Empire Helps to Produce Major India Celebrity Fundraiser in New York City for Pratham USA
When an important, international charitable organization focused on raising money for education in India needed help, they turned to Empire Entertainment. Pratham USA's Tri State chapter raised over $750,000 during their Annual Gala event attended by over 700 people at New York's Marriott Marquis, Times Square. Pratham is a grassroots non-profit organization that serves over 200,000 children daily in nearly 5,000 underprivileged areas in over 50 cities and 14 states throughout India. The Gala began with a cocktail hour where guests mingled with each other, sipped drinks and indulged in savory Indian appetizers while sizing up the fabulous silent auction items ranging from original Indian artwork to jewelry and even professional photography and spa packages.
Pratham Leadership Sameer Mittal , Sheila Hooda and Anil Shah welcomed the guests followed by the Gala Chairs Drs Leena and Nitin Doshi of Diagnostic Imaging Group who lit the lamp to begin the event in an auspicious Diwali flavor. Emceed by Sreenath Srinivasan, Dean of Students at Columbia Journalism School, the attendees were treated to an electrifying East-West fusion musical performance by the known band Aakruti. The festive event of Diwali added the perfect touch of celebrations to the mood of the attendees. While many got the opportunity to meet their favorite Indian personalities including actor Kal Penn, actress Sarita Choudhury, supermodel Ujwala Raut singer Asha Puthli, socialite Meera Gandhi, Olympian Chetan Baboor, and UN Under-Secretary-General Shashi Tharoor - all sympathetic to organization's goal— to have all the nation's children in school and learning well by 2010.The celebrities demonstrated their commitment to the cause by driving the pledge drive. Socialite Meera Gandhi touched the minds of many with her captivating words as she stressed on the importance of education, "When you educate a child, you're transforming not just one person, but generations to come". Choudhury and Raut, both mothers themselves, expressed how lucky they felt that their children have access to stellar New York City educations and said they wished that the children of their homeland would have the same.
For this major fund-raising event within the New York Indian business and social community, Empire provided all celebrity solicitation, consulting on the overall design and flow of the event and onsite stage management of the program and performances.
Empire is a leading producer of international fundraising events and is an important service provider to India-based businesses and organizations both in the United States and in India.
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
