Dream Town Realty to Announce Chicago Photo Contest Winners at Awards Benefit

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Dream Town Realty will announce the winners of its "Chicago in Focus" photo contest at a special event on Thursday, August 5th to benefit local charity, La Casa Norte. Selected photos from the competition will be featured in a picture book published by Dream Town later this year.

Chicago IL, July 2010 – Dream Town Realty, a leader in Chicago's online real estate industry, will hold a special Awards Benefit this Thursday at Vertigo Sky Lounge to announce the winners of its "Chicago in Focus" photography competition. Funds raised from the event will benefit La Casa Norte, an organization that assists the local homeless, abandoned and at-risk population in Chicago's Humboldt Park Community.

Winners of Dream Town's "Chicago in Focus" contest will be announced and presented cash prizes at the charity event, which will showcase all finalist and honorable mention entries. The Awards Reception is set to take place at Vertigo Sky Lounge, located on the 26th floor of Dana Hotel and Spa (2 West Erie St.) from 5 – 7pm on Thursday, August 5th. Guests are invited to enjoy cocktails, celebrate with contest winners and preview photos to be published by Dream Town later this year in a full-color coffee table book about life in Chicago.

"This event celebrates two great causes — a local charity that helps the homeless and a publication that shows Chicago through the eyes of its people," said President of Dream Town Realty Yuval Degani. "Each one of these images reflects someone's personal experience in this city. We're delighted so many people wanted to share their experiences through this project."

Dream Town received over 3,200 submissions to the "Chicago in Focus" photo competition (www.DreamTown.com/contest). Seven finalists and dozens of honorable mentions were selected by a panel of celebrity judges that includes Chicago broadcasting legend, Merri Dee; NBC News photojournalist, Casey Mitchell; and professional photographer, Daniel Peter. Selected photographs will be featured in a 64-page picture book Dream Town plans to publish this fall. All finalists and runners-up picked by the judges will receive photo credit in the book and a complimentary copy.

At the Awards Benefit, the first-place winner will receive $2,500; 2 second-place winners will receive $500 each; and 4 third-place winners will receive $250 each. The first-place photo will also be used as the cover of Dream Town's upcoming coffee table book, named "Chicago in Focus."

"We were thoroughly impressed with the caliber of photography and individual takes on Chicago life expressed through the contest entries," Mr. Degani said. "It was our goal to give Chicagoans a platform to showoff their viewpoint of Chicago and the results are a tremendous success."

A suggested $10 donation benefits La Casa Norte, an organization that assists the local homeless (www.lacasanorte.org). Each donation receives 2 drink tickets for the event's signature "Chicago In Focus-tini". The Vertigo Sky Lounge is a trendy open-air bar positioned on the top floor of Dana Hotel in Chicago's River North neighborhood. Guests enjoy plush décor and spectacular views of the city through floor-to-ceiling windows. The lounge extends outdoors to a spacious roof deck with its own full-service bar and even more stunning vistas of Chicago's breathtaking skyline.

Other celebrity judges that assisted with photo selection for "Chicago in Focus" are NWI Times columnist and author, Phillip Potempa; and Telemundo News anchor, Tsi-tsi-ki Felix.

About Dream Town Realty
Dream Town is largely recognized as the leader in online Chicago real estate. Its top-ranked website (www.DreamTown.com) receives tens of thousands of unique visitors weekly and offers the most advanced Internet home search available to Chicago buyers today. The company has developed proprietary technology and applications to improve online house hunting and increase web exposure for listings. Dream Town Realty provides residential buyer and seller services, as well as commercial, international and REO sales divisions. The company also has a luxury homes sector and a new home construction and renovation branch called Dream Town Builders and Remodeling.