| EVENT REPORT 10.27.09 2:40 PM |
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DX Gala Uses Tron-Inspired Laser Show, Ice Skater to Honor Blackberry Maker
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 | The Trading Floor
Photo: George Pimentel |
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The Design Exchange's sixth annual Black and White gala, held Saturday night at the Bay Street venue, based its "Commotion" theme on Research in Motion, the evening's honouree and co-sponsor, and the maker of the Blackberry. The event's nod to technology began with its promotional materials, which included halftone dot-patterned images and carried into the party with elaborate lighting effects.
"We used R.I.M. as our inspiration for the event and tried to make the Trading Floor look like the inside of a machine," said Gillian Hoff, vice president of special events at the Design Exchange, adding she was also inspired by the 1982 film Tron. Hoff called on FFP Laser Systems to create a neon grid on the ceiling of the venue and two laser shows. CCR Solutions created lighting effects like floating bubbles on the walls and a large chandelier constructed from glowing LED versa tubes.
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RELATED TOPICS
Research in Motion, BlackBerry, TD Bank, The Globe and Mail, NUVO magazine, Gilbert's L.L.P., Miller Thomson L.L.P., Dimock Stratton L.L.P., Audi |
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| EVENT REPORT 10.13.09 1:01 PM |
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Bell Gala Adopts Storybook Theme With Enchanted Forest Decor, Fairy-Tale Fashion Show
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 | The entrance to the dining room
Photo: Gary Beechey for BizBash |
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For the 18th annual Bell Gala, which also marked the final year of a five-year funding commitment to the SickKids Foundation at the Hospital for Sick Children, Patricia Lakin, Bell’s national director of special events, created a fairy-tale theme meant to signify a storybook ending to the partnership. Held Thursday at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, this year’s event, dubbed Once Upon A Time, attracted more than 1,800 guests, including 100 local celebrities.
“We wanted to do a really storybook entrance. It’s like entering what I’ll describe as Bell’s version of Once Upon A Time,” said Lakin. She used a white rather than red carpet and created an interview area where guests sat on oversize Alice in Wonderland-style chairs prior to posing for photos in front of a step-and-repeat adorned with the Bell logo. A doorway fashioned from a blue and white book led guests into the reception area, which was decorated like an enchanted forest and included a teacup carnival ride.
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Bell Canada, Hospital For Sick Children, SickKids Foundation, Samsung, Palm, BlackBerry, VMC Group, CGI, The Globe and Mail, Resource Integrated, Lufthansa, Vincor Canada, Corby, Hudson's Bay Co. |
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| EVENT REPORT 04.21.09 3:33 PM |
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Sixth Annual Buy Design Fund-Raiser Draws Guests With Social Media Campaign, Promises of Swag
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In a time of economic uncertainty, Windfall Clothing Service event manager Kelly Carmichael wanted to emphasize the return on investment for guests attending (or considering attending) the clothing bank’s "Buy Design 6: In Space" fund-raiser, held Saturday at the Fermenting Cellar. “We really wanted people to know it was worth it to come,” said Carmichael, who worked with Faulhaber PR to launch a social media campaign and Web site promoting the benefit’s purpose and perks.
“Facebook and Twitter are great ways to get a dialogue going with people about the event and our organization, which is especially important in times like these," Carmichael said. The face of the Twitter campaign, BuyBarella, a character inspired by the Jane Fonda movie Barbarella, tweeted about everything from outfit ideas for the space-themed event to hints about the night’s hors d’oeuvres (like herb-crusted lamb chops), and the gift bag (stuffed with full-size beauty products from sponsor Proctor & Gamble). BuyBarella's 477 Twitter followers had a chance to win one of three sets of tickets to the benefit.
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RELATED TOPICS
Windfall Clothing Service, Procter & Gamble, Smashbox, L'Oréal, Hugo Boss, Stonegate, TD Bank Financial Group, BMO Financial Group, Alterna Savings, Ontario Credit Union Charitable Foundation, Davis + Henderson, Mill Street Brewery, XOXO Wine, Skyy Vodka, Evian, Fashion Magazine, Now, The Globe and Mail, blogTO, She Does the City |
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| EVENT REPORT 02.09.09 9:00 AM |
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Interior Design Show Party Presents "Food as Theatre," With Performing Bartenders, Interactive Stations
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For the opening night party of the 11th annual Interior Design Show, held Thursday at the Direct Energy Centre, organizers chose caterers who presented food as theatre in an effort to entertain guests at the event, which adopted an "aMUSE" theme this year. “The whole evening is certainly food and drink centric,” said event producer Marion Heintzman of Heintzman Productions. “We decided to present food as theatre so everything around the preparation and serving becomes theatre. It’s all about the visual.”
Servers on scooters delivered boxes of pizza to two Autogrill food stations; staff from Rodney’s Oyster House shucked oysters; Edo offered handmade sushi to attendees; and Peller Estates made pink icewine candy. Bartenders from Bartender One entertained guests while making drinks at a large bar located in the main aisle, and a girl dressed in white chipped away at a block of ice that encased a bottle of Belvedere Vodka on the Krups stage.
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RELATED TOPICS
Interior Design Show, Audi, Azure, House & Home, The Globe and Mail, Ikea, Para Paints, Krups, Swarovski Crystallized, Dekla, Jenn-Air, Scavolini, Samsung, Yellow Pages |
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| NEWS 01.29.09 3:56 PM |
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Kultura Chef Cooks and Performs for the Women of Baycrest
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 | Roger Mooking
Photo: Courtesy of the Baycrest Foundation |
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Neither an unstable economy nor a messy snowstorm could keep more than 100 women from attending Wednesday's official launch of Women of Baycrest—a network of women raising money to support women’s brain health. “We were looking to launch a women’s fund-raising campaign that would be unique,” said Lynn Posluns, who is co-chairing the campaign with Rhonda Litwack. “It is a campaign raising money by women for women.”
The goal of Baycrest’s newest campaign is to raise $3 million for the creation of a new research chair in women’s brain health and aging at the University of Toronto, Posluns said. She reported that women have been eager to join the cause, despite the economic times. The network currently has 100 members.
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Women of Baycrest, Bycrest Foundation, Roger Mooking, The Globe and Mail, HMV, Dermalogica, Lifford Wine Agency, H.B. Fenn & Company |
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| EVENT REPORT 11.17.08 3:41 PM |
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All That Glitters Gala Adopts a Jet-Set Theme With California Palms, Eiffel Tower Centerpieces
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 | Models dressed as flight attendants
Photo: BizBash |
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Although ticket sales for this year’s All That Glitters Gala—held Thursday at the Liberty Grand Entertainment Complex—slowed when the stock market hit a low in October, Marc Ralsky, director of volunteer and regional affairs for the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of Canada, expected the organization to reach its $500,000 fund-raising goal. More than 900 guests attended the benefit, which adopted a “Jet Set” theme and offered attendees the choice of dining in Los Angeles, London, or Paris. “It was first come, first serve,” Ralsky said of the ticketing for the themed rooms, noting that organizers sold different levels of sponsorship as royal-, first-, and executive-class tickets.
“Tickets were selling really, really fast, and then once the stock market crashed, we had no more sales. It just stopped,” Ralsky said. “Corporate tickets we had no problem with. We were on target with our corporate numbers. It was the individual tickets we had problems with.” The fact that the benefit fell on the same night as events being held at the Art Gallery of Ontario and the Royal Ontario Museum may also have impacted individual decisions, he said, noting that ticket sales picked up again just prior to the event. Ralsky reported that people who attend the foundation’s benefit typically have some connection with Crohn's and colitis. “We don’t attract the general public to events just because it’s the place to be," he said. "We’re trying to change that, so we upped the ante this year by bringing Solutions With Impact on.”
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RELATED TOPICS
Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of Canada, The Globe and Mail, Air Canada Vacations, CTV, Mercedes-Benz, Danier, M.A.C. Cosmetics, 104.5 Chum FM |
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| EVENT REPORT 11.04.08 3:48 PM |
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Fashion Cares Adopts Halloween-Meets-Hitchcock Theme With Costumes, Film Tributes
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 | The stage show at Fashion Cares
Photo: George Pimentel |
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When Michael King and Phillip Ing signed on to plan this year's Fashion Cares, the pair knew they had a lot of ground to make up for after a disappointing event in 2007. "Last year was a very difficult year. It wasn't my year chairing it, but they made a number of mistakes," King, chair of the Fashion Cares steering committee, said of the 2007 event, which was criticized for the choice of venue (a tent in the Distillery District) and the lack of a runway show. "They were well intentioned. They just didn't think things through."
On Saturday, the gala returned to the Metro Toronto Convention Centre for an evening hosted by David Furnish that included an elaborate runway show featuring looks from more than 40 designers and performances by the likes of Katy Perry and Dame Shirley Bassey. The annual fund-raiser for the AIDS Committee of Toronto, dubbed "Fashion sCares" this year, adopted a Halloween meets haute couture meets Alfred Hitchcock theme.
"I was watching the Movie Channel and I saw The Birds and I realized there are so many iconic elements from Hitchcock movies—the fabulous blonds, the sort of sexual repression, the horror of the birds, the suspense. There's great stuff to pull out of that and throw together for a theme for a Fashion Cares show," said Ing, who produced the event for its first 20 years and returned this year as the show's producer and creative director.
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RELATED TOPICS
AIDS Committee of Toronto, Alfred Hitchcock, Shirley Bassey, Katy Perry, Kreesha Turner, BMO Financial Group, LG Canada, CTV, The Globe and Mail, CHUM FM, Sir Magazine |
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| EVENT REPORT 10.30.08 1:27 PM |
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Artists, Burlesque Dancers Add French Flair to Operanation
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 | Dancers at the Operanation benefit
Photo: Mark Ridout |
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The sights and sounds of life in Bohemian Paris filled the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts Friday for the Canadian Opera Company fund-raiser entitled "Operanation V: La Vie Bohème." The fifth annual dinner and cocktail reception treated guests to a special presentation of Puccini's La Bohème. “Our goal for Operanation is to raise funds for the education and outreach programs of the Canadian Opera Company while making opera more accessible to a broader audience,” said Sarah Jarvis, the company's special events manager.
Jarvis worked with a volunteer team co-chaired by Greg Sullivan and Ingrid Chao to plan the benefit, which drew a sold-out crowd of 1,100. “The event now has a very loyal and enthusiastic following and they look forward to this event every year, as do I," Jarvis said. The evening began at 7 p.m. with a V.I.P. dinner in the Henry N. R. Jackman Lounge, where guests dined on French cuisine by Rose Reisman Catering.
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RELATED TOPICS
Canadian Opera Company, TD Canada Trust, CTV, The Globe and Mail, Scotiabank Group, Transat |
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| NEWS 09.18.08 4:05 PM |
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AIDS Benefit Announces Lineups
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 | Models at the Fashion Cares launch
Photo: BizBash |
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Haute couture meets Alfred Hitchcock is the theme for this year’s Fashion Cares fund-raiser—being held November 1 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre to benefit the AIDS Committee of Toronto—organizers revealed Wednesday. Event chair Michael King described the upcoming gala, dubbed Fashion Scares, as “a Halloween weekend spectacle…a fancy-dress costumed affair that takes it’s theme from the master of suspense…and a marvelous excuse to exhibit sartorial excess for a community that loves any excuse to dress up.”
Wednesday’s launch, held at the Brant House, offered a preview from some of the 40 designers set to participate in the runway show at the 22nd annual gala. Models donned creations by David Dixon, Pam Chorley, Greta Constantine, and Izzy Camilleri. “We’re putting fashion back in Fashion Cares,” King said of the event, which is being organized by artistic director and producer Phillip Ing. The vice president of special and retail events for M.A.C. Cosmetics is back after stepping down for a year. (Ing was not involved in last year’s gala, which received mixed reviews after moving from the MTCC to the Distillery District for the first time.)
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RELATED TOPICS
Fashion Cares, AIDS Committee of Toronto, BMO Financial Group, LG Canada, CTV, The Globe and Mail, CHUM FM, Sir Magazine |
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| NEWS 06.06.08 12:14 PM |
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Sponsors Drive Free Programming at Luminato Festival
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Makeup demonstrations, dance classes, light shows, and performances by the likes of the Barra MacNeils and Ashley MacIsaac are just some of the free events being presented as part of the second annual Luminato Festival of Arts and Creativity, which starts Friday and runs through June 15. And, with more than 80 percent of the programming being offered at no cost to the public, sponsorships are critical to the event's success, festival president and C.E.O. Janice Price said in an interview.
“I think last year we were extremely grateful that [the inaugural festival came] off and that people embraced it so well … but we did all of that with only about seven months of planning," Price said. "The luxury of having a year of planning time means that we’ve really been able to leverage the desire of our corporate sponsors to make the connection with the programming. It’s allowed us to be a lot more creative with our partners." She added, “I think the really optimum blend of public-sector, individual, and private sponsorship makes [our sponsors] feel comfortable they’re working with an organization that has brought everybody to the table."
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RELATED TOPICS
L'Oréal, Government of Ontario, Government of Canada, Telus, CTV, The Globe and Mail, Tourism Toronto, Cineplex Media, St. Joseph Communications, BMO Financial Group, OLG, National Bank, Manulife Financial, Toronto Star, Scotiabank Group, Toronto Life, Waterfront Toronto, The Weather Network |
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