| EVENT REPORT 11.05.09 5:17 PM |
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With Help From Lexus, Cedars-Sinai Gala Breaks Fund-Raising Record
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 | Access Hollywood's Billy Bush hosting the Cedars-Sinai Board of Governors gala
Photo: Getty Images |
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It might have been an unlikely year for it, but Cedars-Sinai Medical Center's board of governors gala vastly surpassed its past fund-raising success. The gala on Wednesday night at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza raised more than $2.6 million for the Board of Governors Heart Stem Cell Center through event revenue like sponsorships and ticket sales (which began at $500 for individual tickets, or $2,500 for packages). The Cedars events team, led by senior event specialist Stacy Seligman Kravitz and senior event coordinator Ken Hudson, oversaw the production, and the honorees were Justin Timberlake; SBE head Sam Nazarian and his father, Younes, and brother, David; and financier Larry Post and his wife, Sandy.
Access Hollywood’s Billy Bush hosted the program, which included cocktails and a silent auction followed by dinner and the entertainment. R&B artist Brian McKnight and up-and-comer Charice performed for the crowd, which included Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Ben Silverman, and Andy Garcia.
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Cedars-Sinai, Justin Timberlake, Sam Nazarian, Lexus, Brian McKnight, Charice |
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| TED KRUCKEL 06.19.09 11:21 AM |
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The U.S. Open Is All About Getting Close to Tiger, and the Sponsors
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 | It's a breathtaking view from the first tee at Bethpage State Park, once you get there.
Photo: David Cannon/Getty Images |
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FROM NEW YORK
It’s just like standing in the square at St. Peter’s. He’s far away, but unmistakable. There’s his little hat. Everyone is oohing and aahing. And taking cell phone pictures, which is so against the rules. While some may think it sacrilege to compare the Pope to Tiger Woods, for this lifelong, reluctant attendee to both houses of worship, it is exactly the same thing.
Everyone is quiet. Well, quiet except that they’re whispering all the time, always whispering the same things. Here are the top ten musings that everyone is murmuring at the 109th U.S. Open, held at Bethpage State Park on Long Island.
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U.S. Open, United States Golf Association, American Express, Lexus, Tiger Woods, Real Housewives of New York City |
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| EVENT REPORT 03.09.09 1:55 PM |
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Science Center Ball Goes for "Cheap and Cheerful" Vegas Theme on a Budget
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 | The Discovery Ball
Photo: Nadine Froger Photography |
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The California Science Center's Discovery Ball is always tied thematically to an exhibit at the museum. This year the museum's vice president of food and event services, Chris Sion, exploited the "C.S.I.: The Experience" exhibit to the max, with an all-out Las Vegas forensics theme, while paying attention to the most minute details—all on a significantly reduced budget.
"We crack ourselves up—I'm not kidding. Sometimes we just come up with things and do them for our own amusement," Sion said, referring to some subtle touches such as coupons for free shrimp cocktail handed out at the entrance—mimicking those guests receive upon check in at a casino hotel—even though all food and drink at the party was free to ticket holders. Another: the imitation Zyzzyx highway sign set up at the entrance to the parking lot, simulating the one drivers see en route from Los Angeles to Las Vegas. Other subtle touches included a bellman with a luggage cart at the entry and invitations mocked up to look like crime scene investigation files, including tiny baggies filled with paillettes and feathers to introduce the fictitious case of a murdered showgirl that carried through the party on event night. Guests could visit stations to learn about forensics processes while trying to solve the mysterious demise of the girl, whose body they saw at the party's entrance. (Well, not really.)
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Budgets, Lexus |
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| EVENT REPORT 02.20.09 12:24 PM |
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Amid Eco-Conscious Touches, Essence Award Luncheon Evokes Pre-Recession Opulence
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One thing Essence magazine would have been wise to provide at its second annual Black Women in Hollywood award luncheon, at the Beverly Hills Hotel on Thursday, was stockpiles of tissues—as presenters and award winners like Halle Berry, Taraji P. Henson, and Diahann Carroll brought the room to tears on at least a half dozen occasions through deeply emotional speeches and remarks.
Apart from that, organizers behind the magazine's Oscar-week event seemed to cover all the details, creating a glittery look—including platinum carpeting, a tufted stage set in ivory dupioni, lush white blooms of ivory garden roses and hydrangea spilling from cut crystal bowls on tabletops, and napkins festooned with rhinestone buckles—that evoked pre-recession opulence.
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Award Season, Oscars, Essence Magazine, Lexus, MasterCard, Moët & Chandon, Coty |
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| NEWS 02.18.09 11:17 AM |
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Oscar Week: Vanity Fair's Back, Mercedes Moves to Montage, Governors Ball Tones Down, Suites Abound
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 | The 2008 Governors Ball
Photo: Nadine Froger Photography |
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The catastrophic state of the economy hardly bears repeating here—except to say that it hasn't done much to diminish the sheer number of Academy Awards-related event offerings on this week's calendar, even if it has affected those events' budgets. From an array of suites to Vanity Fair's apparently triumphant return, many guests' dance cards—even in this recession—are completely full.
The plethora of gift and hospitality suites around town include GBK’s “Circus of the Senses” at the SLS Hotel on Friday and Saturday. The event will give 20 percent of its proceeds to four charitable organizations. Melanie Segal’s “Be the Change” Oscar lounge, presented by Sensé Beautiful Science, will take to the Pali House on Thursday and Friday. Silver Spoon’s suite today and tomorrow benefiting the Chrysalis organization offers spa treatments, caviar tasting, and gifts. Stuart Weitzman's Oscar styling suite kicked off yesterday at the London West Hollywood hotel, and runs through Saturday with beauty treatments and a chance to peek at the shoe designer's 2009 red-carpet collection.
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Oscars, Award Season, Vanity Fair, Elton John AIDS Foundation, Gift Suites, Chrysalis, 95.3 the Beat, Brandaid, Sense Beautiful Science, Tag the World, Essence Magazine, Stuart Weitzman, Governors Ball, W.W.E., Global Green, Lexus, Mercedes-Benz, U.S.-Ireland Alliance, Montblanc, Unicef, The Hollywood Reporter, Billboard, Children Uniting Nations, Dior, BMW, Chopard, VH1, AIDS Project Los Angeles |
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| EVENT REPORT 12.04.08 11:14 AM |
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Cedars-Sinai Board of Governors Gala Exceeds Fund-Raising Goal With $1.2 Million Take
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 | The Cedars-Sinai gala
Photo: Thomas Neerken |
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About 850 guests convened at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Tuesday night for the Cedars-Sinai Board of Governors gala, which resulted in big dollars raised even in the face of the tough economic climate. “We’re looking to net $1 million,” said Cedars-Sinai's Laura Fuhrman before the event. But the final tally reflected even more: The event raised more than $1.2 million for the new Board of Governors Heart Stem Cell Center at Cedars-Sinai.
Larry King hosted the gala, which honored John Bendheim and Ryan Seacrest for their philanthropic efforts on behalf of the hospital; celebrity friends including Priscilla Presley and the Kardashians presented awards. Lexus sponsored the event, and a model of the new Lexus hybrid vehicle stood in the ballroom as decor that doubled as a raffle prize awarded during dinner.
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Cedars-Sinai, Ryan Seacrest, Lionel Richie, David Archuleta, Lexus |
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| EVENT REPORT 11.17.08 3:12 PM |
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Environmental Media Awards Use Biodiesel Generators and Lots of Green Gifts From Sponsors
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Like the cause it trumpets, the Environmental Media Awards ceremony seems to grow in size and stature with each passing year. And between Thursday's 18th annual awards presentation, produced by Scott Mauro Entertainment, and the after-party attended by 1,000 guests, a dozen restaurant stations, and 14 sponsor product booths, this is an event with a lot of moving parts.
The team charged with the tricky task of pulling it together at Ebell of Los Angeles this year consisted of the Environmental Media Association's president, Debbie Levin, and its director of public relations and special events, Lisa Barnet, as well as Danielle Condon of Benarroch Productions. As guests emerged from the Wilshire Ebell Theatre, where entertainment-industry folk and corporate supporters were honored for spreading the environmental message, they were directed to the sprawling adjacent complex, where they found a crisply organized array of stations offering green products as well as organic edibles and potables.
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Environmental Media Awards, Environmental Media Association, Going Green, Lexus, Tiffany & Company, Toyota |
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| NEWS 02.22.08 3:14 PM |
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Oscar Event Update: What's Really On (It's a Lot)
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 | Silver Spoon's suite at the Kress
Photo: BizBash |
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You may have heard something about the matter of a certain labor dispute that was threatening Oscar events in Los Angeles. With some hugely significant exceptions, though—Vanity Fair's A-list-only bash, plus Ed Limato's pre-awards soiree, and some less heady others—many of the major events around town are going on as planned now that the strike has ended. Here's the rundown.
Silver Spoon is putting on a two-day gift suite, which began yesterday, at the strikingly revamped historic venue the Kress. Entertainment Fusion Group is handling PR. Guests traveling to the suite along Hollywood Boulevard from the west have to detour around the Oscar red-carpet setup, already being placed in front of the Kodak a few blocks away.
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Oscars, Award Season, Writers' Strike, Elton John AIDS Foundation, AIDS Project Los Angeles, Diamond Information Center, Night of 100 Stars, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Gift Suites, Motion Picture & Television Fund, WGA Strike Fund, Billboard, Children Uniting Nations, Variety, Lexus, Essence Magazine, Target, AOL, Night Before |
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| COAST TO COAST 02.13.07 12:00 AM |
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Lexus Joins the Art World
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 | For its four-city mobile exhibition, Lexus had product specialists on hand to give guided tours of the car.
Photo: Dan Maddox |
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FROM NEW YORK
This winter, Lexus opted to promote its latest high-tech gem by replacing the car-dealership look and feel with the 460 Degrees gallery, a traveling exhibit of giant art installations that hit Los Angeles, New York, Miami, and Chicago over five months. Aiming to attract an affluent and chic demographic—specifically a younger set that may be more in tune with, say, BMW, Mercedes, or Audi—Lexus aligned itself with cutting-edge contemporary artists to procure pieces for the “light and speed”-theme gallery.
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Lexus |
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