Harley-Davidson Benefit Creates Studio Back Lot With Screen Test, Kissing Scene Stations

For the all-female Precious Metal Gala, held in support of Rethink Breast Cancer at the Fermenting Cellar on Tuesday, Deeley Harley-Davidson Canada switched venues, choosing a raw space for this year's benefit, and integrated more branding opportunities into the event, which was designed to feel like the back lot of a movie studio.

"Last year when we did it at the Artifacts Room [at the Liberty Grand Entertainment Complex], I took a beautiful, clean environment and turned it into a garage. This year I took an environment that is more raw and did my best to pretty it up," said event planner Olivia Gottlieb, outreach specialist with Deeley Harley-Davidson Canada.

 As was the case last year, the event—intended to empower women by creating a comfortable atmosphere for them to become accustomed to the brand—featured a number of interactive stations where guests could participate in activities like learning how to pick up a motorcycle and posing for pictures at a photo booth staffed by Distinctive Foto Imaging.

"I wanted to convert this place into a back lot so it's 'The Making of Biker Chic by Harley-Davidson,'" Gottlieb said. "You're not just a guest, you're an actor." The theme translated throughout the space with signage designed to look like film action boards and food stations set up like craft tables.

Gottlieb also wanted to create a larger focus on the Harley-Davidson brand. "There's some integration at all of the stations now," she said. For example, attendees could sample lip glosses from Balmshell and then sit on a Harley and run lines with a male model.

The various stations also loosely followed the process involved when obtaining a motorcycle license. "You come in and go to the info booth and learn about Harley Davidson. Then you do your written test, that's the graffiti wall. Then you gear up at the hair, makeup, and wardrobe station. For the screen test you're on a bike riding, and then you get to do a stunt, which is the pick-up shot, and then you go to your cover shoot and have a photo taken for Dolce magazine."

The event also attracted new sponsors like Wild Berry Vodka Coolers. "We have a lot more support than we did at the last event for sure," Gottlieb said. "People really want to attract women and promote their brand to women, and they think this is the right event to do it at because of the whole focus on empowerment." Other sponsors included Balmshell, Your Shop Girl, Alizé, Seagrams, Pepsi, and Rockstar.

Virgin Radio personality Billie Holiday hosted, and Karen Davidson, great-granddaughter of Harley-Davidson co-founder William A. Davidson, made a guest appearance. Entertainment included a performance by So You Think You Can Dance Canada’s Miles Faber. Toronto salsa legend Albert J. Gomez produced and choreographed a performance for the event.

Written by Susan O'Neil for Bizbash

Decor by: Stardust Events

Staging, Lighting, Audiovisual & Production by: 5th Element Events

Buy Design Benefit Adopts '30s Theme With Bake Sale, Badminton

Picnic tables, kites, and lawn games like badminton and croquet set the scene for Windfall's seventh annual Buy Design benefit, a 1930s post-Depression-inspired party held Saturday at the Fermenting Cellar. Windfall Clothing Service event manager Kelly Carmichael worked with an event committee, headed by co-chairs Andrew Sardone and Tralee Pearce, to create the feel of a country fair for the fund-raiser, dubbed the Spring Social.

"The idea came from the economy. The '30s was this era where you had to make do with what you had, and that's the mentality we're in now," Sardone said. "I think the message really connected with the sponsors and the guests. It's a head space people can get into. It feels wholesome, it feels honest, and it feels authentic." The event committee used red, white, and blue fabric to divide the Distillery District venue into two spaces. The main room included a lawn with badminton and croquet games, a tented stage, a parquet dance floor, picnic tables, concession stands where guests could find hamburgers and French fries, a bar where servers offered a signature cocktail called the Lemon Vodka Sidecar, and a Beauty Balloon Buster game that gave attendees the chance to win prizes.

The second area featured a hair and makeup area staffed by stylists from Green Beauty, a bake sale, a candy stand courtesy of Allan Candy, and a mess-hall-style silent auction. "This is a signature part of the event, people come to shop. It's in the name. It's the part we never change," Sardone said of the silent auction.

Fashion File's Adrian Mainella hosted the benefit, DJ Andrew Karis spun tunes, singer Alex Pangman performed, and Jay Mandarino led the live auction. Guests also had the chance to bid on a series of boater hats designed by five of the city's top style editors, who each partnered with a local milliner.

As in the past, organizers promoted the event, which drew 500 guests, through social media outlets like Twitter and Facebook. The committee also distributed promotional materials (bearing images from a photo shoot held at Ward's Island last fall) at LG Fashion Week. "We had a team of volunteers go down. They got all dolled up. Green Beauty did all the hair and makeup for the girls and H&M dressed them. They handed out a couple of thousand postcards promoting Buy Design," Carmichael said.

Written by Susan O.Neil for Bizbash

Feature of the Month: 5th Element Events

As a new feature on our blog, we will be showcasing sites that are inspiring and offer great ideas, deliciously unique and equally addictive, or utterly controversial and worth bringing to light. And best of all, they have their websites hosted with us at myhosting.com!

We begin strong with a stand-out site with an equally dynamic team behind it: 5th Element Events

Feature of the Month: 5th Element Events

A lesson in being yourself, starting your own company, and being ahead of the curve

5th Element Events is a Toronto-based event design firm whose website is hosted with myhosting.com. Their event design site’s flair, simplicity, usability and overall aesthetic appeal demonstrates the importance of having one’s site professionally designed. 5thElementEvents.com is also intuitive and engaging while offering easy navigation and accessibility.

Unlike the majority of their event design peers, this company is making a huge splash online with their use of social media and corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives. They stay ahead of the game with their online community building by means of actively blogging, maintaining a presence on Facebook and engaging in conversations on twitter.

The faces of the company consist of President Aaron Kaufman and Community Marketing Manager Jared Golberg. They both had a lot of tips to offer on having a great site, a niche company, and online presence.

Kaufman, who considers himself a serial entrepreneur, started as an event emcee at 17 years-old. By the age of 19, he was headlining video dance tours, which quickly evolved into the planning and executing them. Now, a seasoned veteran in the events industry, Kaufman looks back on his early days as an eager event entrepreneur and offers a few pieces of advice I will now call “Kaufman-isms.”

•I don’t do pretty. Instead, I have a great florist who does killer work and understands what I need. I know its cliché, but you’re only as good  as your team.
•Don’t try to be the jack of all trades, master of none; some things need to be left up to the masters. Accept it.
•Never bite the hand that feeds. Never bite off too much. Relationships are huge; you never know when you’ll need someone down the road.
•Just because you can conceive an idea yourself, doesn’t mean you can execute it yourself.
•Becoming a reputable design firm took time and patience, but having the ability to push the envelope in every campaign made our journey worth the struggle!
They now do events for the likes of such high profile clients as Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Avon, Staples, General Electric, Sony Electronics, Rona, Hilton, Westin Harbour Castle, Absolut and Canadian Niagara Hotels.

They also use their website to promote their extensive sponsorship, as well as charitable and CSR initiatives with which they are involved. This is a great tip for any company or brand, no matter the size. Fostering, creating and empowering one’s community is something to be proud of and definitely worth sharing.

The ways they give back are by sponsoring local charity events as well as a few causes near and dear to their hearts. These include Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre’s “Grant a Wish Foundation” and Centre Camp. They also like that both charities cover a wide spectrum of age and life experience, a focus that they wanted to cover when developing their 2009 campaign.

For more information on their charitable initiatives, please click here. You can follow them on Twitter @5ElementEvents   @AKthe5th   @JaredGolberg

 By Melissa Smich

Let the Good Times Roll ( Featured in M&IT Magazine)

There is cautious optimism about the economy as we head into the holiday season and employees expect to be acknowledged for their hard work. By Angela Kryhul

Get ready to party! After a particularly difficult 12 months, hardworking – and in many cases, overworked – employees who have weathered endless rounds of layoffs, cutbacks and belt-tightening, are ready to raise a glass of cheer this holiday season.

They’re not exactly whooping it up, though. There is a cautiously optimistic feeling about the economy as we head into the holiday season, and people who helped keep the corporate ship afloat expect to be acknowledged for their hard work, according to event planners and corporate gift suppliers.

Companies are getting the message loud and clear. Many of the holiday parties that were cancelled last year are back on track, although budgets are pretty tight to reflect leaner times. And even those companies that can afford a more lavish holiday celebration are reining it in so that they don’t come off as excessive and inappropriate.

“We’ve been denying ourselves so much…but you can only cut so much,” advises Joanna Wiseberg, president of Red Scarf Promotions.

Michelle Planche, CMP, president of Paradigm Events, agrees. “People are looking to get back to some normalcy,” she says. “But I think we will do more with less, this year.”

While not everyone will be playing Santa this year, gifting is expected to be more sincere. Companies are starting to source small, more personalized items that will express appreciation to loyal staff and clients. And the source-locally movement that started in the catering sector is emerging in gifting, as people seek culturally meaningful, artisanal pieces handcrafted in Canada.

People who tend to look on the bright side of life suggest that these trying economic times are a good opportunity to get back to basics. A handwritten note of thanks from a company executive will do wonders to boost morale. And rather than reflecting excess, holiday celebrations will be more about inspiring people, lifting spirits, interacting and having good, clean fun.

Party Themes
If you’re planning a holiday party this year, forget the props, gimmicks and glitz. There is a new emphasis on authenticity, significance, grassroots and cultural themes.

“People are looking for an event which is interactive and engaging,” says Planche. “Parties are more about creating an experience through a mood or a feeling.”

If party planners want to keep things positive and inspire guests, Planche suggests creating around a theme, like Inspire My World, or working with community groups to showcase ethnic cuisine and culture. For example, Paradigm Events recently managed a First Nations-inspired “Evening of Tradition” that included drumming, dancing and the reading of legends by The Great Spirit Circle Trail from Ontario’s Manitoulin Island.

Parties, if they happen at all, are being booked much closer to the date and are expected to be simpler this year. Instead of sit-down dinners, complete with entertainment, some companies are paring back to office cocktail receptions, says Jane Wallbridge, vice-president, client services at Carlson Marketing. Another way to keep costs under control is to let departments take staff for lunch, rather than holding a company-wide party that spouses usually attend, Wallbridge suggests.

Aaron Kaufman, creative director and owner of 5th Element Events, says corporate planners are asking for events that are cost effective, but a little more interactive and fun than usual. Instead of dispersing money throughout the entire function, clients are focusing on one area for a bigger splash. Kaufman, at 5th Element, says bright colours are coming back. “People want to feel better about 2010. We’re all tired of hearing about the doom and gloom. Holiday functions will be vibrant, colourful with a strong focus of community!”

Jared Golberg, community marketing manager for 5th Element, says one way to get partygoers up on their feet is to bring in a number of Wii and Xbox 360 game stations. People like to play Wii Fit, Tiger Woods PGA Tour golf games and Rock Band. A number of clients are also asking for karaoke bands, where staff can get on stage and sing with the musicians. “It’s a little more interactive, a little more of a fun party,” Golberg says. “People want to have a very different experience.”

Read the article online here. Meetings & Incentive Travel Magazine.

Do what you know!

Social Media and You!