Today marks the first day of TV Upfront Week, and though NBC is still having some sort of affair in its traditional Monday slot, it does not include any kind of pomp and circumstance. The network announced its schedule last month at an “in front” where programming chief and co-chairman of entertainment Ben Silverman addressed small groups of advertisers and press in a 30 Rock conference room and over the phone.
The network claims that this decision is a response to the evolving TV landscape, but many think there are other forces at work. Most assume it’s a budgetary concern for the fourth-place network, and Lisa de Moraes at The Washington Post suggests that the decision may be the result of NBC Universal’s reservations that Silverman, a notorious loose cannon, might not fare well speaking before an auditorium full of thousands.
READ MORE RELATED TOPICSUpfront Week,
Upfronts,
NBC
Waiters from Great Performances Photo: Elizabeth Lippman
An event could have exquisite flowers, food prepared by a world-famous chef, and Oscar-presenter-worthy gift bags, but if a check-in person is less than friendly or the caterwaiters are standing around chatting, that’s what guests will remember. So how do you make sure service is up to par when there are so many people performing so many different tasks?
Gregory Boroff, senior vice president of external relations for the Food Bank for New York City, says a thorough interview process for volunteers is a big part of how the nonprofit keeps its quality of service (and proceeds from events) high. “We don’t send out mass emails asking who would like to volunteer for an event. Everyone is hand-picked. When people say they want to volunteer, we meet them first to see if it’s a good fit between the person and the organization,” he says. “We make sure they are friendly, that they understand what our organization is about and what we try to accomplish. Are they are there to help [us], or to further a personal agenda?” While many volunteers want to work the celebrity-studded Can-Do Awards dinner, Boroff says those jobs are often reserved for people who have proven themselves in other positions, like working in the office, or at another event.
READ MORE RELATED TOPICSFood Bank for New York City,
Grammys,
Luminato
A rendering of Nobu Hotel and Residences Rendering: Courtesy of Nobu Hotel and Residences
Yet another downtown development was announced today—the Nobu Hospitality Group (that would be the company formed by the partners of Nobu restaurants) and real estate development, investment, and management firm Swig Equities are planning to construct a hotel and residential property. In the financial district, at 45 Broad Street, Nobu Hotel and Residences will be a 65-story building with 128 guest rooms, 77 luxury condos, and, of course, a Nobu restaurant.
Also in the plans for the project are 13,000 square feet of retail space on the ground and second floors as well as a 13,000-square-foot health club and spa with an indoor swimming pool and outdoor terrace. Executing the design for the interior is David Rockwell and the Rockwell Group, which is also responsible for the designs of Nobu and Nobu 57; architectural firm Moed de Armas & Shannon will handle the design of the all-glass exterior.
Currently, Nobu Hotel and Residences is projected to be complete by 2010. —Anna Sekula
FROM CHICAGO On Wednesday, a face-painted man wearing a pink shirt and toting a green water gun wove his way through the stylish crowd assembled at the River East Art Center for Gen Art and Nokia's Art in Motion event. The colorful guest was part of one of three films that were shot on site, as emerging filmmakers commissioned by Gen Art made short movies using Nokia's N95 8GB device.
The moviemaking was only one of the ideas that Gen Art Chicago's regional event director, Laura Lachman, cooked up for the event, which was intended to showcase the cutting-edge capabilities of Nokia's N95 and N810 devices.
Guests had the option of ordering drinks the old-fashioned way (by bellying up to the bar) or by taking a more technological route: Nokia reps standing at three highboys held N810 Internet tablets that they used to type in guests' drink requests. The orders went electronically to a computer behind the bar, and a server brought the drink orders to the tables within a matter of minutes.
READ MORE RELATED TOPICSGen Art,
Nokia
An array of Fabulous Stationery's offerings Photo: Courtesy of Fabulous Stationery
For stylish thank-you notes or invites on a budget, Fabulous Stationery has a wide range of cards that can be personalized. The Philadelphia-based company, owned by three advertising-agency veterans, offers more than 300 designs, including Pop Art prints, masculine stripes, and organic shapes. For bulk orders of 10 or more sets of 25 cards and envelopes, the designers can tailor both the text and the look of the cards and add a company logo. Corporate clients include Marie Claire and the Hyatt Regency Boston. Individual sets range from $35 to $55; bulk orders receive 15 percent off. The company ships worldwide. —Lisa Cericola
The upfronts are proving to be a hotter topic than usual this year, though most of the attention is focused on the presentations’ departure from tradition and not the content they plan to unveil. As we reported last week, there just aren’t as many pilots to announce in the wake of the writers strike.
The New York Times Magazinewent so far as to call the upfront concept “kind of dumb” this past Sunday. Columnist Virginia Heffernan wrote, “They are overblown tributes to a bygone style of salesmanship, and from the point of view of advertisers, they are almost pointless.... Today, when media buyers can screen shows online and study a network’s demographics and ad platforms, the upfronts function chiefly as an ostentatious corporate week on the town.” Networks might be noticing this themselves, because this year’s schedule is even more pared down than previously expected. Here's a rundown of the week.
Monday, May 12: “The NBC Universal Experience,” which is rumored to be anything from a quiet branding initiative to an actual carnival, finally reveals itself at 30 Rockefeller Center throughout the afternoon. A limited number of media buyers are invited to the presentations that will take place in small groups and not one large event. A reception at Rockefeller Plaza’s Rink Bar will follow.
READ MORE RELATED TOPICSUpfronts,
Upfront Week,
ABC,
CBS,
NBC,
Fox,
The CW,
NBC Universal,
MTV Networks
FROM LOS ANGELES Maxim is announcing its "Hot 100" party with invitations that appeal to the bicoastal set. Arriving this week, lenticular cards show a dramatic photograph of the Empire State Building when viewed from one angle and a very L.A. scene of a palm tree against a blue sky when viewed from another. The text reads, "Maxim brings the Big Apple to L.A. with a little Hollywood magic."
The party, which has been in New York in the recent past, will take over the New York street at Paramount Studios on May 21, with music by DJ Vice. David Rodgers is producing in association with Fingerprint Communications. The magazine group created the invitation in-house. —Alesandra Dubin
The dinner area of the Downtown Dinner Photo: Alison Whittington for BizBash
Avant-garde installations capturing the structure and color of New York City decorated the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council’s fourth annual Downtown Dinner last night. Some 650 art patrons filled the 52nd floor of 7 World Trade Center, where the bird’s-eye view of the city accentuated the Manhattan-inspired exhibits.
A former participant in the council's residency program, McKendree Key, created a hanging grid made of yellow mason twine that covered the expanse of the dining area. The display played on the city’s symmetrical design, with horizontal strings spaced five feet apart met by intersecting vertical lines. Adjacent to this, Katie Holten, another program alum, showcased “Old News,” a composition of papier-mâché tree trunks seemingly rooted in the floor’s concrete, reminiscent of city sidewalks. And across the room stood current resident Mary Mattingly’s “Kart,” a winged bicycle stacked with an endless stream of packages that literally hit the ceiling.
The nonprofit's director of development, Elaine Bowen, and its marketing and communications manager, Savannah Gorton, combed through dozens of artists’ portfolios before the three artists were chosen. And inspired by the color palette of yellow and gray in the invitation for the event, the team looked to work it into the decor. Bowen hired producer Bruce Rayvid of Bruce Rayvid Projects—who suggested playing up McKendree’s piece with an overall theme of connectivity—to execute the vision with help from designer Susan Holland.
READ MORE RELATED TOPICSLower Manhattan Cultural Council
Food was the focus at the Bronx Museum. Photo: Joe Fornabaio for BizBash
Patrons, artists, and art lovers gathered at the Bronx Museum of the Arts on the Grand Concourse on Tuesday night for its 2008 spring benefit and silent auction, “A Bronx Feast.” The museum treated the 350 guests with a cocktail reception, free tours from teen docents, live jazz, a dinner highlighting Bronx cuisine, and an award ceremony recognizing four prominent local artists.
The night began in the museum's north wing, with plates of assorted Bronx treats like chicken dumplings and beef empanadas and an open bar with wine and mixed drinks, but guests gravitated toward the Kettle One martini bar at the center of the room, where the bartender combined drink mixing with performance.
Kettle One contracted the Canadian-based Iceculture to create an ice sculpture with two large Kettle One bottle carvings, each with a hollow spiral that started at the bottle’s opened cap and went down to a small opening at the base. Vodka and different juices met at the summit of the seven-foot sculpture, twisted down, chilling and mixing, and finally siphoned into a waiting martini glass. The line was 10 deep for most of the cocktail hour.
READ MORE RELATED TOPICSBronx Museum of the Arts
The rooftop space at the Empire Hotel Photo: Courtesy of the Empire Hotel
With summer just around the corner, it's time to start looking into outdoor spaces for events and entertaining.
1. Highbar, the indoor-outdoor lounge from Greg Brier (owner of Aspen and Amalia) is set to open in a couple of weeks. Designed specifically for events, the rooftop space in Times Square will have an advanced sound system, a DJ booth, and technology that will allow companies to brand the space with logos and video. Highbar will hold 200 outside, with room for 75 in the adjacent indoor lounge.
2. The Peninsula's popular bar and terrace got a makeover and will reopen in mid-May as Salon de Ning. Housed on the 23rd floor of the Midtown hotel, this bar and lounge will feature a mix of decor—like Chinese daybeds, Moroccan lanterns, and Venetian mirrors—inspired by a Shanghainese socialite. With indoor and outdoor space, Salon de Ning is open year-round; it holds 250.
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