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Event Coverage MOVIE AND TV PREMIERES This Is It Premiere Sprawls Over L.A. Live With Aerialists, LEDs, and Fans Galore CW Launches Melrose Place With Saturday-Night Street Party in the Shopping District Funny People Party Tops Parking Structure With Twinkling Trees and  Improv-Inspired DJ Booth Ugly Truth Premiere Relies on Feminine Wiles, With Dancers on Satin-Dressed Bed Glittery Tank Takes Brüno's Star to Arrivals—Obscuring Michael Jackson's Hollywood Boulevard Star Pelham Premiere Evokes New York Subway Station—Lit in Pink, With Cuddly Rats   PRODUCT LAUNCHES Tag Launches New Body Sprays With Logos and Girls Galore Allergan Launches Eyelash Enhancer Amid Brow Pluckers, On-Site Docs, and a Museum-Style Exhibit Reebok Launches New Exercise Concept With Flying Apparatus at L.A. Pop-Up   FUND-RAISING EVENTS American Food & Wine Fest Attracts Most Chefs Ever, Raises $1.3 Million Justice Ball Returns to Palladium With Wonderland Theme and Hookup Help From JDate With Fewer Guests, Food-Filled L.A. Zoo Fund-Raiser Beats Last Year's Take Petersen Automotive Museum Employs Heavy-Handed California Theme for Annual Gala Internships and a $270,000 Sports Car Contribute to Race to Erase MS Gala's $2 Million Take Science Center Ball Goes for "Cheap and Cheerful" Vegas Theme on a Budget   FASHION AND RETAIL EVENTS Gen Art's Fresh Faces Opens Inaugural Rock Fashion Week L.A. Walk of Style Awards Honor Princess Grace and Cartier With Rodeo Drive Ceremony, Beverly Wilshire After-Party Kenneth Cole Launch Takes to Sustainable Pre-Fab Home With Organic Bar, Plantable Invitations Gilt Groupe Launch Targets Interns, Assistants for Post Grad Screening Levi's Presents Free-to-Public Powersliding Championship With Two-Story Course For Barbie's 50th Anniversary, Mattel Makes Life-Size Malibu Dream House   MAGAZINE PARTIES Elle Fetes Hollywood Women With Intimate A-List Bash Awash in White Decor Rolling Stone Party Takes Over Andaz—Formerly a Rowdy Rock Hangout After Stint in New York, Us Weekly Returns "Hot Hollywood" Party to L.A. With Integrated Sponsors Spirit Awards' Pop-Up Sponsor Lounges Look Like Permanent Installations Amid Eco-Conscious Touches, Essence Award Luncheon Evokes Pre-Recession Opulence   COACHELLA\\\\\\\'S DESERT TAKEOVER Marketers Consider Coachella Too Important to Skip in Lean Times Signs of the Times: Coachella Returns With a Layaway Plan and an iPhone App   AWARD SEASON STANDOUTS Oscar Governors Ball Chooses Zen-Inspired Understatement Over Splashy Opulence Oscar Night Parties: Mercedes-Benz Grows, A.P.L.A. Shrinks, and Leeza Gibbons Joins the Fray Elton John's Recession-Appropriate Gala Still Glitters—and Offers Guests a Chance to Hit Vanity Fair, Too Performance-Packed Grammy Awards Adapt to Last-Minute Shuffle Recording Academy's Grammy After-Party for 6,000 Channels Woodstock Era Golden Globe Parties Return With (Most of) the Familiar Grandeur Economic Climate Tinges Golden Globes Suites—But Hardly Banishes Them     EVENT REPORT    11.05.09 2:17 PM With Help From Lexus, Cedars-Sinai Gala Breaks Fund-Raising Record Access Hollywood's Billy Bush hosting the Cedars-Sinai Board of Governors gala Photo: Getty Images 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. MORE >> RELATED TOPICS Cedars-Sinai, Justin Timberlake, Sam Nazarian, Lexus, Brian McKnight, Charice EVENT REPORT    11.03.09 10:43 AM Hello Kitty's Anniversary Pop-Up Takes Over Japanese-Inspired Royal/T Sanrio's Hello Kitty pop-up Photo: Lester Cohen/Getty Images for Sanrio Sanrio's cutesy Hello Kitty brand is celebrating its 35th anniversary. And for a pop-up sponsored by Target to honor the occasion, there was perhaps no better-suited venue choice in the land than Royal/T, a 10,000-square-foot art exhibition space, retail store, and Japanese-inspired café, itself bearing the same visual and thematic traits. Free and open to the public, the pop-up Hello Kitty-related art exhibit and Sanrio retail shop, known as "Three Apples," runs from October 23 through November 15. Sanrio's team unpacked and installed the exhibit, and Japan L.A. shop owner Jamie Rivadeneira curated the Hello Kitty artwork, which is for sale. Royal/T supplied the catering and service staffing for a private, invitation-only grand opening party on October 22 to kick it all off. MORE >> RELATED TOPICS Hello Kitty, Sanrio, Target, Pop-Ups, Sapporo EVENT REPORT    10.30.09 3:00 PM Gen Art's Fresh Faces Opens Inaugural Rock Fashion Week L.A. Gen Art's 12th annual Fresh Faces in Fashion event Photo: Tiffany Rose Thursday night marked Gen Art’s 12th annual Fresh Faces in Fashion Los Angeles show—and the first time the organization produced the event in the city since merging with Rock Media in September. Aside from its billing as the "official opening show" for the debut of the two-day program known as Rock Fashion Week L.A., Fresh Faces remained unchanged for the most part, even returning to the Petersen Automotive Museum for the third consecutive year, despite previous plans to take Rock Fashion Week L.A. to Paramount. “We definitely expected a lot more corporate sponsors—that definitely had a big impact,” said Gen Art C.E.O. Ian Gerard, referring to the venue change and truncation of Rock Fashion Week L.A. from four days to two. “I think bringing the shows to the Petersen and combining sponsors made a lot of sense in terms of where things are economically in October. A four-day show was just not economically viable.” MORE >> RELATED TOPICS Gen Art, Plastics Make it Possible, Rock Fashion Week, L.A. Fashion Week EVENT REPORT    10.30.09 9:42 AM Microsoft Introduces Windows 7 With Cute Kid, Product Vignettes TV commercial star Kylie introduced Microsoft C.E.O. Steve Ballmer at the Windows 7 launch. Photo: Richard Koek FROM NEW YORK Given Microsoft's enormous customer base—a January 2009 report put the technology giant's market share at 88 percent—when it launches a product, there's always a certain amount of buzz surrounding it. But rather than replicate the elaborate marketing stunt it produced for the debut of the Windows Vista operating system, Microsoft took a simpler approach to the press event introducing Windows 7. Inside Skylight Thursday, October 22, some 340 journalists, software testers, and executives from hardware manufacturing partners gathered for a six-hour launch that combined art gallery-style exhibits with live demonstrations and product vignettes. "We wanted to create an event that represented the product and be mindful of the current state of the economy and the broad consumer mindset. So we set a tone that was simple, approachable, and authentic while demonstrating the excitement we all feel for Windows 7," said Windows group marketing manager Ed Chase, who led the planning of the project. To pull it off, Chase collaborated with Pinnacle Exhibits and a crew of other local and West Coast companies. MORE >> RELATED TOPICS Microsoft, Windows, Dell, Samsung EVENT REPORT    10.28.09 12:50 PM This Is It Premiere Sprawls Over L.A. Live With Aerialists, LEDs, and Fans Galore The entrance to the tented after-party Photo:  Line 8 Photography In his life and death, Michael Jackson was a larger-than-life figure, surrounded by seemingly limitless pomp and glitter. Appropriately then, the premiere for the movie culled from his final rehearsal footage, Michael Jackson's This Is It, was an event that fit into the same category, and conjured its own mystique and energy in a bustling, fan-mobbed downtown Los Angeles Tuesday night. Columbia Tristar Marketing group senior vice president for special events Alison Bossert, along with executive director Mary Powell and manager Dori Golod, oversaw the event, with production by 15/40. "It was the premiere event of the season," Bossert said. The spectacle began with arrivals on the Nokia Plaza at L.A. Live. The atypical setup felt more like a stage than a standard arrivals line: Instead of the usual carpet, a red laquer dance floor lay underfoot, inset with video and lighting elements to evoke Jackson's iconic "Billie Jean" video. Dancers from the planned tour, known as the "Crystal Divas," performed an aerialist routine overhead in Swarovski crystal costumes and chandeliers. Glass cases displayed costumes from the intended tour, some unfinished. Video elements and LED screens surrounded the area, and a fan pit in the middle emanated energy. Craig Waldman of 15/40 described the scope of the arrivals scene as "like an awards show." About 200 photographers and 120 television crews lapped up the coverage. MORE >> RELATED TOPICS This Is It, Michael Jackson, Sony, Columbia Pictures, L.A. Live, Ultimat Vodka EVENT REPORT    10.28.09 9:52 AM Shriver's Women's Conference Adds Second Day of Programming—Plus a Step-and-Repeat—for 25,000 in Attendance Helen Devore Waukazoo on the podium with Maria Shriver at the Minerva Awards Photo: Gold/Wong It might be said that 2009 is a year that created a particular need for inspiration and community support—especially in a state like California, where budget shortfalls and the unemployment rate have become notorious. Either in spite of or because of that climate, California's first lady, Maria Shriver, and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's Women's Conference once again drew masses of women from all over the state to join a packed roster of about 70 high-level speakers and participants at the Long Beach Convention Center. This year, the program ballooned from a single day to two full days—to accommodate the increasing number of would-be attendees. (Each year, full-day passes to the conference sell out in record time. Tickets this year sold out in less than two hours, beating last year's record of three.) The first day's program, a Day of Transformation, served as somewhat more informal programming, with two 1,500-attendee sessions and six 400-person breakout sessions. "We were getting so much feedback from people who wanted to participate and have access," said executive producer Alexandra Gleysteen. "It's a way to get more hands-on information—how to get a new job, start a nonprofit—all in a spiritual context and a serene environment. It's on a different scale, more intimate, than the main program." MORE >> RELATED TOPICS The Women's Conference, Maria Shriver, Arnold Schwarzenegger EVENT REPORT    10.26.09 1:19 PM Volkswagen Party Launches Car and Its iPhone App Counterpart The 2010 GTI Photo:John Minchillo for BizBash 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. MORE >> RELATED TOPICS Volkswagen, Apple, Twitter EVENT REPORT    10.23.09 10:59 AM Walk of Style Awards Honor Princess Grace and Cartier With Rodeo Drive Ceremony, Beverly Wilshire After-Party The red carpet on Rodeo Drive Photo: Alex J. Berliner/Berliner Studio/BEImages Beverly Hills' storied shopping street, Rodeo Drive, conjures a certain image through its reputation worldwide. And the district's advocates attempt an annual event—the Walk of Style—that itself evokes the same air of status and luxury. To that end, on Thursday night, the city of Beverly Hills and the Rodeo Drive committee hosted the award ceremony honoring its 14th and 15th recipients, Cartier and the late Princess Grace of Monaco. The Donahue Group's Craig Donahue, who has produced the event since its inception in 2003, collaborated on the project with the Rodeo Drive merchants' event co-chairs, Peri Ellen Berne and Susan Moseley. The ceremony, which began with remarks from Beverly Hills mayor Nancy Krasne, took over the closed 200 block of Rodeo Drive. Demi Moore presented the award to Cartier, which Pierre Rainero, Cartier International's image, style, and heritage director, accepted on behalf of the jeweler. And Debra Messing presented the award for Princess Grace, which Prince Albert II of Monaco accepted on behalf of his late mother. A video reel showing the accomplishments of each honoree—feature film clips and philanthropic works for Princess Grace, assembled by Turner Classic Movies, and the equivalent of bauble porn for Cartier—preceded the presentation of each statue. MORE >> RELATED TOPICS Walk of Style, Cartier, Princess Grace Foundation, Prince of Albert II of Monaco Foundation, Rodeo Drive Committee EVENT REPORT    10.20.09 2:58 PM Elle Fetes Hollywood Women With Intimate A-List Bash Awash in White Decor The white palette in the ballroom for Elle's awards Photo: Line 8 Photography Every so often comes along an event with enough star wattage to nearly overcome the paparazzi waiting outside. Such was the case at Elle's Women in Hollywood awards on Monday night. A scant 220 guests came to the Four Seasons in Beverly Hills to join the program, and most of those were boldface names—including honorees Katie Holmes, Julianne Moore, Julie Andrews, and Renée Zellweger, and their presenters and industry friends. This year, a 60-foot-long carpet (versus 28 feet last year) helped keep the arrivals scene sane. The magazine's New York-based special events manager, Caitlin Weiskopf, oversaw the event, tapping Caravents to produce it for the first time. The look was nearly all white, in honor of sponsor Calvin Klein. In the entry area, an Elle-logo plexi wall stood in front of a Four Seasons' fountain, and a gallery of 18 framed images—celebrity beauty shots and imagery that spanned a century—from sponsor L'Oreal Paris lined the walkway. Baubles from sponsor David Yurman decked a display made from materials such as silver trays and mirror detailing, rather than a standard glass case. And at the end of the arrivals carpet, a representative from sponsor Moët encouraged arriving celebrities to sign an oversize bottle of bubbly, which would be  auctioned for the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund. As to the sponsors' integrations, they were "a little more modern, more clean, more integrated," than is typical, said Caravents' Cara Kleinhaut. MORE >> RELATED TOPICS Elle, Moët & Chandon, Calvin Klein, David Yurman, L'Oréal Paris, Alec Baldwin, Ovarian Cancer Research Fund EVENT REPORT    10.20.09 11:33 AM Simpsons Halloween-Carnival Party Shows Episode on 60-Foot Screen The Simpsons party at Barker Hangar Photo: André Maier Photography Now a two-decade-old brand, The Simpsons has had plenty of time to establish itself as a playful, even slightly subversive, household name. Apropos of the show's reputation, the party for The Simpsons 20th anniversary and "Treehouse of Horrors" Halloween episode took on the look and feel of a cartoonish carnival. Fox Broadcasting Company special events producer Bob Stillo oversaw the production of the event—all done with family-friendly touches and Halloween overtones—with production and design by Angel City Designs. The October 18 event for about 1,200 guests filled Barker Hangar with games like Twister played on a huge inflatable board, and bowling with a willing human strapped into a giant ball. Simpsons toys served as prizes for game winners. Guests could scoop up custom T-shirt designs from a silk-screening station by Hit & Run or pose for a photo op in front of a Simpsons step-and-repeat complete with a prop and accessory station. MORE >> RELATED TOPICS The Simpsons, Fox, Patron MORE NEWS Search for Suppliers Activities/Experiences Catering/Food Services Decor/Design/Flowers Entertainment Event Planning & Marketing/Meeting Planning/PR Event Production/Audiovisual Services Gifts/Premiums/Awards Industry Resources Invitations/Name Tags Photography/Videography Planning Tools/Software Rentals/Props Security/Fire Services/Insurance Signage/Banners/Printing Special Effects Staffing Trade Show Services Transportation/Parking Services Search for Venues By Type All Types Activity Venues Ballrooms (All Venues) Banquet Halls Bars/Clubs/Lounges Boats/Yachts Casinos Conference Centers, Convention Centers & Auditoriums Entertainment Venues/Performance Spaces Golf Courses/Clubs Hotels Independent Event Spaces Lofts/Photo Studios/Raw Spaces Mansions/Houses Movie Studios/Sound Stages Museums/Cultural Spaces Outdoor Spaces Private Clubs Quick Trips Religious Spaces Resorts Restaurants Retail Venues Spas/Relaxation Places Stadiums/Arenas Terraces/Roofs/Gardens (All Venues) By Neighborhood/Location All Neighborhoods Beach Areas (including LAX) Downtown/Eastside San Fernando Valley Southern California/Environs Westside Mid-City/Mid-Wilshire Orange County Other Areas Show Only New Venues RECENTLY VIEWED Stories SAG Awards' Picket-Free 75th Anniversary Gets Luxe Metallic Look Varvatos Benefit for Stuart House Brings Kids' Activities and Cheap Trick Inspired by Maya Lin Exhibit, Corcoran Ball Incorporates Eco-Friendly Elements A Big Ballroom in Brooklyn DuSable Museum Gets Holiday-Party Bailout From Kahlua Suppliers DJ Cassidy USA Printing Artech Hunter Exhibit Bee Graphics Annemarie's Feast Noah Bless Music V7 Entertainment Group A & J Security Event Show Productions AVSS Venues Pacific Edge Pearl Concert Theater Slate Exhibition Place Sharrott Winery Yankee Stadium Natural History Museum of Los Angeles Bar Americain Salon Daniel Spa South Street Seaport Museum MOST POPULAR STORIES 1. 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