February 21, 2017: CPAC Rescinds Milo Yiannopoulos Invite, the Brit Awards Stepped Up Its Social Media Game Because of Adele, 2024 Olympics Host City a Race Between Los Angeles and Paris

1. CPAC RESCINDS MILO YIANNOPOULOS INVITE: Controversial right-wing figure and Breitbart News editor Milo Yiannopoulos will no longer be a keynote speaker at the Conservative Political Action Conference after tapes surfaced of him advocating pedophilia. Politico: "'Due to the revelation of an offensive video in the past 24 hours condoning pedophilia, the American Conservative Union has decided to rescind the invitation,' said Matt Schlapp, chairman of the group which sponsors CPAC, in a statement Monday afternoon. The group called Yiannopoulos to 'further address these disturbing comments,' but defended its original decision to invite him as a nod to 'the free speech issue on college campuses.' President Donald Trump, along with Vice President Mike Pence, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, will be headlining this year’s event, along with top White House aides Steve Bannon and Reince Priebus. But the Milo controversy quickly threatened to taint the event and raised questions about what it would mean if other speakers still attended. CPAC organizers had a conference call at 1 p.m. on Monday to discuss the controversy and how to address it, according to a GOP source familiar with the matter. The decision to disinvite Yiannopoulos was unanimous and did not even need to be deliberated, the person said. Among those on the call were ACU board members Amy Frederick, Bob Beauprez, Mike Rose, Matt Smith, Matt Schlapp and Becky Norton Dunlop, along with Vice Chair of the ACU Foundation Millie Hallow." http://politi.co/2lnaBp2

2. THE BRIT AWARDS STEPPED UP ITS SOCIAL MEDIA GAME BECAUSE OF ADELE: The Brit Awards—the U.K.'s equivalent of the Grammys that take place Wednesday—never had a presence on social media until a memorable performance from Adele in 2011. Since then, the event has made huge strides in promoting itself on social. Advertising Age: "Somethin' Else, the content company that works with the BPI, had been urging the industry body to step up its game for years, and the Adele moment proved it was right. For too long, its team was placed at the back of the line on the red carpet, which meant that pictures of arriving celebrities were on newspaper websites before the stars had even reached the official photographer. Cut to 2017 and the Brits' social media operation is always on. For 365 days a year, Somethin' Else is connecting with the British audience on every platform, negotiating with artists and record labels to pump out content that engages music fans and creates excitement around the awards that keeps TV audiences watching. A core team of five people work on the Brits account, staffing up to 100 on awards night, when they work in shifts right through lunchtime the following day. Somethin' Else claims the Brit Awards is the most tweeted-about nonsport event in U.K. TV history. In 2016, Twitter impressions more than doubled to 602.3 million on show day from the previous year, while the awards claimed 12 of 14 Facebook trends overnight, and won 12 million unique views for the red carpet live stream. The show airs live on ITV, the U.K.'s biggest commercial TV channel, and 6.6 million people watched last year, about 28% of the viewing audience in that time slot, and 42% of 16-to-34-year-olds." http://bit.ly/2kH8cbT

3. 2024 OLYMPICS HOST CITY A RACE BETWEEN LOS ANGELES AND PARIS: Budapest, Hungary, recently suspended its campaign to host the 2024 Olympics, meaning that the competition to host the event will likely be between Los Angeles and Paris. Los Angeles Times: "The third candidate in the host city race has encountered sizable public resistance from a Hungarian political group that collected some 266,000 signatures to force a referendum on the issue. Already considered an underdog, Budapest has suspended its campaign and could withdraw as early as this week. 'This ship has sailed, it seems,' bid committee leader Balazs Furjes told Inforadio. 'Unity has gone up in the air, and lacking that, we stand no chance against Paris or Los Angeles.' This bidding cycle has already seen Rome; Hamburg, Germany; and Boston withdraw over concerns about the costs associated with staging the mega-sporting event. Budapest came under a cloud of uncertainty when the Momentum Mozgalom youth group began gathering signatures. Hungarian political officials have said they will meet later this week to discuss the bid’s future. The competition for 2024 has now entered its crucial, final stage as candidates travel the world to pitch their case directly to International Olympic Committee members. In coming months, the IOC will send evaluation teams to each city. A vote to select the host is scheduled for September." http://lat.ms/2lfK92b

* LOCAL NEWS *

CHICAGO:  Independent film nonprofit I.F.P. Chicago will host its 32nd annual Film Independent Spirit Awards screening and member appreciation party on Saturday at Rockit Bar & Grill.

LAS VEGAS:  Queen Bee Market, billed as a live Etsy, has announced its lineup of artisans for its first-ever Las Vegas shopping event at the Conference Center of Las Vegas March 10-11. The market has also selected local nonprofit the Shade Tree as its community partner.

LOS ANGELES:  Welcome! A Fundraising Concert for the ACLU will take place April 3 at the Staples Center. Headliners include Zedd, Tinashe, Imagine Dragons, and Daya.

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

MIAMI/SOUTH FLORIDA:  The Little Lighthouse Foundation's Hearts & Stars Gala: Mystic Dreams will take place March 18 at 42 Star Island. 

NEW YORK:  Moving Image New York, an art fair focused on video, film, and time-based installations, will take place February 27-March 2 at Waterfront New York Tunnel.

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

SAN FRANCISCO:  This year's San Francisco International Chocolate Salon will take place March 18 at the Herbst Pavilion at Fort Mason Center. The event will feature chocolate from more than 50 chocolatiers and confectioners.

TORONTO:  Freeman Audio Visual Canada has appointed Chris Siedel as regional director of strategic partnerships for eastern Canada.

The Metro Toronto Convention Centre has launched a $23 million renovation that will include 10 new meeting rooms and an additional 13,000 square feet of flexible meeting and event space in the South Building.

WASHINGTON, D.C.:  The Black History Film Festival will take place February 27 at Lincoln Theatre. The event is presented by Mayor Muriel Bowser's Office on African American Affairs and actor Lamman Rucker.

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With contributions from Jenny Berg in Chicago, Alesandra Dubin and Claire Hoffman in Los Angeles, Mitra Sorrells in Orlando, and Beth Kormanik, Michele Laufik, Jill Menze, and Ian Zelaya in New York.

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