| EVENT REPORT 10.26.09 4:19 PM |
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Volkswagen Party Launches Car and Its iPhone App Counterpart
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FROM NEW YORK
More than 100 members of the gaming and automotive press made their way to the mouth of the Holland Tunnel last Wednesday, where Volkswagen launched both a tangible and video game version of its latest GTI model at the Classic Car Club. To cater to the tech savvy crowd, Volkswagen brought in G4TV's Olivia Munn to host, built several gaming stations, and filled the room with suggestions to guests to post comments about the party to Twitter.
As of the morning after the party, the 2010 GTI became the first vehicle launch on Apple's app store—with a role in a free version of the popular Firemint Real Racing game—so the mobile application was woven into the fabric of the party almost as much as the car itself.
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RELATED TOPICS
Volkswagen, Apple, Twitter |
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| NEWS 10.15.09 3:25 PM |
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Yelp to Use Scavenger Hunts, Photo Booths to Connect Volunteers With Local Charities
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Tonight Yelp.com will host its first "Yelp.Community: Causes for a Party" event. Set to occupy the downtown location of Pazzo's restaurant, the gathering will let potential volunteers browse booths devoted to 35 area charities, and "is something Yelp has never done before," said Colleen Curtis, the Web site's head of Midwest marketing and community management. "With this event, we were looking to do something that will let us really get involved with the nonprofit sector of the community, especially now that the economy's taken a downturn and our readers are looking to volunteer for causes and do other things that won't cost them any money."
At the after-work event, which Curtis expects will draw about 700 guests, reps from each charity will be on hand to recruit volunteers. "Each nonprofit's challenge," said Curtis, "was to set up a really dymanic booth that would get guests' attention." One organization, GiveForward.Org—a Web site that connects philantropists with causes—will distribute scavenger-hunt maps. "People stop by Give Forward's booth to get the map, then they have to bop around to all the other charities and find clues at the various booths," Curtis explained. "It will encourage guests to really check out all the nonprofits on site." Other booths will offer T-shirt giveaways, presentations on flat-screen TVs, and slide shows.
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Yelp, Twitter, Facebook, Give Forward |
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| NEWS 09.28.09 8:00 AM |
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Poll Results: Congratulations, You're Quite Busy
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Event professionals we spoke with recently agreed that business is up this fall, but what about the rest of our readers? A poll reveals that most participants agree. Almost half of those who contributed described themselves as "very busy," and another 8 percent might even be too busy. Almost 30 percent say business is picking up, and a scant 13 percent are still twiddling their thumbs from nine to five.
Our next poll, which you'll find on the left column of the home page, asks how you're using Twitter.
RELATED TOPICS
Twitter |
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| EVENT INTELLIGENCE 09.15.09 1:21 PM |
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Event Security: The Twitter Effect
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 | The Black Eyed Peas at a tweeted party
Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images |
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Texting, blogging, and online social networking have already made it a breeze for guests to send out tips to their friends and readers on scoring access to private parties. Now, with the increasing popularity of Twitter, the volume of recipients is growing exponentially and the details are leaking in real time. Crashers, gawkers, and paparazzi have instant access to more information than they’ve ever had before—on an easy-to-search platform—and security professionals and planners agree that 140 characters are more than enough to cause some trouble.
Barry Meyerson, president of Manhattan-based security firm Meyerson Associates Inc., first noticed Twitter’s impact during New York Fashion Week in September 2008. As celebrities and partygoers shared details online, queues outside venues got longer, and throngs of paparazzi seemed thicker.
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Twitter, Security, Secuity Leaks, Black Eyed Peas, Fashion Week |
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| EVENT REPORT 08.17.09 6:14 PM |
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Share Our Strength Raises Funds With Steak and Eggs, Pie on a Stick
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 | Desserts at Taste of the Nation
Photo: Eric Craig for BizBash |
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On Thursday night, volunteer servers circulated in the Ravenswood Billboard Factory, offering guests at Share Our Strength's Taste of the Nation benefit plated snacks that ranged from sushi rolls to gourmet steak and eggs. "I'm too full, I've tasted everything," one partygoer protested before calling his server back. "Wait," he said. "Is that pork?"
According to Anna Batcke, field manager at Share Our Strength, the nonprofit organization dedicated to preventing childhood hunger, the fund-raiser's menu had much to do with its success in drawing approximately 600 guests. "Facebook and Twitter were remarkable in driving ticket sales," she said last week. Of the more than 40 local chefs and mixologists who whipped up savory snacks, desserts, or drinks for the walk-around tasting, Batcke said: "so many of them tweeted about what they were going to prepare, it drove a ton of traffic."
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Share our Strength, Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises, Facebook, Twitter |
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| NEWS 08.12.09 11:41 AM |
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In the News: Low-Key Event Sponsorships Thrive, Victoria's Secret Show Returns to New York
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Corporate Sponsors Take Subtle Approach: Sponsorships are still present at major events, but some companies are going to extreme lengths to ensure people don't notice. Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, and Morgan Stanley, for example, all had a presence at the 2009 U.S. Open golf tournament, but instead of branding tables, shirts, and tents with their logos, each of the banks slipped by under the radar. The banks paid $750,000 between them just on tables at a hospitality center off the 18th green, but declined any sort of signage. Many professionals suggest that this is indicative of the new importance of perception over actual spending. [NYT]
Victoria's Secret Show Heads Back East: After three years in other markets, the annual Victoria's Secret fashion show will return to New York this fall. No official date or venue have been selected, but the event is typically held in November and its most recent New York show was at the 69th Regiment Armory. The event will once again be broadcast several weeks later on CBS. [NYM]
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Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, Victoria’s Secret, Twitter, Facebook |
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| NEWS 06.30.09 4:54 PM |
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BET Awards' Hastily Planned Jackson Tribute Yields Ratings Triumph
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FROM LOS ANGELES
After Michael Jackson died suddenly on Thursday afternoon, BET worked fast to transform its already-scheduled awards on Sunday at the Shrine Auditorium into a tribute to the pop star. And, in addition to being what some would consider an appropriate format change for a show celebrating black entertainment, the modified broadcast was also a boon for the network: It was the top-watched cable telecast this year and BET's biggest audience ever, according to a press release from the network.
The live broadcast, hosted by Jamie Foxx, drew 10.65 million viewers. About 10 percent of televisions that were on during the broadcast period were tuned to the awards program, uncommonly high for a cable network, according to Nielsen Media Research findings cited in The Los Angeles Times.
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BET Awards, BET, Michael Jackson, Jamie Foxx, Twitter |
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| NEWS 05.27.09 3:13 PM |
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In the News: Another Blow to Vegas Conventions, Event Planners Find Use for Twitter
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Attendance and Spirits Down at Vegas Gathering: The International Council of Shopping Centers’ Global Retail Real Estate Convention returned to Las Vegas last week for its annual three-day run, only this year attendance was down a whopping 50 percent, a far cry from the record-breaking crowd of 50,000 last year. Booths were empty, temperatures were sweltering, and spirits of those who did make it out suffered due to the lack of parties. One broker interviewed even said he could hear the buzzing of fluorescent lights on the still convention center floor. [NYO]
Burberry Kicks Off U.S. Push With Party: British clothier Burberry officially launches its New York headquarters tomorrow with a marketing push that includes the lighting of a 50-foot-long Burberry logo on its new Madison Avenue office and a celebrity-filled party for 300 at the neighboring Palace Hotel. Burberry hopes the stunts, new office, and plans for expanded retail presence will help it crack the North American market. [WWD]
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Burberry, Twitter, Tinker, Monster.com, Job Fairs |
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| Q & A 04.20.09 1:22 PM |
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The National Restaurant Association's Mary Pat Heftman Works to Keep a 90-Year-Old Trade Show Fresh
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 | Mary Pat Heftman
Photo: Courtesy of Mary Pat Heftman |
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As executive vice president of the convention of the National Restaurant Association, Mary Pat Heftman is responsible for the planning, production, and promotion of the annual Restaurant, Hotel-Motel show. Considered to be the largest gathering of restaurant and hospitality professionals in the world, the 90-year-old event typically draws around 70,000 visitors.
This year, the show will occupy Chicago’s McCormick Place from May 16 to 19, offering booths from nearly 2,000 food-service related companies and a wide-reaching schedule of seminars, celebrity chef appearances, networking events, and education sessions. As she puts the finishing touches on this year's production, Heftman spoke with us about the lasting relevance of face-to-face interaction, working with international partners, and how exhibitors can make the most of their marketing dollars.
How are you preparing for the possibility of reduced attendance this year?
We’re still in the midst of registration, and traditionally it’s heaviest within the last month, so it’s too early to say [if we'll see a decline.] But we have a history of being successful through all kinds of economic environments, and we feel we have just as much buzz as ever this year.
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National Restaurant Association, Twitter, YouTube, Facebook |
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