June 16, 2015: New Video Game Launches at Movie Theaters, Why Guests R.S.V.P. and Then Don’t Show, How Clinton Foundation Handles Speaking Fees

1. NEW VIDEO GAME LAUNCHES AT MOVIE THEATERS: Super League Gaming, a video game league that uses movie theaters as venues, debuted on Monday in Los Angeles and will tour throughout the summer. The Hollywood Reporter: “At Monday's launch, held at the recently opened Cinemark Playa Vista and XD, the game was Minecraft, and a group of enthusiastic kids — armed with their laptops and accompanied by their parents — poured into the theater. Once they connected to the theater's wifi, they were ready to play. On the screen, the league offered a third-person ‘world’ view of the game that showed all players, while gamers played first-­person on their laptops.” http://bit.ly/1fet2YL

2. WHY GUESTS R.S.V.P. AND THEN DON’T SHOW: Some guests mean well when they say they’re coming to an event but fail to show. Others never had any intention of attending the event at all. Dealing with the “aspirational R.S.V.P.” is yet another modern-day headache for planners. The New York Times: “Reservations-making without commitment is the apotheosis of digital glibness; it’s a vote of confidence built on rickety scaffolding. There may already be a backlash to it: In a world in which 'Maybe' is now an option on many invitations, it’s easier to understand why a restaurant may charge $200 a person for canceling without adequate notice.” http://nyti.ms/1ferCNM

3. HOW CLINTON FOUNDATION HANDLES SPEAKING FEES: Charities and associations that booked Bill Clinton or Hillary Clinton to speak saw an immediate spike in ticket sales—but they paid for it with big fees. Politico: “It’s not uncommon for charities to build fundraising events around speakers with ‘star power’ to sell tickets, even if the strategy doesn’t always pay dividends, said Marc A. Pitman, a nonprofit fundraising coach. Such speakers are often expected to return some portion of the speaking fee as a ‘gift to the club or sponsorship of an event or underwriter for some outreach.’ It’s less common, he said, for ‘a bigger nonprofit to raise funds by speaking to smaller nonprofits. I don’t know of any other foundation that collects speaking fees.’ … In their defense, the Clintons say they have donated other speaking fees to their own charity, which has balanced domestic efforts like fighting childhood obesity and heart disease with far-flung international efforts like increasing access to HIV/AIDS medication, ivory poaching in Africa and earthquake recovery in Haiti.” http://politi.co/1QAFXVH

* LOCAL NEWS *

BOSTON:  Chef Frank McClelland will open a new restaurant, Tide, in Essex this fall. Overlooking the Essex River, the venue will have 100 seats and a garden; menu items will include pizzas topped with farm-fresh ingredients, charcuterie, pesto, and pickles. The Boston Globe: http://bit.ly/1R0L7VW

CHICAGO:  The Chicago Dancing Festival will hold its ninth annual program August 25-29. A gala program with dinner, duets, and solo performances will be held at the Museum of Contemporary Art on Aug. 28.

LAS VEGAS:  Las Vegas headed to West Hollywood on June 14, with an interactive gay-pride-theme billboard during the festival. The billboard, located along the parade route, displayed a rainbow flag hidden beneath an array of matching Las Vegas-branded metallic shorts in the colors of the rainbow. As the day went on, attendees took shorts from the display for a bit of walking branding.

LOS ANGELES:  The Disney fan event D23 Expo, presented by D23: The Official Disney Fan Club, is slated for August14-16 at the Anaheim Convention Center.

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

MIAMI/SOUTH FLORIDA:  The Miami Heat will host a party the night of the N.B.A. Draft June 25 at AmericanAirlines Arena. The party will feature a broadcast of the player draft, Heat coaches and players, entertainment, and giveaways. The event is free but tickets are required.

NEW YORK:  Entertainer Rita Moreno delivered as grand marshal of the Puerto Rican Day Parade on Sunday when she danced on top of a convertible with Roman Catholic Cardinal Timothy Dolan by St. Patrick's Cathedral. More than one million attendees saw the 20,000 marchers, who sported the red, white, and blue colors of the Puerto Rican flag, make their way from 44th Street to 79th Street during the 58th annual parade. Yahoo News: http://yhoo.it/1Bfzxo9

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

TORONTO:  Organizers of the Pan American Games want to reduce the cost of security during the event. Proposed measures include shutting down some courtrooms for the month of July, and cutting back on vacation time for officers. The Globe and Mail: http://bit.ly/1cVZEoh

WASHINGTON, D.C.:  Food & Folklore: The Celebration of Juneteenth, a benefit for the Zora Neale Hurston/Richard Wright Foundation, will take place at Eatonville Restaurant on Wednesday. The ticketed event will include remarks and music as well as a welcome cocktail and family-style dinner.

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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.

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