THE NEWS from EventWorks, Inc.

Dear Friends, With the help of our DJ friend Matt Cornwall, we have produced our second annual verbal and musical greetings, sharing our most treasured family traditions, memories and recipes and our favorite tunes to celebrate the Season. Please CLICK to enjoy the music. Wishing You All The Best! Love and Peace! Janet , Ted, Chris, Katie, Dee, Melissa, Selena, Carolyn and Paige and all Your Friends at EventWorks DJ Matt Cornwall is known internationally for his outstanding work spinning records at events for clients such as star photographer David LaChapelle, R&B star Macy Gray, Starwood Hotels, Warner Bros., Fox, and of course... EventWorks! For more information about Matt, visit www.mattcornwall.com  

Dear Friends and Colleagues, We are very proud, happy and thankful to share good news: our hard work on the  Amway China Gala Dinner series has been recognized with nominations in  three categories for Special Events' GALA AWARDS.   Click HERE to see the 2-minute video       Special Events Advisory Board Names 2010 Gala Nominees: BEST EVENT ENTERTAINMENT: BUDGET ABOVE $100,000 EventWorks, Los Angeles "Amway China Gala Dinner" BEST THEATRICAL ENTERTAINMENT PRODUCTION EventWorks, Los Angeles, Calif. "Amway China Gala Dinner" BEST EVENT FOR CORPORATION OR ASSOCIATION: OVERALL BUDGET ABOVE $500,000 EventWorks, Los Angeles "Amway China Gala Dinner" For a complete list of all nominees, please click to link to Special Events' website.

We found out a while ago through"5in5" in Best Events Magazine that Janet and her friend Heather supported a Lao monk's studies. We are very happy to report this update: Sompheng has graduated successfully and he is now a full time employee at a large hotel in  Luang Prabang, Laos. Janet: "I am really really pleased that Heather and I could play a role in Sompheng's life. Conditions in his country are so much more difficult than here that without some assistance it is nearly impossible to escape the cycle of poverty."   Sompheng and Janet now stay in touch via email.  Janet - who started her work career as a elementary school teacher in a tough neighborhood in Chicago - has found a new way to assist youth worldwide. "My friend Corine Couwenberg came up with a fabulous idea called Shop-Anthropy . Corine's company NonProfitShoppingMall.com creates and manages online shopping+giving. Basically it means that while you shop online you generate donati

How do you honor and celebrate the of an iconic hotel?
 EventWorks was charged with creating special elements to honor and celebrate the U.S. Grant Hotel in San Diego.   We decided to span and honor the century by including historic figures, location, art, memorable events and interactive entertainment to create a decor and ambiance worthy of the iconic hotel in Downtown San Diego.
   Three aspects were transformed into Living Portraits.

   Capturing a Presidential Moment 
 History was made nearly 50 years when Senator John F. Kennedy made his speech for presidential candidacy from the  balcony of THE US GRANT. As a nod to the hotel’s presidential history,  a living replica of the historic moment stood before hotel guests celebrating THE US GRANT’S 100th year anniversary last weekend.   A Living Interpretation of the Primrose Centerpiece Artist: Native American Artist, David Montour Since its re-opening in October 2006, the Grand Lobby has featured a stunning 4-fo

You may have noticed that there is little news from Ted Bowers on the blog. There are really two reasons. 1. Ted is always working on productions and 2. and foremost, Ted is definitely the strong, silent type. More Gary Cooper than Quentin Tarantino! But we finally have Ted News! Classic cars are Ted's passion. This past summer he realized a dream for EventWorks' client RM Auctions:  the construction of a permanent auction block in Auburn, Indiana. The Auctions America by RM Auction Block - Labor Day Weekend 2010 Ted: " RM  purchased the 225-acre Kruse International Auction Park to create their first permanent auction site in the United States. Once the transaction was completed we had 45 days to transform the stage from concept to the new auction block. We started with this original." and helped to create this dream. 45 days for a permanent installation is a very quick turnaround. At the same time, RM was creating the new brand for this event. We were

We are happy to share that Special Events' current issue features our "Gigantic Gala". Gratefully yours! Your Friends from EventWorks

Drum roll please! We are happy to present our new floral designer , Kate Brack! Kate joined the EventWorks team during the month of May and she and her Boston Terrier, Beatrice have quickly become part of our office family! Kate arrived from New York a year ago where she already had extensive work experience in the event business. "My husband and I had long dreamed of living in California . He secured a job and we made the decision to make the leap. I was working as a lead designer at Floral Art on Abbot Kinney in Venice but was missing the fast paced, creative environment of the event design world. Then I heard that EventWorks was looking for a designer and the rest is history!" So what gets a New Yorker to dream about the left coast? Kate: "Actually, the beauty of the California coastline has long been an inspiration for my designs. There is so much variety in the local vegetation, from fresh cut blooms to native plants , the landscapes in California are like no ot

We are very happy to share BizBash 's story about our Amway China Gala Series. Thank you for reading!

Let me reassure you all, I am back in Los Angeles and I did not get into major trouble! I have been on the road a lot and - of course - I have adventure tales to share. My last production was a wonderful affair on the venerable Ellis Island. To the left here you see a warning to visitors about the high security conditions that apply to all visits to the monument. Well, I am not a tourist so I was busily working away with my American collaborators to put this event together. Obviously, we were bringing in all the necessary equipment by truck. Mind you, you get stopped at something of a border before you cross the bridge to Ellis Island! Those of you who have heard me know that I sport an Australian accent. I have an American husband and a green card. I just don't customarily travel domestically with passport and green card, just my California driver license. I got stopped! And questioned! And politely asked to please take the ferry with all the other foreign visitors so that I could

"I did not suspect anything until about 2 hours before we took off. My husband Steve had arranged the flight as a birthday and anniversary surprise and he had kept it completely hush-hush. Then he got the confirmation phone call about the departure time while I was sitting next to him." "Steve hired Adventure Helicopter Tours to celebrate our special weekend. Our birthdays and our anniversary happen on three consecutive days at the end of March. And I did not organize it that way so that it would be only a one-event-production! When we got married I was a teacher in a rough part of Chicago and I had no idea I would end up in the event industry in Los Angeles." "Flying over our city was a beautiful experience. We had the perfectly clear Spring day. Here a view of Hollywood including our client Starwood's new W Hotel." "It was the first time I got this overview of Downtown. We work here a lot but you never get to see it so serenely calm from the ai

By the time this gets published, I will be "Down Under" with my husband and daughter visiting our Australian family and friends. But rest assured, I will be back on April 12th. While talking with some business friends recently, I realized that many of you rarely visit our offices. It probably seems like an industrial area, our offices are part of a large warehouse building. Actually, you'd be amazed at the attractions around here! I was when I started at EventWorks five years ago. So let me take you on a tour of my favorite places. You are seeing correctly! Meet our neighbors from down the street: El Fig Stables. 2000 horses and lots of urban cowboys. El Fig has been here since the 50ties, long before gangs and crime gave South Central a bad name. The stables rescue many young people from street life. You'd never expect this in the hood but according to Keyon, the young cowboy in the photos, there are three ranches around here! I just love the aspect of rural Wild Wes

We are happy to share the recent article "5 in 5 with Janet Elkins" from Best Events Magazine . "It is always an honor to be invited" exclaims Janet about the opportunity to answer five questions in five minutes that appeared on page 10. We know Janet thinks about business a lot. But who knew that Janet and friend Heather "adopted" a Lao monk two and a half years ago during a trip to South East Asia?! Janet and Heather sponsor his English, business and accounting education and help him get a job in a hotel.

It took some convincing and encouraging but we are happy to report that Janet has overcome her aversion to new media. You now find Janet on Facebook and on the newly launched industry blog "The Strategic Business Value Of Meetings And Events" where she guest blogs to share her insider knowledge of the event industry. Janet: "I was not always convinced that I needed to join in with all these new means of communication. But in the long run it is unavoidable. Luckily my husband and son are both very technically adept so I got secret training at home. It's a brand new world but I am excited to participate. I could not turn down Ed Graziano's kind invitation to join my esteemed colleagues on the Corporate Event Interactive Blog and I will be happy to share the blog on The News From EventWorks as well."

The Touch Down Dance We love to include exciting experiences in events that involve the guests at a higher level. Why just stand there and watch if you can actually participate and experience an event as your own activity! Our friends at Plan-It Interactive are in touch with their inner child. They have the best ideas and the best equipment to create a virtual play world. SuperBowl is upon us. All guys are indulging their inner Peyton Manning. So how do we create the best football experience without actually becoming Quarterbacks? Jason Soporito: "We had enormous success with our Virtual Field Goal Kicking Game for a booth at the NFL Experience. Fans could not get enough of it and it was played for a full week before the real game. Players kicked the ball into the field and sensors were reading speed, velocity and trajectory to let you know how well you scored. The environment we created allowed fans of all ages to participate which was important because football is loved by men

We are starting off the new year with lots of energy and many good resolutions. We definitely want to keep you informed and entertained with our blog so we already thought about some really interesting stories, not always necessarily about ourselves. We will bring you a series of "Visits" with people and places we admire and appreciate. Our first "victim" is our friend and collaborator Brad Sherman from The Social Graces who graciously agreed to let us write about him. We chose Brad because we admire what he does for a living and how he does it! His work would be worthy of a Travel Channel show! His company, The Social Graces , designs and creates invitations, award statues, event collateral and corporate gifts. That sounds pretty dry but click "corporate gifts" on their website and say "a-Ha!" There it is, Around the World and Eco-Friendly! Part of Brad's work life are two annual trips around the globe to visit his artist friends in Africa,