Category Archives: Corporate Event Coverage

How TEDMed Created a Food Tour for All Five Senses

Another salad option during the Crunch flight mixed pomelo, green papaya, watermelon, and radish. The citrus flavors tied in with a jasmine tea margarita passed as guests arrived.

Another salad option during the Crunch flight mixed pomelo, green papaya, watermelon, and radish. The citrus flavors tied in with a jasmine tea margarita passed as guests arrived.

TEDMed, the medical technology and healthcare event started by the same entrepreneur that founded the renowned TED conference, took a different approach to food service for its annual conference dinner at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum Wednesday night. TEDMed event planner Nicole Finn of C to C Events working with U.K.-based Gastrophonic and Occasions Caterers, it created a culinary experience that tied all the senses together.

Each of the four food flights had its own theme that combined various small bites—both passed and on buffets—with a signature drink, musical score, and lighting scheme designed by Gastrophonic to create a cohesive environment that encompassed sight, sound, taste, smell, and texture.

“Studies have been done in the U.K. showing that sound and light enhance how you taste food,” said Occasions marketing manager Denise Nguyen. “A restaurant in London has done this before by providing an iPod with its food service, but this is the first time we’ve brought this concept to a large event.”

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

 

 

Other vendors contributing to the event included Atmosphere Lighting, Perfect Settings, and All Stage and Sound.

**Photos by Molly M. Peterson Photography

**Originally published on BizBash.com on 4.18.13

Who’s Who at Washingtonian’s Unveiled

IMG_2822a

On Sunday we spent the day at the Ritz-Carlton, D.C. chatting with the city’s top wedding planners and vendors at Washingtonian Bride and Groom’s Unveiled exhibition. We caught up with the mag’s editor Kate Bennett, publisher Cathy Merrill Williams, and account exec Vanessa Schutz.

IMG_2571_1a

The fifth annual event had local event companies showcasing their talents in decor, catering, planning, and design. Here Events in the City’s Christie McGuire, Megan Pollard, Laura Ritchie, and Kaitlin Beazell pose in their booth.

IMG_2863a

The mag drew a 400-person crown crowd of eager brides- and grooms-to-be, and their closest family and friends. The Chamber of Commerce’s newly engaged Taylor Uzzell is surrounded by marketer Ambika Kuckreja and the Committee on Energy and Commerce’s Shannon Taylor—the latter of whom attended to get ideas for their respective weddings last year.

IMG_2853a

The 4-hour showcase included a fashion show from Carine’s Atelier featuring bridal gowns by Monique Lhuillier, Carolina Herrera, Badgley Mischka and more. Out on the exhibit floor, we caught up with Love Couture Bridal’s Sandy Leone and employee Savannah Summers with the shop’s model.

**Photos: Tony Brown/Imijination Photography

**Originally published 1.31.13 in The Scene Bisnow

Event Ideas Abound at Washingtonian’s Unveiled

IMG_2304

Washingtonian Bride & Groom hosted its 5th annual Unveiled showcase on Sunday with nearly 400 brides-to-be, friends, and family in attendance. About 50 vendors overtook the two lower level ballrooms of the Ritz-Carlton, Washington displaying a variety of inspiring wedding and event ideas for floral arrangements, linens, cakes, rental furniture, entertainment, invitations, and more.

The magazine’s event planner Eleni Savopoulos worked with Chicka Chicka Boom Boom to create four themed areas—autumn, winter, spring, and summer—wherein the vendors showcased their wedding planning and designing skills with elaborate exhibition booths. Georgetown bridal shop Carine’s Bridal Atelier sponsored a runway show later in the day featuring gowns by Monique Lhuillier, Carolina Herrera, Angel Sanchez, Marchesa, and other top designers.

Here’s a look at the event’s top presentations:

**Photos: Tony Brown/Imijination Photography

Examples of Effective Conference Branding

When it comes to your brand, nothing is more important than a cohesive message. Bisnow Media held its inaugural DICE event (Data Center Investment Conference and Expo for those of you not in the technology sector) at the JW Marriott last week for more than 500 people. The company utilized the play-on-words event name throughout the conference materials and event decor.

From the signs and attendees name badges to the technology applications and after-hours events and giveaways, check out some examples of an effectively branded conference.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Washingtonian Channels a Vintage Ice Cream Parlor for Annual Party

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom set up its Shake ‘Em Up bar in the V.I.P. reception with three women making the night’s signature cocktails while singing and standing inside the mirrored bar.


Washingtonian magazine hosted 1,900 people last night at its annual AT&T’s Best of Washington party, which coincides with the July issue’s feature story and highlights the January issue’s Best Restaurants in Washington. The event returned to the National Building Museum’s grand hall, which Amaryllis designed to evoke the ambiance of a vintage ice cream parlor.

“We were inspired by a candy parlor in New York called Sweetie Pie that carried all vintage candy,” said the magazine’s events manager Eleni Savopoulos, who worked on the event with events coordinator Katharine Ragsdale and Rebecca Schwartz, director of marketing and events. “We wanted to make the event whimsical and remind guests of that feeling as a kid when they went to their corner story for candy.”

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Amaryllis worked with Chicka Chicka Boom Boom and AFR Event Furnishings to create the candy-shop atmosphere, complete with live models and bartenders dressed in vintage attire and white-and-pink lounge areas throughout the two floors of the party. Each of the night’s top sponsors got in on the theme as well with AT&T’s snow-cone station, a caricaturist creating guest portraits in the BMW lounge, and Patrón’s branded muddling and dessert bar. The production team used pink, white, and orange signage and costumes for the waitstaff as well as candy-filled jars to decorate the space. The nearly 70 restaurants participating served mostly sweet bites with a few savory plates mixed in, such as chips and guacamole from Rosa Mexicano and mini burgers from BGR the Burger Joint.

While guests who purchased the s $175 gold V.I.P. ticket—general admission tickets had a $50 discount—explored the main hall for the first hour’s reception, the American Beverage Association hosted the Publishers Reception for the night’s 10 sponsors in a separate room on the second floor of the museum. Here Chicka Chicka Boom Boom setup its signature Shake ‘Em Up bar with three bartenders singing as they served drinks from within the bar itself while Occasions Caterers served a variety of passed hors d’oeuvres and fruit candy and cotton candy stations. Rappahannock River Oysters’ reps also taught guests how to shuck oysters.

(Originally published 7.13.12 in BizBash Washington)
**Photos: Tony Brown/Imijination Photography

Web Site Takes Holiday Party to Italian Embassy

Carolers dressed in festive Christmas attire greeted guests.

Local event Web site Things To Do D.C.hosted its sixth annual holiday party for 350 people Saturday night at the Embassy of Italy. The company, which has hosted cultural events at embassies around town for 12 years, partners with a different embassy each year to bring a younger demographic to the institutions around the city.

“These embassies know who we are, and they do a lot of events for older people with businesses and charity groups, but they never really get their chance to introduce themselves to the young up-and-coming future leaders of tomorrow,” said the company’s C.E.O., Greg Bland. “We bring a new audience to them.”

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Bland took inspiration from the venue for the catering and entertainment plan for the night. Beginning with a V.I.P. reception for 100 people, Delicious Gourmet served Italian classics like tortellini and meatballs alongside platters of olives, various cheeses, and breads. The catering company replaced the dinner buffet with desserts about an hour later when the doors opened for those who purchased the $99 general admission ticket. Dessert options included cannolis, tiramisu, assorted Italian chocolates, and traditional Italian cookies in red and green. Across the atrium, a specialty bar served tastings of four brands of red, white, and sparkling Italian wines.

“The goal is to introduce young professionals to the culture of other countries, and there is two ways to do this: travel to the country, which can be very expensive, and second best thing is to travel there through the embassy,” said Bland.

Throughout the night, a travel video about Italy played in the embassy’s auditorium just off the main atrium. DJ Kurtis Cross from the Mid Atlantic Professional DJ Association played hip-hop, salsa, and top 40 hits with a few retro classics mixed in until nearly midnight. Opera singers also performed classic pieces from the Baroque through the Romantic periods of Italian opera.

**Photos: Neshan Naltchayan

(Originally published in BizBash Washington on 12.7.11)

Yahoo Kicks Off Election Coverage With Patriotic Rooftop Party

Yahoo News D.C. celebrated the one-year countdown to the 2012 presidential election and the outlet’s year of upcoming coverage with a reception on November 9 for 300 public relations executives, press secretaries, and policy makers on the roof of the 101 Constitution building.

In keeping with its patriotic theme, the party venue overlooked the Capitol.

“In D.C., a lot of people still see Yahoo as a news aggregator, so the main goal was to open folks’ eyes that we are a legitimate reporting outlet,” said Amber Allman, director of global public affairs at Yahoo News. “We’ve been making a lot of effort to reignite the brand in D.C., and it’s especially timely because we were announcing a lot of our editorial efforts that will build up to the 2012 election.”

Dufour & Company Productions worked with Atmosphere Lighting, Occasions Caterers, and A Vista Events to transform the open-air venue with red and blue lighting and decor—representing both political parties—as well as the two colors that make Yahoo’s purple logo. Star gobos and glowing hightops, buffet tables, and bars illuminated the event space overlooking the Capitol. Occasions served a specialty cocktail, the Yahoo-tini, in the brand’s signature purple. The festivities also celebrated the announcement of David Chalian as Yahoo News D.C. bureau chief.

**Photo: Hector Emanuel/Courtesy of Dufour and Co

(Originally published in BizBash Washington 11.30.11)

M.L.K. Memorial Dedication Scaled Back; Postponed Dream Gala Only Big Event Returning

(Originally published in BizBash Washington on 10.13.11)

Civil rights leaders, local dignitaries, and Washingtonians will head to the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial site for its official dedication on Sunday, nearly two months later than originally planned. The dedication ceremony, as well as the final two days of events, were canceled in August due to Hurricane Irene’s impending landfall in the Washington area.

“Due to the postponement, we are planning an event much smaller in scale but just as big in spirit,” said Harry E. Johnson Sr., president and C.E.O. of the Washington, D.C. Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation, in a press release.

The Celebration Dream Gala on Saturday at the Washington Hilton, formerly scheduled for the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, is the only big-ticket event planned for August that is still taking place, though with a smaller guest list of 2,400 people—about half of the original planned attendance—due to venue constraints. Producer André Wells, owner of Events by André Wells, came on board about four weeks ago to redesign the gala for the new venue.

“Since we were going to be involved in some of the design and planning of the last gala, we were able to use some of the prop pieces and secure some of the same vendors who knew the vision [for the night] and were involved in the [planning] process,” said Wells, who will be working with Amaryllis, Hargrove Inc., Party Rental Limited, and Perfect Settings L.L.C. to decorate the event space in various shades of gray and silver with red, orange, yellow, peach, purple, and pink accents. VSG Solutions and Frost Lighting will be providing audiovisual support and technical production.

Scrapped events include a donors dinner hosted by Lionel Richie that had been planned for the original dedication weekend and a free public concert with appearances by Jennifer Hudson and Aretha Franklin on the National Mall prior to the dedication. Franklin is the only big-name entertainer able to participate in Sunday’s event alongside President Obama, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar, members of the King family, and other civil rights leaders.

The ceremony itself has also been scaled back and moved to another location. West Potomac Park will be open to the public, though tickets are no longer required, and will have Jumbotrons set up for attendees to witness the dedication—which is now taking place with a smaller group on the memorial site.

To draw out-of-towners back to Washington for the dedication, the foundation partnered with the Washington Hilton to provide a discounted $269 per night rate for those who booked before October 7 using a code provided on the event’s Web site.

Gilt City Launches in Washington With Preppy Georgetown Garden Party

About 225 people attended the garden party overlooking Georgetown and Rosslyn, Virginia.

Gilt City, the event-focused arm of parent company Gilt Groupe, celebrated launching in its ninth city Wednesday night with a garden party in Georgetown. The company, which offers discounts on sought-after local experiences, is hosting a series of seven events for its new members in D.C. This party served as its official launch for 225 of Washington’s press and tastemakers.

“We’re all about bringing you amazing experiences,” said Gilt PR and event manager Cara Crowley, who has also coordinated similar kickoff parties in New York, Boston, and Miami. “For example, we’re having our launch event at this beautiful location and bringing out D.C.’s best to get to know them and focus on showing you what we can do.”

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

The two-hour garden party took pace in the multilevel backyard and pool area of Halcyon House in Georgetown. Crowley reached out to Annie Perezchica at Gilt’s local PR company, BrandLinkDC, for help finding the venue and coordinating the night, which included games like horseshoes, boccie ball, and croquet to keep guests interacting with the brand.

Keeping with the pretty theme, DC Rental provided all rattan lounge furniture with white cushions and pink and green accent pillows. The pink and green palette extended to the napkins, wineglasses, and the graphic prints on the serving trays carried by waiters in all white, who wore brightly colored bow ties of various prints.

Design Cuisine kept the food light, with small bites of crab and avocado on toasted bread triangles, bite-size crab cakes, cubes of buffalo chicken served on a celery stick, and the like. Waiters also passed summery cocktails like mint julep snow cones and ginger mojitos.

Organizers tapped into the local culture when compiling the gift bags, including items like a branded Washington Nationals baseball, a cupcake with Gilt City fondant topper from popular Georgetown Cupcake, and a cookie cutter shaped like the Capitol.

**Photos: Tony Brown/imijphoto.com for BizBash

(Originally published 7.29.11 in BizBash Washington)

‘Politico’ Celebrates ’50 to Watch’ Issue With Cocktail Party, QR Codes

Politico encouraged guests to “get to know” the people profiled in the issue by putting questions about them on place cards. Answers could be obtained by scanning QR codes that appeared after the questions.

Politico hosted its inaugural “50 to Watch” cocktail party last night in recognition of the notable politicians, fund-raisers, media members, and political movers and shakers profiled in its annual issue of the same name. The red, white, and blue event at Barcodebrought out nearly 200 Washingtonians, including this year’s honorees—like actor/senator Fred Thompson—and 2010′s profile subjects.

The company’s executive director of events, Beth Lester, took inspiration from the venue and the party’s purpose to create an interactive element to engage guests. The events team placed oversize cards with the “50 to Watch” logo on each table, along with lists of the night’s honorees. Trivia questions about the 50 politicos bordered the cards, with QR codes under each question; guests could scan the codes with their phones and discover the answers. “We wanted to tie in where we are with Politico, which is very techie, so we though of a fun way to engage guests to be part of the party,” Lester said.

(Originally published 8.1.11 in BizBash Washington)