BIZBASH CALL SHEET — #38 — Wednesday, 06.15.11
Compiled today by Chad Kaydo in Pasadena
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* INCOMING *
1. FROM THE EXPO: The BizBash West Expo & Awards took place yesterday at the Pasadena Convention Center, with keynote presentations, education sessions, new products on display, and two types of awards given.
Keynote speaker Hillary Harris, executive director of events for Warner Bros. Entertainment Group (who, I can say from experience, gives good lunch, too), shared her favorite new trends and resources:
* Favorite design trend: the "retail look," with more homey, eclectic mixes of furniture, patterns, accessories. She's also seeing karaoke lounges, Japanese seating, shiny fabrics, unusual textures.
* For those looking to exploit the celebrity chef trend, she likes former "Top Chef" candidates, who cost $1,500 to $3,000 for event appearances.
* Fave new resource: Calling the folks at Precisionweather.com for event-specific weather info. "Haven't you always wanted to talk to God?"
Here's Hall of Fame inductee Richard Loguercio, president and owner, Town & Country Event Rentals: "Don't ever retire. Do it until you drop. This business is so much fun."
West Coast editor Alice Dubin will be posting six cool new products from the show later today. In the meantime, the winners of the BizBash West Event Style Awards are here:
http://bit.ly/jEp8oc
The winners of our first West Coast Readers' Choice Awards are here:
http://bit.ly/iGbANe
(And you can read our tweets from the show at @BizBash_News.)
2. TWO BONNAROO DEATHS: Since the Bonnaroo Music Festival this past weekend in Manchester, Tennessee, the Huffington Post reports, "two tragedies have surfaced…bringing to the forefront the obvious dangers of cramming some 80,000 concertgoers together in 90-degree heat with an endless supply of drugs and alcohol." On Monday a 24-year-old man died of hyperthermia after being airlifted from the Bonnaroo grounds to a nearby hospital, and the body of a 32-year-old woman was found in a tent on Thursday. Ten people have died at the festival since it launched in 2002.
http://huff.to/l1c8mv
3. RAHM FIGHTS BACK: Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel expressed concern yesterday following a car expo's decision not to go to McCormick Place (and a long piece in Crain's Business Chicago questioning labor and pricing practices at the convention center [http://bit.ly/kgD2Do]): “I don’t like losing. I’m about winning, and the city of Chicago is about winning. ... We have to stay competitive, and it is my determination that we, as a city will stay competitive, and I will not lose." The Tribune:
http://trib.in/ipkETz
Speaking of Emanuel: He made an appearance at the Cable Show there on Tuesday with a joke about his Hollywood agent brother: "I like Ari Gold more than I like you," he said he told his brother after seeing "Entourage" for the first time. The Hollywood Reporter:
http://bit.ly/lCnoMx
4. CONCERT RIDER WITH A SENSE OF HUMOR: Knowing their catering demands would get leaked and published on the Smoking Gun, the Foo Fighters put together a jokey, absurdist rider for their current tour. It includes a “Field Guide To Food Coloring Book And Activity Pages,” with cartoons, a word hunt, and other activities.
http://bit.ly/mDYEke
5. SPIDEY BETTER, BUT NOT GOOD: After 183 previews, “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark" opened last night. (Ousted diretor Julie Taymor walked the red carpet.)
Ben Brantley in The Times calls it "a bore."
http://nyti.ms/linlIF
The Post: "this is an extravaganza without a single genuine showstopper."
http://nyp.st/lnJXp6
New York magazine: "embarrassing dud."
http://bit.ly/l57LyA
* TALKING POINTS *
Bravo's new entertaining show, "Rocco's Dinner Party," starts tonight. If you watch, send your impressions to [email protected]. And here's our Q&A with the show's mentor, Jes Gordon:
http://bit.ly/kWlt3e
* OFFICE BREAK *
Forgot to mention this earlier—New York magazine posted a slide show of images from the mod offices of event marketing agency MKG (whose founder, Maneesh Goyal, made our list of the 68 most innovative event pros earlier this year):
http://bit.ly/kyNeSm
If you're looking to upgrade your own digs, Mashable just posted links to more than 100 stylish new gadgets and office accessories:
http://on.mash.to/knOVhE
* LOCAL NEWS *
CHICAGO: Imerman Angels, a charity that offers one-on-one cancer support, will host its Summer Soiree July 22 at the Columbia Yacht Club. The event takes place on a dockside boat and offers live entertainment, cocktails, and snacks from local restaurants.
LOS ANGELES: Following last year’s Hotel Thrillist Miami promotion, the men's lifestyle email company Thrillist is bringing the sequel, Hotel Thrillist Los Angeles, to the JW Marriott Los Angeles at L.A. Live August 5-7. Our coverage of the Miami version:
http://bit.ly/mhJYDa
At a meeting Wednesday, unions and convention business leaders will appear at L.A. City Council Chambers to support the city's efforts to increase its competitive edge in convention business. Highlighting the 2011 E3 Expo’s $26 million investment in the local economy, they will highlight the potential for increased convention business in L.A. should a proposal to modernize the Los Angeles Convention Center and develop Farmers Field move forward.
L.A. Opera's 2011-12 season opens with the company premiere of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's "Eugene Onegin," which runs September 17 through October 9.
MIAMI: Former Florida governor Jeb Bush and StudentsFirst founder and C.E.O. Michelle Rhee will discuss education issues at a lunch benefit for the Marco Island Academy at the Four Seasons Thursday. PR: the Patton Group.
NEW YORK: Four former TBA Global staffers—Jim Cavanaugh, Peter Pastor, Chuck Santoro, and Mark Shearon—broke out on their own last week to form a new event and marketing agency, the Proscenium Group.
http://bit.ly/kAgLmj
Sam Sifton cut Masa from the New York Times list of four-story restaurants. From his three-star review: "But extraordinary food alone does not an extraordinary restaurant make. The experience of eating at Masa can clash, sometimes greatly, with the grace, simplicity and excellence of the cuisine on display."
http://nyti.ms/jwkpYm
Stone Rose Lounge in the Time Warner Center has brought on Benchmarc Events by Marc Murphy, the catering and events division of Benchmarc Restaurants, as its exclusive caterer for events.
TORONTO: Bollywood dance flash mobs have been popping up all over town, taking over an intersection in Port Credit, busy Bloor and Yonge, and Dundas Square last week. The city is abuzz over the upcoming International Indian Film Academy Awards June 23-25. Check out the flash mob at Bloor and Yonge:
http://bit.ly/kgmvQV
SEATTLE: Pineapple Hospitality unveiled the first of two phases of renovations to its newest property, Hotel Five, previously known as the downtown Ramada. Located on 5th and Blanchard, it is now an urban industrial-inspired boutique hotel with 116 rooms.
http://bit.ly/mCkkd5
YOUR NEWS: What are you doing? Tell us: [email protected].
With contributions from Jenny Berg in Chicago, Alesandra Dubin in Los Angeles, Mitra Sorrells in Orlando, Carla Warrilow in Toronto, and Erica Petri, Anna Sekula, and Courtney Thompson in New York.
BizBash Call Sheet is the must-read daily digest of event industry news from BizBash.com.
Feed the Sheet: [email protected]
Subscribe: http://info.bizbash.com/callsheet.html
