April 18, 2016: Why More TV Networks Are Ditching Flashy Upfront Events, How the Farm-To-Table Restaurant Trend Can Trick Customers, How an Art Collective Used 3-D to Enhance a Coachella Show

1. WHY MORE TV NETWORKS ARE DITCHING FLASHY UPFRONT EVENTS: While upfront season used to be known for TV networks throwing extravagant presentations and galas, brands like Discovery Communications, A+E Networks, and Disney have opted for smaller, less expensive gatherings instead of larger and less valuable events. Adweek: “Each upfront season, more companies are reaching the same conclusion and opting for scaled-down meetings over major events. A+E Networks is the latest convert. This year the company has opted for smaller dinners with agencies and clients around the country to pitch its plans for channels like A&E, Lifetime, and History. Disney Channel ended its annual New York event two years ago, in favor of more intimate (though still splashy) client meetings at Disney World and Disneyland. Smaller networks, meanwhile, are finding that the funds required for a huge upfront presentation would better be spent elsewhere, especially when there's no guarantee that ‘the big decision markers’ will attend, said Brad Schwartz, president of Pop. ‘As an emerging network, if an event like that is going to cost $2 million, I'd rather have a ninth [original] series on the air.’ http://bit.ly/1VcfeQX

2. HOW THE FARM-TO-TABLE RESTAURANT TREND CAN TRICK CUSTOMERS: Farm-to-table restaurants pride themselves on providing the freshest, best-tasting, locally sourced ingredients. More notably, the restaurants advertise this on their menus and websites. But after studying menus of certain restaurants she's reviewed, Tampa Bay-area food critic Laura Reiley has found that many venues are putting on a show that customers easily buy into. Tampa Bay: “A long list of Tampa Bay restaurants are willing to capitalize on our hunger for the story. People want ‘local’ and they’re willing to pay. Local promises food that is fresher and tastes better; it means better food safety; it yields a smaller carbon footprint while preserving genetic diversity; it builds community. … It was around 2012 that Tampa Bay menus sprouted the sentence ‘we source locally’ near the admonition about consuming raw or undercooked meats. Fiction started to seem like the daily special. Most restaurants buy food from one of a small handful of distributors who source products in bulk at the best price from around the world. Most restaurants do not have the time or wherewithal to deal directly with farmers and producers; most farmers and producers don’t have the infrastructure to do their own sales, marketing, and delivery. So the storytelling begins.” http://bit.ly/1SMMPL1

3. HOW AN ART COLLECTIVE USED 3-D TO ENHANCE A COACHELLA SHOW: Friday marked the 11th year the Lucent Dossier Experience has performed at Coachella, but for the first time, the Los Angeles-based art performance collective enhanced its show with 3-D Live technology. The collective, which combines vocal performance with aerial artists and avant-garde performers, displayed 3-D Live graphics that tracked and changed in response to performers’ movements onstage at the festival’s Sahara Tent. Mashable: “‘We've all been to 3-D movies, but to put it in a live event and to put performers in front of an LED and have the images flying around and past and over the performers ... it's a brand new world,’ Lucent founder and creative director Dream Rockwell told Mashable the day after the show. She said the technology was originally intended to premiere during Michael Jackson's tour right before he passed away. ‘It's kind of been shelved all this time,’ Rockwell said. After she got connected to 3-D Live Events, she took the idea to festival founder Paul Tollett, who—after seeing a demo of the performance—offered them the Sahara stage, Coachella's home for all things dance music.” http://on.mash.to/1SUIpSl

* LOCAL NEWS *

COAST-TO-COAST:  The Westminster Kennel Club has launched its "Road to Westminster" initiative, which produces video content from U.S. dog events throughout the year to broadcast on TV and online. The inaugural event for the initiative will take place May 7 at the Bucks County Kennel Club show in Erwinna, Pennsylvania.

AUSTIN:  Hyatt Regency Austin has completed a $22 million renovation of its meeting and event space. The 33,000 square feet of new space includes the Zilker Ballroom, which can separate into four meeting spaces.

BOSTON:  Celebrity Series of Boston will host the “Shine!” gala at the Castle at Park Plaza on May 7.

CHICAGO:  Mayor Rahm Emanuel has put forth a proposal to tear down McCormick Place East and replace it with the Lucas Museum. The proposal also calls for expanding McCormick Place. The Chicago Sun-Times: http://bit.ly/1SPqU5W

LOS ANGELES:  The third biennial Rebels With A Cause gala fund-raiser will take place May 11 at the Barker Hangar.

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

NEW YORK:  The fourth annual NYC Hot Sauce Expo will take place Saturday and Sunday at the Brooklyn Expo Center.

The team behind Los Angeles's Mediterranean Gjelina is opening a restaurant with the Spotted Pig's Ken Friedman. While the concept is a unknown, the restaurant will be in a two-story, 1,700-square-foot space in NoHo. Eater: http://bit.ly/1NtfjrD

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

MIAMI/SOUTH FLORIDA:  Perez Art Museum Miami will host its second annual corporate cocktail reception on May 19 at East, Miami hotel. The event includes cocktails followed by a seated dinner.

SAN FRANCISCO:  Four Seasons will open a Napa Valley location in Calistoga, California, in early 2018. The resort will have 85 guest rooms, 20 private residence villas, and a winery and vineyard from winemaker Thomas Brown.

TORONTO:  Toronto Flower Market returns to Queen Street West on May 7. The event features stalls filled with locally grown flowers; this season’s iteration will offer tulips, hyacinth, and lilacs.

WASHINGTON, D.C.:  Shakespeare Theatre Company has announced dates for two of its signature events. Will on the Hill, which features members of Congress performing in an original play, is June 13. Its annual dinner and mock trial, in which U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg will preside over a panel of judges who will hear arguments related to George Orwell’s novel 1984, will take place June 20.

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With contributions from Jenny Berg in Chicago, Alesandra Dubin and Claire Hoffman in Los Angeles, Mitra Sorrells in Orlando, and 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.

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