The setting: the perpetually chic and romantic City of Lights, Paris. The purpose: an incentive program for a top performing global sales team. The perfect headline entertainment: multiple Grammy Award-nominated artist and international sensation, Robin Thicke.

On Friday, May 16, a perfect Parisian spring night, attendees and their spouses eagerly filed into the Pavillon Cambon, anticipating who would be the surprise guest artist to cap off the week’s fantastic European itinerary.

Once onstage, Robin Thicke and his band did not disappoint. His full dance set included all of his R&B, pop-rock hits like “Give It 2 U”, “Dreamworld”, “Shakin’ It 4 Daddy”, and “Feel Good”. He also mixed in covers like Michael Jackson’s “Rock With You” and Al Green’s “Let’s Stay Together” and closed out his set with his insanely popular hit “Blurred Lines.” The band's powerful stage presence with full horn section and backing vocalists had the audience dancing and shouting for encores, while Robin leapt on top of the piano and danced around the stage, giving an unforgettable performance. Following the show, Thicke graciously greeted and talked with VIPs, took photos, and personally announced his latest album set to release in July 2014.

For this incentive program, Empire worked closely with SWIFT Smart Solutions. SWIFT is a leading producer of large-scale meetings, events and training development for its corporate clients and Empire has enjoyed a solid collaboration with SWIFT for over a decade. Empire identified the best possible talent candidates, negotiated the performance contract, and facilitated the production and logistics plan to support the concert. SWIFT handled all technical production, the spectacular Parisian venue selection, and room design.

Empire is a leading provider of headline entertainment for international corporate meetings & events and is deeply experienced in overcoming the challenges of presenting headline entertainment outside of the United States.

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.

On May 9, 2014, Empire delivered award-winning actor Alec Baldwin to take the helm of one of the most creative and prestigious award shows of the advertising world, The One Show. This annual event presented by the One Club celebrates the most acclaimed work in advertising, design, interactive, and branded entertainment. The One Show is the annual culmination of Creative Week, the New York City festival commending the union of excellence in advertising and the arts.

For this year’s event, the One Club desired a highly-recognizable host who could not only command the attention of the room, but who would also deliver a fun experience to this discerning gathering of industry professionals. Alec Baldwin was the natural solution.

Nearly 1,000 guests packed Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall for the event, excited for Baldwin to kick off a fantastic evening. Prior to the show’s start, the television and movie star graciously posed on the red carpet for several photos with industry VIPs.

Collaborating with the writers from comedy video website Funny or Die, Baldwin was able to deliver an amazing event, leading the three-hour show with a deftness and charisma.

Mary Warlick, CEO of The One Club said of Baldwin that he is "a gifted actor and a New Yorker through and through, Alec Baldwin is the perfect choice to host The One Show, a New York institution. We want to make a big statement for this year's new format, and Mr. Baldwin does just that."

Empire selected and recommended Alec Baldwin, negotiated his contract terms and coordinated his logistics and content preparation. On the day of the event, Empire ensured all needs of the client and talent were well met to facilitate the best possible performance.

Empire is one of the world’s leading providers of high-stature talent for awards shows and events.

From May 1 to May 10, one of five major orchestras in America, the 2014 Boston Symphony Orchestras Asia Tour, sees the Suntory Concert Hall in Tokyo as its final performance destination.On Friday, May 9, at the beautiful Suntory Hall Blue Rose (Small Hall), Empire Japan produced the VIP Cocktail Reception Party for State Street Bank, one of the sponsors for the 2014 Boston Symphony Orchestras Asia Tour.From the pre-production management, staging to venue décor, Empire Japan was responsible for full production in collaboration with Hong Kong partners. More than 200 VIP guests attended including Caroline Kennedy, daughter of President John F. Kennedy and the 29th United States Ambassador to Japan. Empire Japan was thrilled to have produced such an enjoyable evening.

On May 14, 2014 Conduit Mobile came to NYC to re-launch as Como- the world’s leading do-it-yourself mobile app-creation platform. With customers ranging form mom and pop shops to global powerhouses like Amazon, Como powers over 600,000 mobiles apps with over 3,500 new businesses joining every day.

The Como Summit brought together 200 of the smartest minds in tech alongside the savviest minds in business to the tech-centric IAC Building. The morning was filled with informational panels focused on how to help small businesses make a big impact, featuring speakers from Como, Amazon, Booker, Yext, Etsy and the City of New York, to name a few. Taking place during National Small Business Week, Como partnered with the U.S. Small Business Administration to livestream the program to viewers worldwide.

From registration to partner expo to stage program, the entire event was designed with a “small business, big moment” look and feel. We drew inspiration from the classic Main Street America aesthetic, building custom storefronts with awnings and hedges for the expo area to help create the small business, suburban feel. Pinch Food Design catered, bringing in their ever-creative food stations with a special deck interaction, rotisserie and spinning salad bar that helped bridge the space from expo to conference area. The immersive 120’ long video wall welcomed guests to the stage program, upgrading from the small town feel to a more techy, modern and edgy environment.

The conference provided a great opportunity to educate and network with potential partners, demonstrating Como to be an amazing resource for SMBs to reach and engage their clients in more meaningful ways. We were honored to be able to help celebrate the launch and in the words of the client, become “one of the team.”

May 19, 2014, marked the 10th consecutive year that Empire has produced The Webby Awards— the internet's most important annual event. This year, web achievements by celebrities including Taylor Schilling, De La Soul, and the Jamaican Bobsled Team were celebrated alongside accomplishments of Lawrence Lessig and VICE Media.

Empire produced the 18th Annual Webby Awards at Cipriani Wall Street in NYC, where attendees first mingled and enjoyed Cipriani’s famed Bellinis and passed hors d’oeuvres during a perfect Spring cocktail reception.

Patton Oswalt was uproarious as host for the third straight year, opening by asking the guests to stop looking at the internet on their phones so that he could talk to them about the internet.

But as always, it was the Webbys renowned five-word acceptance speeches that stole the show. Some winner’s speeches were funny, such as Ylvis (who were behind the “What Does the Fox Say?” song and video), who simply said, “We came for free food,” while others proved that five words are enough to say something more profound, such as VGNC’s Executive Producer who exclaimed, "Peace and glory to Ukraine!"

One of the more interesting moments of the night came when Bansky was named the Webby Person of the Year by the legendary godmother of punk, Patti Smith. Unwilling to appear publicly, Banksy had Patton Oswalt open a golden envelope with his 5-word acceptance speech. However, the card inside appeared to have been censored, leading Patton to say, “Oh….somebody painted over it”. Whether that was the elusive artist’s five-word speech was anybody’s guess.

Perhaps for the first time ever, the best speech of the night was not from a winner, and was not limited to five words. After the audience was treated to a stunning video celebrating the 25th anniversary of the World Wide Web, Charlie Rose took the stage and introduced the man who invented the Web itself, Sir Tim Berners-Lee. He made a moving, passionate, and poignant call to action for Web leaders everywhere to continue creating the fabric of the Web, person-by-person, idea-by-idea. The audience leapt to their feet when Lee closed by saying he only needed three words to explain whether the Web would continue to stay free for all people everywhere: “Up….To…Us!”

The Webby is the leading international award honoring excellence on the Internet. Presented by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, The 18th Annual Webby Awards received 12,000 entries from over 60 countries and all 50 states and generated nearly one billion media impressions worldwide. Empire is honored to have partnered with Recognition Media on the event since 2005.

Empire had the honor of producing the 7th annual Internet Week New York festival once again, which featured an array of events around New York City from May 19 to 22, 2013. Event headquarters was positioned at the Metropolitan Pavilion and the Altman Building for the second consecutive year, after a brief hiatus from those spaces in 2012.

With more than 10,000 visitors over the week and hundreds of companies represented, including CBRE, Yahoo!, Quantcast, and NTENT, the space was organized to create separate, yet still cohesive, spaces in which to provide concurrent content. Two stages were sponsored by Evolve Media and USA Today / Gannett, a classroom was sponsored by The Trade Desk, and a lounge was furnished by official design partner, Design Within Reach.

Looking to keep things fresh, sponsors brought in a variety of interesting activities this year, including KBS’s “Inside the Internet” experience, consisting of a single-person unit where individuals spun around in a holographic box with confetti and music, Evolve’s nail art station offering free manicures and custom art, and SheKnows offering samples of gourmet popcorn and juices.

Highlights of the week included:

· The welcome address presented by New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, who discussed the role of technology within the city.

· A keynote presentation by VICE News, moderated by VICE News Editor-in-chief Jason Mojica with input from participants Richard Wolffe, CIP and Executive Editor at MSNBC.com, Duy Ling Tu, Professor and Director of Digital Media at Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, and Justine Simons, Senior Producer at the New York Times.

· Webby Sessions which included a conversation between Eva Chen, Editor-in-Chief of Lucky Magazine and David-Michel Davies, Executive Director of the Webby Awards – covering Eva’s experience with brands like Elle, Vogue, Vogue China, and Teen Vogue. The content focused on the evolution of fashion, beauty, and retail in the digital age.

· Chrissy Teigen—celebrity Tweeter, blogger, super model, and Sports Illustrated Cover Model—speaking with Cosmopolitan.com’s editor and sharing her thoughts on the impact of social media on the community of millennial women.

· A live performance by the Blogologues, a live sketch comedy show, in which the internet is performed verbatim by an ensemble of actors, which was met with hysterical laughter by the audience.

Following a similar pattern as past years, the event took over two separate spaces to accommodate longer presentations and conferences. Taking place in the Altman Building, MediaPost held two day-long conferences, OMMA Native and OMMA Social. AdAge's Marketing and Technology Summit rounded out the third and final day.

Empire oversaw the 7th Annual Internet Week New York festival headquarters from conception to completion, coordinating registration for the thousands of guests, stage management and producing all of the presentations in the theater and on both HQ stages, and managing all event sponsors from the design process for their space and all of their needs from load-in to load-out.

Empire is a leading producer of trade events, expos and event marketing / presence marketing installations with extensive experience in the technology industries.

On April 10, 2014, Empire presented R&B/pop sensation Jason Derulo for a telecommunications giant in South Beach, Florida. Nearly 1,000 guests packed legendary Miami nightclub Mansion for the private performance. Jason was a surprise to the attendees until the CEO started dropping clues about the mystery artist……. over 30 Million Singles Sold Worldwide…..over 1 Billion Views and counting on YouTube…….7 top-10 US Radio Singles in the Top 40 Format….. 17 Million Social Media Fans and Followers. The crowd was already in a frenzy when Jason hit the stage, launching immediately into his smash hit "In My Head". Backed by an electric hype-man and DJ, as well as four dancers, Derulo broke out other hits such as "Riding Solo", "Marry Me", "Watcha Say", and the "Other Side".

But the highlight of the night came when Jason's hype man announced that the next song in the set was currently the #1 song in the nation on the Billboard Top 40. Derulo then broke into "Talk Dirty To Me" which the crowd sang along to word-for-word. Derulo was also playful and interactive with the audience, even inviting some attendees onstage for an impromptu dance contest before playing "Wiggle", the next single to be dropped from his new album, and featuring Snoop Dogg.

Aside from booking and coordinating the performance, Empire also arranged for Derulo to sign 50 CDs and participate in a meet and greet with the client's VIPs prior to the show.

On April 23rd, 2014, The Africa Center invited an intimate group of VVIP supporters to experience the “Lagos Lounge” — a very special evening of African culture, music and food, presented to cultivate major donors for their capital campaign to complete the Africa Center on Fifth Avenue in Harlem.

The small group of guests arrived at the most unique of settings and one of New York’s best-kept secrets: a private, 100-year-old Vaudeville Theater and hidden architectural gem on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Unbeknownst to passersby, the Theater is only accessible through a small residential building’s common laundry room. Guests entered the building completely unaware that the unremarkable street entrance would lead them into an eye-opening concert hall.

After lying forgotten as a mannequin storage attic for decades, the cavernous space was lovingly restored by an Academy Award-nominated composer into a world-class recording studio. Today the soaring ceilings and wooden stage are adorned with vintage musical instruments, a cast iron & glass goldfish tank and architectural lighting that create a warm yet haunting environment. Due to the room’s impressive ambiance, candles and old music were all that were needed to set the mood of the evening.

Africa Center Board Vice Chair Chelsea Clinton opened the evening with welcome remarks addressing the important role that The Africa Center will play in the coming years as Africa continues to grow in wealth, influence and cultural significance. Clinton then invited guests to become part of the founding membership program.

Hadeel Ibrahim, the Africa Center Board co-chair, also spoke about the promise of the Africa Center before introducing Tanzania-born British architect David Adjaye who in turn introduced the evening’s first musical artist - East African singer/ songwriter SOMI. SOMI awed the audience with her powerful voice and evocative songs, reminiscent of the music of Sade and Nina Simone.

With just a quick intermission to change the stage over and to refill drinks, Fab 5 Freddy, the long-time host of “YO! MTV Raps” introduced the next and final performer for the evening – Morocco’s Hassan Hakmoun. Hakmoun and his 5-piece group had the audience, which included notable figures like Tom Freston, Jean Pigozzi, Susan Sarandon and Carrie Lowell, on their feet.

Empire helped secure the impossible-to-rent space, brought in Creative Edge to cater and provided both production and design for this event. We were thrilled to curate this evening of international talent and African flavors to facilitate awareness of the Africa Center.

Signature Theatre called upon Empire to help produce their annual gala and create a next-level experience through elevated design, a compelling program and flawless execution, all while showcasing their beautiful new Frank Gehry-designed theatre. With a ceremony paying tribute to theatre artist Ruben Santiago-Hudson and 108th New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, alongside presenters including Edward Norton and John Oliver, the stage presentation was not only impactful and meaningful, but hilariously entertaining as well.

After guests checked in at the theatre's main entrance on West 42nd Street and VIPs walked the red carpet, they ascended the staircase to discover the lobby, traditionally used as a place to mingle prior to a show, transformed into a formal affair.

Balancing the need to design an elegant evening without challenging the existing design of the venue, we used a palate of steel grays, textured linens, and crisp white flowers, all of which complemented the impressive wood paneling abundant in the space. Specialty and thematic event lighting also helped transform the space for this special night.

During the two simultaneous pre-dinner receptions, guests chatted and prepared for the dinner and stage presentation while being served an array of cocktails and hors d’oeuvres, while live music provided by Graham Keir of Hire Juilliard Performers enhanced the experience. As dinner commenced, guests were welcomed by Executive Director Erika Malin and Gala Co-Chairs Edward Norton and Leslie Bains. Founding Artistic Director James Houghton honored theatre artist Ruben Santiago-Hudson not only for his work in theatre, but also for his personal contributions to Signature Theatre. Comedian and actor John Oliver of HBO's “Last Week Tonight” roasted Bloomberg, bringing down the house with laughter, and also thanked him for his contributions to the success of the Signature Theatre.

Empire is proud to have served Signature Theatre and to support a variety of leading arts organizations as producer of their annual gala events.