1st J.A.M. Awards Featuring Snoop Dogg and others to Benefit the JMJ Foundation
For a first-ever Justice, Arts & Music Awards to benefit the Jam Master Jay Foundation and sponsored by Adidas, Empire was thrilled to work in tandem with EPOP International and serve as event producer. The purpose of the J. A. M. Awards is to honor social responsibility. The J.A.M. Awards are the first ever awards in the hip hop community to do this. The evening was designed to honor the late Jam Master Jay's life and to promote Social Justice, Arts and Music (J.A.M.). Planned as an annual program, each year, one honoree from the hip-hop community will be selected and honored in the fields of social Justice, the Arts and Music. Broadcast from The Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City on November 29th, the star-studded benefit concert was co-hosted by the late Jam Master Jay's wife Terri Corley-Mizell and Jam Master Jay's former band mate, DMC from the ground-breaking hip hop act, Run DMC.
The hip concert and awards program featured a who's who of hip hop and rap artists spanning from the dawn of hip hop to the present day. Performers on the bill included Snoop Dogg, LL Cool J, DMC, Reverend Run, Mobb Deep, M.O.P., Papoose, Raekwon of the Wu-Tang Clan, Kid Capri, De La Soul, Dead Prez, EPMD, Q-Tip, Talib Kweli, Biz Markie, Everlast, Mista Sinista, Jim Jones and others. The Justice Award went to Chuck D, the Arts award went to Lee Quinones and Wyclef Jean won the Music Award.For this complicated production Empire handled all production design and management, talent coordination and stage management as well as consulting on all aspects including logistics, security and show design. The stage set-featured an innovative front projection of laser-drawn graffiti art.
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
