Toronto Event Report is a news archive for Event Planners on recent past Benefit Galas, Public Promos, Launch Parties, Movie Premieres, Fashion Shows and New Releases by BizBash

Toronto Event Report Archive provides Event Planning organizations archive coverage of Party Events, Junkets, PR and Press Releases by BizBash

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LG FASHION WEEK Bustle After-Party Doubles as Vodka Launch Fashion Week Tent Adopts an LG-Inspired Look For Fall Shows Buyers Market, Mezzanine Seating, Film Screening Planned for LG Fashion Week Where to Entertain Near the Tents During Fashion Week   BIG-NAME BRANDS Barbie Pop-Up Showcases Furniture Line, Designs From David Dixon's Opening Night Show at LG Fashion Week Roots Unveils Eco-Fragrances at Nature-Friendly Rosedale Shop Joe Fresh Launches Cosmetics Line With Makeup Demos, Photo Station Grey Goose Launches La Poire With (Get This!) Pear-Flavored Cocktails, Hors D'Oeuvres   EYE-CATCHING ENTERTAINMENT Celebrity DJ Prompts Last-Minute Changes to Microsoft Launch Sports Channel Debuts New HD Studio With Concert, Street Party Go-Go Dancers, Disco Music Move Crowd at M.A.C. Gold Fever Party     Event Report Archive 11.06.09 3:09 PM Feist Steps in to Perform at Holt Renfrew's Holiday Window Unveiling Feist performed on Bloor Street Photo: George Pimentel In a last-minute change to the lineup, singer-songwriter Feist stepped in for scheduled performer Kristin Chenoweth at Holt Renfrew's fifth annual Holiday Window Unveiling Thursday after the Tony winner cancelled her appearance due to an illness. “We’ve always wanted to have Feist. She’s Canadian, and the Abrams Brothers are opening for her, so it’s an all-Canadian lineup. That’s a first for us,” said Gwen Gibson, the retailer's director of special events. Gibson reported that organizers were notified at noon on Wednesday that Chenoweth was ill and wouldn’t be able to perform. About six hours later, they secured Feist for the event. “It’s my favourite event of the whole year,” Gibson said. “It’s a performance on the street. It’s joyous, and it’s our one public performance each year.” MORE >> RELATED TOPICS Holt Renfrew, Feist, Entertainment Tonight Canada, United Way of Canada 11.02.09 4:22 PM Venetian Ball Recreates Piazza San Marco With 30-foot Bell Tower, Starry Night Lighting The dining room Photo: George Pimentel For the 16th annual Venetian Ball, held Friday at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre to benefit the Villa Charities Foundation, members of this year's volunteer organizing committee drew a record crowd, used elaborate decor to recreate the Piazza San Marco, and hosted a surprise performance by Frankie Valli.  Although event committee members knew they had some financial challenges due to the economy, Laura Dal Bo, the foundation's executive director, said, "they just made a commitment to really ensure the Venetian Ball didn't suffer this year." Dal Bo worked with event co-chairs James Di Luca and Steven Muzzo to create the theme for this year's gala, which drew a crowd of more than 1,500 guests—up from 800 in 2008. MORE >> RELATED TOPICS Villa Charities Foundation, I.B.E.W. Local 353, Falconcrest Homes, TD Commercial Banking, Toro Aluminum, Aird & Berlis L.L.P., CIBC Wood Gundy, Condrain Group, Siemens, Tridel, TLN, Mercedes-Benz 10.30.09 3:47 PM Baycrest Foundation Stages Ballroom Dance Competition for Annual Gala The dance competition Photo: Nikki Leigh McKean for BizBash Taking a cue from Dancing With the Stars, the Baycrest Foundation enlisted six community leaders and created its own ballroom dance competition for the organization's annual gala, held at the Sheraton Centre on Thursday. Michael Rosen, Baycrest's director of special events and corporate sponsorships, used lighting and lots of sparkle to create the feel of a television studio for the event, dubbed the Dancing With Our Stars Gala. "We wanted it to be fresh, sparkly, and clean. There are no programs on the tables, no gifting, not a lot of flowers. Really what we've done is we've created a television show within a hotel ballroom," said Rosen who called on Gary Topp of Toppnotch Services Inc. to produce the event. The company constructed a stage and dance floor for the competition and worked with Metalworks Productions Inc. on the audiovisual and lighting for the event. "The whole idea is sparkle. When the lights go, it's going to be wild," Rosen said. MORE >> RELATED TOPICS The Baycrest Foundation, Dancing With the Stars, RioCan, Royal de Versailles, Rolex, Deloitte, KIK Custom Products, RBC Capital Markets, RSM Richter, Scotiabank, Cineplex Entertainment, Fabricland, Great Gulf Homes, the Rose Corporation, Onex, Harry Rosen 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 10.30.09 12:22 PM Thomas Sabo Product Launch Dresses Ultra With Black Feathers, Roses The new Thomas Sabo watch collection Photo: BizBash Thomas Sabo invited 250 journalists, stylists, and local celebrities to Ultra for the launch of the brand’s new line of watches Wednesday. The company, which also has a collection of charms and sterling silver jewelry, worked with Faulhaber PR to produce the event. “They flew their own merchandisers in to work with us and they shipped in all of the product and displays,” said Christine Faulhaber, who traveled to London for the international market launch at Somerset House on July 1. “We’re recreating [the event] here.” Product displays surrounded the room, and a long table topped with jewelry, dark red roses, black candelabra, and black feathers sat in the centre of the space. “It’s very important for us to have a look for our brand. It’s important that the audience gets to know about the world of Thomas Sabo,” said international PR manager Sonja Opel. "The new sterling silver collection for fall/winter is very dark. The inspiration is the theatre and the stage, so we have created atmosphere and played with the lighting." MORE >> RELATED TOPICS Thomas Sabo 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 10.27.09 2:40 PM DX Gala Uses Tron-Inspired Laser Show, Ice Skater to Honor Blackberry Maker The Trading Floor Photo: George Pimentel 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. MORE >> 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 10.27.09 11:51 AM LG Fashion Week Wraps With Runway Fund-Raiser The Nathaniel Dett Chorale Photo: George Pimentel To close LG Fashion Week, designers Chris Tyrell and Jim Searle of Hoax Couture partnered with the Fashion Design Council of Canada to present the Dare to Wear Love Gala, showcasing fashions from 25 Canadian designers in support of the Stephen Lewis Foundation. Friday's gala coincided with a fund-raising campaign dubbed A Dare to Remember, an initiative spearheaded by the charity that encourages Canadians to accept dares and collect pledges for the nonprofit organization, which works to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS in Africa. In the spirit of the campaign, event producers Hoax Couture provided designers like Evan Biddell, Brian Bailey, and Linda Lundström with fabric sourced from countries throughout Africa and dared them to create a design for the runway show. Celebrity models including singer Jully Black, eTalk host Traci Melchor, and MTV Canada host Jessi Cruickshank walked the catwalk. MORE >> RELATED TOPICS LG Fashion Week, Fashion Design Council of Canada, The Stephen Lewis Foundation, Hoax Couture, Cineplex Media 10.27.09 11:43 AM Lucian Matis Gets Cirque-Inspired After-Party at Oasi Satin ribbons hung from light fixtures Photo: Luis Enriquez When Lucian Matis—winner of the Fashion Design Council of Canada's first-ever F.D.C.C. Designer Development Fund—presented his spring 2010 collection on the final day of LG Fashion Week, he opened the show with a model dressed in a long watercolour clown-print dress. Following his lead, event firm Candice&Alison created a circus-inspired vibe for the designer's after-party, which drew a crowd of 300 to Oasi Restaurant on Friday night. "Lucian's look is very artisan and couture. It's a bit avant-garde. So the venue we chose has Baroque decor but is very modern and edgy," said Candice Chan. "We took the circus theme and made it very opulent." MORE >> RELATED TOPICS LG Fashion Week, Fashion Design Council of Canada, Lucian Matis 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 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 Casinos Conference Centers, Convention Centers & Auditoriums Entertainment Venues/Performance Spaces Golf Courses/Clubs Hotels Independent Event Spaces Lofts/Photo Studios/Raw Spaces Mansions/Houses Movie Studios/Sound Stages Museums/Cultural Spaces Outdoor Spaces Private Clubs Quick Trips Religious Spaces Restaurants Retail Venues Spas/Relaxation Places Stadiums/Arenas Terraces/Roofs/Gardens (All Venues) By Neighborhood/Location All Neighborhoods Annex Baldwin St. Area Beaches Bloor St. West Bloor West Village Cabbagetown Chinatown Church St. Village Danforth/Greektown Downtown Core Downtown East Downtown West Entertainment District Etobicoke Financial District Little Italy/College St. Midtown North York Queen St. West Rosedale Scarborough Theatre District Yorkville Markham Mississauga Niagara Niagara-on-the-Lake Other Areas Richmond Hill Stratford Thornhill Bloor/Yorkville Forest Hill Harbourfront High Park King West Leaside Leslieville Liberty Village Muskoka North Toronto Old Town Toronto Parkdale Show Only New Venues Search Our Venue Directory RECENTLY VIEWED Stories Interactive Circus Performers Lighten Mood at Cancer Fund-Raiser How Can You Make a Trade Show Booth Eco-Friendly? 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