February 2, 2018: Bitcoin Conference Criticized For Renting Miami Strip Club, Pressure Builds For Recording Academy President to Step Down, Super Bowl LII Ads Will Still Favor Men

1. BITCOIN CONFERENCE CRITICIZED FOR RENTING MIAMI STRIP CLUB: The North American Bitcoin Conference, which took place January 18-19 in Miami, held a networking event at Miami adult entertainment club E11even—and quickly caught flack for doing so. Bloomberg: “The agenda didn’t mention that the networking event would be held in a 20,000-square-foot Miami strip club, praised on review sites for aerial acrobats and a relatively permissive attitude toward touching. During the mixer, waitresses in revealing tops and lingerie served drinks, and when the event technically ended at 11 p.m., plenty of attendees kept their conference badges on and stayed to party. … Moe Levin, C.E.O. of Keynote, which organized the conference, at first defended the choice of venue, calling it “the ideal layout for networking.” Nude performances were halted until 11 p.m., and if it later became a place where people felt uncomfortable, that wasn’t the conference’s fault, he said in a phone interview. Within a few hours, he did an about-face, a real-time demonstration of the growing pains in the nascent industry. ‘Having the networking party at E11even was a misstep,’ he wrote in an email. ‘We always aim to be as inclusive as possible and create a safe environment.’ Keynote also will take steps to improve the gender balance at next year’s conference, starting with inviting more women to speak on panels. This year, 85 of the 88 slots for presenters were assigned to men, according to a list posted online.” https://bloom.bg/2EvEzAC

2. PRESSURE BUILDS FOR RECORDING ACADEMY PRESIDENT TO STEP DOWN: Female music executives have called for Recording Academy president Neil Portnow to step down following comments he made after Sunday's Grammys, when he said female musicians needed to "step up" in response to the award show's striking lack of female nominees, winners, and performers. The Hollywood Reporter: "The letter, signed by over a dozen female execs, calls Portnow's comments 'spectacularly wrong' and says he is 'oblivious to the vast body of work created by and with women.' The letter goes on to list statistics of gender discrepancy in the recording industry, as well as at the Grammys themselves. This year's Grammy nominations were dominated by male performers, sparking backlash online and giving rise to the hashtag #GrammysSoMale. The issue was further made worse by the fact that album of the year nominee Lorde, the only female artist nominated in the category, was not offered a solo performing slot at the night's event, unlike her male cohorts in the category. The British singer opted to skip performing altogether. Earlier on Thursday, the Recording Academy announced that it was establishing an 'independent task force' to identify gender bias in the organization and unconscious bias to promote women in the industry. 'I appreciate that the issue of gender bias needs to be addressed in our industry, and share in the urgency to attack it head on,' said Portnow. 'We as an organization, and I as its leader, pledge our commitment to doing that.'" http://bit.ly/2DWaSMb

3. SUPER BOWL LII ADS WILL STILL FAVOR MEN: Despite the recent prevalence of the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements, Super Bowl ads on Sunday are still expected to appeal to a mostly male audience. Advertising Age: “As of Thursday morning, there were more than two times as many male celebrities than female appearing in Super Bowl commercials (20 men compared with just eight women). It's difficult to pinpoint exactly why this gap still exists. If the Super Bowl didn't start as a place where marketers could reach a critical scale of women consumers, that's certainly changed. Last year 54 million women watched the Super Bowl—49% of the total audience. That's up from 39 million women who watched the game in 2009, just under 40% of the total, and not incidentally the last time the Super Bowl averaged less than 100 million viewers. While none of the Super Bowl advertises thus far have dared to feature half-dressed women or rely on some predictable stereotypes, they've also done little to close the gender gap. Just take a look at this year's lineup: Danny DeVito stars in M&M'S first spot in three years; Squarespace has Keanu Reeves; Steven Tyler is featured in Kia's spot; Michelob Ultra brought in Chris Pratt; Peter Hermann reprises his role as the ‘Professional’ for Persil ProClean; and Chris Elliott will make a cameo in Avocados From Mexico's commercial. … There are at least some glimmers of change. More than half of the team behind Lexus' collaboration with Marvel's Black Panther movie are women, including executive producer Shauna Williams, who is also one of the very few women of color to executive produce a Super Bowl spot.” http://bit.ly/2EwB6C4

* LOCAL NEWS *

DETROIT:  The Detroit Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau debuted a new advertising campaign, “Detroit: It’s Go Time” and a new YouTube show, “Eats in The D,” at its annual membership meeting, which took place earlier this week at Sound Board at MotorCity Casino Hotel. The bureau also announced the city will generate $200 million in 2018 from 10 major events in the city, which will include the First Robotics Championship, SAE World Congress, and the N.C.A.A. Men’s Preliminary Round Basketball Tournament.

LOS ANGELES:  The fifth annual iHeartRadio Music Awards will take place March 11 at the Forum. Hosted by DJ Khaled and Hailey Baldwin, the event will have performances by Cardi B, Maroon 5, Ed Sheeran, Camila Cabello, Charlie Puth, and the Backstreet Boys. 

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has partnered with the Los Angeles Philharmonic for the Oscar Concert, taking place February 28 at Walt Disney Concert Hall. The concert will feature the premiere of suites from the five Oscar nominees for original score. Variety: http://bit.ly/2nz3yv7

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

NEW YORK:  Dining by Design, an annual fund-raiser for Diffa, will take place March 22-26 at Pier 92. The event, which raises funds for organizations that fight H.I.V. and A.I.D.S., will feature dining installations by more than 30 designers, manufacturers, architects, and brands. 

Coco Witkin has joined Cartier as events assistant manager. Witkin previously served as special events coordinator at Gucci, and prior to that held the role of executive assistant to the presidents and global communications manager at KCD.

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

TORONTO:  The Canadian Film Centre will celebrate its 30th anniversary at its annual gala and auction February 15 at the Ritz-Carlton, Toronto. Event sponsors will include eOne, Bell Media, RBC, AMC, and Netflix. 

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

JOB BOARD: Post a job or find a job: http://jobs.bizbash.com

With contributions from Claire Hoffman in Los Angeles and Beth Kormanik, Michele Laufik, and Ian Zelaya in New York.

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

Feed the Sheet: [email protected]

Subscribe: www.bizbash.com/bizbashdaily

Advertise with BizBash: [email protected]