May 8, 2018: Met Gala Delivers Bedazzled Gowns, Headpieces, and an Exhibition; Ticketmaster Wants to Use Face Scanning to Accelerate Venue Access; Royal Wedding to Screen in Movie Theaters

1. MET GALA DELIVERS BEDAZZLED GOWNS, HEADPIECES, AND AN EXHIBITION: The theme of this year's Met Gala was "Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination," and the celebrities on the red carpet and the exhibition inside the Metropolitan Museum of Art didn't disappoint. The New York Times: "In keeping with the theme, there were gowns crusted in pearls and embroidered so elaborately, so painstakingly, it was easy to imagine a quorum of stitchers somewhere, all gone stone blind. There were trains by the yard obstructing traffic, and a full complement of halos, wimples, tiaras and crowns. And those were just on guests. The exhibition contained still more, filling the Medieval galleries with couture and priestly finery. Stephen Jones, the star milliner whose pieces featured throughout, was browsing with the young British designer Craig Green. They paused before a bedazzled miter created for one of John Galliano’s Dior Haute Couture collections. ... Rihanna, one of the evening’s chairwomen, came in a three-piece, gem-barnacled Maison Margiela outfit by Mr. Galliano. 'When you’re going to host the Met, you have to go for the most,' she said. It took, the company said, 500 hours to embroider by hand, and weighed, Rihanna’s stylist Mel Ottenberg said, more even than the egg-yolk-yellow Guo Pei creation with an enormous train that she had worn three years ago at the 'China: Through the Looking Glass' Met Gala. With her matching miter, she looked ready to assume the papacy, should the occasion arise. 'You let me know when,' she said." https://nyti.ms/2IhU3Nh

2. TICKETMASTER WANTS TO USE FACE SCANNING TO ACCELERATE VENUE ACCESS: Ticketmaster wants to speed up access to its events by replacing physical and digital tickets with face scanning. The ticket sales company has invested in a face recognition company called Blink Identity. Engadget: "In its first quarter financial report (PDF), Live Nation has explained that Blink has 'cutting-edge facial recognition technology, enabling you to associate your digital ticket with your image, then just walk into the show.' According to Blink's website, its system can register an image of your face as soon as you walk past a sensor. Blink's technology can then match it against a large database in half a second—in a blink, so to speak. It's also apparently powerful enough that you don't even have to slow down for its system to recognize you: Just walk normally, and if the technology gets a match, it'll automatically open doors or turnstiles to let you in. While some might find value in a ticketing system that relies on facial recognition, others are understandably concerned about its implications. Facial recognition is far from perfect and still has issues recognizing PoCs, which could lead to some event attendees not being able to enter venues they were supposed to have instant access to." https://engt.co/2HWDQcL

3. ROYAL WEDDING TO SCREEN IN MOVIE THEATERS: The wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will screen in nearly 200 theaters. The Hollywood Reporter: “Fathom Events and BritBox, the subscription service from BBC Studios and ITV, are partnering for ‘Harry & Meghan: The Royal Wedding,’ a commercial-free presentation of the royal wedding that will screen in nearly 200 theaters across the U.S. on May 19. The broadcast of the ceremony will be captured live from Windsor Castle in England and will screen in theaters at 10 a.m. local time. The nuptials have a Hollywood connection thanks to the actress turned princess. Markle's pal Priyanka Chopra is expected at the wedding, as well as the core cast of Markle's long-running USA Network series, Suits. A list of participating theater locations is available on the Fathom Events website.” https://bit.ly/2I5ufAx

* LOCAL NEWS *

COAST TO COAST:  PR and marketing agency Bullfrog and Baum has been named agency of record for Dog Haus, a craft casual hot dog concept with locations in Maryland, California, Illinois, Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, Tennessee, Texas, and Utah. 

CHICAGO:  The National Confectioners Association’s Sweets & Snacks Expo will take place May 22-24 at McCormick Place. The event will have more than 800 exhibitors.  

Women’s conference Create & Cultivate will take place August 25 at House of Vans Chicago. Speakers will include Whitney Port, Gabi Gregg, and Emma Chapman. 

LAS VEGAS:  Janet Jackson will receive the Icon Award at the 2018 Billboard Music Awards, which take place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on May 20.

LOS ANGELES:  The Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board has announced that Los Angeles County’s record-setting 48.5 million visitors generated an all-time high of $22.7 billion for the local economy in 2017.

AlienCon, an alien-theme pop culture convention, will take place June 15-17 at the Pasadena Convention Center. 

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

MIAMI/SOUTH FLORIDA:  Miami Fashion Week’s “First Faces” kick-off event, which follows the casting process of 200 models, takes place tonight at Delano Beach Club. Miami Fashion Week runs May 30-June 3. 

Shaggy will headline the Music Explosion Concert May 26 at the National Salute to America’s Heroes, taking place Memorial Day Weekend on Miami Beach. 

NEW YORK:  The 10th annual Northside Festival will take place June 6-10 at venues in Williamsburg and Greenpoint. The Brooklyn festival features performances by up-and-coming musicians, innovation keynotes and panels, and a block party. 

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

TORONTO:  True North, a conference that focuses on the future of technology as a force for good, will take place May 29-31 at venues in Kitchener, Ontario. Event speakers include Bozoma Saint John, chief brand officer of Uber; Ed Catmull, the co-founder and president of Pixar Animation Studios; and Rana el Kaliouby, C.E.O. and co-founder of emotion measurement technology company Affectiva.  

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

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

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