Event Gallery

The Valleyschwag Hoedown

In the case of Valleyschwag, a quirky, fun-lovin’ “corporate-goodies-of-the-month” club whose name and collateral projected a Wild West spirit, this meant not only hay bales, cowboy hats, and a six-foot high rocking-horse, but a full-fledged Schwag Fashion Show that had our guests lining up to strut the catwalk and model their techy tees. (“schwag” being geek-speak for the kind of promotional items given out at conferences). The premise found its match in our audience the night, as our guests were some of the most playfully fun and creative people you could ever hope to meet. See how many of them discovered their inner Super Model here.

Jaiku's Supernova Reception

For Jaiku, a Finnish microblogging service similar to Twitter that Google went on to acquire, I suggested they play up the Finnish angle. “And that would be…?” Well, for me, when I think Finland, I think two things: “fjords” and “snow.” So, seeing as how we were holding their reception in the summer, what better way to get my clients some attention than by “making it snow in San Francisco.”

So I rang up my favorite Events Vendor, Eddie Cantrell of Event Magic, and not only did he have a snow machine, he owned the very snow machine they put atop Macy’s in Union Square during the holidays. So atop the roof of our event venue it went. Inside, we sprinkled plenty of fake snow (and this was the kind that feels ice cold, too!), along with other accents evocative of frost and ice. With Finlandia as our vodka sponsor (that was a no-brainer!) and the legendary Gary Vaynerchuk of WineLibraryTV as our wine host, we did our Finnish whiz-kids proud. (and to think Google bought Jaiku just shortly after….A coincidence? I wonder..:-)

Reception for the Maybach Foundation

For the Wilhelm & Karl Maybach Foundation, a far more luxurious aesthetic was in order. This, after all, was an organization founded by Ulrich Schmid-Maybach, the heir to the brilliant father-son duo who engineered the original Mercedez-Benz. His is a last name also synonymous with that other icon of all things luxe, the Maybach sedan, which was thus named in honor of his great-grandfather and grandfather.

Inspired by the real-life story of his great-grandfather, discovered in an orphanage and mentored by Gottlieb Daimler, the foundation runs an elite mentoring program that aims to turn today’s young talents into the transformative leaders of tomorrow.

Thanks to a key patron, the Foundation was given the opportunity to hold a “friend-raising” cocktail reception at Tiffany & Co. in Beverly Hills. What better way to illustrate the story behind the foundation’s rarified mission than to park a vintage Maybach on the Via Rodeo in front of Tiffany’s right next to a modern Maybach sedan? Well, as luck would have it, there was just such a vintage Maybach at Fantasy Junction in Emeryville, CA, which was right in the SF-based Maybach Foundation’s backyard. Incredibly, we managed to persuade the owner of this 3.5 million dollar 1938 Maybach Roadster to let us “borrow” the vehicle for our special occasion. Not a bad party prop, eh? The event also featured models wearing couture gowns from Versace’s Spring Collection and a display of Tiffany’s iconic sterling silver trophies. A fitting symbol, really, of the foundation’s mission that investing in the greatness of a few can ultimately inspire and benefit the many.