Press Event Commemorating the 40th Anniversary of The Sound of Music
On November 10, 2005, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment engaged Empire Entertainment to bring to life and produce an elegant cocktail reception and press event celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the legendary motion picture, "The Sound of Music." Attended by Dame Julie Andrews and all seven actors and actresses who portrayed the Von Trapp children in the film, this milestone event garnered wide press coverage throughout television and print, including The Today Show, which taped one-on-one interviews with each actor at the event.
The reception was held in the Chestnut Room at New York's famed Tavern on the Green. Guests dined on a traditional Austrian buffet including weiner schnitzel, bratwurst, and traditional Viennese desserts such as apple strudel and sacher torte. Empire provided pianist Julie McBride who performed Rodgers & Hammerstein classics as background music for the affair. The highlight of the party was a 16' x 8' custom-made replica of the marionette theatre featured in the film's much-loved "Lonely Goat Herd" scene. Within the theater's proscenium were displayed six of the original marionettes featured in the film, which Empire acquired on a special loan from the Charles H. MacNider Art Museum in Mason City, Iowa. Inside Tavern's Crystal Garden, Empire installed a 20' x 40' press tent and draped it with gold and white silk. To create an environment similar to an Austrian field, the interior was carpeted in green and filled with clusters of birch trees and fresh flower arrangements. Working under the direction of Twentieth Century FOX, Empire Entertainment managed all details for the event, coordinated all logistics with the venue, catering and tenting, and provided all décor, scenic, lighting and audio.
Empire is a leading producer of high-end publicity events and has established a strong track record of delivering high quality events that are uniquely customized to the products and services they promote.
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
