Experience America Event for the U. S. State Department For Ambassadors to the United States
The U. S. Department of State sponsors a program for foreign Chiefs of Diplomatic Missions to the United States to travel across the country several times a year. The program, entitled Experience America, seeks to build relationships, encourage business investment and trade, provide a forum for dialogue, and create opportunities for interchange between Chiefs of Diplomatic Missions and American leaders in a wide array of fields.
The most recent program took place in Los Angeles just after the busy Oscar Weekend. For the arrival night event Ambassador Capricia Penavic Marshall, Chief of Protocol of the United States, and Antonio R. Villaraigosa, Mayor of Los Angeles, hosted a reception and dinner to welcome the Chiefs of Diplomatic Missions and their spouses to Los Angeles in the spectacular setting of the Getty Center. Over 100 foreign Ambassadors and their spouses, representing countries around the globe attended this extraordinary evening. Guests arrived on top of the mountain on which the Getty sits just after sunset and were greeted by the Renaissance Arts Academy Orchestra playing classical music on the minimal travertine marble plaza.
Next they proceeded inside the Getty Center Rotunda for a cocktail reception where they were entertained by LA’s Promise wind ensemble while guests were led on brief tours of the highlights of the Getty Collection including Vincent van Gogh’s Irises.Following cocktails the 200 guests walked across the main plaza of the Getty Center to an extraordinary, clear V-shaped tent where dinner was served on a series of 80’ long banquet tables, elegantly set on white linens with white, linear place settings.
Once seated guests were greeted by a video message by secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton followed by The City of Dreams, a motion picture tribute to Los Angeles produced by Richard Kaufman of Goodspot. Next up Ambassador Marshall delivered welcome remarks in which she recognized the many dignitaries present including Ambassadors and Charge d’Affaires to the United States from countries including Albania, Azerbaijan, Cameroon, Finland, Georgia, Germany, Haiti, Jamaica, Kazakhstan, Monaco, Nepal, Peru, Qatar, Tanzania and many more. Other speakers included Antonio R. Villaraigosa, the Mayor of Los Angeles, James Cuno, President & CEO of the J. Paul Getty Trust and His Excellency Meret Bairamovich Orazov, Ambassador of Turkmenistan to the United States and Acting Dean of the Diplomatic Corps. Others in attendance included Our America host Lisa Ling, Happy Hearts Fund Founder and supermodel Petra Nemcova and Kareem Abdul Jabbar. During the dinner the dignitaries were entertained by the Hamilton Jazz Group. The evening was smashing success and all of the attendees remained in the event long after dessert had been served, socializing and building bridges with America and each other.
For this singular, high stature project, Empire was engaged to serve as the evening’s overall producer and was responsible for coordinating elements of the program ranging from the Getty Center, tenting (provided by Classic Party Rentals), catering (provided by Bon Appetit), staging & technical production (provided by Showpro), florals (provided by Eggs LA) and overall event management.
Empire is a leading producer of high stature government events for the most distinguished audiences worldwide. Empire is proud to serve the U. S. Department of States on this and other important diplomatic initiatives.
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
