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 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.
The Initiative for Russian Culture, an organization at American University that promotes greater relations between Russia and the United States, kicked off its new Russian film series on Friday with a 1920s-era Russian-meets-American movie screening. The night brought more than 500 Washington-area college students, deans, and Russian ambassadors and dignitaries to the Library of Congress for intercultural mingling.
“There is a need to reach out to the younger generation to promote a better understanding of Russian-Americans in future generations,” said initiative chair Susan Lehrman. “We want to give them a better understanding of Russian culture [and allow them] to understand a better view of their culture using audiovisual aspects of film, which provides a familiarity that resonates with young people today.”
Lehrman worked with Sandi R. Hoffman Special Events to create the ambience for the night, beginning with an hour-long cocktail reception where Occasions Caterers served Russian dishes like beef stroganoff, smoked salmon, and cocktail chicken Kiev. Movie ushers dressed in vintage clothing from the time period greeted guests as they entered the Coolidge Theater for a showing ofJazzmen, a Russian movie about a jazz pianist’s expulsion from school for his musical passion during the 1920s. Occasions served a mix of Russian and American movie snacks like candies and popcorn.
After the screening, the party moved to the main atrium for Russian desserts and coffee. Russian pianist Igor Bril and bassist Eugene Orenschenko performed towards the end of the night.
Architecture and engineering firm McKissack & McKissack celebrated its 20th anniversary on Thursday night with a rooftop dinner at the Potomac View Terrace atop the American Pharmaceutical Association building for 200 of its clients, employees, partners, and local political figures. The company worked with Events by André Wells to find the unique venue and design the evening.
“I wanted something overlooking the city and preferably the monuments, since we’ve worked on them,” said Deryl McKissack, president and C.E.O. of the firm, who noted its participation in the restoration of the Lincoln Memorial and creation of the Martin Luther King Memorial. “We can see several projects from the rooftop [of the A.P.A. building], and that’s something a lot a people haven’t been able to experience.”
Though rain forced the cocktail reception to move from the patio to inside the building lobby, the rooftop had been tented to ensure the dinner could be set as planned, no matter the weather. With inspiration from McKissack, André Wells took an unconventional approach to seating, arranging two long tables with 100 place settings. “I wanted something unconventional and different that would have an impact, and nothing is more impactful than a long table, so when [he] suggested that to me, I agreed,” said McKissack.
Stone gray linens covered the tables, which Amaryllis topped with clusters of three centerpieces combining green hydrangeas, dark pink, purple, and maroon roses, and large green leaves. Tall vases of floating votives and purple uplighting around the perimeter of the space added ambience after the sun set behind the Capitol, which could be seen from roof.
Throughout the two-course meal from Occasions Caterers, guests watched a 10-minute video of the company’s history and growth over the past 20 years, followed by a few remarks from McKissack. In a separate section of the rooftop, Wells created an after-hours lounge filled with purple velvet sofas and club chairs accented by silver pillows. Here, Occasions set up a dessert of mini peach and apple pies, passion-fruit and raspberry tartlets, pirouette cookies, and other small treats.
—D. Channing Muller
Washington Life’s sixth annual installment of its “Young and the Guest List” event, toasting 200 people from D.C.’s top under-40 set, drew more than 350 guests to the raw Long View Gallery and took over the adjoining historic Blagden Alley. Partygoers hung out in a Juicy Couture-branded tent and in the unfinished Rogue 24, a restaurant helmed by chef R.J. Cooper, set to open this spring.
According to Washington Life executive editor Michael M. Clements, since this year’s party highlighted innovators in creative fields—particularly in D.C.’s burgeoning restaurant scene, with Georgetown Cupcake founder Sophie LaMontagne, the Indian food truck Fojol Brothers of Merlindia co-founder Peter Korbel, and restaurateur/Top Chef contestant Spike Mendelsohn making the cut—the list sparked the idea of a theme based around the creative arts.
“We wanted our party to be an homage to the continuing evolution of creativity here in Washington, particularly in fashion and art. We try to capture the zeitgeist of the city in that particular year,” Clements said. The event referenced art through the gallery venue, fashion (with Juicy Couture as the title sponsor), and food through the Cooper collaboration, marking the first time the event has teamed with a well-known chef for catering. “It’s not just on the list, we’re carrying the foodie theme all the way through to the event.”
This is the second time the party has had a modern theme; the last was in 2009, when it was held at an unfinished office building in NoMa. The party has previously taken over historical venues like the Washington Club (2010),Dumbarton House (2006), Meridian House (2007), and Halcyon House(2008). André Wells of Events by André Wells once again produced, incorporating four-foot-tall lavender and yellow rose floral arrangements byAmaryllis in the gallery, along with mannequins donning black crinoline ball skirts and Juicy Couture jackets in bright colors. The tent in Blagden Alley had stark white leather couches and a white DJ booth and bar, while the unfinished brick Rogue 24 space was draped in black velvet, with black couches and black pipe and drape sectioning off the restaurant. “In a raw space like this, I love the juxtaposition of rough and raw and elegant,” Wells said. “You don’t have to have to have pole covers when you are in an alley; you want it to be a little rough.”
Since the alley is public space, Wells couldn’t block off the area, instead relying on security posted around it and a red carpet to lead guests from the gallery to the event space at Rogue 24. “It’s really hard to clean up an alley,” he said, noting that the tent construction started that day at 8 a.m. “Doing an event in an alley you have all the elements of the city, businesses being here, traffic, neighbors, and incorporating our sponsors, but we made it all work.”
Cooper’s team provided Washingtonians with a first look at the type of dishes slated for his tasting menu-focused restaurant, setting up grill stations along with a raw bar and truffle bar. Inside the gallery, a band covered Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance” and other hits, but guests crowded outside under the tent to take advantage of the perfect spring weather. And at 11:30 p.m., hosts handed out overflowing Juicy Couture-emblazoned gift bags as guests moved to the after-party at the Mansion Presented by Grey Goose on Q Street.
“[The expansion] is exciting for us because it gives us an opportunity to use the space and dine among more contemporary works of art,” said Keith Costas, director of special events for the Phillips Collection.
The event attracted 400 people for dinner, about 50 more than last year, which Costas attributes to the significance of the collection’s anniversary. Each gallery hosted a different number of people with various table arrangements and decor. iPods and iPads at each table, a common element among the spaces, showcased a slide show of information about the event, the museum, and artist Linn Meyers’s educational programs via the Phillips Collection app.
“The app is something we already have for iPhone and other devices, but many of our donors are not familiar with it, so we thought this would be a great way to show them and use technology to showcase the Phillips on our 90th anniversary,” Costas said.
After dinner, guests headed to the collection’s Anderson House property down the street to join the 150 revelers who’d purchased a $100 ticket for the 1920s-themed after-party, a nod to the collection’s founding decade. The Glenn Pearson Orchestra, and later DJ Bluebrain, along with fedoras and long pearl necklaces on cocktail tables, helped guests get in the mood of the era until the party wrapped up at midnight.
—D. Channing Muller and photos by Tony Brown/Imijination Photograophy
On Saturday night, the Washington National Opera hosted its annual Opera Ball fund-raiser, held for the first time ever at the chancery of the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China. In addition to celebrating Chinese culture and performing arts, the ball also paid tribute to tenor Plácido Domingo, who is stepping down in June after 15 years of serving as Washington National Opera general director. With 800 guests, this year’s ball marked the highest attendance in the event’s history, and raised $2.6 million for the opera, compared with last year’s $1.5 million.
Opera Ball chairwoman Susan Lehrman selected the chancery because of opera’s rich history and popularity in China, and because many guests had never had the opportunity to visit the I.M. Pei-designed building, completed in 2008. “This time, the building itself is a wow and something people will want to see in and of itself,” said event producer Sandi Hoffman of Sandi R. Hoffman Special Events. Instead of attempting to decorate the chancery’s modern and spare main level, Hoffman divided the evening in half, staging the beginning of the evening on the main floor as a nod to contemporary China, and then allowing guests downstairs to travel back in time with a lavish display of ancient China on the lower level.
The ball was one of the largest events Ambassador Zhang Yesui has ever hosted at the chancery, and security was more of a concern than at past Opera Balls. “They’ve never really hosted anything like this. It’s so new to them and on such a scale that they’ve never had before,” Hoffman said. The production team brought in nearly all of the decor, including rented furniture from a local dealer specializing in Chinese antiques and reproductions. To ensure that the design was authentically Chinese, Hoffman worked with the embassy, presenting all decor ideas—down to the chopsticks—for review.
At 9:30 p.m., guests began arriving from dinners hosted at 30 different embassies, entering the chancery’s grand foyer, which was accented by a fou drum, last played at the 2008 Olympic Games’ opening ceremony in Beijing. Guests drank plum blossom cocktails and snacked on hors d’oeuvres like medjool dates with tea-smoked duck, while watching three different six-minute laser light shows by Image Engineering and Genell Canty.
After the last laser show finished at 10:15, guests walked downstairs to a teahouse-inspired ballroom illuminated with lanterns suspended from the ceiling and dramatic lighting on floral arrangements perched on bare bonsai tree branches. Three dessert bars provided by Occasions Caterers included treats like green-tea petits fours, poached pears, and candied ginger, in addition to a fruit and ice cream station. The dance floor was flanked by two stages for the evening’s entertainment, with Floating Opera With Glenn Pearson playing pop hits, and 6ix Wire Project performing American standards and Chinese folk tunes. Members of the Opera’s Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist Program also sang tributes for Domingo, who addressed the crowd.
Beyond the ballroom, guests had plenty to explore, with performances by the Tianjin Municipal Youth Peking Opera Troupe in the auditorium, fruit carving demonstrations by Los Angeles-based chef Jimmy Zhang outside a replica of a Chinese classical garden, and a tribute room to Domingo including videos of his performances and a scroll for guests to sign a personal greeting. Across the hall in the Tea Room, a calligrapher created personalized scrolls, while Georgetown’s Ching Ching Cha provided a selection of six teas from China’s spring tea season. Meanwhile, in the popular Peking Duck Gallery, 10 chefs carved traditional Peking duck from Duck Chang’s in Annandale, using all 260 ducks they brought for the event.
As the evening wound down at 1:30 a.m., guests exited through a tunnel of 999 red Chinese lanterns, which symbolized good fortune, picking up parting gifts including a ball program book, a paperweight with an image of Domingo in the title role of The First Emperor, and a shot of hot tea.
—Adele Chapin
“My brother and I saw a need in technology and helped conceive and create CaterXpert, a software program for off-premise caterers that has become the standard for the industry.” - Eric Michael
Eric Michael
Owner and creative director, Occasions Caterers, Washington
Launch pad: A cater waiter in college, Michael founded Occasions with his twin brother, Mark, in 1986. Today, they cater roughly 2,500 events annually.
Claim to fame: Last year’s highlights ranged from the Opera Ball’s Fabergé egg-inspired cakes to Frito pies at MSNBC’s White House Correspondents Association dinner after-party. Michael also produces the massive Corcoran Gala.
Proudest achievement: “Presidential inauguration 2009. In addition to managing one of the official tribute dinners for 1,200, we catered dozens of events over a three-day period, [serving] more than 25,000 guests.”
Biggest idea: “My brother and I saw a need in technology and helped conceive and create CaterXpert, a software program for off-premise caterers that has become the standard for the industry.”
Photo: Dan Hallman for BizBash
An MSNBC-shaped topiary flanked the red-carpet arrivals area at the Embassy of Italy.
While the face-off between President Obama, dinner host Seth Meyers, and pseudo presidential candidate Donald Trump drew the attention of television viewers, many of the 2,600 dinner guests at the Washington Hilton on Saturday—and countless more who didn’t sit for dinner but swung through the swirl—were more concerned with navigating the parties from the likes of Vanity Fair, Bloomberg, and MSNBC.
As the clashing personalities from Washington, Hollywood, and New York made their way through the weekend’s event, they saw several repeating motifs—mini cupcakes and photo booths being the biggest repeat offenders—but some hosts pulled off more original party concepts, with a dizzying array of fairly ambitious small plates being served by big local caterers as well as new restaurants. (For many, the Hilton Washington’s dinner of filet and scallops was probably their only seated meal of the weekend.)
This year’s star wattage was dimmed slightly: The royal wedding on Friday morning kept away some of the more famous TV news faces, and with Congress not in session, fewer members were on hand. But a familiar phalanx of movie and TV celebrities parachuted in: Chelsea Handler, Jon Hamm, and Zach Galifianakis were among those sparking excited requests to pose for photos with less-famous faces.
For years the dinner has been called “nerd prom”—a play, in part, on the high number of people present who look awkward in formal wear. And the high school analogy can be helpful in delivering a taxonomy of hosts and parties.
Cee Lo Green performed a three-song set at MSNBC's after-party.
MSNBC’s popular, populist bash at the Italian Embassy—with Cee Lo Green singing three songs (Maryland Sound handled audiovisual production) and Rachel Maddow dutifully making drinks behind her own bar—might be the bash thrown by the football star and the pretty blonde cheerleader. Produced by Philip Dufour, the party gave the grand, open Piero Sartogo-designed space little embellishment, letting just some red drapes, a single crystal chandelier, and lots of lighting from Atmosphere Inc. add some pomp. Outside was a tent from Perfect Settings with hand-rolled cigars and a Johnnie Walker bar.
Among Occasions Caterers’ many modern passed hors d’oeuvres were tiny veal and pork meatballs served on forks with a twirl of spaghetti, and melon balls topped with prosciutto dust and fried parsley. On the sweet side were tiramisu in mini mason jars and push pops in two flavors. Also on hand: Sponsor Starbucks returned with a coffee bar, and on the way in, guests received $10 gift cards for DonorsChoose.org.
Also at the MSNBC after-party, Occasions passed veal and pork meatballs served on a fork with a twirl of spaghetti atop trays of grated Parmesan.
Meanwhile, the party hosted by Vanity Fair and Bloomberg—the hardest invite to snag—might show what happens when the rich, handsome student council president (that would be Bloomberg LP) takes up with the snobby boarding-school girl who just moved to town, and doesn’t see the point in hanging out with his boring high school friends. (Vanity Fair signed on to co-host and run the guest list for Bloomberg’s long-running party in 2009.)
This year the duo returned to the residence of the French ambassador, with its now-trademark mix of pastel lighting, pillows with political quotes, and a starry guest list that included Sarah Palin, Seth Meyers, Sean Penn, Scarlett Johansson, Arianna Huffington, and Newt Gingrich. Design Cuisine served mini steak sandwiches, fish-and-chips, and pigs in a blanket.
The other two big post-parties were less concerned with politics and media; the point was to give Washington’s young social set—and the sponsors who want to reach them—a place to go. This year Capitol File’s long-running party, produced by Gala Events and overseen by mag publisher Sarah Schaffer, was prominently sponsored by Bing, with logos on tables and projected on the wall of the Ronald Reagan Building.
While it might be stretching the high school metaphor to say Capitol File was the party for the status-seeking strivers—the preppy future business majors—(with some celebrities from the Creative Coalition, an event partner, mixed in), the Washington Life entry truly felt a house party where someone’s parents were on vacation. The magazine entered the after-party fray for the first time, at a temporary venue in an Embassy Row mansion, with the festivities sponsored by Grey Goose.
Earlier in the night, the dinner crowd floated between the Hilton’s meeting rooms, for celebrity gawking and cocktails hosted by various media outlets. Most blurred together, with just a few perks meant to make their hosts stand out: Thomson Reuters worked with First Protocol to reel in Samantha Ronson to DJ in its white-clad room, and CBS News and Atlantic Media co-hosted on a large tented terrace.
The weekend kicked off with a busy Friday evening. The Creative Coalition used its party to announce a new anti-bullying campaign, and put out cans of Red Bull—a style mismatch in the stately Washington Club, but a fitting choice for the earliest call time of the string of events that went late into the night, with many people making stops at several.
The refreshments at the dinner put on by Atlantic Media owner David Bradley for National Journal and The Atlantic had a decidedly different style: José Andrés’s ThinkFoodGroup was on hand to serve his edgy fare, including liquid olives. Susan Gage handled the dinner (and decor) inside a tent over Bradley’s back yard.
The New Yorker returned to its venue from last year (the W Hotel’s rooftop), as did Time and People. The Time Inc. sibling magazines created possibly the New Yorkiest vibe of the evening, with artistic installations made of past covers, and loud dance and lounge music, at the St. Regis. A large, heavy gift bag—not the kind easily toted along to the next party—was loaded with snack food and beauty products from the likes of L’Oréal and StriVectin.
There was also a photo booth (from Onomonomedia), a touch echoed at the hospitality suite hosted by Tina Brown’s Newsweek Daily Beast (this one from the Digital PhotoBooth) on Saturday. Brown also entered the Friday night fray with her own party.
Another new host was former Senator Chris Dodd, the new chairman and C.E.O. of the Motion Picture Association of America, with a party in the group’s offices, just around the corner from the St. Regis, with Seth Meyers. Also produced by Philip Dufour, the party did double-duty as a preview of Graffiato by Mike Isabella, the 120-seat Penn Quarter restaurant from the Top Chef alumnus, who served substantial food on small plates: crispy chicken ravioli; gooey, cheesy beef panini; and pancetta frittata with leeks and basil cream. (There were also mini cupcakes with the M.P.A.A. logo on top.)
Friday night’s festivities ended with a rollicking “First Amendment” party at the raw, all-white Longview Gallery, hosted by Funny or Die, National Journal, and The Atlantic. While a younger set crowded big bars in the main space, Google hosted a tent in the back, packed with people trying to get a look at Jon Hamm and Chace Crawford.
Saturday’s traditional daytime stop—the garden party long known as “Tammy’s brunch,” though host Tammy Haddad has a list of co-hosts (including BizBash C.E.O. David Adler)—moved from Haddad’s backyard this year to the fabled former home of Katharine Graham. Now owned by Mark Ein but uninhabited for years, the venue required considerable build-out—including plaster and paint inside, plus a platform over the pool in back—from producers at Design Cuisine.
The caterer’s extensive menu of savory and sweet small plates included sopaipillas with cinnamon and sugar, French toast crème brûlée, and mini croque-monsieurs—and more mini cupcakes, this time with the logos of the two causes being honored: the White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood and CURE: Citizens United for Research in Epilepsy. Event Farm handled registration, and check-in was done on iPads and iPhones.
Susan Axelrod and Wendi Murdoch were the co-chairs, and their husbands were on hand—that would be David and Rupert, of course—as was a considerable celebrity factor (Matthew Morrison, Jeremy Piven, Joan Rivers). But the person getting the biggest reaction was Sarah Palin.
The McLaughlin Group’s Sunday brunch, co-hosted since last year by Thomson Reuters, has made the Hay-Adams roof the longtime morning-after destination. This year guests got to check out the hotel’s recent redo of the space, with its views of the White House and monuments.
Meanwhile, at the Georgetown manse of Politico publisher Robert Allbritton, Politico executive director of events Beth Lester filled a tent in the backyard with Asian touches—blue and white vases, and food from Asian fusion restaurant the Source by Wolfgang Puck, making its off-site catering debut, with help from Design Cuisine. On the menu: mini curry jumpo lump crab salad sandwiches and braised pork belly over a crispy grit cake, plus more traditional breakfast fare, a sushi bar, and a coffee bar with nine variations—perhaps much needed after the long weekend.
—Chad Kaydo, with additional reporting by Courtney Thompson
On Friday night, the Corcoran Gallery of Art’s women’s committee hosted nearly 800 people for its annual ball, which raises money for the attached college of fine art. Organizers capitalized on the uniqueness of the museum’s inherent college, the only cultural institution with a school in Washington, through pre-event promotions and donation solicitations. The effort resulted in a 26 percent increase sponsorship dollars.
“We wanted to bring home that we are not just a gallery, we are a college, and we do a lot of education and outreach,” ball chair Tammie Collins said.
The committee also opened the event’s late-night dance Club Corcoran, which started in 2009, to the museum’s young professionals group, the 1869 Society. “It’s been a huge success with ball attendees, so we thought it would be fun if we introduced it to a younger demographic by giving them the chance to come at a separate ticket price,” Collins said. Dinner tickets began at $500 each; the Club Corcoran tickets sold for $150 per person or $250 per couple.
Occasions Caterers designed and produced the event again this year, with the dinner tables set up through the various gallery rooms, each decorated with a different palette and theme. Jack H. Lucky Floral Designs also contributed again, with numerous floral arrangements of varying heights and flower combinations in tune with the room’s decor.
The Radio King Orchestra performed on the main floor throughout the cocktail hour and dinner service. McCusker and Barrick Music entertained at Club Corcoran, which was set up in two gallery rooms on the third floor, until nearly 1 a.m.
—D. Channing Muller
From left, Living Social co-founder Aaron Batalion, Summit Series founder Elliott Bisnow, Curry’s Auto Service founder Matt Curry, Honest Tea founder Seth Goldman, STG founder Michelle Lee, Occasions Catering founder Mark Michael, Alchemie Forever founder Ada Polla, and Thompson Hospitality founder Warren Thompson.
ABC7 anchor Leon Harris emceed and also recognized top “young entrepreneurs” at local high schools.
Are we following Vivek Kundra or vice versa? He was on hand with Acumen Solutions’ David Joubran and wife Michelle. Also in attendance, though not shown: federal CTO Aneesh Chopra. (How could they not both be there? The indefatigable Vivek and Aneesh are running neck-and-neck for the record of the most tech events ever attended in Washington history.)
And this band of brothers: Goldman Sachs' Tim Moore, Argy Wiltse’s Jeff Schragg, IMC founder and former NVTC chair Sudhakar Shenoy, and leading Georgetown developer (and owner of a software company with a third of its workforce in Siberia) Phillipe Lanier.
