September 20, 2016: Burberry Turns Fashion Week Show Into Weeklong Event, Emmy Ratings Drop to New Low, Google Expected to Debut New Smartphones at October Event

1. BURBERRY TURNS FASHION WEEK SHOW INTO WEEKLONG EVENT: For London Fashion Week, Burberry has decided to forego a traditional 15-minute fashion show for a weeklong consumer-focused event at London's Makers House. The move is part of a recent trend of designers opting to host straight-to-consumer Fashion Week events. Glossy: "In collaboration with The New Craftsman, a network representing more than 75 furniture, jewelry and textile makers, among other skills, Burberry’s heritage archive team will present key moments in the brand’s history. Each day, actors will perform short theatrical readings, with a focus on Virginia Woolf’s novel 'Orlando,' one of the main themes behind this year’s collection. Sculptors, silk-screen printers, patchworkers and painters will offer demonstrations of their crafts and visitors will also be able to shop Burberry’s more than 250 items, all week. The runway show will be live streamed on the brand’s website, on Facebook Live, YouTube and WeChat, the Chinese messaging app through which consumers will also be able to shop the collection. The brand is also using Facebook Messenger to offer customers live customer service during the show. Offering performances, history lessons and tutorials is one step further than other brands have gone, said Tony King, CEO and creative director of King & Partners. King said a weeklong event based on experiencing a brand lends itself well to more established fashion houses like Burberry, Ralph Lauren and Chanel for example, because of their history, but he added Burberry’s CEO and creative director is a key driving force. … The move by Burberry is part of a wider shift occurring in the fashion industry. Brands are moving away from traditional 'out of season' collections to be more streamlined with consumer shopping trends: in-season shopping and purchasing directly off the runway." http://bit.ly/2cD0c5s

2. EMMY RATINGS DROP TO NEW LOW: Nielsen has reported that the Emmys hit a new ratings low on Sunday night, drawing 11.3 million viewers. This is the second year in a row that the ceremony has drawn its lowest ratings. The New York Times: "The Emmy numbers follow a trend for slumping awards shows. The Oscars hit an eight-year low this year, and the Grammys hit a seven-year low. MTV’s 'Video Music Awards' lost a third of its audience last month compared with the year before. The industry is trying to come to terms with the factors contributing to these declines. Some executives argue that it’s the cyclical nature of awards shows, which fall in and out of favor; others argue that consumer behavior is finally affecting big live event programming, which was supposed to be immune to an industrywide trend of declining ratings. Still others say that given the abundance of TV shows these days, many people are unfamiliar with the awards winners at the Emmys. Rami Malek won best actor for his role in 'Mr. Robot,' but that series has little more than a million viewers. Likewise, Tatiana Maslany won best actress in a drama for 'Orphan Black,' and though it is a critical hit, the show is not broadly popular. Only 695,000 people watched that show’s season finale this year, according to Nielsen." http://nyti.ms/2d6xA7S

3. GOOGLE EXPECTED TO DEBUT NEW SMARTPHONES AT OCTOBER EVENT: Google has sent out invites to an event on October 4 in San Francisco, where the company is expected to reveal its next smartphones. The Verge: “The company uploaded a short teaser video to YouTube that shows the date, as well as a smartphone-shaped rectangle, and the Google ‘G’ logo. It also launched a new site that refers to the date as well as something ‘made by’ Google. Google has yet to confirm what the phones will be called, but multiple reports have it dropping the Nexus name in favor of its ‘G’ logo on the upcoming devices. … An invitation received by The Verge confirmed the date and location of the event, but not what will be shown on stage in San Francisco. Nevertheless, the 30-second video clearly indicates it's a phone, with Google's familiar search box morphing into the shape of a smartphone: Google, defined by its origins as a search engine, is suggesting that search is at home on a smartphone now. The clip also hints that the company sees its upcoming phone as a hardware version of a Google search, as well as a chance to refocus on its hardware efforts. Its new teaser site states that the phones are ‘made by’ Google—even if they're to be built by HTC.” http://bit.ly/2ciIfX0

* LOCAL NEWS *

COAST TO COAST:  Hyatt Hotels Corporation is renaming three of its Hyatt hotels to the Hyatt Centric brand. The three hotels are Hyatt Centric French Quarter New Orleans, which was renamed on September 1; Hyatt Centric Times Square New York, which gets renamed in October; and Hyatt Centric Key West Resort & Spa, which will be renamed in November.

ATLANTA:  Connections Housing, which specializes in convention housing and meeting management, will celebrate its 30th anniversary in October.

CHICAGO:  The Bacon and Beer Classic will return to Soldier Field on October 1. The event, which is produced by Cannonball Productions, will feature bites and tastings from more than 30 local restaurants and 40 regional breweries.

LAS VEGAS:  Mariah Carey has announced the end of “#1 to Infinity,” her first two-year Las Vegas residency at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace. Her final performance is scheduled for May 13, 2017.

LOS ANGELES:  Vacheron Constantin Overseas Collection will launch on September 21 at Belvedere Terrace at the Peninsula Hotel.

The 48th NAACP Awards will take place at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium February 11, 2017. TV One will have a live telecast of the ceremony, which will be hosted by Anthony Anderson for the fourth year in a row.

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

MIAMI/SOUTH FLORIDA:  Soul Tavern, a vegetarian gastropub, is slated to open in Sunset Harbour before the end of the year.

Tanuki, a chain of Pan-Asian restaurants based in Russia, has opened its first U.S. outpost in South Beach.

NEW YORK:  Hypokrit Theatre Company and the James Jay Dudley Luce Foundation have partnered to host Tamasha: Festival of South Asian Performing Arts from September 26-October 2 at Paradise Factory.

The Grub Street Food Festival will take place October 1 at the Hester Street Fair. Presented by Citi, the event will have a Heineken Light beer garden, live music, and more than 50 vendors including Red Hook Lobster Pound, OddFellows Ice Cream, Uma Temakeria, and House of Mac.

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

ORLANDO/CENTRAL FLORIDA:  Waldorf Astoria Orlando and Hilton Orlando Bonnet Creek are holding their sixth annual Food & Wine Weekends now through November 13. Each weekend, restaurants at the two resorts will offer tasting menus, special food and beverage pairings, interactive cocktails lessons, and more.

SAN FRANCISCO:  Mode Media—the female-oriented lifestyle and marketing company based in Brisbane, California—shut down September 15, and has laid off most of its employees. The company's Ning social-networking division will be taken over by Cyndx. Mode originally launched as Glam Media in 2004, and rebranded as Mode Media in 2014.

TORONTO:  The Word On The Street magazine and book festival will take place Sunday at Harbourfront Centre. The event will feature 265 exhibitors, and readings and discussion from Canadian authors on 18 stages.

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 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.

Feed the Sheet: [email protected]

Subscribe: www.bizbash.com/bizbashdaily

Advertise with BizBash: [email protected]