| LOCATION SCOUT 11.03.09 11:32 AM |
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10 New Venues for New York Holiday Parties
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 | Carnival
Photo: Courtesy of Strike Holdings |
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Based on our recent readers poll, it looks like holiday parties are back in season after disappearing in 2008. However, like many events since the downturn, these end-of-year festivities may be on the thrifty side, so here are some places that won't require too many extra bells and whistles.
1. Bowlmor Lanes recently gave its former pool hall a makeover, and now the 16,000-square-foot spot near Union Square is home to Carnival, a circus- and carnival-style venue. Complete with Coney Island-style amusements and live circus performers, the nightclub sits under a big top and offers a full catering menu to match its theatrical motif. For guests less likely to partake in the dunk tank and other wacky activities, there's a lounge off the gaming floor and billiard tables. Carnival holds as many as 500.
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Corporate Holiday Parties |
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| THE SCOUT 11.02.09 9:00 AM |
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50 Budget-Friendly Ideas for Holiday Parties: Food, Gifts, Decor, and More
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 | MoMA's pop-up centerpiece
Photo: Courtesy of MoMA Design Store |
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1-3. Skip cupcakes for a fresh, high-quality sheet cake. Bleeding Heart Bakery in Chicago makes spice cake with apples, brown sugar frosting, and streusel; a half-sheet for $130 feeds 45. Mäni’s Bakery in Los Angeles makes an organic carrot-raisin cake, which costs $160 for a half-sheet and serves 65. Miami’s Yummy Cakes and More can make its chocolate explosion cake, with a half-sheet (enough for 65 guests) starting at $65.
4. A low-tech, high-impact way to serve shots is to create your own ice shooters with Pure Modern's Cool Shooter shot mold, available for $12.95 each.
5-6. Forgo the frat-party look and stash cold drinks in a stylish ice tub, like one from Broadway Party Rentals in New York, which rents for $30 and up. Or, to dress up a plain bin and keep things cool, Classic Party Rentals provides the 6 Velon chilling wrap (prices vary).
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Corporate Holiday Parties, iStar Financial, Paul Wilmot Communications, The Economist |
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| NEWS 10.26.09 1:33 PM |
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Poll Results: Fewer Scrooges for 2009 Holiday Party Season
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Last December, canceled holiday parties were a popular industry conversation topic, but 2009 looks like it might be a bit more festive than 2008—at least according to participants in last week's poll. Almost half of our polled readers said that they're already working on a holiday party, and an additional quarter of them reported planning a low-key affair in the office. Another 17 percent say that the final decision hasn't been made, and just 11 percent of polled planners have had to cancel their fetes.
Since we're already thinking ahead, what do your event budgets look like for 2010? Let us know what you've heard by partipatipating in this week's poll, which is in the left column of the home page.
RELATED TOPICS
Corporate Holiday Parties |
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| TED KRUCKEL 12.18.08 11:47 AM |
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Since the Grinch Stole Christmas Parties, I Went in Search of Secret Santas
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 | Remember Christmas?
Photo: Jason Kempin/Getty Images |
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There are so many things to be mad at these days, but I hate to run with the crowd, so I have decided to focus my enmity on Lydia Hearst. She’s a big-haired model, and up until recently, a Page Six magazine columnist. That résumé bullet disappeared due to an item in her last column that basically said “shame on you” to Hearst magazines for “partying through the recession.” Then she said she didn’t write that, so Page Six printed her email showing she kind of did. (Apparently her literary skills, journalism pedigree regardless, were slight.) Then she complained about her employer (never wise) and, one way or another, she’s out of a job.
I didn’t need Page Six to tell me she couldn’t write; her musings, even assisted, were proof she can’t really think. I loved her column. But for some reason the swipe at her family’s company—she spelled out the link in case we couldn’t make the connection—got under my skin. First of all, I’m on the party beat, and I haven’t been blown away by the largesse of recent Hearst blowouts.
Secondly, who is this independently wealthy yet paid-to-party girl telling people not to throw them? The ire boiled hotter when I happened to notice that George Gurley, New York Observer writer and unapologetic party-goer (though he does often convey guilt), described a night of unusually debased debauchery—ending at 10:30 the next morning—that included a 6 a.m. phone call with Lydia Hearst inviting him to fly out to California for her birthday party. Now, I don’t think she was making calls to invitees before her morning jog, do you?
In fact, I’d argue that it’s people like her, materially unaffected by the economy yet endlessly bellyaching and cutting back, who are the reason so many professionals in the entertaining industry are having a cold Christmas.
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RELATED TOPICS
Corporate Holiday Parties, Page Six, Time Inc., Food & Wine Magazine, New York Observer, Women's Wear Daily, Condé Nast |
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| NEWS 12.11.08 1:55 PM |
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Kirkland & Ellis to Go Ahead With Plaza Party Tonight
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Legal blog Above the Law has details about tonight's Kirkland & Ellis holiday party at the Plaza, and it sounds like a pretty lavish affair. A memo sent out earlier this week to staffers at the firm's New York headquarters in the Citigroup Center went into particular detail about the storied venue and what the expected 530 guests would see.
"Our party occupies three of the most famous rooms: The Palm Court, the Terrace Room, and the Terrace Room Foyer," reads the memo. "Unlike previous years, the entire party space will be open from start to finish. Drinks and passed hors d'oeuvres will be served at 6:00 p.m., the buffets will open at 7:00 p.m., with the skit, raffle, and employee recognition award being presented around 7:30 p.m."
Above the Law notes that the party seems "discordant with the times." And if much of the staff feels the same as one Kirkland & Ellis tipster, the rationale for the event may be called into question if end-of-year bonuses suffer. —Michael O'Connell
RELATED TOPICS
Kirkland & Ellis, Corporate Holiday Parties |
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| NEWS 12.09.08 9:00 AM |
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BlackRock Turns Holiday Party Deposits Into Charitable Donation
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 | BlackRock's 2007 holiday party at Cipriani 42nd Street
Photo: Courtesy of BlackRock Inc. |
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With the economic downturn axing many a holiday affair this year, one company took advantage of what would have been a lost venue deposit to create a charitable donation—and a timely PR push. When New York-based financial institution BlackRock Inc. decided this fall to cancel its annual holiday party at Cipriani Wall Street, corporate events manager Susie Weisenfeld sought to find a way to utilize the nonrefundable deposit.
"These were already sunk costs, and there was money sitting there. Venue contracts are signed years in advance," said Wiesenfeld, who approached BlackRock execs with the idea of turning the deposit into meals donated to City Harvest. "They loved the idea, and so did Cipriani. Ultimately, the chef there was able to turn our investment into 800 meals."
Although Cipriani Wall Street didn't host BlackRock's holiday party last night, the venue's kitchen was still abuzz all day, cooking up three-course meals to be packaged in City Harvest's containers and refrigerated. City Harvest trucks were scheduled to pick up the meals and disperse them to three soup kitchens in Manhattan and Harlem this morning. And tonight some 20 BlackRock volunteers, including president Robert Kapito, as well as Cipriani’s wait staff and City Harvest executive director Jilly Stephens, will serve 400 meals to the Momentum Project at St. Peter's Lutheran Church. Media outlets like Fox News are expected to report on the meal service.
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Corporate Holiday Parties, BlackRock, City Harvest |
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| NEWS 12.09.08 8:00 AM |
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CB Richard Ellis and Hearst Corporation Host Holiday Party for Retailers
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Commercial realtor CB Richard Ellis and Hearst Corporation may not being throwing holiday parties for their respective employees this year, but that doesn’t mean they’ve forgotten to celebrate those who really matter during the economic downturn—potential clients. The New York Observer reported that the pair hosted a holiday event last night for retailers in town for the International Council of Shopping Centers’ national conference.
The publishing giant planned to open the doors to its Hearst Tower sky lobby from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. for the expected crowd of 300, but there was just one catch: Guests had to tour the building’s vacant retail space before getting access to the party. Hearst and CB Richard Ellis, which markets the ground floor of Hearst Tower, hoped visiting representatives from retailers like Barneys New York, Anthropologie, and Chanel might take an interest in the storefronts that have yet to find tenants in the two years since the building opened. Then, maybe, they can do some celebrating of their own. —Michael O'Connell
RELATED TOPICS
CB Richard Ellis, Hearst Corporation, Hearst, Corporate Holiday Parties |
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| NEWS 12.03.08 3:22 PM |
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Barry Diller Wants His Lavish Holiday Party
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When so many major corporations have canceled their 2008 holiday parties, the real surprises this season have been the institutions going ahead with original plans despite the flagging economy and poor third-quarter results. Media conglomerate IAC won’t tone down its December 18 event, and C.E.O. Barry Diller thinks the holidays aren’t the time to let the economy dampen spirits.
The New York Observer reports today that although details of the IAC holiday party aren’t yet official, it won’t be much different from last year’s in the lobby of its West Side Highway headquarters. The 2007 event included a dance floor, a photo booth, DJ, rented lounge seating, a well-liked buffet, and a chocolate fountain. An internal planner at IAC couldn’t be reached today to elaborate on what else 2008 might entail.
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IAC, Barry Diller, Corporate Holiday Parties |
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| EVENT INTELLIGENCE 12.03.08 3:18 PM |
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Guest Column: Saving the Corporate Holiday Party—by Measuring It
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We don't usually run guest columns when people submit them. (Frankly, they're usually not that interesting.) But this one seemed especially timely and relevant. With events and marketing budgets on the chopping block this season, making the case for holiday parties is tougher than ever. Here, Howard Givner, C.E.O. of New York-based event planning firm Paint the Town Red, a subsidiary of Global Events Group, suggests that corporate planners document the traditional corporate gathering's return on investment in order to save their parties (and, ultimately, their jobs).
Spotted owls. Whales. Company holiday parties. Meet the latest member of the endangered species list. OK, maybe that's a slight exaggeration, but not by much. In the past few months in-house planners have fallen into two categories: people who have been asked to cut back or cancel their holiday parties, or people who are afraid of being asked to do so at any moment. It's like sitting through the movie Jaws and hearing that eerie music; you may not see the fin yet, but there's blood in the water and you know the shark is out there.
Although holiday parties are not the only events coming under budget scrutiny these days, they are among the hardest to defend, because most have little or no ostensible business purpose that planners can clearly articulate. Deep in our bones we know they're valuable in terms of morale, productivity, building relationships, rewarding workers for a tough year, etc. But we have a hard time putting that into words. Business executives know that if they cancel a sales meeting or a client conference or a product launch, there's a consequence, a risk of an unmotivated sales force not hitting its numbers, or clients more susceptible to poaching from rivals. But it's hard for them to see the consequences of nixing a holiday party. Planners need to make a case for keeping this event, and quick. Don't look to management to do this for you. Identify the purpose of the event and the perceived benefits and outcomes, and compare those to the amount of money your firm spends. This is your R.O.I.: return on investment.
Yes, R.O.I. That over-used and under-implemented exercise that was a philosophical luxury a year ago has now become a survival mechanism for defending the holiday party, and every other meeting and event you manage. Because it's not a far leap for someone to say, "Gee, with so many fewer events to plan (or none at all), do we really need all these planners?"
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Corporate Holiday Parties, Measuring ROI |
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| THE SCOUT 12.01.08 8:00 AM |
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Last-Minute Ideas for Scaled-Back Holiday Parties
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 | A cocktail from Death & Company
Photo: Courtesy of Death & Company |
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If your company is still going ahead with holiday festivities, time’s running out to make arrangements. With smaller gatherings or in-office celebrations in mind, here are some resources for a recession-proof—but fun—party.
1. Treats Truck and Calexico Carne Asada have partnered up to cater Mexican food and baked goods for holiday parties. Menu items from Calexico include chipotle pulled pork and grilled steak tacos as well as passed hors d’oeuvres. Treats Truck can provide cookies, brownies, cupcakes, and other homemade sweets. Pricing starts around $1,500.
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RELATED TOPICS
Corporate Holiday Parties |
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