Star-Studded, Two Night Birthday Event at a Private Home in East Hampton, NY
When a private client wanted to celebrate his own 50th birthday among 200 of his closest friends, he turned to Empire Entertainment to book, produce, design and coordinate the affair from beginning to end.The event was designed as a 2-night exclusive concert held in a tent in the backyard of the client's private summer home in East Hampton, NY.
The first evening, Friday night, featured a line up that included The Nancy Atlas Project, a local Hamptons-area phenomenon, who kicked off the festivities with a rock solid set of blues and rock and roll covers. The first evening's headliner was legendary singer & songwriter Elvis Costello who delivered a 75 minute, solo acoustic set that included many of his greatest hits. Afterwards guests danced to DJ Jordan Kessler and later went downstairs for a late night after party. Saturday night's event brought two of 1980's biggest concert headliners to the stage: the Psychedelic Furs and the B-52s who wowed the VIP audience and kept them dancing the entire time. This night's concerts were also followed by an after-party in the residence's stylish "basement lounge" with DJs and more live music.
As the overall producers of the event and all of it's components, Empire worked with various permitting agencies as well as town boards and departments to secure all necessary approvals to hold a major concert event in a residential neighborhood. Once approved, Empire designed and installed a tenting concept, created a décor lighting scenario, brought in decor, catering, furnishings and florals and created a multi-purpose stage design, which enabled all of the activity needed to create a full-scale concert venue.
Friday's and Saturday's events each had dramatically different themes, which meant that the venue's décor, lighting, and catering had to be completely dismantled and rebuilt between the events. A further complication to this already-pressing schedule presented itself when a major rainstorm hit the East End of Long Island on the eve before Friday night's opening party. As a result, the team had less than 12 hours to rebuild major portions of the venue – tenting, décor, sound and lighting, etc. – from the ground up on the morning of the party, not to mention rescue the lawn, now under several inches of water. Aided by knowledgeable local vendors and their own quick-thinking, Empire managed to install a dance floor above the watery grass and avert the crisis.
Empire is a leading producer of specialty and high-concept private events worldwide from conception to completion.
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
