February 23, 2016: New Snapchat Feature Offers Custom Filters for Events, Zuckerberg Makes Surprise Appearance for Samsung at Mobile World Congress, Plans Progressing for a Fall Coachella

1. NEW SNAPCHAT FEATURE OFFERS CUSTOM FILTERS FOR EVENTS: Snapchat announced a new feature specifically targeting the event market: the ability to create custom filters available in certain geographic areas, from say 20,000 square feet to several city blocks. Mashable: “Geofilters are the in-app illustrations — typically tied to specific physical locations — that you can overlay onto your snaps. While a large number of Snapchat's geofilters have always been user-generated, the company's guidelines prevented businesses from creating filters until now. The new filters also allow people to create specialized filters for private events like birthday parties or weddings, which wouldn't have worked within the previous guidelines.” http://on.mash.to/1XIDd8o

2. ZUCKERBERG MAKES SURPRISE APPEARANCE FOR SAMSUNG AT MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS: Looking to bring some buzz to its release of its Galaxy S7 phones, Samsung pulled off a genuine surprise at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona with an appearance by Facebook C.E.O. Mark  Zuckerberg, who talked about a virtual reality partnership between the two companies. The Verge: “The setup was great: journalists were invited to watch a virtual reality demo using Samsung's Gear VR headsets, and when the time came to remove them, there was Mark Zuckerberg standing in the middle of the stage, wearing his familiar gray T-shirt. Cue a moment of confused gasps of excitement, followed by an escalating stampede of journalists and photographers toward the stage. Zuckerberg was there to talk up Facebook and Samsung's VR partnership, but his words went mostly unheard as everyone was too busy trying to capture an image of him. It was the tech celebrity equivalent of Bieber mania.” http://bit.ly/1SKQCh3

3. PLANS PROGRESSING FOR A FALL COACHELLA: Plans to move forward with an agreement to have a fall version of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival are progressing, as local officials are eager to copy the success (and moneymaking ability) of the event from producers Goldenvoice. The Desert Sun: “City officials now say significant progress has been made to bring a new Goldenvoice event to the Empire Polo Club. Indio Mayor Glenn Miller says its arrival could be imminent. But [Goldenvoice President Paul] Tollett said it won't happen this fall.” http://desert.sn/1Q6B3um

* LOCAL NEWS *

AUSTIN:  Comic and actress Brooke Van Poppelen will host the SXSW Interactive Innovation Awards on March 15 at the Hilton Austin Downtown.

BOSTON:  Joslin Diabetes Center's “A Taste of Ginger” fund-raiser will take place at the Museum of Fine Arts on April 4.

New England Boat Show manager Joe O’Neal announced his retirement after three decades at the post. Bob McAlpine will take over the role. Trade Only Today: http://bit.ly/1T3R5eH

CHICAGO:  Alpana Singh will open Terra & Vine in Evanston later this year. The Mediterranean restaurant will have four private dining options; it will also offer catering.

LAS VEGAS:  Chris Tucker will perform at the Pearl inside Palms Casino Resort on May 28, part of the Memorial Day Weekend happenings in town.

LOS ANGELES:  The Anaheim Convention Center and Aramark, its exclusive food and beverage and catering partner, have announced a partnership with Tapin2 on a new in-venue mobile app called ACC-Eats. The app allows convention exhibitors to purchase food and beverages directly from their smartphones, with delivery to their trade show booths.

The Los Angeles Ballet's Season 10 Gala will take place March 12 at the Skirball Cultural Center. The event will honor W.K. Keck Foundation C.E.O. Robert Day and performer Ben Vereen, with tribute speeches from Paula Abdul and Ghada Irani.

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

MIAMI/SOUTH FLORIDA:  Neil Patrick Harris and David Burtka are among the judges at next week’s Burger Bash at the South Beach Wine & Food Festival. Others include Jamie Schweid, president of Schweid & Sons; Today co-host Natalie Morales; author and Travel Channel host George Motz; chef Marcus Samuelsson; and former baseball great Mike Piazza and his wife, Alicia.

NEW YORK:  For the 16th year, Eleni's bakery is offering its Academy Awards Cookie Collection. The cookie batches are inspired by this year's Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Picture nominees. FishbowlNY: http://bit.ly/20R9kD0

The Tribeca Film Festival, which runs April 13-24, will open with The First Monday in May, a documentary about the planning of the 2015 Met Gala and the museum's Chinese-inspired Western fashion exhibit. Variety: http://bit.ly/1TB9ork

The Bloody Mary Festival will take place April 10 at Grand Prospect Hall in Brooklyn. The event will offer unique takes on the cocktail from Brooklyn bars as well as a bagel bar.

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

ORLANDO/CENTRAL FLORIDA:  Atlanta-based Andretti Indoor Karting & Games has plans to open an attraction on Universal Boulevard. Orlando Business Journal: http://bit.ly/1UiOH2K

PHILADELPHIA:  The Rittenhouse Row Spring Festival will take place May 21, offering outdoor shopping, music, and fashion events.

SAN FRANCISCO:  The 17th annual How Weird Street Faire will take place May 1 downtown. The event will feature nine stages with live music over seven city blocks.

TORONTO:  Canada’s National Ballet School will host its “Steampunk” gala at the Carlu on March 4.

The historic Guild Inn Estate is slated to complete its renovation in May 2017. The 40,000-square-foot venue will have event space for a variety of indoor and outdoor uses, including dinners of 10 or galas of as many as 1,000.

VANCOUVER:  Creative production company Go2 Productions has hired New York-based event and branding manager Liz Toscano and Houston-based technical producer Scott Justis.

WASHINGTON, D.C.:  The 12th annual Beer Institute Brewer’s Ball will take place March 5 at the National Building Museum. More than 30 regional breweries are expected to take part in the event, which benefits the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Metropolitan Washington, D.C., Chapter.

The National Conference Center and West Belmont Place have named Paula Lynn Safran as director of catering sales.

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With contributions from Jenny Berg in Chicago, Alesandra Dubin in Los Angeles, Mitra Sorrells in Orlando, and Beth Kormanik, Michele Laufik, Jill Menze, Anna Sekula, and Ian Zelaya in New York.

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

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