The official Absolut 100 Kanye West after-party Photo: Jonah Koch for BizBash
The Kanye West Glow in the Dark tour, featuring rapper Lupe Fiasco, Rihanna, and Virginia Beach group NERD, started its nine-week, 30-city run about a month ago. Since the start, Absolut 100—the spirits company's latest luxury vodka, packaged in a black bottle—has sponsored the official traveling after-parties (as we reported here), with looks taken from the rapper's concert setup. For the D.C. stop, the tour took over a private space at the massive four-level nightclub Love and even scored a late-night appearance from West and his crew.
"For the tour, we've pulled out five cities [including Washington] that will have the ultimate V.I.P. party," said Samantha Walker, vice president of special events for New York-based Strategic Group, which collaborated with Absolut events manager Ann Fryer on the event. "We worked with Absolut and Absolut worked with Kanye to make that glow-in-the-dark message come across."
"It's a 360-degree experience for the consumer," added Absolut public relations manager Sarah Bessette. "We really collaborated with him in terms of seeing what his plans for the tour would be, so we knew everything needed to be glow-in-the-dark and neon."
READ MORE RELATED TOPICSKanye West,
Absolut
Waiters from Great Performances Photo: Elizabeth Lippman
An event could have exquisite flowers, food prepared by a world-famous chef, and Oscar-presenter-worthy gift bags, but if a check-in person is less than friendly or the caterwaiters are standing around chatting, that’s what guests will remember. So how do you make sure service is up to par when there are so many people performing so many different tasks?
Gregory Boroff, senior vice president of external relations for the Food Bank for New York City, says a thorough interview process for volunteers is a big part of how the nonprofit keeps its quality of service (and proceeds from events) high. “We don’t send out mass emails asking who would like to volunteer for an event. Everyone is hand-picked. When people say they want to volunteer, we meet them first to see if it’s a good fit between the person and the organization,” he says. “We make sure they are friendly, that they understand what our organization is about and what we try to accomplish. Are they are there to help [us], or to further a personal agenda?” While many volunteers want to work the celebrity-studded Can-Do Awards dinner, Boroff says those jobs are often reserved for people who have proven themselves in other positions, like working in the office, or at another event.
READ MORE RELATED TOPICSFood Bank for New York City,
Grammys,
Luminato
Yesterday's test run Photo: Courtesy of Hayes & Associates
As another part of the Washington National Cathedral’s yearlong centennial celebration, a Swiss illumination artist is projecting giant multicolored “images of unity” onto the south and west sides of the building. The presentation, dubbed “Lighting to Unite,” starts this evening and runs through Sunday night, from sunset to midnight.
According to Kelly Dieter of Hayes & Associates, who handled the event's PR, the idea came about when the artist, Gerry Hofstetter, became enamored with the cathedral two years ago during a visit to D.C. He then sat down with the cathedral's dean, Reverend Sam Lloyd, to discuss his ideas. The result is more than 30 multicolored projections depicting images like stars and human faces, as well as a few of Hofstetter's paintings and photographs, a NASA photo taken from space, and the word peace spelled in different languages.
This morning, The Washington Post reported that reactions at Thursday night’s test run were mixed, as some passersby saw the display as “lovely” and “astounding” while others commented that they “don’t get [a unity message] out of this.”
READ MORE
Yesterday wasn't exactly the best day for a garden party, with rain pouring and a storm brewing. But the Trust for the National Mall went ahead with its inaugural benefit luncheon, held under a series of circus-style century tents in the shadow of the Washington Monument, with the Capitol in sight. "We have 500 umbrellas," said freelance planner Allison Signorelli, who produced the event with Trust president Caroline Cunningham.
For the decor and flowers, Signorelli brought on New York-based planner David Tutera, who envisioned an English garden setting for the lunch. "The idea he had was, this is what the Mall is [with the view] and this is what the Mall could be if we had manicured gardens and beautiful flowers," Signorelli said.
READ MORE RELATED TOPICSTrust for the National Mall
FROM CHICAGO On Wednesday, a face-painted man wearing a pink shirt and toting a green water gun wove his way through the stylish crowd assembled at the River East Art Center for Gen Art and Nokia's Art in Motion event. The colorful guest was part of one of three films that were shot on site, as emerging filmmakers commissioned by Gen Art made short movies using Nokia's N95 8GB device.
The moviemaking was only one of the ideas that Gen Art Chicago's regional event director, Laura Lachman, cooked up for the event, which was intended to showcase the cutting-edge capabilities of Nokia's N95 and N810 devices.
Guests had the option of ordering drinks the old-fashioned way (by bellying up to the bar) or by taking a more technological route: Nokia reps standing at three highboys held N810 Internet tablets that they used to type in guests' drink requests. The orders went electronically to a computer behind the bar, and a server brought the drink orders to the tables within a matter of minutes.
READ MORE RELATED TOPICSGen Art,
Nokia
An array of Fabulous Stationery's offerings Photo: Courtesy of Fabulous Stationery
For stylish thank-you notes or invites on a budget, Fabulous Stationery has a wide range of cards that can be personalized. The Philadelphia-based company, owned by three advertising-agency veterans, offers more than 300 designs, including Pop Art prints, masculine stripes, and organic shapes. For bulk orders of 10 or more sets of 25 cards and envelopes, the designers can tailor both the text and the look of the cards and add a company logo. Corporate clients include Marie Claire and the Hyatt Regency Boston. Individual sets range from $35 to $55; bulk orders receive 15 percent off. The company ships worldwide. —Lisa Cericola
Back in January, The Washington Post reported that a new Penn Quarter addition, Co Co. Sala, planned to open in time for Valentine's Day. Washingtonians waited patiently for the 130-seat restaurant, which is named for its function as a cocktail and chocolate lounge. (Sala translates to lounge in several languages.) Now, almost three months later, the spot will officially open May 12.
A partnership between pastry chef Nisha Sidhu and Bharet Malhotra of event management company Cvent Inc., the venture includes an ambitious design, which took more time than expected. The major delay: Cohiba labrador gray granite shipped in from Italy for the space's countertops arrived in late March and took three weeks to install.
Dubbed by Malhotra as a "fine-dining lounge," the venue is luxe looking, awash in shades of chocolate brown, with Italian porcelain tiled floors, an undulating ceiling, and faux emu leather chairs. The Co Co. Sala logo in one entrance (there are two, with one leading to the evening dining area and the other connected to the lunch and breakfast space) features fine red silk captured between two panes of glass.
READ MORE
Brendan Hurley is the senior vice president of marketing and communications for the Goodwill of Greater Washington, a charitable organization that collects donated clothing and provides employment services to the disadvantaged. He is currently planning the annual “Fashion of Goodwill,” a Paris-themed runway show and benefit at the French Embassy in September. Hurley previously worked at Clear Channel Radio, where he coordinated marketing events for the station.
Catering: “Geppetto Catering in Riverdale, Maryland. They are not a mass production house, so you generally deal directly with the principal, Josh Carin. He is not just a great caterer, but he is also very philanthropic—which says a lot about his character."
Decor: “A Vista Events has always done a good job for us. Hargrove is another good company. At Hargrove’s warehouse, you feel like you’re backstage at Disney World—it’s amazing. However, if money is a real concern, A Vista is a little more reasonably priced.”
READ MORE RELATED TOPICSGoodwill of Greater Washington
Will on the Hill's 20-person cast Photo: Kevin Allen
On Monday night, the Shakespeare Theater Company held its annual Will on the Hill event, where some 20 D.C. personalities and members of Congress took the stage to perform in A Comedy of Capitol Errors. While all was status quo throughout most of the evening, one glitch did occur: According to Yeas and Nays, half the cast was missing at curtain call, due to a vote on the Hill—which artistic director Michael Kahn eloquently dubbed as "democracy in action" when he made apologies to the 300-person audience.
"We handle events every day, but to work with a cast that doesn't have any experience is difficult," added associate director of special events Joanne Coutts. "But they're really engaged and want to be part of the event."
Written by playwright Peter Byrne and directed by Ethan McSweeny, the play (staged on the set of the current Julius Caesar production) featured cast members such as Vermont senator Patrick Leahy, Capitol File publisher Susan Nixon, and Motion Picture Association of America chairman Daniel Glickman.
READ MORE RELATED TOPICSWill on the Hill,
Shakespeare Theater Company
Models walked the runway in confectionary outfits. Photo: Jay Moore
It was Food Network meets Project Runway at Monday night’s Sweet Charity event at the Mandarin Oriental. Benefiting the Heart of America Foundation, which provides books to at-risk children, the annual fashion show presented outfits made from candy and chocolate on the runway, this year under a fairy-tale theme (think Tinker Bell and Alice in Wonderland).
Some of the models—including wives of Washington Wizards players and America’s Next Top Model'sSaleisha Stowers—wore chocolate from head to toe and had to tread carefully on the runway. In order to keep the chocolate from melting, the staging area was kept at a chilly 50 degrees. Another precautionary tactic: covering the ballroom’s floor in plastic, as the 15 participating chefs-turned-fashion designers (including Aron Weber of the Fairmont Washington and Shaun McCarthy of Brasserie Beck) spent four hours before the show, with gaggles of assistants, perfecting their chocolaty looks.
READ MORE RELATED TOPICSHeart of America Foundation,
Sweet Charity
