me a Break, which traced the evolution of his thinking from his early days as a consumer reporter in Portland, Oregon, to his current position as ABC News’ in-house contrarian. It was a receptive audience that gave Stossel an enthusiastic standing ovation. After the talk, Stossel signed copies of the book – now available in paperback – and chatted with attendees.

The event was attended by Sid Dinerstein, chair of the Republican Party of Palm Beach County and other local notables. RLC of Florida vice chair R.B. Lee of Orlando attended and distributed 300 flyers advertising upcoming South Florida RLC events.

The project was the idea of John Hallman, who contacted the Stossel organization and negotiated a reasonable speaking fee, most of which Stossel gave to an unspecified charity. Hallman and Blumel raised the money for the event in part through a series of “Stossel parties” at various locations around the county, including the home of Robert Fast in Fort Lauderdale.

Contributors of more than $200 were invited to a private reception with John and Ellen Stossel immediately prior to the event. As John Stossel has emerged as one of the most recognizable faces of the libertarian movement, the underwriting proved fairly easy – and Hallman had to close the reception off to new donors as the reception threatened to grow too large.

The event was promoted through announcements at local Republican (and Libertarian) Party clubs, flyer distribution, calendar listings in local media and a 2,500 post card mailing to RLC members and prospects in Palm Beach and Broward Counties. The local, state and national RLCs split the cost of the mailing.