BIZBASH
From the Editors
EDITOR IN CHIEF Chad Kaydo NEWS EDITOR Courtney Thompson STYLE EDITOR Lisa Cericola ASSOCIATE EDITORS Michael O’Connell, Anna Sekula
Not-So-Deep Thinking No time for a long column? How about a few short thoughts?
4 bizbash.com summer 2010
LOS ANGELES EDITOR/BUREAU CHIEF Alesandra Dubin
MIAMI EDITOR/BUREAU CHIEF D. Channing Muller
Flowers from Vert-De-Gris at Politico’s brunch after the White House Correspondent’s Association dinner
TORONTO EDITOR/BUREAU CHIEF Susan O’Neill
ART ART DIRECTOR Joey Bouchard ASSISTANT ART/PRODUCTION DIRECTOR Carolyn Curtis
PHOTO PHOTO EDITOR Alison Whittington ASSISTANT PHOTO EDITOR Jessica Torossian
COPY & RESEARCH ASSISTANT MANAGING EDITOR Claire Hoffman EDITORIAL INTERNS Melanie Barnes, Katherine Levering,
Katherine Puccio, Jennifer Ross
Our L.A. keynote speaker Mindy Weiss A Confession I’m no expert on the finer financial points of the airline or hospitality industries, and surely executives or PR people from either could explain their various policies. My point is how these experiences make customers feel, which affects buying decisions. Advertising a cheap rate and then piling on additional costs might increase short-term revenue, but it’s not a good long-term branding strategy. More to the Event Industry Point You can have whatever excuses you want for a less-thanstellar guest experience, but the fact is guests don’t care. They remember what they remember, which might be the six-foot floral arrangements, or it might be the 20-minute valet wait. You can’t control what they talk about the next day, but you can influence what they experience. D.C. Status Update Most of the folks I encountered while covering the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner weekend in Washington were focused squarely on the guest lists of the various parties. They looked past the food to the famous faces, which I’ll grant in many cases was the more interesting choice. But some hosts still put out stylish spreads that would stand out in any market. Some highlights are on page 28. Weiss Is Nice Our L.A. keynote speaker, Mindy Weiss, started with photos from her own family gatherings—and self-deprecating asides about her former hairstyles. Moving on to the celebrity nuptials she’s known for, she gave a candid, funny presentation full of sound bites (as Colin Cowie did in Florida in April). “Great entertainment, great bar, great party.” “Every designer is focusing on lighting fixtures.” (She predicts we’ll see more residential fixtures at parties.) “Always end, if it’s in the budget, with fireworks.” Ka-boom. —Chad Kaydo
CONTRIBUTORS EDITOR AT LARGE Ted Kruckel WRITER AT LARGE, LOS ANGELES Irene Lacher CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Mimi O’Connor, Brendan Spiegel WASHINGTON: T.J. Walter CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Meryl Rothstein, Andi Teran LOS ANGELES: Shilpa Gopinath, Rosalba Curiel TORONTO: Amy Lazar, Erin Letson WASHINGTON: Adele Chapin, Walter Nicholls COPY EDITOR Josh Wimmer CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS Vincent Dillio, Roger Dong, Nick Ferrari, Emily Gilbert, Dan Hallman, John Minchillo, Alice and Chris Ross, Keith Sirchio BOSTON: Aviran Levy, Patrick Piasecki CHICAGO: Mireya Acierto, Tyllie Barbosa, Barry Brecheisen, Eric Craig, Jeremy Lawson, Eddie Quinones LOS ANGELES: Matt Armendariz, BEImages, Jessica Boone, Nadine Froger, Line 8 Photography, Zen Sekizawa, Dale Wilcox MIAMI: Joseph Cancellare & Associates, Matthew Horton, Moris Moreno, Elizabeth Renfrow, Mitchell Zachs TORONTO: Gary Beechey, Jill Kitchener, Henry Lin, Emma McIntyre, Nicki Leigh McKean, George Pimentel WASHINGTON: Tony Brown/ Imijination Photo, Stephen Elliot, FotoBriceno, Powers and Crewe EDITORIAL OFFICES 21 West 38th St., 13th Floor, New York, NY 10018 phone: 646.638.3600, fax: 646.638.3601 CHICAGO BUREAU 312.436.2525 LOS ANGELES BUREAU 310.659.9510 MIAMI BUREAU 1450 NE 123 St., North Miami, FL 33161 305.808.3535 TORONTO BUREAU 1 Thorncliff Park Drive, Suite 110, Toronto, ON M4H 1G9 416.425.6380 CONTACT US Editorial Feedback and Ideas: edit@bizbash.com Event Invitations, Press Releases: nyevents@bizbash.com Directory Listings: listings@bizbash.com Subscription Inquiries: 646.839.6835, subscriptions@bizbash.com New Subscriptions: bizbash.com/subscribe Subscription Renewals: bizbash.com/renew Reprints: Dani Rose, The YGS Group 800.494.9051 ext. 125, bizbash@theygsgroup.com BIZBASH MEDIA C.E.O. AND FOUNDER David Adler PRESIDENT Richard Aaron BOARD OF DIRECTORS Jonathan Adler (CHAIRMAN), Richard Aaron, David Adler, Beverly Chell, Martin Maleska, Todd Pietri
PHOTOS: BIZBASH
Last week I came across three interesting takes on how electronic media is affecting how we think and behave. First The New York Times ran a long front-page piece about the impact of our devotion to information-loaded screens (computers, smartphones, iPads, etc.) and toggling between their apps, emails, videos, texts, games, and RSS feeds. In a nutshell: Our multitasking is actually making it harder for us to move between tasks effectively. Next, on a flight from New York to our annual expo in Los Angeles, in Bloomberg BusinessWeek I read a review of The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains, a new book by Nicholas Carr. He says all those Facebook status updates and animated banner ads are zapping our ability to recall information and comprehend what we read. Lastly, while stopping for a drink at the Bazaar, the José Andrés restaurant inside the SLS Hotel in Beverly Hills, I skimmed an op-ed piece by Harvard psychology professor Steven Pinker—using a Times app on my iPhone. He suggests everyone chill out about the above. Text messages and CNN screen crawls haven’t exactly slowed the pace of scientific discovery. And our experiences can’t change the brain’s basic capacities. All interesting points—and things to consider when developing event content. It’s also my excuse/inspiration for filling this space with random thoughts instead of a cohesive note. Here goes: Speaking of Flying The experience was filled with the indignities we’ve come to expect from airline travel. Extra fees for checked luggage, food, and Wi-Fi. (I’m half expecting to pay to rent a seat belt next time.) I folded myself into an exit row seat that somehow had less legroom than normal, if you can believe that. But Then… Consider the contrast of checking in at the new Andaz West Hollywood. The concept, as I see it, is modern boutique hotel design with homey service touches. (I’ve also toured the Andaz Wall Street in New York.) There’s no front desk; casually dressed roving staffers armed with tablet computers check you in while sitting on a sofa or standing at a kiosk. The minibar snacks and sodas are free, you pay for booze and beer. There is free Internet access, too, which always wins points from me. (I should note I stayed there because the hotel has a business deal with BizBash.)
CHICAGO EDITOR/BUREAU CHIEF Jenny Berg