November 1, 2016: Movie Theater Chains to Screen Election-Night Events, Live Nation Acquires Bonnaroo's Co-Founding Company, How a Co-Working Space Turned Into a Virtual-Reality Haunted House

1. MOVIE THEATER CHAINS TO SCREEN ELECTION-NIGHT EVENTS: Building on the success of screening the presidential debates, theater chains including AMC Theaters, Regal, and Alamo Drafthouse Cinema will screen election-night events and coverage at select venues across the country. The New York Times: "Elizabeth Frank, the chief content and programming officer for AMC Theaters, said the idea to open up the theaters for election night came out of a brainstorming session about a year ago. She said it would be 'a fascinating opportunity to see our democracy at work.' Unlike at a feature film, there are no $16 tickets for these events: Regal didn’t charge for its debate viewings, while AMC is not charging but is asking people to join its Stubs loyalty program to reserve a seat for election night. Mr. Smith said some Alamo theaters would most likely charge a nominal fee to guarantee a reserved seat and then give customers a voucher for food and drink. As with a feature film screening, the bigger profit margin comes from concession sales, and at Alamo, that means campaign-themed drink specials: the Canadian Passport (Canadian whiskey, maple syrup and bitters) and Political Punsch (gin, Swedish punsch and lime juice), both $9. … John Rubey is the chief executive of Fathom Events, which has built its business on organizing live events such as opera screenings, sports events and classic films at cinemas around the country. (It is not involved in this year’s election programming.) He attended a live debate event and said he was impressed by the diversity in the audience. Ms. Frank said AMC was hoping to attract civic groups to its theaters. Across the country, there are many local political groups that host watch parties, 'and we’re a terrific platform for them,' she said." http://nyti.ms/2f6pl8H

2. LIVE NATION ACQUIRES BONNAROO'S CO-FOUNDING COMPANY: Live Nation has acquired Knoxville, Tennessee-based AC Entertainment, which is a co-founder of Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival. Billboard: "Last year, Live Nation acquired a majority stake in Bonnaroo but did not expand the deal to include the festival's producers. Acquiring AC Entertainment gives Live Nation a presence in more markets across the Southeast and will foster growth opportunities for founder/CEO Ashley Capps and his team. 'As the saying goes, the only constant is change, and embracing change and pursuing new opportunities have defined AC Entertainment throughout its 25 years,' Capps tells Billboard. 'Initially, the conversation with Live Nation was one of several that we were having as we contemplated how we wanted to grow and where we wanted to go as a company in the coming years,' Capps continues. 'As we got to know the Live Nation team better, especially working on Bonnaroo, it became clear that our teams could complement one another very well. It seemed like a great fit for AC, for where we are as a company now and how we expect to grow in the future.' … Capps will still manage the day-to-day operations of the company, which will continue to operate under the AC Entertainment banner. AC employs 40 full time staff in Knoxville (including its venue management team that runs the Tennessee Theatre, the Bijou Theatre, and the new Mill & Mine), with nine full time staff in its Nashville office, seven full time staff in its Chattanooga office (running the Tivoli Theatre and Memorial Auditorium there). AC also has satellite offices in Louisville and Chicago. No staffing changes related to the Live Nation agreement are planned." http://bit.ly/2esbisM

3. HOW A CO-WORKING SPACE TURNED INTO A VIRTUAL-REALITY HAUNTED HOUSE: Leading up to Halloween, a Los Angeles-based co-working space called Ctrl Collective turned into the VRScout Haunted Mansion—a 26,000-square-foot virtual-reality haunted house. Fast Company: “Approximately 1500 visitors stopped by the haunted house, which included eight room-size horror virtual reality environments and 12 scary virtual reality movies and art installations. According to Jonathan Nafarrete of VRScout, the organization that put on the event, ‘The lay of land was five little rooms with different experiences. There are tabletops with Gear VR headsets to check out content on that, a main stage with a DJ spinning in virtual reality, and an artist painting in Tilt Brush next to him with a giant 360-degree dome projecting art on top of it. There’s also a 360-degree photo experience, which is a normal photo booth that puts you in a zombie research facility. Your picture is taken inside a holding pen and is then shared on Facebook as a 360-degree photo.’ Virtual reality content shown at the haunted house ranged from homegrown projects to big-budget scare pieces tied to multimedia brands like vampire television show/book The Strain and the Paranormal Activity movies. Charles Hu of digital studio Fishermen Labs said that his company built their zombie game, Ctrl Collective: Last Stand, over the course of two months as a passion project. Fishermen is based at the massive Ctrl Collective co-working space (which includes many hallways and outdoor areas). They designed the game to have players experience a zombie attack inside their own office building.” http://bit.ly/2f62Vob


* INDUSTRY NEWS *

The Convention Industry Council elected a new board of directors at its annual Meeting of Members in Las Vegas on October 20. Susan Robertson, executive vice president of A.S.A.E. and the Center for Association Leadership was elected as chair, and Kevin Hinton, C.E.O. of Society for Incentive Travel excellence, was elected as chair elect. The full list of board members can be found here: http://bit.ly/2f5xb2G

* LOCAL NEWS *

BOSTON:  Joslin Diabetes Center's annual High Hopes Gala will take place November 19 at Renaissance Boston Waterfront Hotel.

CHICAGO:  The fourth annual Helpings of Hope tasting event will take place November 10 at Salvage One. Hosted by nonprofit Franciscan Outreach, the event raises funds to benefit the homeless and marginalized in Chicago and will feature dishes from First Slice, Hutch, Madison & Rayne, and more.

LAS VEGAS:  Cherry Boom Boom has announced that its final performance at Tropicana Las Vegas was October 26. The show is exploring new venue options.

LOS ANGELES:  The Los Angeles County Museum of Art hosted its sixth annual Art & Film Gala on October 29, honoring artist Robert Irwin and filmmaker Kathryn Bigelow. Co-chaired by Lacma trustee Eva Chow and Leonardo DiCaprio, the evening brought together more than 550 guests and raised more than $3.6 million.

For information on upcoming events in Los Angeles, visit Masterplanner: http://www.masterplanneronline.com/losangeles

NEW YORK:  The Municipal Art Society of New York's Summit 2016 will take place November 15 at the New Museum. The members-only summit will cover the city's public assets, and panels will include a keynote from The New Yorker staff writer Adam Gopnik. 

Pratt Institute's Legends 2016 scholarship benefit will take place November 16 at Mandarin Oriental. Honoring fashion icon Iris Apfel and photographer William Wegman, the event will feature its first-ever live auction led by Sotheby's Andrea Fiuczynski.

For information on upcoming events in New York, visit Masterplanner: http://www.masterplanneronline.com/newyork

TORONTO:  The 22nd annual Gourmet Wine and Food Expo will take place November 17-20 at Metro Toronto Convention Centre. The event will showcase more than 1,500 wines, beers, spirits, and gourmet foods.

WASHINGTON, D.C.:  Nasime, a Japanese restaurant, is now open in Old Town Alexandria.

Two new cafes have opened in Arlington, Virginia: Blumen Cafe is in a space formerly occupied by CD Cellar, and Commonwealth Joe's is located in Pentagon City.

YOUR NEWS: What are you doing? Tell us: [email protected]. 

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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.

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

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