Empire Joins Forces with Colin Cowie to Produce Cosmopolitan Magazine's Fun Fearless Males 2005
Since 1997, event designer Colin Cowie has called upon Empire Entertainment to stage and produce A-list talent and superior audio/visual for many of the events he designs worldwide. This time, Empire was asked to provide even more support, executing not only technical production and talent handling but also implementing details of Colin Cowie's exceptional creative vision. Each year, Cosmopolitan honors a select group of women in the entertainment industry at their Fun Fearless Females luncheon and awards show. For Cosmo's 40th anniversary year, they decided instead to honor their favorite men including Josh Duhamel (Win a Date with Tad Hamilton), Kevin Bacon (Footloose), Simon Cowell (American Idol), Ben McKenzie (star of FOX's hit series "The O. C.") and David Spade (Saturday Night Live).
Colin Cowie turned what is traditionally a conventional awards luncheon for 400 into a fabulously classy and exciting spectacle. Upon arrival, guests were lead past 20' high black velour drapes which completely shrouded the dining area. During cocktails, guests enjoyed Cipriani's signature white peach Bellini's and passed hors d'oeuvres while ogling celebrity honorees as they were interviewed by Access Hollywood and other media behind a one-way black scrim, which created a voyeuristic thrill and conversation piece for star-struck guests who could see in, while the celebrities working the red carpet could not see out. Dramatic music signaled the grand reveal of the dining room as the drapes opened for guests to take their seats. The greatest set piece and stunner was a 70' long, raised, white catwalk emblazoned with "COSMOPOLITAN" in thick red letters, slicing down the center of a dining floor filled with elegant, long black tables laid out with sculptural red floral orbs on top of Pucci silk runners in vivid swirls of red, black and white.
The awards show itself was equally as compelling as the event's design. After welcoming remarks from Cosmo's Editor, Kate White, and Publisher, Donna Lagani, sexy rapper Traci Swain and songstress Kelly Levesque took to the stage to perform a specially written duet for the honorees. Appearing at the start of his custom serenade, each Fun Fearless male strut his stuff atop the white catwalk through a room full of gasping young female clients. Specially produced video segments and music kept the show's energy level high until the end.
Empire was responsible for coordinating production of décor, rentals, staging, lighting, video, sound and logistics. Empire also produced and stage-managed the awards show portion of the event by writing and calling all cues throughout the show as well as hiring the rapper and singer and commissioning the custom music and lyrics through live performance solutions group, LIVELAB. Whether producing a turnkey event or realize a client's vision to their exact specifications, Empire's flexible range of services can be applied to almost every event project.
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
