| NEWS 02.02.09 12:48 PM |
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What the Press Said About Super Bowl Weekend: Low-Key, With Little Imagination
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 | Bruce Springsteen at the Super Bowl halftime show
Photo: Jamie Squire/Getty Images |
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Super Bowl weekend came and passed with little surprising news. After weeks of speculation that the party scene in Tampa would be more subdued this year, that’s exactly what happened. And at the game itself, Bruce Springsteen's halftime show has earned praise for being adequate—neither an inspiration nor the kind of disaster seen in the past.
Celebrations started as early as Wednesday and carried on through last night, but the most successful parties seemed to have been Thursday and Friday night. Sports Illustrated reporter Arash Markazi named John Madden’s “Madden Bowl XV” the party of the week, though he also noted that ESPN The Magazine’s party would likely earn the rest of the press’s affections—mainly because the two shared something in common. “ESPN and Madden were the only two parties that didn't scale back from previous years (if anything they grew from last year) and it paid off,” wrote Markazi.
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Super Bowl, Bruce Springsteen, ESPN the Magazine |
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| EVENT REPORT 03.17.08 3:18 PM |
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ESPN Magazine Marks Anniversary With Live Concert
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 | ESPN the Magazine's crowded anniversary
Photo: Joe Fornabaio for BizBash |
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For its 10th anniversary, the staff at ESPN the Magazine wanted more than just to look back on its past. The crew at the mag (from editorial to marketing to sales) wanted to bring just about everyone who had ever had a hand in the magazine—some 1,200 staffers, advertisers, sports stars, and friends—to a lively party that brought to life the cover and the concept of the anniversary issue. Wednesday night's event at Terminal 5 was certainly festive, with popcorn, candy, and beer, mixed with casino games, sponsor displays, and an energetic performance by Third Eye Blind. Starting at 9 p.m., the west side venue quickly filled with eager revelers, who lingered until midnight.
ESPN's in-house team for the party included Steven Binder, vice president of sales for ESPN Publishing; Blandine Reid, senior director of magazine marketing; and Tony Leake, assistant marketing manager of special events marketing. Binder brought title sponsor Porsche to the table—a first-time advertiser with the magazine—while Reid translated this into how the sponsors and advertisers could be integrated into the event, and Leake worked with Los Angeles-based Wendy Creed Productions to implement the design and production elements.
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ESPN, ESPN the Magazine, Porsche, Under Armour, Foot Locker, Heineken |
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| NEWS 02.25.08 12:12 PM |
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What NBA All-Star Party Hosts Thought of New Orleans
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 | Playboy bunnies at the Crown Royal Barbershop event
Photo: James Trevenen/Playboy |
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Some big-name brands flocked to the NBA All-Star Game on Sunday, February 17. We touched base with several planners to see what they thought of New Orleans as a host city.
“As far as proximity goes, you couldn’t ask for anything better. Everything is within walking distance or a five-minute cab ride. The footprint of this city is much easier to get around than [last year’s host city] Vegas.”
—Timi Jordan, senior manager of special events marketing, ESPN
“The people of New Orleans couldn’t have been nicer to deal with. They were so genuinely grateful that the NBA chose their city, and they really wanted to showcase how great New Orleans is. They went out of their way to be accommodating.”
—Janet Abbazia, vice president of event marketing, Turner Sports
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N.B.A., Playboy, ESPN the Magazine |
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| EVENT REPORT 02.20.08 12:14 PM |
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TNT, Wrigley's, Playboy Flock to NBA All-Star Weekend
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 | Common performed at ESPN the Magazine's party.
Photo: Steve Kashishian |
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Dubbed by "a mini Super Bowl" by more than one planner, the NBA All-Star Game and its surrounding festivities descended upon New Orleans last weekend, bringing along an entourage of piggybacking events. Catering to the bevy of athletes in town (who weren’t nearly as stressed as, say, the Giants or the Patriots were in Arizona), planners from entities such as Playboy, ESPN the Magazine, and Wrigley’s enticed with big-name performances, high-profile guests, and intimate late-night parties.
Turner Sports vice president of event marketing Janet Abbazia bucked the Super Bowl's trend of booking rappers, instead booking Barenaked Ladies to perform at the annual NBA on TNT Celebration Party, held at House of Blues on Saturday. “We always look at our audience, and while the NBA demographic may be different, the people attending our event are businesspeople covering a wide range of ages, so we tried to find a band that appealed to everyone,” she said, adding that the event grew this year, hosting some 1,600 guests (compared with last year’s 1,200).
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N.B.A., Playboy, ESPN the Magazine, Jordan Brand, Nike, Crown Royal, Wrigley's Doublemint, Miller Beer, Old Spice, Gatorade, American Express, BET Networks |
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| EVENT REPORT 02.04.08 2:02 PM |
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Best of the Rest: ESPN, Sports Illustrated, Fox, and More Super Bowl Parties
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 | Ludacris performed at ESPN the Magazine's Friday-night party.
Photo: Sara Jaye Weiss |
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FROM SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. Though Maxim, Playboy, and Victoria's Secret garnered the most buzz among the Super Bowl parties here, clever production details abounded throughout the weekend. Here's our wrap-up of the other big events.
ESPN the Magazine
On Friday and Saturday, ESPN the Magazine returned to the Super Bowl with its Next Big Weekend party, setting up shop on the rolling, grass-lined lawns of the Scottsdale Performing Arts Center. Things kicked off on Friday night, with Ludacris performing for some 800 V.I.P.s in a massive, red-hued tent. Produced by ESPN vice president of marketing solutions Fred Bucher, with Event Eleven and East Side PR, the Friday-night fete was accented with chandeliers, cabanas, a circular 20-foot bar, and beer carts that allowed guests to grab a quick Corona on the go.
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Super Bowl, ESPN the Magazine, Sports Illustrated, Fox, Penthouse, Vice the Party |
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| TREND SPOTTED 02.02.08 12:24 PM |
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The Hip-Hop Won't Stop: Super Bowl Parties Present 50 Cent, Snoop, and Luda
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 | 50 Cent performed at the 944 Super Village.
Photo: Courtesy of 944 Magazine |
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FROM SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. While the NFL plans to offer the masses a dose of Tom Petty at the big game tomorrow, corporate planners are heading in the opposite direction this weekend, giving the packed Arizona parties a whole lot of rap. The 944 Super Village at SouthBridge kicked off the concert-heavy festivities on Thursday night with a 50 Cent performance. The artist rapped on a gigantic stage in an (unheated) tent, with Paris Hilton gyrating alongside him. Pontiac sponsored the evening—and, not surprisingly, its 2008 G8 car (which 50 codesigned) on stage was impossible to miss.
In a more exclusive turn, Jenny McCarthy and Holly Robinson Peete hosted the "Best Damn Super Bowl Party Period" on Thursday (a play on Peete's' husband's Best Damn Sports Show Period on Fox Sports), with Ludacris entertaining a crowd of 300 at the private Rockridge estate in Phoenix. Next up for the HollyRod Foundation: an invitation-only Chris Rock performance tonight. Diddy also took the stage on Thursday, at Scottsdale nightclub Axis/Radius for Anheuser-Busch's Bud Bowl.
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Super Bowl, 944 Magazine, Pontiac, Playboy, Penthouse, Anheuser-Busch, Maxim, ESPN the Magazine, Sports Illustrated, DirecTV |
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| NEWS 01.30.08 4:11 PM |
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Super Bowl XLII: Who's Going Where
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FROM SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. As New York and New England football fans head west, so are the corporate types planning Super Bowl-inspired events. Trading last year's Miami beach locale for a sprawling desert landscape, many planners are calling Arizona a breath of fresh air, with most everyone agreeing that anything is better than Detroit. Here's a rundown of some of the week's biggest to-dos.
Audi is kicking off the week with an invitation-only hole-in-one charity tournament today, with former NFL players and celebrities lining up to win an Audi R8. The auto brand has taken over a nine-acre estate in Arizona's luxe Paradise Valley neighborhood, which will be home to a series of events, including a Kate Hudson-hosted dinner and a Marquis Jet daytime party. Also on-site at the estate is a satellite hub for Los Angeles club Hyde, which will open at 11 p.m. Thursday through Saturday. Relevent's Tony Berger is producing.
Tomorrow, DirecTV stages its second annual Celebrity Beach Bowl, an event that pairs current and former NFLers with celebrities and models in a semi-competitive, semi-comical flag football game. Matt Leinart, Doug Flutie, Pamela Anderson, and David Spade are among the players, with Fall Out Boy performing afterward. The sand-filled event is taking over a corner of the new SouthBridge Waterfront area, which is also home to the bevy of 944 Media goings-on (including nighttime concerts by 50 Cent, Velvet Revolver, and Wyclef Jean, and a less-than-shocking appearance by Paris Hilton).
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Super Bowl, DirecTV, Maxim, Audi, ESPN the Magazine, Sports Illustrated, Playboy, Penthouse, Victoria's Secret |
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