October 5, 2016: Why a Hotel Brand Launched a Traveling Music Fest, New Start-Up Aims to Find Millennials On-Demand Hospitality Jobs, Inside Chanel's Tech-Inspired Paris Fashion Week Show

1. WHY A HOTEL BRAND LAUNCHED A TRAVELING MUSIC FESTIVAL: W Hotels forayed into the music festival industry last weekend with the first event in the brand's traveling Wake Up Call: A W Hotels Music Festival. The hotel brand launched the new festival in an effort to engage more with its consumer. Forbes: "A music festival is an odd thing for a brand like W Hotels to jump into, as the connotations associated with the former aren’t often connected to the latter. Many music festivals involve camping on the ground, missing out on showers and private bathrooms for days on end, and everything from extreme, unavoidable heat to mud everywhere. These aren’t images that a brand like W would want to align itself with, so the company decided to do things a bit differently and create a festival worthy of the carefully-curated brand image that has been constructed over the years. … In addition to being able to say it is now a part of the music festival world, these events may actually make some money for each individual hotel that hosts one, though the profits probably aren’t massive. Ingram commented that at the beginning of the weekend, the property was almost fully booked on a weekend that wasn’t typically busy. The event hosted 500 people per day for the event, and many of those visited specifically for the live music. Specially-priced packages were offered for those not living near the Scottsdale, AZ location, and $50 daily passes were sold for local residents. Sure, it cost a lot to set everything up and get the musicians to come play, but one of the biggest wins here is that quite a few people who have never stayed at or attended an event at a W gave it a try this weekend for the first time, which gives the brand an incredible opportunity to form a lasting relationship with that consumer." http://bit.ly/2d18swM

2. NEW START-UP AIMS TO FIND MILLENNIALS ON-DEMAND HOSPITALITY AND CATERING JOBS: London-based start-up company Gig wants to make it easier for millennials to find work in hospitality, catering, and retail, by finding jobs in the industry on-demand for users. TechCrunch: “As well as enabling you to find and book work through the app, Gig’s headline feature is that once a shift is completed, workers automatically get paid within 24 hours. If the so-called gig economy is fuelling an array of services that let consumers purchase things ‘on-demand’, here Gig is punting employment itself as available on-demand. ‘Millennials want instant gratification, they want and get it with travel (Uber), takeaway (Deliveroo) and retail (Amazon same day delivery), but they are yet to get it with work,’ says Gig co-founder Antony Woodcock. ‘Employment is traditionally the embodiment of all things contrary to the above. It’s structured, you work set shifts or set days, which are planned a week or more in advance and you don’t get paid until the end of the week or month. There isn’t anything instant about that’. In contrast, there’s no obligation to work a minimum number of days or a minimum number of hours when you sign up to Gig. You simply apply for the shifts that work for you, presumably they are available. ‘Gig provides instant gratification by paying advances to its users 24 hours after the completion of their shift,’ explains Woodcock. He and his brother Daniel Woodcock came up with the idea for Gig after they found it difficult to efficiently staff the sushi restaurant Maki they opened last year.” http://tcrn.ch/2dRBHkf

3. INSIDE CHANEL'S TECH-INSPIRED PARIS FASHION WEEK SHOW: To poke fun at how technology is integrated into a person's everyday life, Chanel hosted a tech-inspired Paris Fashion Week show on Tuesday at the Grand Palais. The brand transformed the venue with cables, wires, and black data boxes. Reuters: "Greeted by a huge sign that said 'Chanel data center', designer Karl Lagerfeld presented guests with a collection complete with blinking handbags, iridescent tweeds and fluorescent rays of color splashed on flowing dresses and caps. The show opened with an all-white tweed suit with a round plastic helmet and boots reminiscent of Star Wars warriors. Models walking alongside rows of computer hardware wore classic Chanel tweed suits and jackets completed with metallic ballerina shoes. Accessories included a small black handbag that was effectively a plastic robot with blinking square eyes. Chanel, which is privately owned, traditionally organizes some of the most striking shows during Paris Fashion Week. The events help the brand preserve its image which is crucial for retaining customers and wooing new ones." http://reut.rs/2dqDrmk


INDUSTRY NEWS

Global DMC Partners, a network of destination management companies, has partnered with cloud-based online platform BizzSmarts to offer clients budget management for meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions.

Social Tables, an SaaS platform that brings cloud-based collaborative event software to hospitality and meeting professionals, has raised $13 million from a Series B round led by QuestMark Partners.

* LOCAL NEWS *

COAST TO COAST:  Hyatt Hotels Corporation has named Alex Zoghlin as global head of data, innovation, and business transformation, effective October 17.

The Registry Collection program, a luxury exchange program, has renewed its affiliation agreement with seven Fairmont Heritage Place resorts in three countries. The United States resorts that are part of the deal are in San Francisco; Telluride, Colorado; Miramar Beach, Florida; and Santa Fe, New Mexico.

ATLANTA:  Elevate, an annual downtown public art showcase, will take place October 13-21. Installations and an opening-night block party will take place along Broad Street Southwest.

CHICAGO:  The Logan Square Food Truck Social, presented by the A.V. Club, will take place October 15-16. The event will feature 26 food trucks, live music programmed by Empty Bottle Presents, and bacon dish tastings from sponsor Hormel Black Label Bacon.
 

LOS ANGELES:  The Glamour Women of the Year celebration will take place November 14 at NeueHouse. The event, which will be live-streamed on Facebook, will be sponsored L'Oréal Paris for the 15th consecutive year. Brand partners include Aerie, Barbie, eBay, Getty Images, SoulCycle, and StubHub.

Renaissance Los Angeles Airport has named Reggie Dominique general manager.  

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

MIAMI/SOUTH FLORIDA:  Innovation in Healthcare, an invitation-only event, will take place October 20 at the Deck at Island Gardens. The event will allow consumers, investors, and industry professionals the opportunity to interact with health executives via short panel discussions. Speakers will include MDLive founder and C.E.O. Randy Parker and Okyanos Cell Therapy C.E.O. Matt Feshbach. Innovation in Healthcare will also include a number of experiential activations that involve new technology.

Waterstone Resort & Marina in Boca Raton has been rebranded Waterstone Resort & Marina, Curio Collection by Hilton. The 11-story, 139-room hotel has nearly 200 feet of boat-docking facilities and two dining areas: the upscale Boca Landing and the casual Waterstone Rum Bar & Grill.

NEW ORLEANS:  Courtyard New Orleans Metairie and Residence Inn New Orleans Metairie have named Josh Leibowitz dual general manager.

NEW YORK:  Carnegie Deli will close its flagship Midtown Manhattan location on December 31, after 79 years in business. Carnegie Deli will still keep its other New York locations open at Madison Square Garden and the U.S. Open, as well as maintain locations in Las Vegas and Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Owner Marian Harper plans to license the brand to sell products for wholesale distribution.

Investigation Discovery and Glamour's fourth annual Inspire a Difference Honors Event will take place October 26 at Dream Downtown. The event will honor actress Maria Bello, musician Dave Navarro, and media personality Joy Behar for their commitment to raising awareness and providing resources and education to victims of crime and social injustices.

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

ORLANDO/CENTRAL FLORIDA:  Westgate Resorts across Central Florida are in the midst of or about to begin expansion and renovation projects totaling more than $61 million. The work will include a new casual restaurant at Westgate Lakes Resort & Spa in Orlando and the addition of 3,600 square feet of meeting space at Westgate River Ranch.

SAN FRANCISCO:  Meeting and event venue the Bently Reserve has introduced a new standing meetings program. Planners who book the Cordova and Niantic rooms will be able to use sit-stand boardroom tables for as many as 18.

The Carneros Inn in Napa Valley has completed a $6 million property renovation and has rebranded as Carneros Resort and Spa. The renovation includes a new wedding and event venue called the Arbor. The resort's 86 cottages and 10 suites are in the midst of a $3 million renovation.

TAMPA:  Le Méridien Tampa is the pilot property for Starwood Hotels & Resorts' new global Creative Meetings initiative. The concept is designed to add local culture to smaller meetings of 20 or fewer. At Le Méridien Tampa, a custom-designed street-vendor-style cart can be positioned outside meeting rooms to serve things such as freshly squeezed Florida orange juice, local fruits and vegetables, mini Cuban sandwiches, and crepes made in the shape of Tampa's famous cigars. As the program rolls out to other Le Méridien properties, each hotel will have a unique menu and method of unlocking the cuisine of its destination.

TORONTO:  Cineplex has completed a previously announced acquisition of Tricorp Amusements. Ciineplex now operates 164 theaters with 1,678 screens in Canada.

WASHINGTON, D.C.:  On October 11, Glamour's Girl Project will host "A Brighter Future: A Global Conversation on Girls’ Education," a real-time digital global conversation via Skype with adolescent girls around the world. First Lady Michelle Obama, actress and activist Yara Shahidi, and Glamour editor in chief Cindi Leive will participate in the conversation from the Newseum. The magazine will also host 100 watch parties in 100 countries for the event, which is presented by sponsor Maybelline New York.

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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