1. HOW LAS VEGAS IS PROMOTING TOURISM WHILE RECOGNIZING MASS SHOOTING: It's been less than a month since a gunman killed 58 people at the Route 91 Harvest festival in Las Vegas, and the local tourism bureau and hospitality companies have had to balance promoting the city while acknowledging the tragedy. Los Angeles Times: "Arnie DeGeorge is an executive at the marketing agency contracted by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority and the creator of the first television ad it released since the Oct. 1 shooting that left 58 people dead and about 500 others wounded at the Route 91 Harvest Festival. Tennis legend and Las Vegas resident Andre Agassi narrates the spot over a black screen as the skyline of the Las Vegas Strip slowly comes into view. 'Strength is valet parkers who become medics, mothers who become emergency responders, sisters who shield brothers because they love them with a love that has no bounds,' he continues in a solemn voice. 'Strength is first responders who tirelessly carry visitors and locals alike to safety until sunrise. ... It was a dramatic departure from the city’s free-spirited, wink-and-nod marketing message that had been in place since 2004: 'What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.' For a city whose economic engine is tourists and conventions, the visitors authority had to delicately balance sensitivity to the tragedy with the message that Las Vegas — which had $9.7 billion in gaming revenue and nearly 43 million visitors last year — was still open for business. The tourism authority isn’t the only organization grappling with how to address the killing. MGM Resorts, which owns Mandalay Bay, the hotel from which gunman Stephen Paddock carried out the massacre, launched its own campaign last week on Twitter and Facebook: 'Together, we rise. #VegasStrong.' The company also announced it was bringing a WNBA franchise to the city." http://lat.ms/2iaY0E2
2. FACEBOOK PARTNERS WITH SEATGEEK TO SELL EVENT TICKETS: Facebook has partnered with ticketing platform SeatGeek, allowing people to buy event tickets directly on the social network site. VentureBeat: “Though SeatGeek is better known as an aggregator and secondary ticketing marketplace for resellers, the company announced last year that it would begin to target rightsholders with a new primary ticketing platform. However, SeatGeek Open wasn’t pitched as a destination for buying and selling tickets; rather, it offered an API for third-party companies to implement wherever they wished. A ride-sharing company may want to sell tickets to events it regular drives to, for example, or a record label may wish to sell to fans through its website. And a sports team may want to leverage SeatGeek to sell its own tickets through Facebook. The first company to tap this new tie-up between SeatGeek and Facebook is Sporting Kansas City, a soccer team with an average attendance of around 20,000. SeatGeek was already an official primary ticketing partner of Major League Soccer (MLS), and by extension Sporting Kansas City, which effectively allows a club’s tickets to be sold on any website or application of a team’s choosing, providing the website or app in question is under the organizer’s direct control or in a partnership with SeatGeek.” http://bit.ly/2z9XQHZ
3. TECH COMPANIES BACK L.G.B.T. CAUSE IN SUPREME COURT WEDDING CAKE CASE: Tech companies including Salesforce, Apple, and PayPal are backing a friend of the court brief in the case of a Colorado cake shop that refused to make a wedding cake for a gay couple. TechCrunch: “TechCrunch has confirmed that so far the list includes Apple, Yelp, PayPal, Salesforce and Affirm. The brief is being circulated by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) which expects more companies to be announced by next week. It was authored by D.C. law firm Steptoe & Johnson. While more tech companies generally voice their support in these LGBTQ-friendly cases, Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission is a tinder box of particularly volatile social issues, particularly when it comes to interpreting the religious rights secured by the First Amendment. That could be a reason tech companies have been a bit warier in this instance, though it also could be the sheer number of social causes that left-leaning tech companies have been called to support under the Trump administration.” http://tcrn.ch/2zIvxNo
* LOCAL NEWS *
ATLANTA: Vince Thompson, founder and C.E.O. of sports, entertainment, and culinary marketing firm MELT, participated in an “Innovation in Sports” panel discussion for the Georgia Tech Business Network on October 26 at the McCamish Pavilion at Georgia Tech.
CHICAGO: Embassy Suites by Hilton Chicago Naperville has appointed Mary Ann Kenmotsu general manager of the Freedom Plaza Convention Center. Kenmotsu was previously director of catering and conference services at Hilton Chicago/Oak Brook Hills Resort & Conference Center.
LOS ANGELES: The private launch party for Barnes Luxury Homes magazine will take place November 2 at Greystone Mansion. The event, which has partnered with nonprofit Passions & Dreams Funding, will benefit children in underserved communities and children and families in Puerto Rico.
For information on upcoming events in Los Angeles, visit Masterplanner: http://www.masterplanneronline.com/losangeles
MIAMI/SOUTH FLORIDA: Burlock Coast at the Ritz-Carlton, Fort Lauderdale, has appointed Paula DaSilva chef de cuisine.
NEW YORK: Initiatives in Art and Culture’s 19th annual Fashion & Design Conference, “White: Palette, Prism, Possibility,” will take place November 10-11 at CUNY Graduate Centre.
The Ellie Awards 2018, which honor print and digital publications, will take place March 13 at Cipriani Wall Street. The event is sponsored by the American Society of Magazine Editors.
For information on upcoming events in New York, visit Masterplanner: http://www.masterplanneronline.com/newyork
ORLANDO/CENTRAL FLORIDA: Ace Cafe Orlando will host a Trunk or Treat Car Show on Saturday. The family-friendly Halloween event will invite kids to go trunk to trunk for treats.
SAN FRANCISCO: The annual Napa Valley Film Festival will take place November 8-12 at venues in Napa, Yountville, St. Helena, and Calistoga. The event will screen more than 125 films.
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With contributions from Claire Hoffman in Los Angeles, Mitra Sorrells in Orlando, and Beth Kormanik, Michele Laufik, Jill Menze, Rayna Katz, and Ian Zelaya in New York.
BizBash Daily is the must-read digest of event industry news from BizBash.com.
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