| EVENT REPORT 09.15.09 12:13 PM |
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BlackBerry-Sponsored Reception for Oprah-Backed Film Precious Gets Black and White Decor, Logoed Lighting
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 | Logos and film footage projected onto the walls
Photo: Gary Beechey for BizBash |
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FROM TORONTO
BlackBerry and Lionsgate hosted a pre-screening reception attended by 300 guests—including Mariah Carey, Mary J. Blige, and Robert De Niro—for the film Precious at the Royal Ontario Museum Sunday. Executive producer Oprah Winfrey was scheduled to walk the carpet but failed to show for the event.
"The movie is a very gritty and inspiring drama and it takes place in a poverty-stricken landscape, but it's about the fact that no matter how bad your circumstances are, you can always rise above it," said Chris Benarroch, president of the Los Angeles-based Benarroch Productions, which planned the party. Benarroch said she selected the ROM for the reception because the exposed brick wall in the museum's Hyacinth Gloria Chen Crystal Court "looked like a scene from the movie ... this element seemed perfect."
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Toronto International Film Festival, Lionsgate, BlackBerry, Oprah Winfrey, Precious |
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| EVENT REPORT 10.31.08 6:43 PM |
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Santogold Performs Surprise Set at BlackBerry Bold's Interactive L.A. Launch
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 | Blackberry Bold's L.A. launch
Photo: Alen Lin for BizBash |
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New technology can be confounding even to the mechanically inclined, and nobody relishes a learning curve. To that end, BlackBerry launched its new Bold device in Los Angeles with a party intended to acquaint guests with the new product, rather than just send them home to decipher the manual without guidance. The party—a fete for 300 guests, including Eve, Eva Longoria Parker, Nicky Hilton, and Hayden Panettiere—came two days after a similar launch in New York, which summoned a more business-oriented crowd of high-level executives, the device's target demographic.
Although the New York launch was "a bit more architectural," and L.A.'s was "more chic and sophisticated," according to Harrison & Shriftman creative director Ryan Jordan, who produced the events with Sarah Bennison and Rosalynn Medaglia of Research In Motion, BlackBerry's parent company, both launches were "about spreading word of mouth through the power demographic," Jordan said. "It's an event, but we want the people to experience the brand new device there, leave with exclusive content, and create those connections with the brand. It's not just a party these days."
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BlackBerry, Research in Motion, Santogold, Budgets |
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| EVENT REPORT 10.23.08 4:06 PM |
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Us Weekly Brings "Hollywood" Party—and Its Decor—From L.A. to New York
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FROM NEW YORK
Us Weekly’s annual Hot Hollywood party, like so many Los Angeles events, has always revolved around the red carpet and the trendiest venue. But for the party’s 2008 move to New York, the magazine took a decidedly different approach. Producers trucked in most decor from the West Coast to create a sponsor-infused lounge at Skylight on Tuesday night for the crowd of 850—which included the casts of Gossip Girl and High School Musical 3.
Making it their third Hot Hollywood partnership, the magazine—under direction of Wenner Media senior event marketing manager Keira Ford—tapped Cara Kleinhaut and her team at
Caravents to facilitate the party’s migration. “Going into a blank-slate venue,” said Kleinhaut, “we could really customize to the sponsors and their signature look and feel. Rather than deal with existing furnishings and just throwing pillows on them, we got to build it from the ground up. It's really satisfying."
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Us Weekly, Hot Hollywood, Saturn, Ciroc, Neutrogena, Hershey, BlackBerry |
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| EVENT REPORT 10.16.08 12:32 PM |
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Fashion Week Sponsors Hawk Wares With Focus on Causes, Style
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 | The scene at Smashbox
Photo: BizBash |
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The five-day swirl of shows and parties that is Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in Los Angeles kicked off on Sunday at Smashbox Studios in Culver City. And although L.A. Fashion Week is in danger of phasing out in its current capacity if Smashbox co-owner Davis Factor cannot continue to generate the sponsorship dollars necessary to keep it going during the economic downturn, this season's sponsors are still working hard to impress showgoers at the tents. This time around, the bounty of product and service offerings is largely focused on environmental or philanthropic messages, plus—bien sur—stylish presentation.
Title sponsor Mercedes-Benz brought three of its cars to the tent lobby, including a new clean-diesel BlueTEC SUV, next to which a techy touchscreen display allowed guests to visualize their dream cars by personalizing the available options. A hedgerow backed the vehicle. The brand also brought the GLK, which appeared in Sex and the City: The Movie and will be available for sale in January. A film loop showing behind the car showed it traveling through photogenic Southern California locations. Key to the Cure logos and signage surrounded a third car, an example of the vehicle one woman drove across the country to promote breast cancer awareness. "The cars represent talking points, which speak to causes and show our philanthropic side," said Mercedes' western regional PR manager, Larkin Hill. "Stylish people who set the trends [are] our target audience, and we want to show them we have a conscience."
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Fashion Week, Mercedes-Benz, Key to the Cure, American Express, Rose's, Ultra HD, Flor de Caña, Domino Magazine, BlackBerry, T-Mobile, Sponsorships |
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| EVENT REPORT 10.13.08 6:15 PM |
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Gen Art Turns to Artists to Highlight Event Sponsors
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 | The runway for Gen Art's fashion shows
Photo: Tiffany Rose |
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Gen Art’s Fashionably Natural and Fresh Faces runway shows last Thursday and Friday at the Petersen Automotive Museum focused on showcasing the collections of up-and-coming fashion designers. But for the arts and entertainment organization’s senior vice president of events, Elizabeth Shaffer, the task of presenting event sponsors in interesting and captivating ways was equally important.
“My job is about coming up with brand activations and figuring out ways to convey messages,” Shaffer said. “I worked closely with corporate sponsors to showcase brands in nontraditional ways, and in ways that didn’t make guests feel like they’re being over-marketed.”
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Gen Art, T-Mobile, BlackBerry, Soyjoy |
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| EVENT REPORT 02.04.08 12:15 PM |
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BlackBerry's Pink Pearl Launch Woos the Ladies
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 | The scene at BlackBerry's Pink Pearl launch
Photo: Red Dawn Media |
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BlackBerry's new pink Pearl is most recognizably different from past PDA models for its pearlescent, girly hue. So naturally the L.A. launch party on Thursday night (and a New York version that preceded it on Tuesday) was dominated by the color pink. The invited guests, a celebrity-driven female crowd named as "sophisticated ladies" on their invitations, were asked to show up with a "best girlfriend" as a guest in tow. Still, a significant number of men—including Jeremy Piven and Nick Cannon—made it down (or past) the pink carpet, which was flanked by oversize pink lamps.
The party took over the A+D Museum, directly across from Lacma's new BCAM wing, which will launch with a much-anticipated gala of its own on Saturday.
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BlackBerry, Research in Motion |
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