October 11, 2013: How Event Design Is Changing, Shocking Company Wins 'Battle of the Brands,' Comedian Pranks TEDx Event With Fake Talk

1. HOW EVENT DESIGN IS CHANGING: In an overview of the event industry, The Wall Street Journal checked in with top event designers (and with BizBash executive editor Anna Sekula) as the fall gala season gets under way. Trends include favoring eye-catching decor pieces over lush florals. "'Walking into a room full of thousands of peonies or roses, I find it really vulgar,' says Anthony Todd, the man behind the decor at Elton John's annual, star-studded Oscars viewing party to benefit the entertainer's AIDS foundation for the past eight years. Mr. Todd says: 'Chopping down all that nature. It's old. It's overdone.'" http://on.wsj.com/17Yjiud

2. SHOCKING COMPANY WINS "BATTLE OF THE BRANDS": To promote a new version of the classic game Monopoly, Hasbro created a "Battle of  the Brands" in which companies sought to be the first to accumulate 5,000 Facebook likes on a contest page. The winner, surprisingly, was Carnival Cruise Lines, which suffered several public relations nightmares this past year. PRNewser: "There’s no denying the fact that Carnival has managed—somehow—to stay on the good sides of so many people that 5,000 of them rushed to vote for the brand over other popular ones—It beat Transformers and Coke, people! Giant, awesome, alien robots and classic, fizzy, delicious soda didn’t garner as much support as the seemingly cursed cruise line." http://bit.ly/17rejOo

3. COMEDIAN PRANKS TEDX EVENT WITH FAKE TALK: A talk at a TEDx event at Drexel University has gone viral, but for all the wrong reasons: A comedian created a fake persona and managed to get on the speaker lineup for the event last weekend. He delivered a ridiculous—yet, by many accounts, entertaining—talk that parodied the TED format. Philadelphia magazine: "One wonders if the organizers of TEDx whiffed on vetting Hyde, which wouldn’t have taken more than a few minutes of Googling." http://bit.ly/15VeVfF

* LOCAL NEWS *

BOSTON:  Holiday parties this year may have fewer choices for their wine and craft beer selections because of the federal government shutdown. With the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau closed, requests for new products are in limbo and not being shipped from wineries and breweries across the country. Boston Business Journal: http://bit.ly/1gtV9ze

CHICAGO:  Chicago Tribune food critic Phil Vettel awarded three stars to sushi restaurant Juno: http://trib.in/18SVZBG

LAS VEGAS:  Billboard talked to Insomniac C.E.O Pasquale Rotella on the Live Nation deal, festival deaths, the Dance Music Awards, and more: http://bit.ly/19AqyPe

LOS ANGELES:  Miley Cyrus and Imagine Dragons will be among the performers at the American Music Awards, which will be broadcast live from the Nokia Theatre L.A. Live November 24.

The Cedars-Sinai Board of Governors gala will take to the Beverly Wilshire Hotel on November 5, with a raffle for a 2014 Lexus LS 460 F Sport luxury sedan as part of the fund-raising.

Variety announced that Jimmy Kimmel will be the honoree at its fourth annual Power of Comedy event, slated for November 16 at the Avalon Hollywood.

Local event listings from Masterplanner: http://www.masterplanneronline.com/losangeles

MIAMI/SOUTH FLORIDA:  Brazil ArtFair, a debut event featuring contemporary work from 40 Brazilian galleries, is December 3-8.

NEW YORK:  Canard Inc. is catering the annual Gods Love We Deliver Golden Hearts Dinner for 700 guests October 16 at Spring Studios. Among the honorees are Hillary Clinton and Aerin Lauder.

Diffa is planning a new fall event, Thanks for Giving, November 20 at the McCann Erickson headquarters. The evening will include a V.I.P. reception, cocktail party, and holiday gift auction.

Eater Eve, the preview event to the Eater Awards, is November 17 at Angel Orensanz. It will focus on food from the American South and include an open bar and live band.

Local event listings from Masterplanner: http://www.masterplanneronline.com/newyork

ORLANDO:  Orlando Sentinel: "Universal Orlando's Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit roller coaster reopened Thursday, a little more than 12 hours after it abruptly stalled in a vertical position and left 12 people stuck for nearly three hours." http://trib.in/15rewEB

SAN DIEGO:  A plan to expand the San Diego Convention Center and Hilton San Diego Bayfront Hotel won a final approval Thursday. The project will include an additional 225,000 square feet of exhibit space, creating the largest contiguous exhibit hall on the West Coast, an 80,000-square-foot ballroom, a five-acre rooftop park, and a 500-room addition to the Hilton San Diego Bayfront Hotel.

WASHINGTON:  360 Live Media, a marketing and experience design firm, hired Ken Demith as its chief experience officer. Most recently, Demith served as director of strategy for Freeman XP and director of innovation for Freeman.

Chef Richard Sandoval has named Jose Luis Flores the corporate pastry chef of Richard Sandoval Restaurants. New desserts will include coconut profiteroles at Zengo, a chocolate terrine at Masa 14, and banana tres leches at El Centro D.F. and El Centro D.F. Georgetown.

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

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With contributions from Jenny Berg in Chicago, Alesandra Dubin in Los Angeles, Mitra Sorrells in Orlando, and Beth Kormanik, Lauren Matthews, and Anna Sekula in New York.

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

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