| EVENT REPORT 10.05.09 4:37 PM |
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Boobyball Adopts Kitschy Cruise Theme With Lido Deck Games, Models Dressed as Captains
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Not only did organizers of the eighth annual Boobyball manage to attract a sold-out crowd of more than 1,200 guests to Atlantis Friday, they also garnered more than 360,000 hits on YouTube with a viral video campaign. “The objective was to get people excited about the event and raise awareness about [breast cancer]. It’s taken on a life of it’s own,” said Amanda Blakley, who with Ashleigh Dempster co-founded social club the Society and created the first Boobyball in 2002.
The one-minute video stars MTV News host and 2009 event co-chair Aliya-Jasmine Sovani poolside in a white bikini. Close up shots of Sovani’s breasts are interchanged with a message that reads: “You like them. Now it’s time. To save the boobs.” The ad, created for about $100, attracted the attention of several American television networks, including ABC, CNN, and NBC. “It’s amazing the response it’s been getting. And it’s surprising how many American stations think it’s controversial,” Dempster said.
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RELATED TOPICS
Rethink Breast Cancer, RBC, Schick Quattro, Timex, Tretorn, Naked Juice, Stella Artois, Yellow Tail, Perrier, Palm Bay, Lancaster, Jose Cuervo Golden Margarita, Wiser's, Fashion magazine, MTV News |
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| EVENT REPORT 09.14.09 3:23 PM |
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Holt Renfrew Previews Vignettes at First-Ever Off-Site TIFF Party
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 | The Stills at Holt Renfrew's TIFF event
Photo: Alison Whittington for BizBash |
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Luxury retailer Holt Renfrew premiered Vignettes, two short films of its own, at a Toronto International Film Festival party for more than 1,000 people at the Burroughes Building Saturday. "To have a party during the film festival is great. There's such a buzz in the air," said Gwen Gibson, director of special events, who noted that the videos—featuring fall fashions and starring the Montreal band the Stills and supermodels Coco Rocha and Behati Prinsloo—served as the inspiration for this year's party.
The films, shot in a street-like setting, included images of Rocha and Prinsloo at the Gladstone Hotel and shots of the entrance to the Burroughes Building in the men's video. "We thought we should really try to incorporate that idea into the look [of the party], which is more downtown and more eclectic," Gibson said. "We went to several different venues and this one really caught us because of the size and where it's located, that was important. We didn't want to be too far off the beaten track. We are so used to having the parties in the store."
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Toronto International Film Festival, Holt Renfrew, Coco Rocha, The Stills, Stella Artois, Grey Goose, Smart Water, VitaminWater |
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| EVENT REPORT 06.26.09 10:00 AM |
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Freed Developments Reveals Designer Partnerships at Fashion House Cocktail Party
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In these challenging times for the real estate industry, Toronto condo developers are trying harder than ever to set their projects apart from the competition. Freed Developments’ latest marketing move? Calling on 11 fashion designers to furnish a floor in the still-to-be-constructed Fashion House condos—and throwing a cocktail party for media, investors, and buyers to announce the partnerships.
“The party gives people a chance to interact with designers, so it becomes more than just ‘This guy designed my floor.' It’s about meeting him and finding out why he joined the project,” said AJ Manji, marketing and business development manager at Freed Developments. He added that the company will launch a new Fashion House Web site next week with video clips of each designer and examples of their work.
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Freed Developments, Holt Renfrew, Stella Artois |
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| NEWS 06.23.09 10:00 AM |
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MuchMusic Award Gift Lounges Offer Swag and Space to Chill
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 | The official MMVA Gift Lounge
Photo: George Pimentel |
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Talent in town for the MuchMusic Video Awards had the opportunity to visit two lounges this past weekend, both of which offered swag and space to unwind: the official MMVA Gift Lounge, located at MuchMusic headquarters, and the Artist Sanctuary at Hotel Le Germain.
New York-based On 3 Productions created an orange and white lounge for artists and presenters participating in the MuchMusic Video Awards this year. "We were going for something edgy, something a little different, with bright colours and bold colours," said Matthew Simon of On 3 Productions. Ikea and Sumo Lounge provided furnishings for the space, including bag chairs and ottomans. "It's a place where people can just chill out and relax."
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MuchMusic Video Awards, MuchMusic, IKEA, Soma Lounge, Bench Apparel, Guess, Kameleon Jewellery, LouLou magazine, Marchon, New Era, Tenstate Jeans, Nestlé, Nautica, Stella Artois, Robert Mondavi Winery, Redken, Nokia, Vitaminwater, New Balance, Mavi, PKG, SkullCandy |
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| EVENT REPORT 05.05.09 4:04 PM |
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James Beard Awards Honor Women With Hot Pink Decor, Female Chefs
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 | The Beard Awards' gala reception
Photo: Roger Dong for BizBash |
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FROM NEW YORK
The James Beard Foundation returned to Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall Monday night for its annual award ceremony and chef-filled gala reception. Widely considered one of the most prestigious honors in the food business, the event drew about 1,700 people to watch the award show and sample a smorgasbord of food at the reception afterward. In spite of—or perhaps in response to—the lagging economy and struggling restaurant industry, organizers didn't tone down the glamour of previous years, and went with punchy pink decor in tribute to women in food, this year's theme. The event featured an all-female roster of 23 chefs in the grand tasting, as well as women mixologists, wine makers, cheese makers, and other food producers, for a total of 60 stations.
Foundation president Susan Ungaro said the theme was chosen to celebrate the number of female food professionals who have won Beard awards—350 over the past 19 years—and because of the timing of the soon-to-be-released movie Julie & Julia, in which Meryl Streep plays Julia Child, a friend of James Beard and a founding member of the organization. "[The movie] offered us another opportunity to celebrate one of the great women chefs in history and her link to James Beard," said Ungaro. Sony pictures created a special trailer of the movie that played during the awards, which were co-hosted by Stanley Tucci (who plays Child's husband, Paul, in the movie), Cat Cora, and Emeril Lagasse.
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James Beard Awards, James Beard Foundation, Stella Artois, Rums of Puerto Rico, Julia Child, Julie & Julia, Plymouth Gin |
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| EVENT REPORT 09.30.08 1:19 PM |
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Boobyball Adopts Espionage Theme With Bond Girls, Gadgets
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 | The spy-themed Boobyball
Photo: BizBash |
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For the playfully named benefit known as the Boobyball, organizers called on sponsors such as Telus and Schick Quattro to create a spy-themed interactive evening on Friday for 900 guests at the Liberty Market Building. "It’s not your typical cocktail party," said Lindsay Grange, manager of special events at Rethink Breast Cancer, the fund-raiser's charity. "You’re going to have such an experience. It’s amazing for our sponsors, too, because they are really able to engage their target audience and get the product in their hands in an interesting and different way. It’s not just them handing out a postcard or sticking a postcard in a gift bag, it's them actually interacting with their customers."
The interactive components of this year's event—titled "Boobyball 7: Undercover"—started as guests checked in at a bank of computers that generated their identities for the evening and issued passports. Attendees then had to participate in five activities throughout the night to earn stamps on their passport, which they presented to pick up their gift bags at the end of the night. Inside the party, guests had the chance to participate in target practice, inspired by Rethink's exclusive line of "Fashion Targets Breast Cancer" T-shirts. Attendees could also obtain an access code from one of Schick Quattro's eight undercover agents for a chance to open one of the men's briefcases to win the prize inside, and could try to unlock a vault in the Secret Agent Lounge sponsored by Telus.
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Rethink Breast Cancer, Calvin Klein Underwear, Schick Quattro, Timex, Telus, Naked Juice, Tanqueray, Cuervo, Stella Artois, Red Rain, Yellow Tail, Aquafina Plus, Toronto.com, Fashion Magazine, Women's Post |
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| EVENT REPORT 09.09.08 2:18 PM |
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Umbrellas and Rainwear Fill the CFC's Annual TIFF Barbecue
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Sunday's afternoon rain didn't have a big impact on the attendance at the Canadian Film Centre's (CFC) annual barbecue, with more than 1,000 guests turning up for the 20th anniversary event on the centre's grounds. “We always try to tent quite a few areas, but we always just kind of pray for the best, and people always know to bring umbrellas if they absolutely need to," said CFC event coordinator Mark Fellion. "Most of the people who attend this event are annual attendees and they know the deal. Last year it didn’t hurt our attendance. We still had about 1,500 people attend."
Hosted each year by Canadian director and producer Norman Jewison during the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), the CFC barbecue is held in honour of Canadian and international filmmakers. "We invite a lot of delegates that are in town for TIFF," Fellion said. "So we never know exactly who’s going to show up ... it’s a lot of our sponsors, our alumni. It’s a good opportunity for them to network with all of these industry professionals."
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Toronto International Film Festival, Canadian Film Centre, BBC, BBC Worldwide, Telus, Canwest, Corus Entertainment, Shaftesbury, Just for Laughs, Deloitte, Epitome Pictures Inc., The Spoke Club, Links of London, Belvedere Vodka, Stella Artois, Jackson-Triggs Vintners, Fiji Water, Krups, Time magazine, The National Post, Playback, Turtle Island Recycling |
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| EVENT REPORT 06.13.08 10:00 AM |
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Wyclef Brings Freestyling—and His Sister—to Stella Artois Légère Launch
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 | Stella Artois Légère branding in the V.I.P. area
Photo: Courtesy of George Pimentel |
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Beer is part of the concert experience, so it seems a natural fit to bring a concert to a beer event—in this case, the Canadian launch of Stella Artois Légère (a lower-calorie version of the Belgian lager). Close to 2,700 people filled Circa on Tuesday night to see hip-hop artist Wyclef Jean play a 90-minute set that included freestyling, climbing, and a performance by his younger sister, Melky.
"Wyclef is an artist people respect," said Jil Eisnor, an account manager at Mosaic Sales Solutions, who works with Labatt Breweries on marketing initiatives. (Labatt distributes Stella Artois products in Canada.) "He suits the brand well because he is sophisticated and his music is, as well."
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Wyclef Jean, Stella Artois, Labatt Breweries |
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| EVENT REPORT 05.29.08 3:34 PM |
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Canadian Sex and the City Premiere Party Re-Creates New York Street Scene
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 | The Sex and the City after-party
Photo: BizBash |
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New York City—often referred to as the fifth leading lady in Sex and the City—played a starring role in the after-party for the film’s Canadian premiere at the Toronto School of Circus Arts last night. The Big Apple featured prominently in the party for 650 guests with images of the Manhattan skyline projected onto the bare concrete walls, a yellow cab parked in the middle of the venue, and an ice sculpture of the Empire State Building in the centre of the main martini bar.
“The whole premise of the event is black and pink, and the whole underlying theme is obviously New York,” said Suzanne Turnbull of McNabb Roick Events, who, along with Jeffry Roick, collaborated with Carrie Wolfe of Alliance Films (the movie's Canadian distributor) to create what Turnbull called a "glamourous party in a New York street.”
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RELATED TOPICS
Sex and the City, New Line Cinema, HBO, Swarovski, Mercedes-Benz, NYC & Company, Shoppers Drug Mart, Stella Artois, Skyy Vodka |
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