It's Velvet time again - the annual fundrasier for Rippleffect. And if I were forced to quote 'Heathers' in my effort to describe the event, I'd say, "It's only, like, the social event of the season."

This is Velvet's 10th year - and is sure to be a reinvention.

I've been lucky enough to attend the last two Velvets at Portland Company on India Street. Sure, it was a sparse warehouse space, but organizers and volunteers always did a bang-up job transforming the place.

The room would soon fill with swanky people-about-town, dressed to the nines and tossing money to the cause. Of course, the leaky roof and porta-potties were always a treat, too. But hey, it was part of the experience.

This year, the Portland Expo will witness the transforrming effects of the Velvet crew. Yes, it will look stellar. No, it won't look like the gymnasium you rocked out in during your senior prom.

I volunteered yesterday to help with some of the set up. Four of us tackled some monster backdrops that will stand tall along the walls.

They look cool, but after wrestling four of them over the course of an hour or two I have to admit I'm still holding a slight grudge against them. (Why do you have to be so difficult, backdrops?!?)

The folks from Moonlighting were busy setting up an intricate lighting system.

And of course, what would Velvet be without the piles of incredible auction items. I got to peek at some of the goods and had to step away from the table to stop myself from man-handling everything.

There was still much going on when I left, but you could already see how the place was going to come together.

Tonight will surely be talked-about experience. If you don't have tickets already, GET THEM.

Tickets and more info are available on the Velvet web site.

And if you don't want to take my word for it, check out some pics from last year. Good-looking group of folks, ain't they?