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FROM NEW YORK Early in his remarks at the Moth Ball, host Garrison Keillor told the guests that he had recently suffered a stroke. The room fell quiet. He went on to say that his was a mild stroke, “the best kind to have.” Then he admitted that telling New Yorkers about it had a surprise benefit. “In the world of New York City conversationalists, it’s like having a handicapped parking permit.” Rather than being interrupted within 10 seconds, as is our city’s norm, he said, leading with the stroke news gave him a “fighting chance” to last, say, “20 to 30 seconds.”
It was his way of congratulating the 12-year-old organization on its surprising success in the city that “doesn’t sleep and certainly doesn’t listen.” The Moth is a not-for-profit group that holds story “slams” for anyone with a story to tell, now also in three other cities (Los Angeles, Chicago, and Detroit). People line up around the corner, sometimes waiting for an hour to pay and listen to (mostly) amateur storytellers. Hundreds of people at dozens and dozens of events, each with a different one-word theme—who knew?
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The premiere for The Twilight Saga: New Moon in Westwood Photo: Line 8 Photography
FROM LOS ANGELES Westwood, being a college town, is accustomed to groups of young people roaming about—but Monday night was no ordinary night in the village. The young people were out, for sure, but many weren't yet old enough to drive, and they were pressed behind barricades on closed streets for the premiere of Summit Entertainment's new installment of the Twilight series, New Moon.
Summit's Eric Kops oversaw the hotly anticipated event, tapping ELS for big-time tasks like crowd control and security, and Chad Hudson Events for roles including theater management and R.S.V.P.s, plus production of the after-party at the Hammer Museum.
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Adler Planetarium's Celestial Ball Photo: Eddie Quinones for BizBash
On Saturday night, costumed astronauts lined the steps of the Adler Planetarium, ready to welcome some 600 guests to the women's board's Celestial Ball. Event chair Lisa Lewis worked with co-chairs Laura Myntti and Kimberly Rachal to plan this year's benefit, which had a "Cosmic Fusion" theme that played out in Ronsley Special Events' decor and Food for Thought's internationally inflected menu.
In the musem's glass-enclosed Sky Pavilion—which hosted the cocktail reception, live and silent auctions, and after-dinner dancing—Moroccan lanterns topped highboy tables and illuminated lounge areas filled with colorful furniture that Ronsley designed for the ball. Food for Thought staffers circulated with an array of appetizers that included Bengali roasted chestnut soup and Moroccan-style strudel stuffed with braised duck. Beside the planetarium's prop sun, a bartender dressed as Galileo doled out flutes of champagne and served as a cheeky nod to the 400th anniversary of the astromer's first use of the telescope.
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Holiday parties are about to kick into full swing, and according to our latest poll, they shouldn't be too over the top. Half of the participants in last week's survey think that informal nights out at bars or restaurants feel appropriate this year. Only 13 percent of readers think that full, catered affairs are in order, but even fewer—8 percent—think festivities should be kept inside the office. Still, another 29 percent feel that parties should be judged on a case by case basis, by the performance of the company.
This week we'd like to see what kind of entertainment you've booked recently. What did you do the last time you needed cocktail party music? Let us know by partipating in the poll on the left column of the home page.
Pets Are Worth Saving's Fur Ball Photo: Gretchen Kelley for BizBash
On Friday night, more than 600 guests gathered at the Drake Hotel for the Fur Ball. Hosted by Pets Are Worth Saving, the benefit is billed as the city's only pet-friendly black-tie function, which proved an irresistible selling point for some dog lovers with deep pockets. "This is one of the only events I buy tickets for anymore," said one attendee, nodding at his rhinestone-collared companion. "It's the only ball I can bring her to."
With tickets priced at $400 per guest and $100 per animal, the event had amenities that catered to both its two-legged and four-legged attendees. At the entrance, photographers clustered around a red carpet with a step-and-repeat backdrop, snapping photos of donors with their pets. In the hotel's French and Walton rooms, where the cocktail reception and silent auction took place, servers circulated with avocado egg rolls and mushroom phyllo purses while volunteers bustled about with silver water bowls, which they placed near the bars in each room. In the French room, Kehoe's lounge setups featured sleek sofas and bright orange floor pillows, and animal communicator Alicia Halloran conducted one-on-one consultations with pets and their owners.
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Leo Burnett's employee art gallery Photo: Courtesy of Leo Burnett
In a year of cutbacks and salary freezes, perhaps now more than ever, hard-working employees need to feel valued, even in small ways. Jennifer Savica, TD Bank’s vice president of event management, rewards her staff with little perks throughout the year, like taking everyone out for ice cream in the summer, treating people to their favorite drinks at Starbucks on a cold day, and occasionally allowing casual Fridays. “I try to show appreciation for my team every day by creating a true democracy—asking their opinions, including them in many of the department decisions, and empowering them to do their job,” she says.
Boston Beer Company has a gift policy that prevents employees from keeping items valued over $10 given to them by clients and event sponsors. “If someone gets something over that amount, we raffle it off to the office as a thank you,” says Kristen Smith, the company’s travel and event planner. Past items have included tickets to charity events the company has sponsored, movie screenings, and Red Sox tickets. “It’s nice to raffle these things off and make them available to anyone—and at no cost to the company,” says Smith.
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Stephanie Wohlner Design's table at Diffa's Dining by Design benefit Photo: Barry Brecheisen for BizBash
At this year's Dining by Design benefit at the Merchandise Mart, Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS presented 42 professionally decorated dining environments. Along with the animal-inspired decor and dark, moody hues that we mentioned in our full report on the fund-raiser, the dining environments displayed a few other notable design trends. Here's a look at tables with outdoorsy settings, homey decor, and Asian details.
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Event Creative's video lounge Photo: David Wittig & Nancy Beale
Event Creative's new video lounge creates a sleek, branded environment for events. The company hangs plexiglass panels from a truss structure that can be adapted to suit a venue's scale. The plexiglass surfaces serve as a canvas for projections of images made by the company to depict anything from new products to a corporate logo or photos of employees. Additional plexiglass walls can be added to partially enclose a space or form a lounge area, which Event Creative can fill with loveseats, benches, ottomans, and customized pillows. Event Creative can also provide atmospheric lighting and stock images of waving grass, fire, or waves, and the setup can incorporate fabric panels or decorative elements such as hanging chains or strands of sequins. Pricing for the lounge begins at $5,000, and the company prefers a three- to four-week lead time. —Jenny Berg
A table designed by Mario Pinto with Scott Heuvelhorst Interiors Photo: Barry Brecheisen for BizBash
"This looks like a serial killer's home. There should be conspiracy theories written on the wall," said one guest at Thursday night's Cocktails by Design event, which served as a kickoff for a three-day Dining by Design benefit hosted by Design Industries Foundations Fighting AIDS. The event filled the eighth floor of the Merchandise Mart with 42 dining environments decorated by design-industry professionals ranging from painters to architects to fashion designer Maria Pinto. With so many creative professionals behind the tables, the environments ranged from a wooden box tacked with newspaper clippings and bathed in an eerie blue light—which inspired the serial-killer comment—to a cozy gazebo setting filled with fairy lights and plush Ralph Lauren pillows.
Though there were tables that defied categorization, some dining environments illustrated popular design trends; one theme was "dark and sexy atmospheres, which we're seeing everywhere this year," said Diffa's director of special events, Peggy Bellar. At an installation from Interior Investments by Gensler, black moving blankets hung behind a table surrounded with dark leather chairs; a chandelier made of painted black cardboard crowned the scene. Hermes glasses in deep purple hues spruced up place settings at a table that Herman Miller by Richard Bliss and Solomon Cordwell Bunez designed; and lacy black napkins dotted the table that Maria Pinto decorated with Scott A. Heuvelhorst Interiors. Artist Francine Turk's design also created a dark, moody ambience with black chalkboard walls, charcoal sketches of crows, and framed paintings of gold Gothic crosses.
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A display vehicle at Jaguar's cocktail reception Photo: Mireya Acierto for BizBash
On Thursday night, Jaguar invited 200 existing and potential customers to a preview event for its 2010 XJ model at the Chicago Illuminating Company. At the raw venue, chefs prepared snacks at sleek, illuminated food stations. In one corner, DJ Michael Smith, whom Jaguar flew in from Los Angeles for the occasion, played modern remixes of classic songs such as "Stop in the Name of Love" and "Son of a Preacher Man." In another corner, Food for Thought staffers presided over a design-your-own doughnut bar, where a couple of silver-haired guests displayed childlike enthusiasm for decorating their treats with colored sprinkles and chocolate swirls.
The scene underscored the brand's vision for the event, which was meant to "convey modern luxury and target our new customer, who is all about balancing work and play," said Stephanie Dauble, national events manager for Jaguar cars. With the launch of the 2010 Jaguar XJ, "we're revealing our new design DNA," she said. "So in the past we've held events at more traditional venues, like country clubs." But to launch this model, "we sought out spaces with clean lines and a modern feel."
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