| NEWS 08.25.09 8:00 AM |
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At BizBash Expo, Talk Focused on Vendor-Planner Relationships, Marketing Through Pizza Deliveries
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FROM CHICAGO
At the BizBash Expo at Chicago's Merchandise Mart Thursday, educational sessions focused on topics such as financial strategies, social networking, and word-of-mouth marketing. In some of the panels, talk turned to the stabilizing effects of loyal planner-vendor relationships. And in all sessions, speakers stressed the importance of communication—whether between vendors and planners, or planners and the police force.
In a session dubbed "Planning Successful Events and Galas in Challenging Times," Lee Kite, director of distinguished events at the American Cancer Society, spoke about the relief she feels working with trusted vendors, explaining that unstable times are "a solid time for solid relationships." Along with golf outings, Kite plans the organization's annual Discovery Ball, and said that her "happy place—perhaps as much as calculating the take" is seeing vendors whom she has worked with in the past arrive at an event.
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Zappos, Google |
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| EVENT REPORT 04.20.09 10:00 AM |
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YouTube Brings Videos—and 200 Performers Found Online—to Carnegie Hall
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 | The inaugural YouTube Symphony
Photo: Obscura Digital |
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FROM NEW YORK
A viral call to arms posted by composer Tan Dun just five months ago yielded more than 15 million hits and 3,000 auditions from YouTube musicians hoping to be a part of the Web site's first ever live symphony. The 93 winners took the stage at Carnegie Hall Wednesday night for a program that included familiar classical pieces and premiere compositions set to a backdrop of massive video that filled much of the theater.
When Google-owned YouTube set out to bring together its most talented users for a one-off concert, the performance itself would be the prize, so producers settled on Carnegie Hall as an enticing venue. More than 3,000 users submitted videos of themselves playing, and once the panel of judges had selected the 93 performers from more than 30 countries, the reality of planning the actual event became a priority.
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YouTube, YouTube Symphony, Google |
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| EVENT REPORT 02.02.09 11:54 AM |
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Last Look at the Inauguration: More Photos From Google's Party
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 | Giant plastic igloos at Google's inaugural party
Photo: Courtesy of Google |
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Our coverage of the inaugural festivities went online quickly after the events, but some new photos just came in from Google's bash at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium, considered by some to be—style- and spectacle-wise, at least—one of the highlights of the week. Here's a look at the gleaming white Obama-influenced fete, overseen and designed by Google's group marketing manager of events, Lorin Pollack-Platto.
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Inauguration 2009, Google |
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| EVENT REPORT 01.21.09 2:30 PM |
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Inauguration Balls Feature A-List Performers, High-Tech Touches, and High- and Low-End Decor
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 | The Obamas at the Neighborhood Ball
Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images |
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After a day of inaugural festivities held outside amid biting winds and clamoring crowds, last night the masses descended onto a slew of balls celebrating President Barack Obama's swearing in. The 10 Presidential Inauguration Committee-sanctioned parties—the official bashes graced with planned appearances by the new president and first lady—were the tickets to land, with most going to politicians, Hill staffers, and donors. Private functions also dotted the event landscape, with first-ever parties from BET at the Mandarin Oriental and Google at the Mellon Auditorium.
Obama's popularity among the Hollywood set was more evident than ever before, as an award show-worthy roster of performers entertained around town. On the slate at the televised Neighborhood Ball were Faith Hill, Stevie Wonder, Beyoncé, Jay-Z, and Alicia Keys. Other rosters included Sting and Elvis Costello at the Creative Coalition fete at the Harman Center, Wyclef Jean for BET, and Patti LaBelle at the Africa Ball at the Gaylord.
Street closures, freezing temperatures, and the ongoing taxi shortage made ball hopping a challenge, but as revelers showed throughout the weekend, little could dampen the spirits of those in town for the celebration.
Here are some highlights from the evening's biggest events.
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Inauguration 2009, Google, BET, Creative Coalition, Hawaii State Socity, Pennsylvania State Society, Congressional Youth Leadership Council |
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| NEWS 11.25.08 2:33 PM |
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More Inauguration Plans Fall Into Place, Alma Powell Declares "Times Too Serious" for Parties
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Washington socialites Buffy Cafritz and Ann Jordan will once again be co-hosting an inaugural party at the recently renamed Fairfax at Embassy Row (formerly the Westin Embassy Row), WWD.com reported yesterday. The Cafritz-Jordan fete is expected to reel in some 250 guests and will be produced by Carolyn Peachey of Campell Peachey and Associates. The duo announced their plans at a reopening reception for the hotel's Jockey Club restaurant last week, where guests like Colin Powell's wife, Alma, and former Reagan chief of staff Ken Duberstein speculated on how the inaugural festivities would unfold.
"You’ll see a renaissance of people coming back to the White House, even with a difficult economy, because people want our president to shine,” said Duberstein. But Powell countered, saying, “I don’t expect there to be more parties. The times are too serious to have parties. That would be frivolous.”
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Inauguration 2009, Election '08, Buffy Cafritz, Ann Jordan, Huffington Post, Oprah, Google, Embassy of Kuwait |
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| NEWS 08.29.08 8:00 AM |
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AARP Convention Reels in Gene Simmons, Paul Simon, Chaka Khan
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Next week, AARP kicks off its 50th anniversary conference—Life @50+ National Event & Expo—at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. More than 25,000 attendees will converge on the city September 4 to 6, bringing an expected $28.5 million in spending and 8,500 hotel rooms booked. AARP is offering a trade show with some 400 exhibitors, including Home Depot, Google, Nintendo, and Microsoft, as well as a packed schedule of educational sessions and performances, featuring assorted notables and celebrities.
Thursday kicks off with an opening show from Regis Philbin, an AARP anniversary event at the Lincoln Memorial, and a concert with Natalie Cole and Chaka Khan. Maya Angelou and Quincy Jones will be closing the conference on Saturday. Kiss singer Gene Simmons will speak in the afternoon before a Paul Simon performance at the convention center. —Danielle O'Steen
RELATED TOPICS
AARP, Home Depot, Google, Nintendo, Microsoft, Regis Philbin, Natalie Cole, Chaka Khan, Maya Angelou, Quincy Jones, Gene Simmons, Paul Simon |
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| NEWS 01.23.08 2:06 PM |
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Google Party Entices With Wii, Ice Cream
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Washington locals are still buzzing about Google’s office launch party, nearly a week later. The event, held at the company’s New York Avenue and 11th Street location last Thursday, was planned by Google event coordinator Michelle Rosen and hailed by Washingtonian reporter Garrett Graff as “the swankiest ‘office’ party Washington has seen in years.”
According to Politico's Shenanigans blog, a host of V.I.P.s showed up for the fete, including Google C.E.O. Eric Schmidt, Washington Post Company chairman Don Graham, Bob Woodward, Vivek Kundra (mayor Adrian Fenty's chief technology officer), and power brothers John and Tony Podesta. The reception took over the company's 31,000-square-foot office, including a designated nightclub area lit with Google’s corporate colors. Also on-site: a game room equipped with foosball and Nintendo Wii's Guitar Hero.
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Google |
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