July 29, 2013: LivingSocial Partnership Takes on Ticketmaster, Inside the British Embassy's Royal Baby Party, Event Invitations Go 3-D

1. BRITISH EMBASSY THROWS ROYAL BABY PARTY: Just three days after Prince George Alexander Louis was born, the British Embassy in Washington held a reception with event details such as a tiered cake with a crowned teddy bear and baby blocks on top. Washington Post: "The guest list was prepared, the invitations were ready to go, with just one small blank space necessary for the gender — and four hours after the world learned of the birth Monday afternoon, select Washingtonians … received email notices for 'an Open House to celebrate the birth of His Royal Highness Baby Cambridge.' And the spread of Yorkshire pudding, fish and chips, cucumber sandwiches, pickled beets, and bottomless Pimm’s cup? The British embassy has this stuff down to a science." http://wapo.st/13grDb5

2. EVENT INVITATIONS GO 3-D: Consider this for your next event invitation: a company is developing augmented reality greeting cards that allow senders to create custom 3-D video messages. The recipients scan them with a smartphone or tablet to play back the animations. Artiphany, the company behind the innovation, has developed a Kickstarter campaign to fund the project. Mashable: http://on.mash.to/16exjmu

3. LIVINGSOCIAL PARTNERSHIP TAKES ON TICKETMASTER: A new partnership seeks to attract people who buy event tickets on mobile devices. Los Angeles Times: "Ticketfly Inc., a San Francisco-based online seller of concert tickets, is now offering deals through daily discount company LivingSocial as it expands its mobile customer base to take on Live Nation Entertainment Inc.'s Ticketmaster. Venues and promoters that use Ticketfly can offer ticket packages, discounts and pre-sale deals through LivingSocial, which is part-owned by online retail giant Amazon.com Inc. The companies will first offer the deals in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C." http://lat.ms/14dofjF

4. SAN DIEGO PULLS EVENT MARKETING BUDGET: Smaller yet vital events in San Diego such as Beer Week, the Rock 'n' Roll Marathon, and the San Diego Bay Wine and Food Festival, are losing marketing dollars from the city budget. San Diego Union-Tribune: "Together, about a dozen of the organizations that typically get a share of the city’s marketing money are credited with generating tens of thousands of hotel room nights over and above what would have normally been expected. A sharp cutback in marketing funds that last week forced the city’s Tourism Authority to lay off nearly half its staff is also to blame for the lack of financial support for the smaller groups that help fill hotel rooms." http://bit.ly/17OxzHS


FROM THE EDITORS

Do you have a favorite new florist, independent planner or producer, caterer, entertainer, rental company, designer, or other event-related vendor that you think deserves some recognition for their outstanding work? Or do you have a recently launched event-related company you think we should know about? We’re looking to highlight a few of the industry’s most promising up-and-coming vendors in a future magazine article. Please send us suggestions at [email protected].

* LOCAL NEWS *

BOSTON:  Anthony's Pier 4 restaurant is closing as of Wednesday. Eater: http://bit.ly/1bqHjxK

CHICAGO:  Nimble Well is a new Chicago company that rents dinnerware sourced at yard sales and thrift shops. Inventory includes cake stands, linens, drinking vessels, and votives.

LAS VEGAS:  Las Vegas Sun: "Bagatelle Beach Club is becoming a private matter. The pool, restaurant, and club connected to Tropicana and operated by The One Group has closed to the public and will exclusively host private functions. The Tropicana is taking over those operations and will host such events in a multiuse space being renamed the Havana Room and Beach Club." http://bit.ly/17EPVLn

MIAMI/SOUTH FLORIDA:  The Palm Beach Zoo had its first Food Truck Safari Saturday, a partnership with Food Truck Connection. Nine trucks participated in the ticketed event, which included live music and "roving wild animal encounters."

NEW YORK:  Mary Giuliani Catering and Events, in partnership with Mario Batali, has launched a catering package called Mario by Mary. The menu offers dishes developed by Batali and executed by the caterer.

Local event listings from Masterplanner: http://www.masterplanneronline.com/newyork

TORONTO:  The Veld Music Festival returns to Downsview Park August 3-4 and will include performances from 30 electronic dance music acts including Deadmau5, Dirty South, and Steve Aoki.

WASHINGTON:  Douglas Klein has been named the director of event management for the Washington Marriott Marquis convention center hotel, scheduled to open in May. The 1,175-room hotel will have more than 105,000 square feet of function space, as well as five separate retail and restaurant spaces. 

Monty's Steakhouse & Lounge in Springfield, Virginia, now offers catering services for breakfast, lunch, dinner, beverages, and snacks.

YOUR NEWS: What are you doing? Tell us: [email protected]. 

JOB BOARD: Post a job or find a job:http://jobs.bizbash.com

With contributions from Jenny Berg in Chicago, Alesandra Dubin in Los Angeles, Mitra Sorrells in Orlando, and Beth Kormanik, Lauren Matthews, and Anna Sekula in New York.

BizBash Daily is the must-read digest of event industry news from BizBash.com.

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