Washington DC 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

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 >>

Microsoft, Windows, Dell, Samsung

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 >>

The Women's Conference, Maria Shriver, Arnold Schwarzenegger

10.27.09 2:12 PM

Fairies, Towering Trees, Roller Skaters Amp Up Harman Center Gala

The Harman Center's gala dinner
Photo: Tony Brown/Imijination Photography for BizBash

As guests entered the National Building Museum on Sunday night for the Harman Center for the Arts annual gala dinner, they walked into a dining room meant to evoke the enchanted forest of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. But instead of traditional woodland fairies and sprites, the gala’s 400 guests found dancers in afro wigs, roller skates, bell bottoms, and platform shoes. The disco dancers hailed from Boston’s American Repertory Theatre, and before dinner they performed an excerpt from The Donkey Show, a disco-style adaptation of Shakespeare’s play set to ’70s anthems like “We Are Family” and “I Love the Nightlife.”

“Who knew there was a disco version [of A Midsummer Night’s Dream]?” said Joanne Coutts, associate director of special events for the Shakespeare Theatre Company. “When guests first walk through the door, it feels like the party is alive.” MORE >>

Harman Center for the Arts, Shakespeare Theatre Company

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 >>

Volkswagen, Apple, Twitter

10.22.09 3:47 PM

Women in Real Estate Celebrate 30th Anniversary With Under the Sea Theme

The CREW event at the Homer Building
Photo: Tony Brown/Imijination Photography for BizBash

On Wednesday night the local chapter of Commercial Real Estate Women, a national association representing women in the industry, held its fifth annual awards reception in the Homer Building’s atrium in downtown Washington. The evening simultaneously celebrated CREW’s 30th anniversary party.

Co-chaired by Phyllis Liebman of Vornado/Charles E. Smith and Jenny Shtipelman of Eaglebank, the 350 guests were invited to don faux pearls at the entrance as a nod to the traditional 30-year anniversary gift. The pearls also spawned the evening’s under the sea theme. MORE >>

CREW

10.14.09 5:04 PM

Movie Pictures: A Look at Meatballs, Zombieland, Law Abiding Citizen, and Whip It Premieres

Food props on the red carpet of Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs
Photo: Line 8 Photography

FROM LOS ANGELES In some parts of the world, fall brings crisp weather and colorful leaves that crunch under foot. In Los Angeles, it brought a hyper-busy event calendar filled with parties that included movie premieres packed with ideas—like an army of zombies, oversize donuts that hung overhead, and decor that begged to be admired but definitely not touched. Here is a selection of photos from the arrivals scenes and bashes for Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, Zombieland, Whip It, and Law Abiding Citizen. MORE >>

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, Zombieland, Whip It, Law Abiding Citizen, Sony, Fox Searchlight, Overture Films, Columbia Pictures, Derby Dolls

10.14.09 4:16 PM

Human Rights Campaign Dinner Returns With Obama, Lady Gaga, and Text Messaging

Lady Gaga at the Human Rights Campaign dinner
Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images

Although the unusual double bill of Lady Gaga and President Barack Obama got all the media spotlight at Saturday’s sold-out Human Rights Campaign National Dinner (one of our Top 100 events) at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, the 3,000 guests also had the chance to garner some attention of their own. During downtime at the dinner, they could send text messages to be displayed on large screens near the stage as part of the dinner’s “Speak the Truth” theme. Everything from “Table 170 is sooooo fun! Come meet us,” to “Ryan and Ian together for 14 years! Married in Canada, why not here?” popped up on the screens.

The 13th annual dinner probably marked the first time anyone said the names Gaga and Obama in the same sentence, and it seemed like a toss-up as to who the audience was more excited about. Even Obama joked in his remarks, “It is a privilege to be here tonight to open for Lady Gaga.” MORE >>

Human Rights Campaign, Barack Obama, Glee, Lady Gaga

10.12.09 8:00 AM

Fancy Food Show and Ridgewells Launch New Projects With Tasting Events on the Same Night

Chef José Andrés's eight-foot-wide paella pan at the Ridgewells launch of his eponymous catering division
Photo: Pablo Sartor

There was plenty to nibble on last Wednesday, when the National Association for the Specialty Food Trade (N.A.S.F.T.) and Ridgewells Inc. hosted back-to-back tasting events. Starting at 5:30 p.m. at the downtown CulinAerie cooking school, N.A.S.F.T. showcased the 33 Gold Award-winning products (think outstanding oils and condiments), chosen from entries at the association’s 2009 winter and summer Fancy Food Shows, held in San Francisco and New York, respectively . Across town in a vacant Georgian mansion in Chevy Chase, starting at 6:30, caterer Ridgewells rolled out a new partnership and hospitality division: Jos é Andr é s Catering With Ridgewells.
MORE >>

National Association for the Specialty Food Trade, José Andrés, ThinkFoodGroup, Young Presidents Organization

10.09.09 2:22 PM

U.S.O. Gala Draws All-Time Attendance High, More Than $1 Million

Tabletops at the U.S.O. gala
Photo: Stephen Elliot/Mud Productions for BizBash

A record-breaking 900 attendees donned their finest military and black-tie attire Wednesday at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel to pay tribute to America’s men and women in uniform at the annual U.S.O. Gala and Service Hero Awards alongside chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff admiral Mike Mullen, actor Gary Sinise, and country crooner Trace Adkins. Chaired this year by Dave McIntyre, head of TriWest Healthcare Alliance, the event raised more than $1.1 million.

The U.S.O. stayed true to its history, focusing the V.I.P. reception and dinner on the programs the U.S.O. provides, allowing guests to record a message for the troops, sign banners that will be sent to troops, and view a mock command outpost complete with camouflage netting. MORE >>

United Service Organization, Lewis Black

10.06.09 12:45 PM

Midway Rides, Interactive Exhibits Draw Crowds at Fourth Annual Scotiabank Nuit Blanche

A light installation lit up City Hall
Photo: Emma McIntyre for BizBash

FROM TORONTO Thousands of people took to the streets from sunset Saturday until sunrise Sunday to take part in the fourth annual Scotiabank Nuit Blanche—the City of Toronto’s all-night contemporary art festival. This year’s event saw more audience participation than ever before with interactive art projects offering the chance for the public to get in on the action. “That’s one of the pieces that makes Nuit Blanche so magical—the interactive portion,” said Miki Stricker-Talbot, a programming supervisor with the city.

At the Toronto Coach Terminal, about 400 people seized the opportunity to stand blindfolded inside a steel cage where 20 professional wrestlers participated in Shaun El C. Leonardo’s “Battle Royal.” At Brookfield Place, 750 people volunteered to be suspended in cloth sacks from the building’s rafters at part of the California-based Center for Tactical Magic’s multimedia installation “Witches’ Cradles.” MORE >>

Scotiabank Nuit Blanche, Scotiabank, City of Toronto

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