Orlando Event Coverage of Benefits, Galas, Public Promos, Launch Parties, Movie Premieres, Fashion Shows, Art Exhibits and Live Music in Orlando by BizBash

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Event Coverage BRANDING PROMOS Kia Stages Interactive Promotion With Videos, Tattoos at Vans Warped Tour Ikea Puts Marketing Message—and Furniture—in a Bottle to Promote Tampa Store   FOOD AND WINE EVENTS Orlando Caterers Whet Appetites and Open Wallets For Breast Cancer Fund-Raiser Abundance of Sudsy Options Mark Lowry Park Zoo's WaZoo Beer Festival   FUND-RAISING EVENTS With Spending Down, Nece Foundation Kept the Haul Steady at Annual Benefit Tampa's DeBartolo Gala Recreates Gothic Gardens WEDU's Annual Fund-raiser Pays Homage to Spain   TRADE SHOWS InfoComm Show Brings 29,000 Audiovisual Professionals to Orlando     EVENT REPORT    11.19.09 12:06 PM MoMA Gets Suitably Whimsical and Macabre for Tim Burton Tribute Burton-esque hedging around MoMA's bar Photo: Jessica Torossian for BizBash FROM NEW YORK Now in its second year, the Museum of Modern Art hosted its annual film benefit Tuesday night. The gala raised $800,000 for MoMA's department of film, honored director Tim Burton, and kicked off an exhibition of his work with decor inspired by more than two decades worth of movies. A crowd of 240—including event co-chairs Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter, as well as Danny DeVito, Brooke Shields, and Gabourey Sidibe—joined the director for cocktails, a short presentation, and dinner, before the museum lobby opened for a less exclusive after-party. MORE >> RELATED TOPICS Museum of Modern Art, Museum of Modern Art Film Benefit, Tim Burton, Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter EVENT REPORT    11.18.09 8:00 AM New Moon Premiere Beckons 10,000 People and 2 Live Wolves The premiere for The Twilight Saga: New Moon in Westwood Photo: Line 8 Photography FROM LOS ANGELES Westwood, being a college town, is accustomed to groups of young people roaming about—but Monday night was no ordinary night in the village. The young people were out, for sure, but many weren't yet old enough to drive, and they were pressed behind barricades on closed streets for the premiere of Summit Entertainment's new installment of the Twilight series, New Moon. Summit's Eric Kops oversaw the hotly anticipated event, tapping ELS for big-time tasks like crowd control and security, and Chad Hudson Events for roles including theater management and R.S.V.P.s, plus production of the after-party at the Hammer Museum. MORE >> RELATED TOPICS Summit Entertainment, Twilight, New Moon, Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, Taylor Lautner EVENT REPORT    11.10.09 5:07 PM Dark and Moody Accents, Animal-Inspired Decor Appear on Tabletops at Diffa's Dining by Design A table designed by Mario Pinto with Scott Heuvelhorst Interiors Photo: Barry Brecheisen for BizBash FROM CHICAGO "This looks like a serial killer's home. There should be conspiracy theories written on the wall," said one guest at Thursday night's Cocktails by Design event, which served as a kickoff for a three-day Dining by Design benefit hosted by Design Industries Foundations Fighting AIDS. The event filled the eighth floor of the Merchandise Mart with 42 dining environments decorated by design-industry professionals ranging from painters to architects to fashion designer Maria Pinto. With so many creative professionals behind the tables, the environments ranged from a wooden box tacked with newspaper clippings and bathed in an eerie blue light—which inspired the serial-killer comment—to a cozy gazebo setting filled with fairy lights and plush Ralph Lauren pillows. Though there were tables that defied categorization, some dining environments illustrated popular design trends; one theme was "dark and sexy atmospheres, which we're seeing everywhere this year," said Diffa's director of special events, Peggy Bellar. At an installation from Interior Investments by Gensler, black moving blankets hung behind a table surrounded with dark leather chairs; a chandelier made of painted black cardboard crowned the scene. Hermes glasses in deep purple hues spruced up place settings at a table that Herman Miller by Richard Bliss and Solomon Cordwell Bunez designed; and lacy black napkins dotted the table that Maria Pinto decorated with Scott A. Heuvelhorst Interiors. Artist Francine Turk's design also created a dark, moody ambience with black chalkboard walls, charcoal sketches of crows, and framed paintings of gold Gothic crosses. MORE >> RELATED TOPICS Diffa, Diffa Dining by Design EVENT REPORT    11.10.09 8:00 AM Investment Firm Thanks Current and Potential Clients at Fall Celebration Seating at Financial Harvest's Fall Celebration Photo: Felix Rivera Investment firm Financial Harvest hosts four annual client appreciation events, the most recent of which took place on Thursday night at the Winter Park Farmers’ Market. About 75 of the company's clients, investment partners, and company president David Witter's finance students from Valencia Community College attended the fall dinner produced by Eddie Diaz of Encore Creations. “I place these large events after I’ve taught a class so that [the students invited] get a chance to hear more knowledge and meet our current clients, which really pushes them over the edge to want to join us,” said Witter, who serves as an adjunct teacher at the college and includes an educational element about current investing news into each of his events' programs. MORE >> RELATED TOPICS Financial Harvest, Valencia Community College EVENT REPORT    11.02.09 9:00 AM U.S.F. Announces Fund-Raising Goal at Pep Rally-Themed Party Branded bars at the party Photo: Joseph Gamble The University of South Florida held its official capital campaign kickoff party on October 20 at its new Marshal Student Center to announce publicly its $600 million fund-raising goal. The event came after the school reached the halfway mark, a move typical in academic fund-raising, according to the university's director of donor and campaign events, Karen Ritter. More than $316 million has been raised thus far for scholarships, research endowments, and academic funding. More than 550 top donors—many of whom have given more than $100,000 to the school—along with the campaign committee and prospective donors attended the pep-rally style event. "The theme of the campaign is 'USF: Unstoppable,' so instead of doing a more elegant traditional event, we wanted to be more contemporary and futuristic," Ritter said. MORE >> RELATED TOPICS University of South Florida EVENT REPORT    10.30.09 12:42 PM 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 12:52 PM 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 FROM LOS ANGELES 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 4:19 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    10.26.09 1:28 PM Warbird Adventures Celebrates Oktoberfest With Inaugural Fly-In One of Warbird Adventures' World War II planes Photo: Neal Sands Warbird Adventures, the company behind the Kissimmee Air Museum, hosted its inaugural Fly-In on October 17, with 200 people in attendance at the Kissimmee airport. The company’s two airplane hangars, one of which houses the museum, hold 12 World War II planes, and Warbird coordinated the daylong event in an effort to give local residents a look at the historic planes and increase awareness about the museum. “It seemed only natural,” said Warbird public relations director KT Budde-Jones. “We have German planes, October is wonderful flying weather, and the event is a great way to promote the restoration of the fighter planes we have here and encourage people to discover the museum.” MORE >> RELATED TOPICS Pilots N Paws, Angel Flight, SunState Aviation, Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, Strong Parachutes, Valient Air Command EVENT REPORT    10.21.09 8:00 AM Tampa Gay & Lesbian Film Fest Celebrates 20th Year, Sponsorship Dollars Up 50 Percent The main event space at the Ritz Ybor Photo: Nick Cardello Photography The Tampa International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival wrapped up on Sunday after 10 days of events and movie screenings of more than 60 short films made for, by, or about the gay, bisexual, lesbian, and transgender community. The festival celebrated its 20th anniversary at a black-tie gala on October 9 at the Ritz Ybor with about 225 guests. Nonprofit organization Friends of the Festival, which produces the annual event, increased its overall sponsorship dollars by nearly 50 percent, despite a 40 percent drop in the number of corporate sponsors. “Macy’s was completely missing this year, and it’s been one of our four larger sponsors for the past decade,” said Chuck Henson, executive director of Friends of the Festival Inc. “The economy really dictates what these [companies] are going to do, so we had to do a lot more fund-raising for $1,000 or $2,000, instead of $10,000 and $15,000, sponsorships.” Henson added that donations from individuals doubled, thereby offsetting the loss of corporate dollars. MORE >> RELATED TOPICS Tampa Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, Friends of the Festival, Macy’s 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 Conference Centers, Convention Centers & Auditoriums Entertainment Venues/Performance Spaces Golf Courses/Clubs Hotels Independent Event Spaces Lofts/Photo Studios/Raw Spaces Mansions/Houses Museums/Cultural Spaces Outdoor Spaces Private Clubs Quick Trips Resorts Restaurants Retail Venues Spas/Relaxation Places Stadiums/Arenas Terraces/Roofs/Gardens (All Venues) By Neighborhood/Location All Neighborhoods Greater Orlando Area Tampa/ St. Pete /Clearwater Area Sarasota Area Brevard County (Space Coast) Show Only New Venues RECENTLY VIEWED Venues The Field Museum MOST POPULAR STORIES 1. 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