Sports Illustrated 40th Anniversary Swimsuit Issue Party
One of the most eagerly anticipated annual media events in New York is the exclusive Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue party, which is held each year in connection with the release of the best-selling Swimsuit issue. In 2004, Sports Illustrated turned to Empire to help them produce the party at the New York club Deep. The event featured appearances by all of the current issue models including international athlete Anna Kournikova, as well as many former models and cover girls including Vendela, Marissa Miller, Roshamba, Molly Sims, Daniela Pestova, Bridget Hall, and Cheryl Teigs. This incredible high-profile event was sponsored by Pontiac and Captain Morgan's Rum and was webcast live and taped for broadcast on the Spike TV network.
For this complex live event, Empire was engaged to handle most of the major elements including: catering (by Great Performances), decor, which included managing a hydraulic, mounted Pontiac GTO to food stations, step & repeat sponsor banners, model dressing rooms, staging, lighting, management of the complex audio issues and integration with club and broadcast systems, video projection, a network of plasma monitors placed throughout the club, and an elaborate red carpet installation.
Empire worked closely with Sports Illustrated creative, the club and other vendors to deliver a seamless event. Empire is a leading producer of press and media events as well as client events for media and communications industries looking to entertain a demanding audience of media buyers and planners.
Guests received their first taste of technological innovation at registration, where they were welcomed by name on a reactive LED screen installation covering the full width of the entry wall. A large lunch café was created with a décor scheme that incorporated custom-built, ceiling-high steel LED frames draped with foliage to create smaller, intimate restaurant-style spaces that displayed both technology and nature.
A series of breakout sessions presented content targeted to attendees’ varied interests, while imagery displayed throughout the venue showcased real-life applications of how products designed to empower developers help to unleash the power of data and reimagine possibilities that will improve our world.
Every element of Microsoft Connect(); from registration, breakfast and keynote, to lunch and evening cocktails, were custom-designed to communicate exacting brand messaging and to deliver a high-touch guest experience to this important audience. The keynote and breakout sessions were livestreamed through an onsite studio built for this purpose and content was watched online by millions around the world.
Empire is proud to collaborate with Microsoft on this annual, top-tier business communication event.
To view excerpts of Connect(); 2017, please visit https://www.microsoft.com/connectevent
