April 28, 2015: What’s in Store for Tonight’s State Dinner, Literary Group’s Award Prompts Authors to Abandon Gala, Queer Fashion Week Finds Niche

1. WHAT’S IN STORE FOR TONIGHT’S STATE DINNER: Chef Masaharu Morimoto will be a guest chef at the state dinner tonight honoring Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the White House announced. It’s among the special details for the event, which will feature the first use of the Obamas’s presidential china. Politico: “All eyes will be on this Japan State Dinner, the last big production under the guidance of Social Secretary Jeremy Bernard, who is leaving the White House in early May, to be replaced by Deesha Dyer. Bernard was involved, along with the first lady, in selecting and coordinating all of the details for the evening, from managing the guest list (which will be announced at the last minute Tuesday) to selecting the china for each place setting.” http://politi.co/1EeIZ8Y

2. LITERARY GROUP’S AWARD PROMPTS AUTHORS TO ABANDON GALA: PEN American Center is facing backlash from six of its literary hosts over its decision to give its Freedom of Expression Courage award to the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo; Islamic extremists killed a dozen members of the paper’s staff in response to cartoons that depicted the prophet Muhammad. The six novelists will skip the May 7 gala at the American Museum of Natural History in Manhattan. The New York Times: “[President of PEN Andrew] Solomon said he knew the award to Charlie Hebdo might be controversial, but added he was surprised less by the criticism itself than by the vehemence of some of it, as well by the timing — less than two weeks before the gala, a major fund-raiser that draws a star-studded crowd of more than 800 writers, publishers and supporters.” http://nyti.ms/1zj623I

3. QUEER FASHION WEEK FINDS NICHE: Queer Fashion Week, held earlier this month in Oakland, California, is finding a niche among designers, models, and attendees and already announced it will become an annual event, according to executive producer Christine De La Rosa of FiveTen Oakland Events. Huffington Post: “Unlike other fashion week events across the globe, QFW and other queer fashion shows emerging in the U.S. are also about elevating queer style as a social movement. Events such as QFW provide visibility to queer style and a platform to leverage that visibility to facilitate conversations about gender identity, gender expression, intersectionality, and equality.” http://huff.to/1dlTtuB

* LOCAL NEWS *

AUSTIN:  Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants has named Joe Pagone as general manager and Jess Johnson as director of sales and marketing for Hotel Van Zandt, a 319-room and 41-suite property set to open this summer.

BOSTON:  The Voss Foundation “Women Helping Women” Boston luncheon will be held on June 18 at Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Steakhouse.

CHICAGO:  Hans Ritten has been appointed general manager of the Omni Chicago Hotel. The property is undergoing a multiyear, multimillion-dollar renovation.

Anderson Japanese Gardens opens for the season on May 1. Located in Rockford, the property hosts weddings and corporate events.

LAS VEGAS:  The Vape Summit expects to become the largest vaping convention ever with more than 300,000 square feet of event space. It will be held Thursday-Sunday at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

The seventh annual Wine Fest will return to the Golden Nugget Las Vegas May 15-17.

LOS ANGELES:  U.C.L.A. Younes & Soraya Nazarian Center for Israel Studies will present its fifth anniversary gala at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on May 5.

Red Bull TV will live stream the Bonnaroo music festival for the next three years on its app, and its stream will also be carried on the festival’s website. The event takes place June 11-14 in Manchester, Tennessee.

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

MIAMI/SOUTH FLORIDA:  The Women’s Committee of Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Greater Miami will host its Miracle Makers Luncheon on Thursday at the Ritz-Carlton, Key Biscayne.

NEW YORK:  GLAAD, the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender media advocacy organization, today announced it will honor talk show host Kelly Ripa with its Excellence in Media Award at the 26th annual GLAAD Media Awards May 9 at the Waldorf Astoria New York.

The Soho International Film Festival runs May 14-21 at Village East Cinemas.

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

TORONTO:  Michelle Nicol is a new member of the Higgins Event Rentals team.

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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, and Anna Sekula in New York.

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