August 14, 2015: Super Bowl Media Day May Become Prime-Time Event, Why Tech Companies Sponsor Music Festivals, Universal Offers to Pay for Security for ‘Straight Outta Compton’ Opening

1. SUPER BOWL MEDIA DAY MAY BECOME PRIME-TIME EVENT: Super Bowl Media Day, a chance for reporters to meet with the game’s star players in advance of the big game, likely will become a prime-time event at Super Bowl 50. Adweek: “In the past, media-day interviews had been relegated to short clips on the local news or SportsCenter. But the NFL has turned media day into a full-blown spectacle with live coverage across a variety of networks (most notably, the NFL Network). The plan would be for media day, which is typically held on the Tuesday of Super Bowl week, to move to Monday night. … Will viewers tune in to watch players answer questions about their favorite member of The Avengers or whether the Super Bowl is a 'must-win' game? The NFL is betting on it.” http://bit.ly/1L6xuUp

2. WHY TECH COMPANIES SPONSOR MUSIC FESTIVALS: Lyft, PayPal, StubHub, and other tech companies are deploying creative installations at music festivals to reach their core audience, and in the process have changed what the festival experience is like. For the Outside Lands music festival, which took place in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, the ride-hailing app Lyft created a fleet of custom cars decorated in the style of music genres. Wired: “Caught between San Francisco’s artist-friendly, anti-corporate history and a tech boom that’s significantly altered the city’s demographics and dominant industry, Outside Lands is happening in one of the most fraught cultural spaces in the country. And that’s obvious from the marketplace stands on the Polo Field; you can find booths for Soylent 2.0, Nordstrom Rack, and Pandora around the corner from silk-screened shirts and (take a deep breath) artisanal jewelry made from reclaimed copper cable that used to carry signals for nuclear weapons systems.” http://wrd.cm/1JWkz8H

3. UNIVERSAL OFFERS TO PAY FOR SECURITY FOR ‘STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON’ OPENING: Universal Pictures will pay for extra security at movie theaters that want it for the opening weekend of the new film Straight Outta Compton. The offer comes in light of recent shootings inside movie theaters as well as racial tensions nationwide that could affect the film, which chronicles the founding of rap group N.W.A. The Wall Street Journal: “The film’s Monday night premiere in Los Angeles featured unusually heavy security, including metal detectors for guests to pass through, and several street closures in the surrounding area. The event was peaceful. … Security in movie theaters has become a divisive topic in recent months, since the Trainwreck shooting in Louisiana and sentencing of James Holmes, the Colorado man who killed 12 people during a 2012 screening of The Dark Knight Rises. Notably the Aurora, Colo., theater where Mr. Holmes opened fire didn’t have security personnel on hand that evening, a lapse that is now the basis for a civil lawsuit against the theater’s operator, Cinemark.” http://on.wsj.com/1Pn3VPZ

* LOCAL NEWS *

BOSTON:  State convention center authority officials are unsure of whether the Lawn on D, a popular seaport district park that holds a variety of events, will stay open due to high costs. The Boston Globe: http://bit.ly/1N5inxu

CHICAGO:  The Founders' Board of Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital will host the Designer Closet, a pop-up shop with vintage designer apparel and accessories, at 900 North Michigan Shops on September 18-19.

LAS VEGAS:  The National Kitchen & Bath Association's Kitchen and Bath Industry Show will take place January 19-21 at the North and South halls of the Las Vegas Convention Center.

The third annual Style With a Cause event benefitting Opportunity Village is slated for September 17 at the Great Hall inside the Fashion Show Mall.

The restaurant Itsy Bitsy: Ramen and Whisky has introduced "the Web," a tech talk speaker series that will take place every Wednesday night.

LOS ANGELES:  The U.S. Olympic Committee is moving forward with discussions on whether to choose Los Angeles as its bid city for the 2024 Olympics. USA Today: http://usat.ly/1gBAGwy

Local event listings from the new Masterplanner: http://www.masterplanneronline.com/losangeles

MEMPHIS:  The Guest House at Graceland, a 450-room, full-service resort hotel, will celebrate its grand opening October 27-30.

MIAMI/SOUTH FLORIDA:  The Feisty Bull, a Mexican-Spanish fusion restaurant, opens this weekend in Coral Springs. The venue seats 250 overall with indoor and outdoor seating, as well as 40 at three bars. It also has space for live entertainment.

NEW YORK:  Hugh Jackman, Stephen Colbert, Kerry Washington, Selma Hayek Pinault, and Olivia Wilde will host the 2015 Global Citizen Festival, a free-ticketed event that encourages the public to help fight extreme poverty. Beyoncé, Pearl Jam, Ed Sheeran, and Coldplay are slated to headline the event, which will take place on September 26 on the Great Lawn in Central Park.

Grey Activation & PR announced the appointment of two creative leads for the practice, Oliver Handlos and Elizabeth Valleau.

The first-ever Puerto Rico Meets NYC food festival will take place September 30-October 4. The five-day festival will include dinners and multiformat events at various venues in Manhattan and Brooklyn.

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

ORLANDO/CENTRAL FLORIDA:  Downtown Disney, which is undergoing a renovation, will begin sporting its new name, Disney Springs, on guide maps, brochures, roadway maps, and more. Orlando Sentinel: http://bit.ly/1L9i4i9

PARIS:  The Inventours Immersive Innovation Program, which aims to connect C-Suite executives with Parisian innovators, will take place November 2-6.

PHILADELPHIA:  The Training Institute, a housing conference that will be hosted by NeighborWorks from August 17-21 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center, is expected to give the city an $8.5 million boost. Philadelphia Business Journal: http://bit.ly/1DNY3xV

TORONTO:  Sorel and Elle Canada are the title sponsors for the 11th annual Tastemakers Lounge, which will be open from September 10-15 at the InterContinental Toronto Centre.

WASHINGTON, D.C.:  Free for All, an annual production from the Shakespeare Theatre Company, celebrates its 25th anniversary this year with free performances of A Midsummer Night's Dream from September 1-13 at Sidney Harman Hall. The company will mark its milestone anniversary with a festival September 12 that will include backstage tours, special performances, open theater classes, demonstrations of stage effects, and more.

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With contributions from Jenny Berg in Chicago, Alesandra Dubin in Los Angeles, Mitra Sorrells in Orlando, and Beth Kormanik, Michele Laufik, Jill Menze, Anna Sekula, and Ian Zelaya in New York.

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

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