Events were always part of the plan at NeueHouse, a membership work collective in Manhattan for people in creative fields. The downstairs level in the David Rockwell-designed space has a catering kitchen, a 60-seat screening room, a boardroom, and a library reception space. Before booking an event, though, NeueHouse partner Camilla Andersson says it has to meet specific criteria: Is it relevant? Is it socially interesting? Is it inspiring? Will it add anything for the members?
A partnership with the Tribeca Film Festival, for instance, involved NeueHouse hosting the after-party for the comedy Intramural, a networking dinner for film industry professionals, and film screenings for members. Frieze New York art fair asked NeueHouse to set up and program its V.I.P. lounge. As part of the partnership, members had access to the lounge, and staff brought Frieze-related programming to NeueHouse.
“We try to have the same relationship with event-based clients as we do with our members: long-lasting, mutually beneficial, interactive, and inspiring,” Andersson says.
Andersson, 37, moved from Stockholm to New York 10 years ago after chef Marcus Samuelsson invited her to help run his restaurant Aquavit. She managed the Christie’s account for DM Cuisine caterers and then developed and launched FCI Catering & Events for the French Culinary Institute. Andersson joined NeueHouse in 2011, a year before it opened, and helped develop its philosophy for events.
“Everybody who’s worked in events for a long time knows that the event is the event. It comes and goes,” she says. “Now, it’s all about how you capture the content and what you do with the content and can you leverage it through several channels.”
A company holding a strategy session, for instance, may ask NeueHouse to shoot video and then edit the footage into a film. NeueHouse also plans to become more involved in the planning process, leveraging its network to bring in speakers or create provocative programming for groups.
With the concept’s success, partners plan to open NeueHouse locations in Los Angeles, London, and downtown New York in the next year.
