March 22, 2018: Amazon's Secretive Tech Innovation Conference Was Open to Media This Year, Miami’s Ultra Music Festival Acquires Winter Music Conference, Google’s Acquisition of Chelsea Market Could Turn Venue Into Global Chain

1. AMAZON'S SECRETIVE TECH INNOVATION CONFERENCE WAS OPEN TO MEDIA THIS YEAR: Mars—a three-day conference from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos that brings inventors, roboticists, astronauts, and more successful minds to a mid-century modern hotel in the California desert—is usually a top-secret affair. But this year, a number of reporters got to check out the event for the first time. The New York Times: "For Mars, Amazon and Mr. Bezos handpick the roughly 200 attendees, most from the fields of artificial intelligence, robotics and space. There are astronauts,  philosophers, rocket scientists, Nobel prize winners and gravitational-wave astrophysicists. Attendance and everything else—room service, the crab legs at breakfast, seaweed wraps at the spa—were free. Mr. Bezos was visible throughout, sitting front and center at presentations and posing for photos with attendees in front of a Blue Origin space capsule. His booming laugh was easy to pick out in the crowd. While there were dozens of multimillionaires among the attendees, many savored the luxury. 'This is quite opulent compared to what I’m used to,' said Ann Karagozian, a rocket scientist from the University of California, Los Angeles. 'Definitely not any academic conferences.' ... Mornings were reserved for show and tell. About a dozen attendees presented on novel businesses or scientific breakthroughs, from new techniques for studying supermassive black holes to computer chips implanted in brains that can resolve symptoms of Parkinson’s disease. Rich Mahoney, head of a 'powered-clothing' start-up called Seismic, showed off leotards with built-in sensors and electric motors  to mimic muscles—designed to help elderly or disabled wearers stand from chairs. There was one clear rock star: A yellow four-legged robot named SpotMini that strutted back and forth on stage as a sea of smartphone cameras focused in. It was the newest invention from Boston Dynamics, the Defense Department -funded firm that Google recently sold to SoftBank. After the presentation, Mr. Bezos and SpotMini led the crowd to lunch." http://nyti.ms/2uix1A7

2. MIAMI'S ULTRA MUSIC FESTIVAL ACQUIRES WINTER MUSIC CONFERENCE: Ultra Music Festival has acquired the Winter Music Conference, and co-founder Bill Kelly is staying on board. During a press conference Wednesday, the festival also announced it will be expanding to China. Billboard: “Only weeks ago, media outlets speculated as to whether the long-running conference would see a 33rd edition in 2018. The week-long event had seen waning attendance in recent years, but WMC announced it would return as a three-day event in the days leading to Ultra Miami at the end of Miami Music Week. Kelly says he's excited about the partnership and that it was really a long time coming. ‘A couple years ago, we revisited the idea of coming together,’ Kelly says. ‘At that point the Amsterdam Dance Event and International Music Summit in Ibiza had formed over the course of the last five years or so, but Ibiza is a very small island, it's very expensive, and it's not easily available to businesses and fans. Over the years, the significance of WMC slightly diminished because of those, so to bring (attention) back to Miami, this acquisition was necessary.’ Berdellans also announced that UMF would expand into China with Ultra Beijing, June 16 and 17 of 2018, as well as Shanghai in September.” http://bit.ly/2FS1c6u

3. GOOGLE'S ACQUISITION OF CHELSEA MARKET COULD TURN VENUE INTO GLOBAL CHAIN: Google has finalized its $2.4 billion purchase of New York’s Chelsea Market. The acquisition could lead to multiple locations of the venue, which offers food and drink vendors, shops, and pop-up space for events. Eater: "WSJ reports that real estate and investment company Jamestown plans to find at least one and possibly two more locations before 2018’s end. Exact locations are TBD, but the company is eyeing ‘emerging neighborhoods in Europe and the U.S.’ The news comes just after Jamestown finalized the sale of the Chelsea Market building to Google to the tune of $2.4 billion, a pretty penny more than the $790 million the company spent on purchasing it. The internet powerhouse has offices at 76 Ninth Avenue between 15th and 16th streets and has said that the market will remain the same, but despite the property sale, Jamestown still owns branding rights to Chelsea Market and plans to capitalize on it with its new influx of cash. Chelsea Market opened more than 20 years ago, back when the neighborhood wasn’t quite as flush with commercial activity as it is now. Real estate prices have gone up dramatically in the last two decades in the neighborhood: Between 2016 and 2017 alone, asking rents per square foot in Chelsea have gone up 32 percent, the WSJ reports. In that vein, Jamestown’s president Michael Phillips tells the Journal that the company sees the Chelsea Market expansion plan as building up other neighborhoods that, like Chelsea, were not previously centers of commerce. ‘We’re creating communities with amusement parks on the roofs and music venues and underground speakeasies to help people get dates,’ he says.” http://bit.ly/2pu05j8

* LOCAL NEWS *

CHICAGO:  The MediaGrowth Summit, a conference for B2B media executives, will take place April 10-12 at the Renaissance Chicago O’Hare Suites Hotel. 

The Weeknd, Bruno Mars, Arctic Monkeys, and Jack White will headline this year’s Lollapalooza, taking place August 2-5 at Grant Park. 

LOS ANGELES:  Los Angeles Children’s Chorus will honor outgoing artistic director Anne Tomlinson at its Gala Bel Canto April 11 at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel. The celebration will feature musical tributes by 200 singers from five LACC ensembles, as well as a three-course dinner and a live auction.

Day Club Palm Springs will take place April 13-15 and April 20-22 at Hilton Palm Springs. Event sponsors for the weekend day club event include Diet Coke, Dole, and Three Olives Vodka. 

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

MIAMI/SOUTH FLORIDA:  The 56th annual Delray Affair will take place April 13-15 in downtown Delray Beach on Atlantic Avenue. The event will have more than 500 artists, crafters, and food vendors. 

Cadillac Hotel & Beach Club will reopen this spring after undergoing extensive renovations. The 357-room property will offer 12,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor event space and a dedicated events team. 

NEW YORK:  The Museum of Modern Art’s Modern Jazz Social will take place April 3 at the museum’s Agnes Gund Garden Lobby. The event will honor B.E.T. C.E.O. and chairman Debra L. Lee. 

The 29th annual Taste of the Nation for No Kid Hungry will take place April 18 at Brooklyn Expo. Participating bars and restaurants will include Fausto, Shuka, Ferris, and Porchlight. 

Flower-sharing marketplace Bloomerent launched Bundles by Bloomerent, allowing couples to purchase wedding flowers from florists in bundles based on budget and needs. Couples can choose from three bundles: Essentials, Classic and Luxe, which range in price from $3,000 to $7,900, with the option to add on additional flowers. The service is initially being offered in the Northeast.

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

SAN ANTONIO:  Grand Hyatt San Antonio has completed a $19 million renovation to coincide with the property’s 10th anniversary. The hotel has 1,003 guest rooms and 115,000 square feet of meeting and event space. 

TORONTO:  Boss Brunch, a female-focused fund-raising and networking event from the special event management program at George Brown College, will take place April 8 at Lennox Hall at the Toronto Region Board of Trade. 

WASHINGTON, D.C.:  Virginia ProStart, a division of the national ProStart career-building program for high schoolers interested in culinary arts and restaurant management, hosted its 15th annual Virginia ProStart Student Invitational March 9 at the National Conference Center in Leesburg. 

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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.

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