Successful Meetings - October 2008 - (Page 42) Fortune 1000 > A Tale of Two Cities Attendees sat at assigned tables corresponding to New York City “neighborhoods,” including the Financial District near the site of the 9/11 attacks, the Theater District in Midtown, and Central Park, smack in the middle of Manhattan. One fun element with superb practicality was the replica of a New York subway map provided to help guests find assigned tables. The decor inside the Sugar Mill was as spectacular as the Brooklyn Bridge entryway. The dais featured a massive acrylic replica of the USS New York, set against a sparkling backdrop of the New York skyline, also crafted in acrylic. The venue was festooned with enormous photos of Manhattan that drew guests’ gazes upwards into a night sky of soaring skyscrapers, just as they would in Manhattan itself. Once seated, guests indulged in a three-course dinner, complete with Champagne toast. A touching feature of the evening was a special video created by Northrop Grumman employees, “Walking in The Wake of Heroes,” about their actual visit to New York to meet with members of the September 11 Families’ Association. The video included personal stories told of that day, as well as affirmations of a hopeful future embodied by the new Navy vessel bearing the city’s name. Also attending the event were New York and New Orleans police and fire fighters and September 11 Families’ Association members, underscoring the connection between the two disasterimpacted communities. “Not much was said about Hurricane Katrina,” remembers BBC owner Bonnie Boyd, “but both Easy to The Big Apple,” but it was kept under careful wraps while guests mingled at a cocktail reception in New Orleans’ Heritage Park, adjacent to the dinner site. There, entertainment was provided by the USO troupe Liberty Belles, combining fun with 1940s nostalgia and revolving around another war in another time. After the performance, guests were led in true New Orleans style via a parade line to the nearby Sugar Mill, a 22,000square-foot special-event venue across from the Morial Convention Center near the Mississippi River, in the city’s historic Warehouse District. But “true New Orleans style” ended quickly, as everything turned New York in dramatic fashion. Guests’ jaws dropped as they crossed over a red carpet beneath a 42foot replica of the iconic Brooklyn Bridge and into the dining area beyond. http://www.arlington.org http://www.arlington.org http://www.arlington.org
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