Empire Produces 25th Anniversary Family Weekend
In June 2008, a business partnership called on Empire to design, produce and manage a Family Weekend for their 25th Anniversary. The New York City weekend began with a spirited cocktail hour and delectable dinner in the private dining room of Per Se. Guests then retired to The Four Seasons hotel to rest from the long day of travel.
On Saturday, Empire had the entire day mapped out with exciting tours and activities. At 8AM, the guests enjoyed a run through Central Park guided by a marathon runner from Team Continuum. Upon returning from the run, the guests enjoyed some breakfast in the foyer of The Four Seasons. Empire then acquired a New York Double Decker tour bus which brought them to the Metropolitan Museum of Art for a private tour. For lunch, the guests proceeded to Orsay where they dined in private. After lunch, the Partners and their families jumped back on board the bus for a tour of New York City, with special guest Timothy "Speed" Levitch, the subject of the 1998 Emmy award-winning documentary "The Cruise". Speed brought the guests on a two hour tour throughout the city, showing them many landmarks like Central Park, The Plaza Hotel, Columbus Circle, The Empire State Building and more.
After the bus tour, the Partners and their families got ready for dinner at the world-famous Tavern on the Green. Following dinner, the guests were escorted into the park to a secret performance location by Wildman Steve Brill, an expert on Central Park and its urban plant life. To conclude their night the Partners and their families arrived in a secured location in the Park to watch a private performance by LUMA, an exhilarating and entirely original form of performance art that fuses a light show with the dynamism of live, human performers.
On late Sunday morning the Partners and their families met in the Metropolitan Suite for brunch with entertainment by Todd Londagin and his jazz trio.Throughout the weekend Empire brought in a video crew and a photographer to follow the group and document their trip. The guests were sent a photo slideshow and documentary DVD as a keepsake for this weekend.
Empire is a leading producer of creative events and activities for all ages, with a unique ability to mold our services to the client's special needs and to act as a team player to help execute flawless events.
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
