Call Sheet #256: Exclusive Details on Met Ball After-Party, NBC's Olympic Plans, Javits Supporters Lobby Governor

BIZBASH CALL SHEET — #256 — Thursday, 05.03.12

++ Sponsored by Event Leadership Institute ++

Compiled today by Beth Kormanik and Anna Sekula in New York
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TODAY'S CALENDAR: American Society of Association Executives' Springtime Expo in Washington

* INCOMING *

1. OFFICIAL PARTY LINE: Miuccia Prada might have wanted no participation in the Perrier Jouet-sponsored Met Ball after-party that will take place at Crown restaurant Monday night, but she has no qualms with the official Prada/Vogue after-party she and Anna Wintour are hosting at the Sinclair Mansion at 2 East 79th Street, BizBash can report exclusively. Located right off Fifth Avenue, the venue is better known to planners as the Ukrainian Institute. Needless to say, it's going to be a strict guest list, but at least the waitstaff will be stylish: they have all been fitted for custom Prada suits.

2. SPORTS STREAMING: NBC will live-stream marquee matchups at the Summer Olympics, but they won't have the same production as its prime-time package. The Associated Press: "NBC executives decided to shift from their longtime philosophy and make every event available as it happens, convinced that the plan will build interest in the Olympics and not siphon off viewership from the traditional nightly broadcasts. That means the Internet streams will be fairly minimalistic, a move aimed at tempting fans to re-watch the competition in a more stylized presentation on the network that evening." http://es.pn/JDHKF6

In other Olympic news, Duran Duran will headline a concert to mark the start of the London games July 27 in London's Hyde Park. The event will include acts from each of the four parts of the United Kingdom: Snow Patrol from Northern Ireland, Stereophonics from Wales, and Scotland's Paolo Nutini. Concert-goers can watch the games' opening ceremony on giant screens at the gig. Billboard: http://bit.ly/ImUqgZ

3. JAVITS' FUTURE: A letter to New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and circulating around the city is advocating for the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center to remain open, despite the governor's plans to open an new convention center in Queens. The letter, from the Friends of Javits group that includes several trade show vendors and organizers, argues that trade shows come to Javits because of its Manhattan location and "loss of Javits by no means assumes a transition to any Queens location." The group would support an additional, larger center but suggests a location in the Willets Point/Citi Field area rather than at Aqueduct Race Track.

4. POPCHIPS AD GAFFE: Tech entrepreneur and writer Anil Dash has a problem with—and an interesting solution for—a campaign he considers racist, with Ashton Kutcher playing an Indian man. Dash: "If you find yourself putting brown makeup on a white person in 2012 so they can do a bad 'funny' accent in order to sell potato chips, you are on the wrong course." Dash's suggested solutions:

* "Popchips should not pull this ad down: Instead, they should leave it up and link to not an apology, but an explanation of how their process failed and resulted in this racist ad being created."
* "The PR firm which promoted this campaign should acknowledge its failure: Alison Brod PR, which proudly proclaims its investment in, and promotion for, this campaign and for Popchips, also bears a lot of responsibility here. At a fundamental level, a good public relations firm is supposed to protect its clients from communications mishaps and errors in judgment that are obvious or preventable, like this one."

The video of the ad, and Dash's full post: http://bit.ly/IKkJMy

5. SELLING THE U.S.: Brand USA has launched the United States' first marketing campaign to attract global tourists. The ads, which launched Tuesday in Japan, Canada, and the United Kingdom, feature tourism destinations across the country such as New Orleans' French Quarter and the Redwood Preserve in California. The print, Web, and video ads spread to Brazil and South Korea next week, with other markets to follow. The goal is to win back tourists who have avoided the U.S. because of difficult visa procedures and security increases since the September 11 terrorist attacks. Funding for the campaign comes from the federal Travel Promotion Act. The Associated Press: http://bit.ly/IG0ViB

6. TOP TRADE SHOWS: The Trade Show News Network ranked the top 250 U.S. trade shows, with the top spot going to the Association of Equipment Manufacturers’ triennial CONEXPO-CON/AGG. The show's floor used 2.4 million net square feet at the Las Vegas Convention Center. The full list: http://bit.ly/IHrSR8

7. BRANGELINA WEDDING: USA Today asked four wedding planners, including Marcy Blum and Colin Cowie, to share how they would stage the nuptials of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, with tips on decor, catering, and even the dress. http://usat.ly/IWG1rl

8. DOWNTON ABBEY TRIPS: Online travel service Zicasso announced a seven-day custom tour with stops at Highclere Castle, where the upstairs scenes of the period drama takes place, and the Oxfordshire village used for outdoor scenes, as well as London for sightseeing. Available July to September, prices start at $4,500 per person, lower for private groups. http://bit.ly/JDL6YM

++ A WORD FROM OUR SPONSOR: EVENT LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE ++

The Event Leadership Institute is looking for a Rock Star Intern! Join the team helping to shape the future of event education and make a difference in the future of your industry. Apply here: www.EventLeadershipInstitute.com

* INTERNAL NEWS: LOS ANGELES READERS’ CHOICE AWARDS *

Nominations for the BizBash Los Angeles Readers’ Choice Awards end this Sunday, May 6 at 11:59 p.m. E.S.T. This is your last chance to nominate your favorite greater-Los Angeles-area event pros and highlight their contributions to the industry. There are 12 categories, including Association Event Planner of the Year, Venue Manager of the Year, and Corporate Event Planner of the Year.

More information on the categories and nominations criteria as well as the submission form can be found here: http://bit.ly/iCBl5Z

* TALKING BACK *

What you're saying about the impact of the General Services Administration's scandal:

"I don’t think the G.S.A. Conference is as deep a scandal as it’s been made to appear.  When you think about the costs of producing a conference, the G.S.A. did pretty well. However, and it's a BIG however, their 'crime' was one of being tone-deaf to the current state of the economy and Congress's anti-spending crusade. I suspect corporations have met this 'scandal' with a giant eye-roll wondering how they can produce an event in Las Vegas for that amount of money. Had this meeting taken place in Akron or Salt Lake City or Birmingham—even with the same level of service and entertainment—it would have been a non-issue and likely been praised for contributing to the local economies. But it was held in Las Vegas, a city that boasts of being home to the seven deadly sins. This is a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. I feel bad for the attendees, who didn’t choose the venue but were likely required to attend." —Susan Abrams, New York, N.Y.

Tell us what you think: [email protected].

* LOCAL NEWS *

BOSTON: Boston's Silent Storm Sound System provides wireless headphones for events known as "silent discos." At the events, DJ music is broadcast into individual headsets rather than over speaker systems. Because the noise is contained, the parties can take place in venues that aren't typically dance-party friendly. The company also organizes silent-disco pub crawls. Boston.com: http://bo.st/JfuDaN

The Hyatt Place will open in Braintree on May 15. The 204-room property offers free wireless access, remote printing, free parking and shuttle service, a fitness center, and five meeting spaces.

Happy's Bar & Kitchen, a new venture from chef Michael Schlow, opened in Fenway Tuesday. With a graffiti wall and deli-style eats, the venue is available for groups and events.

CHICAGO: The Food Marketing Institute said Tuesday it would return to Chicago for its 2014 show after staging the conference and trade show in Las Vegas and Dallas for the past several years. The event is scheduled for June 10-13, 2014, at McCormick Place.

The Chicago History Museum's Women's Guild will host "200 Million Reasons to Celebrate Women" this morning. Sponsors include Event Creative, BBJ, and Van Cleef and Arpels.

The National Hellenic Museum will host its first Ambrosia Ball at Union Station on Saturday. With decor from Event Creative, the event is inspired by Greek temples and includes an after-party called "Ambrosia After Dark."

C.I.A. Director David H. Petraeus will lead this year’s Memorial Day Parade as grand marshal and participate in the wreath-laying ceremony May 26.

LAS VEGAS: Kids Today: "The fourth annual ABC Spring Educational Conference and Trade Show took place here at the South Point Hotel and Casino last week, and by most accounts, it was the most successful yet." http://bit.ly/JU0EGf

Cancer Treatment Centers of America will bring Dr. Maurie Markman as keynote speaker for the fourth annual Nevada Cancer Control Summit at Red Rock Hotel & Casino Friday.

Hospitality Industry Network is partnering with the Hospitality Design Exposition & Conference to bring green programming to the annual tradeshow at the Sands Expo Convention Center May 15-17. Press release: http://on.mktw.net/JfjUwS

IT nonprofit association CompTIA announced author Steven Berlin Johnson will deliver the business keynote dowspeech at Breakaway 2012, the annual education event scheduled for July 30-August 2 at Aria Resort and Casino. Press release: http://on.mktw.net/K2lBQl

Comic show MorrisonCon confirmed guests, prices, and programming for its Vegas event in September. Comics Alliance: http://aol.it/IV3GbC

LOS ANGELES: Chicago Tribune: "Spike TV and Game Trailers, a Web site specializing in video game content, will partner again for all-access live coverage of this year's Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), which hits the Los Angeles Convention Center in early June." http://trib.in/IEYI8f

The "Speel iT Show" Web talk show and the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank will host a fund-raiser June 1 at the Brandview Ballroom in Glendale.

ApparelNews.net: "Managers and owners of Los Angeles’s central showroom buildings moved the dates for the August run of Los Angeles Fashion Market to avoid overlap with the Intermezzo show in New York. The August market is now scheduled to run August 13-16." http://bit.ly/KvalJO

The Paley Center for Media will host its Los Angeles premiere of the PBS documentary American Masters Johnny Carson: King of Late Night tonight at its Beverly Hills headquarters.

The Anaheim/Orange County Visitor & Convention Bureau announced Debbie Jordan is the new eastern sales director for the meetings and conventions sales division.

Suzanne Fritz has been promoted to senior vice president of domestic publicity for Warner Brothers Pictures. Her current projects include the publicity campaigns for Dark Shadows and The Dark Knight Rises, as well as Ben Affleck’s Argo and Baz Luhrmann’s adaptation of The Great Gatsby. The Hollywood Reporter: http://bit.ly/IrAaP8

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

MIAMI/SOUTH FLORIDA: B Ocean Fort Lauderdale has appointed Eduardo Fernandez as general manager.

NEW YORK: The American Apparel and Footwear Association will host its American Image Awards at Cipriani May 7. Benefiting the Madison Square Boys and Girls Club of America, the event will be hosted by celebrity stylist and TV personality Robert Verdi.

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

ORLANDO: Tutto Gusto Wine Cellar opened Tuesday at the Italy pavilion at Epcot and offers 200 Italian wines and a selection of small plates. Also Tuesday, Tutto Italia restaurant reopened after extensive renovations that added an enclosed patio. Both venues are operated by Patina Restaurant Group.

WASHINGTON: A plan to increase bar hours to 3 a.m. on weekdays and 4 a.m. on weekends failed to pass a D.C. Council committee, but it did agree to allow bars to stay open until 4 a.m. during the presidential inauguration. It also wants to increase the city's alcohol tax by 6 cents a drink. http://wapo.st/In3J0x

The Washington Post's Reliable Source checks in at the British Embassy, where guests long familiar with the home and event space will see a new mix of artwork. http://wapo.st/Jphf1A

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 Anna Sekula, Beth Kormanik, and Rose Chevalier in New York.

BizBash Call Sheet is the must-read daily digest of event industry news from BizBash.com. 

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