GUEST BLOG -- Steve Kemble

WITH AN INTRODUCTION FROM DAVE:

Steve is that rare person you meet in the industry (or anywhere for that matter) who easily draws people to him. Maybe it’s his boundless energy. Maybe it’s his one-of-a-kind flair. Or maybe it’s just that he is an incredibly personable and giving human being. I have an immense amount of respect for the caliber of events that Steve creates, and how much he has given back to our industry through his service on the international level (he’s been International President of ISES, MPI and NACE). I’m proud of the work that we have done together, but I am even more proud to call him my friend. Without further ado, here's Steve Kemble!

A Fashionable Impression

By Steve Kemble

My passion for fashion is no secret to anyone! Nothing inspires my design work more than the colors and textures of fashion. Recently I spent eight days in New York City attending Fashion Week where I reported for CBS television and radio. My adrenaline has never moved at such an energetic pace. From the parties to the fashion shows (designers were showing their Spring '09 collections) I left inspired and wanted to share some of my experiences with you in hopes that you too are inspired to bring some of the fabulousness I saw into your events.

Let me start with some of my favorite celebrity sightings: Bette Milder at the Jill Stuart show; Halle Berry, Martha Stewart, Naomi Watts at the Calvin Klein party (I'll talk more about that later): Jennifer Lopez sporting diamond earrings as big as soft balls at the Oscar de la Renta show; Anderson Cooper at Diane von Furstenberg; Vogue editor Anna Wintour clapping—not once but three times (trust me, this does not happen)—at the Phillip Lim show; Victoria Beckham sporting a new do, inspired by Audrey Hepburn’s infamous pixie cut and done by the same stylist who styled Hepburn’s hair, at the Marc Jacobs show and more.

WHAT INSPIRED ME

On the party front…

Aroma!
What most sparked me to the importance of having a fabulous aroma when hosting an event is when I arrived at the Calvin Klein 40th Anniversary Soirée! As you walked into the party hundreds (I am not exaggerating) of white rose bushes that were brought in specifically for the party lined the walkway. The scent in the air was remarkable! Whether it be floral or something deliciously amazing that your caterer has prepared, remember to touch people’s senses at your party. I must mention how fabulous former Calvin Klein jeans model Brooke Shields looked at this party. Of course she was in jeans and went on to say not only her jeans, but her shirt, jacket and even underwear were by Calvin Klein. “Oh my!” I gasped, “Brooke Shields is talking about her under garments!”

Bite Size Hors d’oeuvres
At most of the parties, I found caterers are truly discovering the world of bite-size hors d’oeuvres. When I say bite-size I literally mean bite-size; one bite and you’re done.
No napkins, skewers, forks, plates, etc. needed. This makes a party experience much more enjoyable. One thing I wish more of the caterers would have been more conscious about is the use of garlic and onions in appetizers. Trust me; it is not enjoyable to be in conversation with people who have just popped a garlic infused appetizer in their mouths. Whoa!

On a more humorous note, I must mention that at the party to celebrate the showing of the collection from celebrity David Arquette (I talk more about the line below) there was no bite size anything. Instead he served mac and cheese and meatloaf! And let me tell you, it was fabulous. Others in the crowd included David's wife Courtney Cox, Courtney's bff Jennifer Aniston, and Meg Ryan. What made the evening extra special it was also David's 37th birthday. It showed me once again that comfort food is always a party hit.

Candles
EVERY party I attended was flooded with candles. You simply cannot create a more sexy and romantic (and cost effective) atmosphere any better than with candles. In all shapes and sizes they are still the hottest party design trend, and after what I saw this week, just know that if you continue to use them in mass you will still be considered cutting edge. I am not a strong advocate of using scented candles on dining tables or food buffets. You should have nothing competing with the fabulous aromas of your food.

On the fashion front...

I have always said what we currently see on the runway, a year or two later we start to see these same colors, patterns, and accessory trends in event design. A few of things that really stood out to me...

Gold, Gold, and more Gold
I saw gold everywhere (including a stunning gold dress on Olympic gold medalist Natsia Liukin sitting front row at the Peter Som show). So if you've got gold, don't hesitate to break it out. From food service serving pieces to table accents, to drapery treatments, I predict gold is going to make a strong comeback. Actually I find it quite refreshing after spending so many years awash in silver and pewter tone finishes.

Organic
This will probably not come as a big surprise yet I saw a bunch of organic elements being brought into the designers collections (another thing I saw a bunch of was PETA protesters outside the Donna Karen 20th anniversary show). The aforementioned and famously quirky dresser David Arquette presented a clothing line made from organic products with his business partner Ben Harper (who just so happens to be married to actress Laura Dern) called Propr—intentionally misspelled. Don't hesitate to bring organic fabrics, both textured and eclectic, into your event, whether it is furniture, draperies, fabulous linens or cushions.

Architecture
Many of the collections I saw had strong architectural elements which made me think about one’s event. Many times people think of architecture as only relating to the design of the overall event itself, yet I feel strongly that architecture should also be reflective in the elements inside your event. Think about selecting pieces for the furniture collection in your lounge environment much like a designer selects the different pieces for his or her clothing collections...it all somewhat ties together in a magnificent way. It is also important to note that not only does the process of selecting the furniture itself take time, so does selecting the various components that make it a unique and remarkable environment. For example, once designers determine the architecture of a particular garment (what it will look like), they then probably spend months looking at fabrics for one garment. You should spend an equal amount of time when thinking about the fabric treatments for the pieces of lounge furniture collection. I recommend selecting furniture with a distinctive architecture that will be fabulous the day you select it and 50 years and more from now.

In closing, I highly recommend if you want to make a fashionable impression on your clients and their guests that you consider the colors and textures of fashion. Much as designers select a theme for their collections, you can be inspired from fashion for the next theme you present to your client.

For more on Steve, go to http://www.stevekemble.com/

Locations We Love -- The Big Island

Hawaii is one of those places I can explore again and again and we've done enough programs there that have allowed me to do so. But in all this time, I have never been to the Big Island until now. On a site inspection, I stayed at the recently renovated Fairmont Orchid Resort which was beautiful -- 32 acres of paradise.

Lush bougainvillea grows like crazy out of the volcanic soil.

A view of the grounds.

A scenic full view. I stood on the stage that was built for the first night's event and took these photos then put them together later. What a tropical paradise!

The helicopter that took us over the volcano on an awe-inspiring ride. For groups to the island, this is a memorable activity not to miss. It's the only way to take in the expanse of the still-active volcano.

There is a rock beach in the front of the hotel right on the water which is fenced off and the native Green Sea Turtles like to hang out there. Who can blame them?

I Dream of Details

Remember my philosophy on details? (November 4 post). They are essential to the success not only of an event, but everything we do in life. If it's worth doing, it's worth doing right. Which brings me to this event we did for the Dream Foundation.

On the surface it looks simple because it's composed of only a few elements but that only makes the details stand out more. Think of a Vera Wang dress or a Tom Ford suit. They ooze quality yet are so simple in design. Every element has been thought about, labored over and given the utmost attention. That's how I think of this event. To me, it's perfect in its simplicity and elegance. You could say that the event theme was about dreams, but if we hadn't paid attention to the reality of the details, it could have been a nightmare!

The Stage
The stage was 20 feet high, 25 feet wide and constructed of padded white suede panels and then framed around the perimeter with antiqued mirror panels. It was a look that was simple, elegant and pure Valentino! (The Valentino people loved it and are already using it in their internal publications.)

The Runway
This is another view of the stage and the runway. The runway ran the entire length of the ballroom and was infinity shaped. The highest donor tables were located inside the infinity circles and just outside the center platform that ramped up to 18 inches at the center.

The Chandeliers
These chandeliers were not part of the ballroom. We installed them and they were five feet wide and more than seven feet tall, filling up the center of the room and positioned inside the infinity circle. The perimeter of the room was draped in white penne velvet.

The Centerpieces
The centerpieces for the top tier donor tables featured varying configurations, but all included mirrored box containers filled with white calla lilies, broken clear glass and small "diamonds."

The Tabletop
We created our own antique mirror table tops and dressed the base with simple, white lamour linen. The chairs for each table were one of three styles from Chameleon Chairs and the clear chargers allowed the rustic nature of the mirror show through.

One last parting shot…
I want to give kudos to my amazing building crew on creating an antique mirror look out of mirrored Plexiglas. It took a lot of elbow grease, acid and faux painting to make it look so authentic and it turned out great! Thank you!

Making Dreams Come True

When you look at these before and after photos, you have to believe that dreams can come true, don't you? Of course, the people behind this transformation do. Everyone came to this event to support The Dream Foundation at the Seventh Annual Ladies of the Dream Foundation Event. This year the theme was "Take it to the Night: An Evening of Fashion and Dreams with Valentino" featuring a fashion show by the famed designer.

AOO Events transformed a ballroom at Santa Barbara's Bacara Resort into a high-end fashion show complete with raised runway that went through the tables so everyone had a great seat, dropped chandeliers, an elegant stage and a lush ambience.

I'll go more into detail abut some of the cool elements we created for this event in upcoming blogs, so stay tuned!

Setting The Stage

After a casual catered "picnic" dinner, the 2,800 guests at The Gala on the Green enjoyed a live performance by Chris Isaak. The event was held in conjunction with a large tradeshow in Atlanta and the venue was Centennial Park which had been built for the Summer Olympic Games when they were in this city.

In addition to the bar areas (see my previous posts), the stage was one of several large truss structures at the event. It was actually brought in on the bed of a semi truck and erected there, like a pop-up book. Everything for it was self-contained on the truck. Then, during the concert, guests laid on blankets we had been provided in the front rows or sat on comfy lawn chairs. The entire mood was that similar to the free concerts in the park New York is so famous for. It was a great atmosphere.

And although the entire production took the team three days to set up, it only took us 12 hours to strike. One of the people there helping us was Patia, or "Tia," a fellow blogger I had met in the "blogosphere." An Atlantan native with a desire to be part of the event industry, Tia had been reading this blog and contacted me asking for general advice on how to get started. In chatting, I discovered she lives in Atlanta and invited her to see the set up. On site, she quickly and enthusiastically went from observer to volunteer then documented the experience on HER blog.

Now, to bring this completely full circle, here is that blog post: http://www.mygapeach.blogspot.com/

A Gala on the Green

In Atlanta this past month AOO Events designed and produced this 2,800-person event at Centennial Park (this is located in the heart of the city and was created for the Olympics when they were held here). This annual corporate event is held in conjunction with a large convention that travels from coast to coast. We work with TenCue Productions who provides all the technical aspects of the show which this year included a performance by Chris Isaak.

The overall theme was park-like but in the details, we wove ribbons through (pardon the pun) as a design element using the same colors as the invitation to brand the event. We had "ribbon girls" who helped guide the attendees to the entrance, the table linen (which you can see a little of in the photo above) featured colorful linen, 20-foot flags around the perimeter in the event colors looked like ribbon, and we also used ribbon to decorate centerpieces that hovered well above the buffet tables (see photos below).

We used the tall centerpieces and the Airstar lighted balloons (which you can see in teh nighttime shots at the very top of this post) so that the event design took place on all levels. It was especially helpful with a crowd this large. They used the centerpieces as markers to tell where the buffets were and the Airstar balloons gave them the location of the stage (plus they also provided safety lighting once the sun set.)

More on this event in the next post...

There is Something In the Details...

An oft-used quote from a famous architect says that God is in the details. But sometimes people replace God with "devil" and I suppose this is because it's easy to "big picture" something; harder to make it all come together in a way that is cohesive and beautiful. And I suppose something that is difficult and challenging seems like it's been put here to try us. But I'm with the architect --the details may be challenging, but its that challenge that makes us do our best work.

Which brings me to this event at the Atlanta Georgia Aquarium. It was one of those instances where not much decor was needed to enhance the already stunning space, so what we did create had to be spectacular -- meaning perfect down to the last detail.

We focused our attention on four main buffet centerpieces that rose five-feet high. Each was lighted in one of the four colors of the event. These coral-like metal sculptures were painted gold and placed on the buffets. Each was then finished with hydrangea tufted throughout and fern and reflex grass at the base.

The linen, which we got from Cloth Connection, was another element that added another layer of detail. These prints are styled after the work of fashion designer Emilio Pucci, and they were perfect because the patterns mirror the effect of water -- fluid and kinetic -- and their bright colors matched the decor perfectly.

So, the next time you hear that quote (it's said so often I'm sure you will) feel free to continue this debate on whether details are "good" or "bad!"