October 10, 2018: Lady Gaga, Harry Styles, and Serena Williams to Co-Chair 'Camp'-Theme Met Gala, How Walt Disney World Is Becoming More Sustainable, Miss America Organization Punishes States in Revolt

1. LADY GAGA, HARRY STYLES, AND SERENA WILLIAMS TO CO-CHAIR 'CAMP'-THEME MET GALA: The Metropolitan Museum of Art announced Tuesday that its Costume Institute exhibition for 2019 will be "Camp: Notes on Fashion," inspired by Susan Sontag's 1964 essay "Notes on 'Camp.'" The gala on May 6 will be co-chaired by Lady Gaga, Serena Williams, and Harry Styles. Vogue: "Andrew Bolton, Wendy Yu curator in charge of the Costume Institute, has framed the exhibition around Susan Sontag’s seminal 1964 essay 'Notes on "Camp,"' which posited different ways in which the concept could be construed. ... Camp, as Bolton notes, 'has become increasingly more mainstream in its pluralities—political camp, queer camp, Pop camp, the conflation of high and low, the idea that there is no such thing as originality.' Camp, he continues, has been described as style without content. 'But I think you’ve got to be incredibly sophisticated to understand camp—look at Yves Saint Laurent and Marc Jacobs.' The exhibition, which will be presented in the Met Fifth Avenue’s Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Exhibition Hall, is made possible by Gucci. For Gucci’s creative director Alessandro Michele, Sontag’s essay 'perfectly expresses what camp truly means to me: the unique ability of combining high art and pop culture.' No one growing up on a diet of Italian television and pop stars such as Mina, Patty Pravo, and Raffaella Carrà in the 1980s could be a stranger to the concept of camp, which Bolton also points out embraces elements that include 'irony, humor, parody, pastiche, artifice, theatricality, excess, extravagance, nostalgia, and exaggeration'—all of which can, by turns, be discovered in Michele’s playful Gucci oeuvre. As the Metropolitan’s director Max Hollein notes, 'camp’s disruptive nature and subversion of modern aesthetic values has often been trivialized, but this exhibition will reveal its profound influence on both high art and popular culture.'" https://bit.ly/2RFfF84

2. HOW WALT DISNEY WORLD IS BECOMING MORE SUSTAINABLE: In just a few months, two of the four parks at Walt Disney World in central Florida will be powered by renewable solar energy, and before the end of this year, the park will debut a massive 50-megawatt solar power facility made of more than a half-million solar panels, located near Disney’s Animal Kingdom. The new green initiatives are part of Disney's bigger plan to reduce its net greenhouse gas emissions 50 percent worldwide by 2020. The New York Times: "'At our sites around the world, we’re investing in hidden magic to continually reduce our environmental footprint,' Bob Chapek, chairman of Disney Parks, experiences and consumer products, said. The soon-to-open Disney World solar facility, spread along a 270-acre designated renewable energy area, will produce enough energy to supply 10,000 homes annually and will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 57,000 tons per year, according to Disney’s estimates. That is the annual equivalent of removing roughly 9,300 automobiles from the roads, the company says. The energy will not actually go to Disney’s theme parks, but rather into the local power grid. Nonetheless, with one eye on its global reputation and another on its customers’ increasing focus on sustainability, Disney is emerging as a renewable energy force. Disney’s move toward cleaner energy comes when brand image for global giants goes far beyond, say, merely a ride on Space Mountain—particularly among free-spending but environmentally sensitive millennials. Indeed, some 79 percent of consumers say they seek out products that are socially or environmentally responsible, according to a 2017 study by Cone Communications." https://nyti.ms/2PoYdDh

3. MISS AMERICA ORGANIZATION PUNISHES STATES IN REVOLT: The Miss America Organization responded to states in opposition of the pageant’s leadership this summer by terminating the licenses of four states, threatening 15 with probation, and thanking other states that supported the organization’s new leadership in the first pageant without a swimsuit competition. Associated Press: “The Miss America Organization would not say how it decided which states to terminate and which to threaten with probation, issuing a statement to The Associated Press that read, in its entirety, ‘The process regarding Miss America state licensees is confidential.’ State officials say their dissatisfaction stemmed not from the elimination of swimsuits, but by the way Carlson and C.E.O. Regina Hopper ran the organization since taking over in January. Georgia and West Virginia are among states that were notified in recent days that their state licenses are being terminated, Paul Perkins, a lawyer representing both states, told The Associated Press. And a Pennsylvania state pageant official, Chet Welch, confirmed his state has gotten a termination notice as well. One other state also has been terminated, according to state officials and a former national board member, but its officials did not respond to messages seeking comment Monday. Other states have been asked to explain—in writing—why they acted as they did in the run-up to the pageant. ‘They are upset, but now they are scared, too,’ said Jennifer Vaden Barth, a former national board member and a former Miss North Carolina. ‘This just validates why people are upset and why they felt the need to speak out in the first place.’ A state organization that has its license terminated can no longer claim to be affiliated with the Miss America Organization and must, among other things, turn over bank accounts with scholarship money to the national organization.” https://bit.ly/2QDczA1


*INDUSTRY NEWS*

AlliedPRA and its acquired brands of DSC, Briggs, and Destination Nashville have come together to rebrand as PRA. The unified company has also debuted a new website to mark the new brand. 

* LOCAL NEWS *

BOSTON:  Marijuana industry trade show the Cannabis World Congress and Business Expo (CWCBExpo) will take place October 17-20 at the John B. Hynes Convention Center.

LOS ANGELES:  The L.A. CoMotion Mobility Festival will take place November 17 in the Arts District. The event, which is open to the public, will highlight new mobility technologies with exhibits, workshops, panels, test tracks, demos, and walking and bike tours. 

For information on upcoming events in Los Angeles, visit Masterplanner: http://www.masterplanneronline.com/losangeles

MIAMI/SOUTH FLORIDA:  Fontainebleau Miami Beach has promoted Louis Gonzalez to director of group sales. 

NEW YORK:  God's Love We Deliver will host its Golden Heart Awards on October 16 at Spring Studios. The event will honor actor Hugh Jackman, playwright Tony Kushner, and auctioneer Jamie Niven.

Pet product brand Wild One will open a pop-up retail store on October 20. Along with the brand’s line of design-forward products, the space will have a tennis ball dispenser, pet-friendly plants, coffee from Toby’s Estate, and a mural by Brooklyn artist Marleigh Culver. 

“Mickey: The True Original Exhibition,” a 16,000-square-foot interactive exhibition featuring artwork inspired by Mickey Mouse in honor of the character’s 90th birthday, will run November 8-February 10, 2019, at 60 10th Avenue. Los Angeles-based designer Darren Romanelli curated the exhibition, which will feature immersive installations from more than 12 artists specializing in a variety of mediums. 

The Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation’s 51st annual gala, “A Chef Tasting,” will take place November 12 at Pier 60. Participating restaurants and catering companies will include Abigail Kirsch, Nobu, and Tavern on Jane. 

For information on upcoming events in New York, visit Masterplanner: http://www.masterplanneronline.com/newyork

NIAGARA FALLS, NEW YORK:  Niagara University will mark the 50th anniversary of the founding of its College of Hospitality and Tourism Management by co-hosting the International Society of Travel and Tourism Educator’s 37th annual Innovation in Tourism Education Conference with the Niagara Falls Culinary Institute. The conference will take place October 17-19. 

SAN ANTONIO:  Visit San Antonio has promoted Laura Betancourt to national sales manager. 

TORONTO:  Rethink Breast Cancer’s 17th annual Boobyball fund-raiser will take place October 12 at Rebel. The event will have a Wild West theme. 

WASHINGTON, D.C.:  The second annual Light Up the Season event, which benefits Children’s National, will take place December 16 at the Four Seasons Hotel Washington, D.C. 

YOUR NEWS: What are you doing? Tell us: [email protected]. 

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With contributions from Claire Hoffman in Los Angeles and Beth Kormanik, Michele Laufik, and Ian Zelaya in New York.

BizBash Daily is the must-read digest of event industry news from BizBash.com.

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