January 15, 2018: South and North Korea Could Walk Together at Olympic Opening Ceremony, Super Bowl Ads Face Criticism Amid #MeToo Movement, Live Nation Settles Suit With Ticketing Start-Up Songkick

1. SOUTH AND NORTH KOREA COULD WALK TOGETHER AT OLYMPIC OPENING CEREMONY: Despite tension between the two countries, Winter Olympics host South Korea and North Korea could walk together at the opening ceremony in February, under a proposal the International Olympic Committee will consider this week. New York Post: "That option, as well as a combined Korean women’s ice hockey team, are among several proposals the IOC will discuss, the source within the Olympic movement told Reuters on Thursday. The two countries, technically still at war after their 1950-53 conflict ended with a truce, agreed on Tuesday that North Korea would send a large delegation across the border to next month’s Games. That deal was struck during their first official talks in more than two years amid high tensions over the North’s weapons programme. The IOC will host talks in Switzerland on Jan. 20 to discuss details about North Korea’s participation at the Games. ... South and North Korea paraded together at an international sporting event for the first time at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, but have not done so since the 2007 Asian Winter Games in China. The two Koreas have competed as a single nation in table tennis and soccer but have never at a multi-sports event." http://nyp.st/2mEziyY

2. SUPER BOWL ADS FACE CRITICISM AMID #METOO MOVEMENT: Many brands have consistently presented sexist ads—or ads with no women—during the Super Bowl, and experts don't expect that to change during Super Bowl LII on February 4. Advertising Age: "But as the country reels from what seems like daily revelations of new sexual harassment allegations, with women standing up to tell their stories of abuse in the workplace, microscopic scrutiny will be applied to the way Super Bowl advertisers portray women in the game Feb. 4. Some of the worst offenders over the years, like GoDaddy and Carl's Jr.—check out this list of some of the most sexist Super Bowl ads—have cooled their objectification of women in recent years. There's a less obvious problem, however, that continues to make the so-called Ad Bowl a reflection of male privilege: a huge, persistent gap between the number of men who are front and center in Super Bowl ads and the number of women in big roles.  So while brands may refrain from showcasing scantily clad women—to be sure, just 6% of Super Bowl commercials had sexual messages over the last decade according to research out of Villanova University—in many cases, they simply aren't featuring women at all. ... Despite the inordinate amount of attention expected to be paid to how brands cast, script and clothe the women in their Super Bowl commercials this time around, diversity advocate Cindy Gallop doesn't expect anything significant to change. 'All it means is there are a lot of white male creatives saying we better be careful how we depict women,' Gallop says. 'I guarantee we will see tone-deaf, unthinking depictions, just as many as years before.' The issue, according to Gallop, is the lack of females creating and approving the ads. This means 'the default setting is male' and leads to a funny ad that features men." http://bit.ly/2EGFJIG

3. LIVE NATION SETTLES SUIT WITH TICKETING START-UP SONGKICK: Two years after ticketing start-up Songkick filed an antitrust suit against Live Nation, accusing the company of abuse of market power, Live Nation has settled the suit and acquired Songkick's assets. The New York Times: But on Friday, less than two weeks before the start of a trial, Live Nation announced that it had settled the suit for $110 million and an additional undisclosed sum to acquire some of Songkick’s remaining technology assets and patents. 'We are pleased that we were able to resolve this dispute and avoid protracted and costly legal proceedings, while also acquiring valuable assets,' Joe Berchtold, the president of Live Nation, said in a joint statement. Matt Jones, the chief executive of Songkick’s parent company, Complete Entertainment Resources Group, thanked employees and artists 'who contributed so much to our many successes over the last decade.' Last summer, Songkick sold one of its main businesses, a concert-recommendation app, to the Warner Music Group — owned by one of Songkick’s major investors, Access Industries — and later shut down its remaining operations. Songkick’s case hinged on the rights to sell a ticket. The company specialized in so-called artist presales, or selling batches of advance tickets — often around 8 percent of the inventory for a show — to fans. Presales serve, in part, as a way to thwart scalpers. Songkick contended that Live Nation was interfering in its business by blocking its access to presale tickets and by demanding fees on the sale of tickets that Songkick handled. But Live Nation, which countersued, argued that its contracts with venues gave it the right to determine how those tickets should be sold. Songkick’s suit also accused Live Nation of threatening artists not to do business with Songkick." http://nyti.ms/2B1wMY0

* LOCAL NEWS *

COAST TO COAST:  The Makeup Show, a national beauty industry event featuring celebrity makeup artists and product launches, has announced its 2018 show dates. The event will take place in San Francisco March 21-25, New York May 6-7, Orlando September 15-16, Chicago October 13-14, and Los Angeles November 10-11. 

DALLAS/FORT WORTH:  Uchiba, a new bar concept from Hai Hospitality, will open in the former Top Knot space above Japanese restaurant Uchi on January 31. 

LOS ANGELES:  The 49th NAACP Image Awards take place tonight at the Pasadena Convention Center. Hosted by Anthony Anderson and broadcast live on TV One, the show will honor Danny Glover with the President's Award. 

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

MIAMI/SOUTH FLORIDA:  The Heart Gallery of Broward County and Truluck’s Seafood, Steak & Crab House will launch the inaugural Tru-Hearts Luncheon February 7 at the Truluck’s restaurant at the Galleria at Fort Lauderdale. The event will honor Heather Moraitis, City Commissioner-elect for Fort Lauderdale District 1.

NEW YORK:  The Common Good, a nonprofit membership organization of professionals interested in public policy, will hold “Trump—Year One,” a panel in partnership with Hunter College focused on the first year of Donald Trump’s presidency on Wednesday at Kaye Playhouse. Former White House press secretary Dana Perino will moderate the panel, which includes The Atlantic Monthly’s David Frum and The New York Times columnist Roger Cohen. 

Design Pavilion will return to Times Square May 12-20, as part of the city’s NYCxDesign celebration. The pavilion will feature a variety of interactive installations and programs addressing the theme, “From This Day Forward.”

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

TAMPA:  The second annual Golf Madness event, a competition benefiting the Children’s Cancer Center, will take place March 23 at Topgolf Tampa. 

TORONTO:  This year’s Toronto Tea Festival will take place February 3-4 at the Toronto Reference Library. 

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

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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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