Jay Leno Hosts Inaugural Genesis Prize Award Ceremony
The Genesis Prize is a brand new initiative, seeking to recognize individuals who have attained excellence and international renown in their chosen professional fields, and whose actions, in addition to their achievements, embody the character of the Jewish people through commitment to Jewish values, the Jewish community and/or to the State of Israel. To help commemorate the inaugural award ceremony, Empire delivered former Tonight Show host Jay Leno to serve as emcee for this momentous occasion.
The Genesis Prize Foundation wanted a household name that could help lighten the evening while simultaneously adding to the already prestigious line-up. Jay Leno was the perfect fit. The event took place at the historic Jerusalem Theater in Israel, where Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu presented the $1 Million Genesis Prize to former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Bloomberg, in turn, announced that the prize money would be invested to create the Genesis Generation Challenge – a competition striving to find and fund the next big idea to measurably better the world.
Along with the award presentation the program included a variety of performances celebrating famous Jewish musicians, artists, and composers. One of the many highlights of the evening was an ever-impressive special performance by Grammy award-winning pianist Evgeny Kissin.
Throughout the evening, Leno touched on a wide variety of topics from local Israeli politics to American pop culture in order to account for the diverse audience of international dignitaries, Nobel laureates, and business leaders from around the globe. Overall, his participation greatly helped amplify the international buzz surrounding the award, and we were honored and privileged to play a part.
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
