Sony's FD Trinitron Wega televisions may represent the future of television technology, but the fifth anniversary party for the electronics line at Splashlight Studios celebrated TVs past and present. The event, which courted consumer press and young trendsetting consumers, was something of a departure for Sony's plasma division, which previously had focused more on trade press promotions and events. (It was also a bit unusual just because it celebrated the birth of a television set.)
"Our challenge was to do a press conference introducing the new LCD TVs, and then fuse it [into] a consumer event," said Strategic Group president Tony Berger, who produced the event along with Jeena Choi, Sony Electronics' senior public relations strategist. Splashlight provided an ideal space because it had rooms that could be separated early on—so the press conference didn't interfere with the party space—but then could be combined to increase the amount of space for guests.
Sony Electronics execs, including president Hideki Komiyama, spoke at the press conference and watched as celebs such as Tom Hanks and Drew Barrymore offered anniversary wishes via video.
Afterward, guests moved into the main room, where Fusion Design styled five different vignettes set up to represent the past, present and future of TV. The 70's vignette featured women eating TV dinners; the 80's area had a Gordon Gekko, power office theme—complete with Wall Street playing on a screen and a model sitting behind a desk. In the 90's room, models played Playstation. The "Today" room was an homage to Sex and the City, with girls on the couch drinking cosmos and eating sushi, and the "Future" room, boasting an all white, retro-modern feel, had the futuristic film Final Fantasy playing on screen.
"The key was not to hit people over the head with, 'This is how cool Sony is,' but to integrate the [TVs] into your lifestyle," Berger said.
Match Catering and Eventstyles provided a wide selection of hearty hors d’oeuvres included mini hamburgers, tarragon chicken salad in bread cones, macaroni and cheese, spicy tuna rolls, dime-sized crab cakes and vegetable-goat cheese wontons with a champagne-wasabi dipping sauce. And after all that food, plopping down on a couch and watching TV seemed pretty appealing.
––Erika Rasmusson Janes
"Our challenge was to do a press conference introducing the new LCD TVs, and then fuse it [into] a consumer event," said Strategic Group president Tony Berger, who produced the event along with Jeena Choi, Sony Electronics' senior public relations strategist. Splashlight provided an ideal space because it had rooms that could be separated early on—so the press conference didn't interfere with the party space—but then could be combined to increase the amount of space for guests.
Sony Electronics execs, including president Hideki Komiyama, spoke at the press conference and watched as celebs such as Tom Hanks and Drew Barrymore offered anniversary wishes via video.
Afterward, guests moved into the main room, where Fusion Design styled five different vignettes set up to represent the past, present and future of TV. The 70's vignette featured women eating TV dinners; the 80's area had a Gordon Gekko, power office theme—complete with Wall Street playing on a screen and a model sitting behind a desk. In the 90's room, models played Playstation. The "Today" room was an homage to Sex and the City, with girls on the couch drinking cosmos and eating sushi, and the "Future" room, boasting an all white, retro-modern feel, had the futuristic film Final Fantasy playing on screen.
"The key was not to hit people over the head with, 'This is how cool Sony is,' but to integrate the [TVs] into your lifestyle," Berger said.
Match Catering and Eventstyles provided a wide selection of hearty hors d’oeuvres included mini hamburgers, tarragon chicken salad in bread cones, macaroni and cheese, spicy tuna rolls, dime-sized crab cakes and vegetable-goat cheese wontons with a champagne-wasabi dipping sauce. And after all that food, plopping down on a couch and watching TV seemed pretty appealing.
––Erika Rasmusson Janes
Models lounged in a 70's-inspired area at the fifth anniversary party of the Sony Wega TV at Splashlight Studios.
White and silver filled the area decorated to reflect the future.
The Gordon Gekko character in Wall Street was the inspiration behind the 80's-themed area.
Serving trays modeled after the front panels of the Sony Wega flat-screen TVs held Match Catering and Eventstyles' mini hamburgers.
