Keep A Child Alive's Black Ball
Empire once again served as producer for Keep a Child Alive’s Black Ball at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City. This year’s 13th annual Black Ball honored music legend Clive Davis and featured extraordinary performances by Alicia Keys, A$APRocky, Chance the Rapper, Salt-N-Pepa, and Patti Smith.
The Black Ball was designed by Creative Director Earle Sebastian who chose to reignite the spirit of '80s activism for this year’s cocktails, dinner, and stage design theme. Design elements included fabric walls, geometric prints, and a live art installation piece by British visual artist Shantell Martin, best known for her stream-of-consciousness drawings and light projections. Grafitti-covered walls featuring AIDS activism posters covered the space while 13-year old DJ Fulano dropped old school beats, transporting the audience back in time.
Keep a Child Alive’s co-founder Alicia Keys and Keep a Child Alive CEO Peter Twyman took the stage to evoke the spirit of the '80s, when AIDS activists launched the movement to bring access to treatment for millions around the world. Their remarks underscored the courage and bravery of those early days of AIDS, and the need to empower the next generation of activists.
Then KCA honored innovator, creator, and humanitarian Clive Davis, who has impacted the lives of so many people though his tremendous contributions in music and philanthropic efforts.
A star-studded guest list of over 600 came out to support Keep a Child Alive’s mission with guests including Clive Davis, Padma Lakshmi, Mr. Brainwash, Alek Wek, Lupita Nyong’o, Baz Luhrmann, Omari Hardwick, and Russell Simmons.
Guests dined on a delicious dinner designed by guest chef Marcus Samuelsson and catered by Creative Edge.
This year’s Black Ball raised $2 million through table/ticket sales, sponsorships, donations, pledges, and a live auction hosted by CK Swett. The live auction featured a luxurious trip to the exclusive Sugar Beach resort, custom-made Christian Louboutin shoes, limited edition Louis XIII Cognac, plus a guided tour of their cellar in France, and his and hers Audemars Piguet watches. The Black Ball has raised over $30 million sinceits humble beginnings in 2004.
After the auction, Alicia Keys and her band put on an incredible concert performance that, true to Black Ball tradition, featured several amazing musical guests. For the first time ever, the concert was livestreamed on TIDAL, where people all over the world could witness the incredible performances in their living rooms.
Hip Hop Queens of the '80s and '90s, Salt-N-Pepa opened the concert with old school classics, “PushIt”, “Let’s Talk About Sex”, and “Whatta Man” — a tribute to honoree Clive Davis. Chance the Rapper came out to perform “Angels", “No Problems”, and a duet with Alicia Keys.
Grammy Award-nominated artist A$AP Rocky took the stage next, pumping up the crowd with “Fashion Killa”, “Yamborghini High”, “Flacko Jodye II”, and then followed with a duet with Keys on “Blended Family.”
Alicia Keys then sang classics and new song “Holy War” to a crowd high from the electrifying concert. Finally, legendary Patti Smith took the stage to sing “People Have the Power” and “Because the Night” with Keys.
Moments after the concert ended, Swizz Beatz and DJ Runna took to the stage to DJ the Afterglow party, keeping all the guests dancing into the early hours of the morning.
Empire has been proud to serve as the Producer of the Black Ball since its inception in 2004 and to partner with Keep a Child Alive and Alicia Keys to grow it into one of New York’s most anticipated, annual fundraising events. To learn more about Keep a Child Alive and support their mission, please visit www.keepachildalive.org#KCABlackBall
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
