| 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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FROM LOS ANGELES
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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| EVENT REPORT 06.18.08 3:33 PM |
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Street Signs Mark Stations (and Menus) at Citymeals Fund-Raiser
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 | The crowded tent for Citymeal-on-Wheels
Photo: Jessica Torossian for BizBash |
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The Citymeals-on-Wheels Chef's Tribute benefit doesn't seem to have much luck with the weather. On Monday night—as at last year's incarnation—wet weather forced the event and guests indoors and under tents. Luckily, the signage for the stations became more than just a visual element: The tall signposts allowed guests to see the menu items and chefs' names over the crowds huddled under the tents at the Rockefeller Center rink.
The not-for-profit's annual summer event was dubbed "Crème de la Crème," and took on the look of a Parisian boulevard with plants dotted about and street-sign-inspired signage. Planned by the organization's director of special events, Heather Gere, the fund-raiser honored renowned French chefs such as Georges Blanc, Paul Bocuse, Gaston LeNôtre, Pierre Gagnaire, and André Soltner. U.S.-based chefs cooking for the crowd from stations in the sunken rink-level space included Jean Joho of Everest in Chicago, Gotham Bar and Grill's Alfred Portale, and David Myers of Comme Ça in Los Angeles.
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Citymeals-on-Wheels, Patina Restaurant Group, MK Global, Gourmet magazine, The M.O. & M.E. Hoffman Foundation, American Airlines, Fiji Water, MasterCard, Nespresso, Affinia Hotels |
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| NEWS 05.07.08 1:59 PM |
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Amtrak to Host National Train Day Events on May 10
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May 10, the anniversary of the first transcontinental railroad, will be the first-ever National Train Day, an Amtrak-sponsored event taking place in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, and Washington, D.C., according to USA Today. In order to highlight its recent success (1.5 million more travelers rode Amtrak in 2007 than in the previous year), the national passenger railroad is spending $2.2 million on the event, in addition to bringing on as its spokesman Al Roker, who will host the Washington events at Union Station with singer Sara Bareilles.
The Harlem Globetrotters will make an appearance at the New York events at Penn Station. In all of the cities, Amtrak will set up displays, offering visitors the opportunity to walk through actual trains, and feature sweepstakes, giveaways, and concerts. According to the event's Web site, Amtrak has partnered with MasterCard and Wheel of Fortune for National Train Day. The game show is sponsoring an Amtrak train wrapped in a Wheel of Fortune ad running between Chicago and Milwaukee through May 15. —Wendy Wollenberg
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Amtrak, Harlem Globetrotters, Wheel of Fortune, MasterCard |
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| EVENT REPORT 03.17.08 3:49 PM |
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Saks Takes Spring Promo on City Tour
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 | Saks's promotional bus
Photo: Courtesy of Saks Fifth Avenue |
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In an effort to reach out to fashion-sensitive locals and tourists while promoting its “Want It!” campaign, Saks Fifth Avenue gave consumers free city tours on a bus branded with illustrations from the ad campaign. Covered with decals of graphic artist Piet Paris’s depictions of New York cultural institutions as statuesque fashion figures, the double-decker bus—essentially a moving billboard—set off from the retailer’s flagship location and looped around the Upper East Side, stopping at several landmark buildings along the way. The tours, which ran from Thursday, March 13, through Saturday, March 15, collected passengers at the top of every hour between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m.
The idea behind the marketing stunt (which aimed to highlight seasonal trends from the store) was to make a visual connection between Paris’s illustrations and the iconic buildings that inspired them. Knowing that moving billboards are illegal, Saks vice president of marketing Kimberly Grabel and her team, after brainstorming for several months, opted to bypass the law by using a bus. The store’s director of advertising, Debbie Patirie, was tasked with finding the appropriate vehicle and eventually chose Gray Line, which provides charters complete with a tour guide, as well as vehicles that can be wrapped with images.
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Saks Fifth Avenue, MasterCard |
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| EVENT REPORT 06.11.07 12:50 PM |
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Whitney Hosts Trippy, Hippie Art Party
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 | The Joshua Light Show over the dance floor was a mesmerizing sight.
Photo: Sheri Whitko Photography for BizBash |
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On Wednesday night, Skylight felt like a concert straight out of the '60s—if a '60s concert drew socialites in expensive dresses, that is. It was the Whitney Museum of American Art's annual Art Party, and the combination of Joshua White's hypnotic, kaleidoscopic projections (much like the ones he created for the Fillmore East rock shows in the late '60s), two artful installations of inflatable lights from David Winston, and face-painting stations from MAC helped establish a retro vibe for the night's hippie-chic theme.
Hired by the Whitney's senior manager of special events, Sarah Milestone, Lewis Miller took his lead from the museum's new exhibition "Summer of Love: Art of the Psychedelic Era" and designed an open layout with fairly simple accents, leaving the rest to White and his trademark effects.
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Whitney Museum, BCBG Max Azria, Sotheby's, M.A.C. Cosmetics, MasterCard, Sagatiba |
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