1. UPSCALE RESTAURANTS ARE DOUBLING AS CO-WORKING SPACES: These days, almost any venue can be a co-working space—including upscale restaurants before they open for dinner. The new trend is being helmed by a start-up called Spacious. The New York Times: "Since it was started two years ago, Spacious has converted 25 upscale restaurants in New York and San Francisco into weekday work spaces. Membership, which allows entry into any location, is $99 a month for a year, or $129 by the month. With $9 million in venture capital it received in May, Spacious plans to expand this year to up to 100 spaces. A restaurant makes for the perfect conversion, the Spacious team argues. Bars become standing desks. Booths become conference rooms. The lighting tends to be nicer, less harsh and fluorescent, than an office, and the music makes for a nice ambience. Originally, the founders of Spacious thought they would have to sell restaurateurs on the idea. Instead, restaurants, struggling to pay rent and wages and frustrated with disappointing lunch traffic, are coming to them, eager to strike deals for a slice of the membership dues. Only 5 percent have made the cut to become Spacious spaces, said the company, which is unprofitable. Spacious is part of a broader debate over how to use spaces in cities as people increasingly buy items online instead of in stores and as labor costs make restaurants an even more challenging proposition. A membership model is the future for bricks-and-mortar spots, according to the Spacious team, and restaurants are the easiest first step. 'Actively consuming isn’t what we want to do with the space in our neighborhoods anymore,' said Chris Smothers, 30, a Spacious co-founder and its chief technology officer. 'Retail spaces are designed for you to come in, make a transaction and get out, and that’s why you feel weird in a coffee shop all day, because all of these spaces are designed for you to leave.'" https://nyti.ms/2NDuzK7
2. TRUMP FOUNDATION ONLY DONATED TO CHARITIES THAT HELD EVENTS AT MAR-A-LAGO: Since 2008, most of the $706,000 in donations made by the Donald J. Trump Foundation went to charities that hosted galas at the Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida. Some of the local charities said that the donations weren't a reward for hosting events at the Trump venue. Palm Beach Post: "An event planner instrumental in moving one of the more popular fundraisers to Mar-a-Lago four years ago said receiving a donation from Trump was completely unexpected. 'It was a surprise,' said Chase Scott, who arranged for the Salvation Army’s gala to be moved from The Breakers in 2014. Other factors, including availability and preference for Mar-a-Lago’s setting, are indisputable elements. Nonetheless, a Palm Beach Post review of the Trump Foundation’s tax records found a pattern—donations, typically $25,000—to eight charities after they relocated their events to the Trump family’s private Palm Beach club. That list included the event widely considered the grandest gala of the island’s social season, the Red Cross Ball. The Red Cross received a $21,000 donation in 2015—the year it decided to move its tiara-studded event from The Breakers back to Mar-a-Lago. It is the only donation the foundation made to the local chapter of the Red Cross between 2008 and 2016—when the foundation announced it would dissolve. The local chapter of the Red Cross declined to comment. Trump Foundation tax returns show Trump himself has not contributed his own money to his foundation since 2008. Among the biggest donors to the foundation, casino mogul Phil Ruffin, ticket broker Richard Ebers, NBC, Comedy Central and a $1 million donation from part-time Palm Beacher, Laura Perlmutter, wife of Marvel Comics CEO Ike Perlmutter." https://bit.ly/2Nxl2nQ
3. BEAUTY QUEEN RETURNS CROWN AFTER MISS MASSACHUSETTS PAGEANT MOCKS #METOO MOVEMENT: A beauty queen turned in her crown after a skit at the Miss Massachusetts pageant made fun of the #MeToo movement. CNN: "Maude Gorman was one of the contestants in the Miss Massachusetts pageant earlier this month, when a crack about #MeToo was made on stage. Gorman, who said she was gang raped when she was 13, said the moment she heard the joke that she 'instantly knew I had to do something. It was going to eat away at me if I didn't,' she told CNN. ... A video containing a portion of the controversial skit was posted by the Observer. In what the Observer described as part of the comedy sketch, a woman is onstage, kneeling and talking about how Miss America has scrapped the swimsuit portion from its competition. 'Miss American did away with the swimsuit competition,' the woman says in the skit. 'We may have very well seen the last ever swimsuit competition on stage. It's very upsetting and I'm trying to understand, God, why it happened.' 'Me too, Amy,' replies a man whom the Observer described as dressed as God and holding a #MeToo sign. The crowd cheers and laughs, and the skit continues. Gorman said she was backstage when it happened. 'Nobody saw the skit because we were backstage, but we could all hear it,' she said, about the contestants. 'I instantly knew I had to do something. It was going to eat away at me if I didn't... we were all shocked. We said, 'Oh my god. I cannot believe that just happened. Did that just really happen?'' The Miss Massachusetts organization, which is preliminary to the Miss America Pageant, posted an apology on Facebook." https://cnn.it/2KKbaJk
* LOCAL NEWS *
ATLANTA: Grant Park Conservancy’s 16th annual Grant Park Summer Shade Festival will take place August 25-26. The event will have live music on two stages and a massive artist market.
GREENWICH, CONNECTICUT: The eighth annual Greenwich Wine and Food Festival, presented by PepsiCo, will take place September 21-22. Tim McGraw will perform at the event on September 22 at Roger Sherman Baldwin Park.
LOS ANGELES: DTLA Proud, a nonprofit that focuses on empowering the local L.G.B.T.Q. community in downtown Los Angeles, will hold its annual DTLA Proud Festival August 25-26 at Pershing Square.
For information on upcoming events in Los Angeles, visit Masterplanner: http://www.masterplanneronline.com/losangeles
NEW YORK: The Victory Cup NYC Classic Polo Match will take place August 4 at Governors Island. The event is sponsored by Vineyard Vines, Peroni Beer, the United States Polo Association, and the Wagner Hotel.
This year’s Afropunk Fest will take place August 25-26 at Commodore Barry Park in Brooklyn. Event headliners include Janelle Monae, Erykah Badu, Miguel, and Kaytranada.
For information on upcoming events in New York, visit Masterplanner: http://www.masterplanneronline.com/newyork
TORONTO: This year’s Honda Indy Toronto will take place July 13-15 at Exhibition Place.
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With contributions from Claire Hoffman in Los Angeles and Beth Kormanik, Michele Laufik, Ian Zelaya, and Kristine Liao in New York.
BizBash Daily is the must-read digest of event industry news from BizBash.com.
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