1. HOW MUSIC FESTIVALS ARE MINIMIZING FOOD WASTE: A notable perk of music festivals is the array of food options, which naturally leads to a massive amount of uneaten food. To prevent food from ending up in landfills, attendees, community groups, and volunteer groups—including 300 volunteers from Clean Waste who helped compost 230,000 pounds of leftovers at Bonnaroo—are doing their part to minimize wasted festival food. The Huffington Post: "It seems like every major festival in the past year has had a thoughtful program around waste management: Glastonbury, Outside Lands, Coachella, Electric Forest. This may stem from the fact that music festivals are big businesses. In 2014, 32 million Americans went to at least one music festival, according to Nielsen. These events are a particularly big hit with millennials, who are known to be environmentally conscious. 'Recycling and sustainable waste management are absolutely consumer-demanded services,' said Borofsky. 'Festivalgoers want to feel like these events align with their values.' 'There’s a lot of trash at music festivals,' Tucker Gumber, a festival aficionado known as the 'Festival Guy,' told HuffPost. 'But not as much food waste as you may think.' This, he says, is because most festivals are supplied by food trucks, which are extremely resource-conscious by nature. … The ultimate in festival waste management is probably seen at Burning Man, the annual gathering in the Nevada desert that takes place in a temporary city, which is completely dismantled at the event’s conclusion, leaving the desert essentially how it looked before. Another step that festivals are starting to take toward the Burning Man ideal is managing their food waste on-site, instead of resorting to external facilities. Bonnaroo is a leader on this front: The festival owns much of its Tennessee campgrounds, so it is able to compost much of its food waste onsite immediately after the festival." http://huff.to/2axlPlD
2. N.B.A. PULLS ALL-STAR GAME FROM CHARLOTTE BECAUSE OF ANTI-L.G.B.T. LAWS: The N.B.A. has decided to move the 2017 All-Star Game out of Charlotte because of North Carolina legislators’ lack of action to change the state’s laws targeted toward the L.G.B.T. community. The league may move the February 19 event to the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, a state that hosted the game in 2008 and 2014. Yahoo Sports: “NBA commissioner Adam Silver had threatened to move All-Star Weekend out of Charlotte unless a discriminatory North Carolina law aimed at the state’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community was changed–and time to do so ran out because of the logistics and planning the NBA needs to run its marquee midseason event, league sources said. ‘While we recognize that the NBA cannot choose the law in every city, state, and country in which we do business, we do not believe we can successfully host our All-Star festivities in Charlotte in the climate created by HB2,’ the league said. ‘… We look forward to re-starting plans for our All-Star festivities in Charlotte for 2019 provided there is an appropriate resolution to this matter.’ Charlotte Hornets owner Michael Jordan had been counting on All-Star Weekend as a signature event for his franchise, and the economic impact of losing the All-Star Game for the franchise and region promises to be dramatic.” http://yhoo.it/2aez8eC
3. WHY MAJOR STUDIOS ARE SKIPPING COMIC-CON: Major studios use Comic-Con International, taking place in San Diego this weekend, to promote upcoming films and television shows. But lately, many are skipping the pop culture convention, as Marvel and Warner Bros. are the only major studios attending. Adweek: "'I don't think it's necessarily a long-term thing going on for the studios to avoid Comic-Con by any means,' said Marty Brochstein, svp for the International Licensing Industry Merchandisers Association, or LIMA, for which Comic-Con is one of the biggest events of the year. 'To an extent, it's how things fell, where people were with projects and such.' Comic-Con used to be a place where studios made major announcements, even if they didn't have specific projects to plug. And it's not like major studios like Sony, Lucasfilm or 20th Century Fox don't have projects to plug this year. Last year, Lucasfilm put on a big show for the return of Star Wars, but its first attempt at a spinoff film with Rogue One will be not be making the trip to San Diego. Fox, despite having Assassin's Creed and Huge Jackman's final Wolverine movie coming out in the next 10 months—both seemingly perfect for Comic-Con's Hall H stage—is sitting out this year, too. It seems odd that Sony wouldn't look to capitalize on Tom Holland's well-received debut as Spider-Man in Captain America: Civil War by bringing it to Comic-Con, but it's not. … Studios bring their films to Comic-Con hoping positive buzz from their panels leads to box office success. But it's becoming increasingly evident that just because something plays well in front of an audience of hard-core fans doesn't mean general audiences will like it. Last year, films including The Man From U.N.C.L.E., Pan and Warcraft struggled to draw average moviegoers despite getting rave reviews from Comic-Con attendees. Even Batman v Superman, one of the highlights of the event last summer, ended up disappointing this spring, which caused Warner Bros. to shuffle behind the scenes." http://bit.ly/29QiZqZ
4. BRAZIL FOILS ALLEGED OLYMPICS TERRORIST PLOT: Federal police in Brazil arrested a group of Brazilian nationals possibly linked to the Islamic State who were allegedly planning terrorist attacks at the Summer Olympics in Rio next month. Bloomberg: "Concerns about safety at the Summer Olympics have increased following a wave of terrorist attacks around the globe, including last week’s killings in France. The incidents spurred Brazil’s security officials to re-examine their preparations and bolster safeguards by adding checkpoints and barriers. The alleged cell contacted the Islamic State online, swore allegiance to the terrorist group and began planning acts and carrying out training, Minister De Moraes said. It also commemorated the recent killings in France and Orlando, Florida. Authorities have long been preparing security measures to protect athletes and tourists during the Summer Games. The Rio Olympics will be the first to have a counter-terrorism center, with representatives of seven countries working alongside Brazilian agents. The city also will have more than 85,000 security forces on hand, of which more than 40 percent correspond to the marines, air force and other branches of the national military." http://bloom.bg/2ac75ti
* INDUSTRY NEWS *
Event management company AlliedPRA has announced a new partnership with London-based independent destination management company 2B UK.
* LOCAL NEWS *
CHICAGO: El Che Bar, an Argentinian restaurant from chef John Manion, will begin taking reservations August 1. Located in the former Checker Cab building, the venue will seat just under 100 people in the main dining room and 14 at a bar.
DALLAS/FORT WORTH: Jeff Smith will serve as general manager of the the Omni Frisco Hotel, slated to open in early summer 2017.
LAS VEGAS: On July 22, Beer Park at Paris Las Vegas will host an appearance by the N.B.A.’s David Robinson, Chris Mullin, and Mitch Richmond in honor of the USA basketball showcase in Las Vegas.
LOS ANGELES: The second annual ArcLight Presents Women in Entertainment Summit will take place on November 10 at the Hollywood Cinerama Dome. The event will be hosted by ArcLight executive vice president Gretchen McCourt. Guest speakers include Oscar-winning actress Geena Davis and executives from Google, Freeform, Turner, and DreamWorks Animation.
The Beverly Hilton hotel has announced the hiring of executive chef Alberico Nunziata. Nunziata will launch Serata Italiana, a weekly night of Italian food.
For information on upcoming events in Los Angeles, visit Masterplanner: http://www.masterplanneronline.com/losangeles
MIAMI/SOUTH FLORIDA: The Miami Home Design and Remodeling Show will take place September 2-6 at the Miami Beach Convention Center. Matt Muenster of HGTV’s Bath Crashers and DIY Network’s BATHtastic! will be one of the guest speakers.
The Langford Hotel and Miami Book Fair have partnered to launch First Day: A Literary Social, a series of monthly writing events with receptions at rooftop lounge Pawn Broker. The first event took place on Thursday.
NEW YORK: Restaurateur Ravi DeRossi and chef Daphne Cheng have opened international vegetable tapas bar Ladybird in Greenwich Village. The 42-seat restaurant features an ingredient-driven beverage program from Ariel Arce, and a percentage of proceeds benefit DeRossi's Beast Foundation, which is dedicated to ending animal cruelty.
The New York Innovative Theatre Awards nominee-announcement party will take place August 8 at 42 West.
Tefaf New York Fall, a global art, jewelry, furniture, and design fair, will take place October 22-26 at Park Avenue Armory. Proceeds from the event's opening night will benefit the Society of Memorial Sloan Kettering programs and Park Avenue Armory cultural programs.
For information on upcoming events in New York, visit Masterplanner: http://www.masterplanneronline.com/newyork
SAN DIEGO: Pendry San Diego hotel has appointed David Wiggins as director of finance, Victor Calzada as director of food and beverage, and Jessica Johnson as director of people and culture.
SAN FRANCISCO: The sixth annual Bay Area Blues Festival will take place September 24-25 in Historic Downtown Martinez. Produced by Steven Restivo Event Services and presented by Main Street Martinez, the event will feature music on two stages, arts and crafts booths, local restaurant fare, and bistro-style seating areas.
TORONTO: The 17th annual Toronto International BuskerFest for Epilepsy, which is slated for September 2-5, will feature more than 45 acts with performers including magicians, aerialists, jugglers, hula hoopers, comedians, and daredevils.
Catering and culinary events company ProvisionsTO will host its annual Almanac Island Cookout on August 7 at Toronto Island, Artscape Gibraltar Point. The event will feature a cook-off with eight chefs including ProvisionsTO owner Kevin Castonguay.
WASHINGTON, D.C.: The International Center for Journalists Awards will take place November 14 at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center. CNN's Wolf Blizter will emcee the event, and honorees will include Charlie Rose and CNN's Clarissa Ward.
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With contributions from Jenny Berg in Chicago, Alesandra Dubin and Claire Hoffman in Los Angeles, Mitra Sorrells in Orlando, and Carla Hay, Beth Kormanik, Michele Laufik, Jill Menze, and Ian Zelaya in New York.
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July 22, 2016: How Music Festivals Are Minimizing Food Waste, N.B.A. Pulls All-Star Game From Charlotte Because of Anti-L.G.B.T. Laws, Why Major Studios Are Skipping Comic-Con, Brazil Foils Alleged Olympics Terrorist Plot
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