| EVENT REPORT 09.21.09 10:50 AM |
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Emmy Governors Ball Goes for Jewel-Toned, Xanadu-Evocative Opulence
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 | The Emmy Governors Ball
Photo: Nadine Froger Photography |
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FROM LOS ANGELES
If there was an appropriate time to tone down a ballroom, at least one group of event organizers believed last night was not that time. The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences' Governors Ball at the Los Angeles Convention Center after the Emmys ceremony was a bold and colorful affair, awash in jewel tones inspired by the work of the late interior designer Tony Duquette and the concept of Xanadu. Dwight Jackson, Russ Patrick, and Joe Stewart chaired the ball along with a larger committee, and Sequoia Productions produced it for the 12th consecutive year.
"Everybody in the room has the recession monkey on their back, but once a year you have all these people—academy, nominees, winners—in one room, and it's like, enough already," said Sequoia's Cheryl Cecchetto. "They're not thinking about the recession. They're thinking about cutting the next deal. And it's our job to stimulate their senses [to inspire them]."
Nevertheless, Jackson noted that the budget shrunk about 30 percent from last year for the same guest count—about 3,500—and the group repurposed and repainted elements from last year's ball, like Deco columns. "We started this party as soon as [the previous] year's ended. We worked a whole year on the party, having meetings once a month," he said. Cecchetto reported that the party took nine days to load in, but had just 22 hours to load out. About 1,200 staffers were on hand to accomplish the feat.
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RELATED TOPICS
Emmys, Award Season, Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, Governors Ball, Going Green, Dove Chocolate, Beaulieu, Grey Goose |
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| NEWS 08.20.09 7:14 PM |
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Emmy Preview: Jewel Tones Will Wash Tony Duquette-Inspired Governors Ball
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 | A tabletop look for the Emmy ball
Photo: BizBash |
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FROM LOS ANGELES
Exactly one month before the doors to the Emmys Governors Ball at the Los Angeles Convention Center swing open, the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences together with its participating vendors and sponsors hosted a preview of the event's look and feel this morning. In short, the decor—for both the Creative Arts Ball after the Creative Arts Emmys on September 12 and the Governors Ball after the Primetime Emmys on September 20—will be bold and colorful, with jewel tones and plush seating inspired by the work of the late designer Tony Duquette.
Dwight Jackson, Russ Patrick, and Joe Stewart chair the ball along with a larger committee, and Sequoia Productions will produce it for the 12th consecutive year. "We call it a kaleidoscope of color," said Sequoia's Cheryl Cecchetto at the reveal. "Duquette used incredible colors and materials. We want to stimulate guests' senses." Speaking for the rest of the committee, Jackson added, "We're all volunteers. We do this because it's fun—it's so much fun."
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RELATED TOPICS
Emmys, Governors Ball, Award Season, Going Green, Beaulieu, Dove, Grey Goose, Academy of Television Arts & Sciences |
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| INFLUENCES 08.10.09 10:00 AM |
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Exploring the Latest in Green Design
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 | Ellen Lupton in the "Design for a Living World" exhibition galleries
Photo: John Madere |
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FROM NEW YORK
The exhibit “Design for a Living World” at the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum in New York focuses on the work of 10 top designers (including Yves Behar, Maya Lin, Isaac Mizrahi, and Hella Jongerius), who were commissioned to create products made from sustainable materials from various regions. Even the show's installation makes use of green practices. We talked with co-curator Ellen Lupton about what eco-friendly design really means. The exhibit is on view at the museum through January 4, 2010, and then it travels to additional U.S. locations.
What are some common misconceptions about green design?
Green design has become a huge term that encompasses nearly anything—from herbal shampoo in a green plastic bottle to genuine innovations in solar energy. Designers, marketers, manufacturers, and inventors are looking at sustainability from every possible angle. Some of it's legitimate, and some of it's just green-washing. Almost all of it involves compromise, and I believe that the future of sustainability will necessitate give and take.
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Going Green, Ellen Lupton, Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, Isaac Mizrahi, Maya Lin |
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| Q & A 04.23.09 9:00 AM |
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New L.A. Marathon Creative Director Peter Abraham Is Overseeing the Race's Shift From Winter to Spring
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 | | L.A. Marathon creative director Peter Abraham |
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FROM LOS ANGELES
As creative director of the Los Angeles Marathon, Peter Abraham is responsible for outreach, marketing, and conceiving the overall concept of the event—which is undergoing a complete overhaul ahead of the May 25 race. With the marathon under new ownership—LA Marathon LLC, formerly known as Going the Distance, now operates the race—it's Abraham's first go at overseeing the program.
This year's race will be run on Memorial Day, May 25, rather than President's Day, February 16. What was behind the date change?
We came in with new ownership, and we’ve really looked at every single aspect of the marathon. We’ve changed the course from last year: We went back to the loop route that starts in downtown, which was last run in 2006. It’s a very fast route, very popular with runners.
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RELATED TOPICS
L.A. Marathon, Going Green, Honda, Gatorade, Clif Bar, Emerald Nuts, New Performance Nutrition |
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| EVENT REPORT 04.20.09 3:33 PM |
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Marketers Consider Coachella Too Important to Skip in Lean Times
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 | T-Mobile's late-night hangar party
Photo: Polk Imaging/FilmMagic |
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FROM LOS ANGELES
Ask any marketer with a presence at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and he’ll tell you that the opportunity to promote in the desert during the festival weekend is unmissable and nonnegotiable—even in a downturn. Chalk it up to the sheer concentration of well-connected and enthusiastic music industry folks, fans, and friends captive in the middle of the desert, or to the extreme temperatures and terrain, or to the totally immersive quality of the whole thing—but the attendant brands felt they couldn't afford to be left out, even if this year's economic climate made sponsorship participation and overall budget dollars tougher to wrangle. The festival kicked off on Friday and wrapped Sunday night in Indio.
“This year was really difficult. Sponsors are putting each event under a microscope, and they want to make sure it’s the right type of event for the right R.O.I.,” said Andreas Herr, publisher of Anthem magazine, whose desert party has developed a reputation as the most authentically hedonistic and bacchanalian of the weekend. “But the reason it’s so important for us is that it’s all about contributing to the lifestyle that we cover inside of the magazine. So many people look forward to this event throughout the year. At a time like this, it’s really important to give our fans and our readers something to really look forward to. That one weekend when you can really escape reality and go out there and have fun. It’s our biggest event that we do throughout the year, and we have a lot of fun doing it.”
This year, Anthem’s signature event included a Saturday pool party at a sprawling five-acre ranch property with a three-acre lake. (Herr characterized it this way: “The rough theme is '70s porno ranch meets disco. Does that even make sense? It makes sense to me.”)
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Coachella, T-Mobile, Anthem Magazine, Levi's, Ray-Ban, Urb Magazine, Filter, Vitaminwater, Goodlife.com, Going Green |
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| EVENT REPORT 04.20.09 1:11 PM |
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Signs of the Times: Coachella Returns With a Layaway Plan and an iPhone App
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 | A fire-breathing serpent art installation at Coachella
Photo: BizBash |
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FROM LOS ANGELES
Here’s the thing about the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival: It’s completely implausible. The Empire Polo Field venue in Indio is more than 100 miles from metropolitan Los Angeles—in a place where temperatures can soar above 100 degrees in April. Plus, at a time when other concerts are cutting prices to lure crowds, the cost of Coachella has not decreased: The three-day festival now costs $269, not including service fees, or $300 at the door, which means the cost for an average attendee’s weekend with lodging and food could easily hover around $1,000. And that’s in a recession.
Nevertheless, the tenth annual incarnation of the festival—which began on Friday with a sold-out program headlined by Paul McCartney that appealed to an older crowd on a mild-for-the-desert day and wrapped Sunday—drew thousands of its faithful into the desert, where acts including the Cure, the Killers, M.I.A., and Morrissey also got top billing among about 150 acts. To encourage attendance, festival organizer Goldenvoice—led by Paul Tollett—offered fans the opportunity to purchase their tickets on a layaway plan for the first time, paying either with 50 percent down or in three installments. Goldenvoice also offered camping passes on layaway. (Goldenvoice does not release official attendance numbers until after the show concludes and the official figure is tallied.)
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Coachella, Goldenvoice, Going Green, Global Inheritance, AT&T, iPhone |
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| NEWS 02.03.09 3:59 PM |
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Ax Falls on Sony BMG, In Style Grammy Parties While Warner Music Scales Back
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 | Warner Music's 2008 Grammy party
Photo: Alen Lin for BizBash |
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FROM LOS ANGELES
The tough economy is cutting a swath through some of Grammy weekend's biggest parties. Sony BMG's event, which last year brought the likes of Aretha Franklin and Clive Davis to its Beverly Hills Hotel location, is off this year, according to its former publicity firm PMK/HBH.
In Style magazine, which in 2008 hosted a pre-Grammys fashion show at Boulevard3 with the Recording Academy, will not host that event this year. Last year, Time Inc.'s Cyd Wilson suggested that the event might have legs as an annual program.
And Warner Music Group, which typically hosts one of the larger parties in town on Grammy night, will scale back the bash this year, instead hosting a smaller screening and dinner, according to the company's New York-based vice president of corporate communications, Susan Mazo, who did not immediately provide further detail. Last year's eco-conscious party at Vibiana attempted to generate zero landfill waste. —Alesandra Dubin
RELATED TOPICS
Warner Music Group, Grammys, Award Season, Going Green, In Style Magazine, Sony BMG, Recording Academy |
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| EVENT REPORT 01.26.09 12:20 PM |
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SAG Partners With Environmental Media Association for Recycled—and Recyclable—Awards Program
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 | The SAG Awards at the Shrine
Photo: James Sequenzia |
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FROM LOS ANGELES
The stars of the 15th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards show Sunday were, well, the stars, so the design of the awards dinner at the Shrine Auditorium was all about showing off hundreds of them to best effect on camera. That task fell to the team of awards art director Keith Greco of Greco Decor and awards event supervisor Andrea Wyn Schall of A Wynning Event—SAG show regulars who worked with Benn Fleishman, the returning SAG executive in charge of production.
“Our theme is simple, glamorous, elegant, high style,” Schall said. “One thing that's really different about this show is that it's about the actor, so the table is to reflect the actor and make it so that whatever they're wearing will stand out more. The table is secondary. You just see black and silver, neutral, understated."
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Environmental Media Association, Going Green, SAG, SAG Awards, Award Season, Taittinger |
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| EVENT REPORT 01.20.09 10:59 AM |
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Al Gore's Green Ball Chooses Email Invites, Seedlings for Decor, and a Sustainable Menu
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 | Will.i.am at the Green Ball
Photo: Jason Kempin/Getty Images |
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FROM WASHINGTON
This inaugural season has seen countless balls and festivities around town, all vying for attention and the sharpest guest lists. Two events, however, chased the same purpose: to present an eco-friendly ball to celebrate the incoming president. The first Green Inaugural Ball was held on Friday, while the second kicked off last night at the Donald W. Reynolds Center for American Art and Portraiture, with sponsorship from more than 75 organizations, including the Sierra Club, National Wildlife Federation, and American Wind Energy Association. But the biggest draw? Host, green guru, and former Vice President Al Gore.
Around 2,000 tickets for the fest reportedly sold out in 15 minutes, as the ball promised performances from Maroon 5, Will.i.am, Melissa Etheridge, John Legend, and Michael Franti. But the real focus was on the theme of the night. "The most important thing we did was take a global look to make it as green as possible," said greening committee head Shelly Cohn of Ameresco, which develops energy-efficient projects. "We were as carbon-neutral as possible. We wanted to support the vision of Barack Obama in advancing a new economy."
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RELATED TOPICS
Inauguration 2009, Going Green, Green Ball, Al Gore, Will.i.am |
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| TED KRUCKEL 01.19.09 2:15 PM |
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Green Inaugural Ball Leaves Me Fuzzy on the Details
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FROM WASHINGTON
It is always a bad sign when you are at a big event with klieg lights, valet parking, A-list talent, security, ball gowns, and hundreds if not thousands of guests, and yet find yourself asking, Why am I here?
But that was the disappointing question that could not be answered at the Green Inaugural Ball on Saturday at the Andrew Mellon Auditorium.
For the life of me I can’t figure out what Discovery Communications’ new Planet Green channel, which seemed to be the main sponsor, got out of it. (I never saw a single logo at the event or visual on the giant screen that hinted at its involvement until I could finally access the eco-friendly/Mac-unfriendly media kit chip.) I feel badly for them.
This was not the Green Ball hosted by Al Gore, which is tonight. This one was produced by Event Emissary, a company that has the exclusive license to host events at the Mellon, a beautiful circa-1930's Classical revival building, granted by the General Services Administration of the U.S. Government, which supervises the National Mall. The wisdom of granting use of this public treasure to what appeared to be a bold publicity grab by a license-holder seemed to me a misuse of national resources and begs the question. Who signed off on this doozy?
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Inauguration 2009, Green Inaugural Ball, Going Green |
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