Fashion + Basketball = SUCCESS

Originally, last week was supposed to be my last week working at MKG. However, being that MKG asked me to come back next summer, they wanted me to take part in one last event this past Saturday, August 15th: The JOE Joseph Abboud/ NBA Blockparty. I had already been working on so many things in preparation for this event so I was thrilled when I was named Office Manager and would have the opportunity to see the whole event come to life. Being named office manager, however, I knew my responsibilities would be far from small.

On Tuesday, after a presentation from Classic Party Rentals, a furniture rental company, I sought out to find 8 pairs of sneakers for the Joseph Abboud street team. After calling mulitple places, I was able to put them on hold at the Modell's near Rockefeller center, which I normally try to avoid like the plague. On Wednesday, the Joseph Abboud team was getting down to the nitty grittys. We had a meeting to see everyone's status and make sure everything would occur according to plan. As I was in charge of the Crafty, or craft services, I had to make sure I was going to have enough food for everyone, including the NBA players. After I had begun calling all the catorers I had sourced, none would be open at 5AM, which is when breakfast was scheduled for the crew. On Thursday, I spent my day running all around Manhattan picking up supplies for the fashion show. I went to pick up clickers and pens from Staples and the sneakers and stopwatches from uptown, which needless to say, was disasterous as I had expected.

Friday was the busiest day of the week. I had to get all the food/snacks for the crafty at a Pathmark downtown. I had to reserve enough waters for the event, wich could only be Dasani considering they are an NBA affiliate. I also spent the day calling local Dels in the area of the event to find one that would open early enough to deliver the breakfast and enough ice because I knew it was going to be a hot summer day in NYC.

On the day of the event, I arrived to Greeley Square at 5AM when the sun still slept and the streets were still quiet, well, the streets besides the ones we were working on. I immediately set up breakfast and then at 6:30 when the production tents went up, I had to move everything in there and make sure there was good flow to the space. However, one of the downfalls I have learned to summer in the city, is the smell of a hot sewer. And it just so happens, our tent was RIGHT next to one. Once settled in the tent, I set up the walkies to hand out and sifted through 3 different lists of crendentials. Overall, the event attracked tons of New Yorkers and NBA fans and turned out to be a huge success. The client even raved about the MKG work ethic, which I was very proud to be a part of.

The Cast & Crew

It's hard to believe this month has been so busy, with only one event that took place in July. Live Nation, a major ticketing company worked with us on a concept that I, yes the little intern, came up with. Originally, they had the idea to have people dress as Santas and hand out free ticket vouchers promoting "Service Fee Free Wednesdays". In our brainstorm for this project, they mentioned several other components they wanted to include, but they didn't have a concrete marketing concept. Finding that nothing quite fit together, I raised my hand and suggested the theme "Live Nation's Christmas in July". The event producer pitched the concept to Live Nation, and subsequently, this became the name and theme of the event. Needless to say, I felt very important.

The event itself went very smoothly. We had santas and snow, hotdogs and fans, free T-shirts and press. Very simply, it was a success and it was thrilling to see something come to life that I had initially put together and put so much work in. As snow graced the streets of New York, several bystanders marveled at the covered pavement and shouting santas. "Merry Christmas in July," they would say and I would smile, even though their shoes were too tight and their beards were not real.

I have realized now, in the beginning of August, that I have fallen into a sort of routine, a routine I had struggled with so much a few months ago. I can remember how the sun was still sleeping when I woke up at 6AM. I remember the rain that caused me to take a cab my first day, afraid of being a few minutes late and tarnishing new shoes. I remember arriving at the office too early, how I walked right past the building and was instantly lost until I found my way again. That feeling of lost lingered beyond that first day. When I finally found 53 W 21st Street, I saw a glass case and inside read "MKG Productions- 3F". I took steps inside an old elevator and pressed the number "3" admist unfamiliar faces. The elevator skipped floor three several times before I realized something was not right. I took the stairs twice, both times meeting a locked door and I finally decided to sit and wait on the first stoop for someone to help.

Within minutes, a tall girl with dark perfect skin walked through the doors and held out her hand. "Hi, I'm Maiah, Dushane told me you would be waiting for me." Dushane is my internship coordinator, the one who told me I got the job, and who had to deal with my elated self through the phone. After a few more minutes passed, a man stumbled through the doors with cut off jean shorts and a bicycle. "Hey, What's up? I'm Andrew," he said as he led us through the elevator, turned the key on the wall, and up we went. We entered an empty office with MAC computers, intricate ceiling, and empty Venti Starbucks cups leftover from the day before. Maiah led me to my desk, "Everyone's pretty much out today. There's an event going on, but I will show you the ropes. I'm an intern, but I'll be finished next week." Maiah showed me everything, how to copy paper, make binders, and navigate my white box that seemed so simple before. I dove in head first, trying to ingest every word she was saying, and write down at least half of them in the bright pink MKG notebook she had given me. My eyes glued on the screen, I heart my heart jump as a tall man in a plain grey t-shirt stuck a post-it to the top of my computer. "Leigh, I'm David, and this is your MKG e-mail address. Let me know if you have any problems." He quickly showed me how to access my e-mail and then walked away.

"OH MY GOD." I heard her from all the way across the room, a little girl with glasses, a dress that hit the floor showing a beige bikini top beneath, and voice tainted by cigarette smoke. She plopped down on the other side of the room and put her lips to a green straw, the highway of her latte. She didn't allow them to seperate until she heard the sound her breath made against the ice, the end. "OH MY GOD," she said again, this time she was closer, right next to my desk. "You are so pretty, so cute, totes fab. I'm Kyra." It sounded like she was speaking another language, but I nodded my head, swalled, and managed a "Thanks, I'm Leigh." "OH MY GOD, are you like totally busy right now? Totes swamped? I have a little project for you. Super easy. Super fun. You'll do great." Needless to say, Kyra is like a sorority girl gone business.

Those were the only people in the office that day, though I knew I was speaking to some I knew I would eventually meet as I answered the phones. As the week went by, I eventually began to meet the rest of the staff. Dushane, my internship coordinator, is great. His dreadlocks are almost always pulled back away from his face or hidden by a fedora. He has a great sneaker collection and proudly stomps them around day to day. Dushane has come to call me "Leigh Boo" and has welcomed me as the "Delta -tern". As I quickly learned, the MKG staff works in teams and Dushane's teammate is Jake, or JBH. Jake has become interchangable with JBH simply because of his deep v neck tees he loves to wear, which have been mamed the "JBH Deep V". American Apparel couldn't even come up with something that clever. Jake and I often bond over a show we both avidly watch, "So You Think You Can Dance". I watch because there's nothing better on TV.

MKG is essentially split into three sections: production, design, and operations. Along with Jake and Dushane, Ashley and Maiah are a team. Maiah joined Ashley as her assistant producer after her internship had ended, which I thoroughly plan on doing once I finish school. Ashley's hair is cut like a pixie and she almost always wears black. She also presides over the interns, helping us with learning tips along the way.

The owner and president of the company is Maneesh. I can remember my hand shaking when he first introduced himself to me. He is a friend of Anne Hathaways. He is going to Clinton Kellys wedding in the fall (the guy from What Not to Wear). And he travels all over the world. When I started he was in Korea and last week he was in Greece. He may be world renound, but scary he is not. Plus, he always manages to represent MKG on Fridays when he pulls out his designer jeans from the back of his closet to compliment his hot pink D&G sneakers. Maneesh's assistant, Peter, started a few weeks after I did and learning to coordinate Maneesh's phone calls results in a cacophony of rings. It took us a full two weeks to get it together, which is strange because one thing about Peter is that he always seems put together. He always has grandiose lunches, olive salad, or ornate dumplings. His shoes are always shined and his hair is always perfectly positioned.

I could go on with more of the "faboosh" (fabulous in MKG mantra) people I work with every day, but I don't think there is a blog spot big enough to fit all the words I would want to say about them. In fact, blogger may shut down all together. But I suppose this will suffice for now, for they have become a part of the routine. The part that makes it all worthwhile.

Meet the Press, The Pride of NYC, and a New SyFy

It has been a terribly long time since I have written on my blog and I sincerely apologize because the past couple weeks have been very exciting, time consuming, and involved a lot of espresso indulging. Ever since I had been tediously working on all things Delta, including their sponsorship in the Gay Pride parade, I had been named the "Delta-tern". Even the doorman of 112 West 34th Street gleefully greets me with my surname. I have to say, its growing on me. As the last week of June quickly flew by, the Event Producers and myself arranged for numerous items to be delivered to the office and I found myself becoming rather close with Annika Schmitz, the Coordinator International Marketing Communications at Delta Airlines. That week, she informed me Delta, the official airline of the NY Yankees and the NY Mets would be holding a press conference and fan flare contest to give away luxury box tickets to the weekend subway series, on Sunday June 28th. Being the Delta-tern that I am, one of the Event Producers (and my internship coordinator), Dushane decided to ask me to work the event that Friday to count the fans that showed up for each team. Delta scheduled for a player from each team to pick the fan with the best "flare" and expected to have a decent audience show up. The night before, we were recieving calls from Pershing Square that fans had already showed up, eager to win tickets and maybe get an autograph! That morning when we had arrived on scene there were fans who arrived early that morning and the press began to trickle in. After meeting countless newspaper reporters and radio show hosts, the main attractions arrived, Joba Chamberlain from the NY Yankees and Daniel Murhy from the NY Mets. The respective pitcher and first baseman were both over 6 foot, had hair perfectly jelled, and doned their own team flare as I shook their hands and leaded them to the pack of shouting diehards. I felt so official that day, wearing a walkie like a secret service agent and leading the way for professional baseball players. Little did I know...this was only the beginning.

The following sunday, I woke up at 4:30 AM and arrived at an empty Penn station. As I walked through an even emptier Times Square, I noticed the plastic cups, paper plates, and other miscellaneous litter, the leftovers of the NY Saturday night. When I finally reached 59th street, after 29 blocks of hustle, I arrived to a lonely Wicker Park, where the meet and greet was occuring in only a couple of hours. So I crossed the street to Central Park where I sat down on a park bench, opened my book, and occasionally looked up to watch the early Sunday morning dog walkers pamper their pooches as they followed their owners diligently, and leesh-less. Jake and Dushane arrived shortly and we got right to setting up areas for T-shirts, flyers, and of course, food and drink. At 10:00 participants and workers of Delta arrived to become part of a Pride Fleet. I greeted each guest, checked them in, and pointed in the direction of mimosas, danishes, and their uniform which read, "A force for Global Good." Once everyone had left at 11:45 to take their place in line for the parade, I cleaned and packed up the whole restaurant discovering the massive amount of food left over, with no container to save it. So, troubleshooting, I ran over to the parade area, and took the company card to Duane Reade to find some sort of solution. With Duane Reade having less than nothing to solve my problem, I settled for a topless styrofoam cooler and aluminum foil. The car came to pick up all the leftovers and I headed over to the parade where I was given a pole with rainbow streamers in the air as we marched from 56th all the way to the end of Christopher Street. It was a great event to be a part of. Meeting so many people from all sects of NY and helping Delta show their support for the Gay Community. Next time, I think I should bring my platforms. Maybe I would fit in better.

The past two days, were the most exciting yet. I was lucky enough to be a part of a one of the larger events MKG was going to produce this summer. I had done some resourcing for this event the week after the press conference and the Pride Parade. To show case the launch of SyFy, the brand launch of the former SciFi MKG turned Rockefeller center into a grassy Imagination Park, bringing WyFy to the location for one whole year. The park's theme is to allow the audience to "Imagine Greater" as they step through a door and set their sights on a larger than life lollipop, serverla MAC computers and a 360 degree veiwing of the new brand film. When I showed up Monday morning the grass had been laid and huge arches had been erected. I painted and decorated HUGE multicolor oragami birds, stuck logos on television sets and arranged for food deliveries for the crew. The next day, we saw the park come to life. Around 9:00 Natalie Morales gave a weather report from a giant step and repeat in the middle of the park, standing in for Al Roker. At 10:00 the President of SciFi, along with the host of "Destination Truth" Josh Gates, welcomed the everyone and officially opened the park to the public. And lastly, Kathy Lee and Hoda interviewed the two stars of SyFy's new TV show, Warehouse 13. Joanne Kelly and Eddie Mccormick answered their questions with humor and even responded to with a subtle laugh when Kathy Lee asked Joanne "Did you leave the rest of your dress back at the Warehouse?" I lead the "talent" to and from the breakfast area, chatted with them, and even directed Kathy Lee to her exit after her segment. It was so exhilerating to be behind the scenes of something the whole nation was watching. I've had the opportunity to see so many sights and meet so many interesting people as I stood with Yankees/Mets fans in Pershing Square, walked all the way down 5th Avenue with Pride, and opened the Imagination of Rockefeller Center. And to think, I have a whole month and half left of THIS.

All Hail Harvey Milk

So this past week was rather exciting. We spent the whole week prepping for a Hetrick Martin Institute benefit, School's Out, to help raise money for the Harvey Milk School. The Harvey Milk School was created as a safe haven for gay boys and girls who have received grief or abuse from their friends, classmates, and/or family based on their sexual orientation. I spent the whole week pretty much on the F train, traveling to and from Soho, back and forth from our office to 740 Braodway, where the charity is based. The first day I stepped off the subway downtown, I lost my barings multiple times, almost walking completely around Washington Square before finding the location. It was sunny that day and there was some sort of event occuring at one end of the park admist woman psuhing strollers and the summer students of NYU. After finally finding the office, I delivered invitations for the event the upcoming weekend and headed back uptown, feeling a little more comfortable finding my way downtown. However, that day was possibly the only day the sun showed its face that week. The following days were plagued with showers that made the streets smell of old cats and the previous aroma of brick oven pizza and baked goods was lost amougst the midst and NY sirens. Yet, I returned to SoHO multiple times that week, facing the puddles and fallen berries that lined the sidewalks of Washington Square. I delivered disks, picked up posters larger than my body, and returned berry stained with a broken umbrella. It turned out to be a tiring week trudging through the weather. As Harvey Milk once said, "I am Harvey Milk and I am here to recruit you." Well Harvey, I went to bootcamp and back. Consider me recruited and a supporter of HMI.

A Subway Series

Its a rainy day here in New York, yet there is still so much going on. I rode the Subway for the first time this past Friday. That was quite the experience. One of MKG's largest clients is, and always has been, Delta Airlines. On Friday I was asked to take the F Train from 23rd street up to 34th. Nodding my head, I jotted down the directions and headed to the subway stop to ask the teller for an unlimited Metrocard. "I only take cash," he said. I could tell this was going to be a disaster. Reluctantly, I hopped onto the F train and as the train headed further and further downtown I was hoping we would simply just make a U-ey and head back uptown. We were stopped somewhere on 1st street when I heard "Next stop: Brooklyn." Panicking I jumped off the F Train just before it began to move again and headed up to find the nearest teller, or friendly New Yorker to point me in the right direction. At the top of the stairs, I found a man donned in NY Yankees attire and eating a doughnut behind plexi glass. "Excuse me sir, do you know which train to take to get to 34th street?" He muttered letters I could barely understand because he could barely speak english. I took my chances and headed back down the stairs to the tunnel that led me to east bumble. It turns out I made the right choice and just so happened to stumble upon 34st street and landed in the Delta Airlines suite where I picked up a Hard Rock folder for an upcoming event and headed back to MKG...this time on the F Train.

GQ Run-In

I started this blog because I am spending the summer working for MKG Productions in NYC. Basically, the company is a super fresh, innovative production company that plans events and other parties. I am a production intern, but what I'm doing is far from the tasks imposed upon Andy Sacks in the Devil Wears Prada. I go to Starbucks on my own time, the CEO actually knows my name, and I get to spend my day finding the little nitty grittys that become essential to an event. There are a lot of events that we are prepping for the month of June. I am on the team for designing and executing the Delta Float for the Gay Pride Parade in Chelsea. On the 6th, MKG is producing the benefit for the Hentrick Martin institute in East Hampton to raise money for a safe school for in-danger gay and lesbian students. We are also working with TIMEX, doing a launch for Tropicana's Trop50 with spokesperson Kyra Sedwick, and doing AXE's new fragrance, Instinct, launch party at the Hard Rock Cafe with Rolling Stone at the end of June. That's pretty much the big picture. Day to day I am becoming more and more familiar with Manhattan and really getting a sense of where a lot of things are. Yesterday I had to go deliver invites for the Hetrick Martin benefit to the editor of GQ. I took a wrong turn on the way down 43rd Street and knocked into a man entering the back door of a theater. Not knowing who it was, I kept walking until I heard someone behind me ask the same man for his autograph. When I turned to see who it was I noticed it was Matthew Broderick entering the theater for his new play the Philanthropist! That was a thrill in itself. Then I travelled over to the Conde Nast building where, with some trouble, I was led up to the 7th floor, where both the GQ and Vogue offices were. After dropping off the invites, I went back int the elevator, and while watch the light transcend along the floors I ntoiced all the different publications under Conde Nast. I was in awe. After leaving, I headed to Penn Station and caught my train home to Shrewsbury, NJ. Everyday I wake up at 6:30 to catch the train to New York and don't return home until 8:30 at night. It's a long day, but totally worth it!

Intro

Hey everyone! Just wanted to say hello and make sure I am doing this correctly! More to follow!