MY First MKG Event !! :)

I think I am definitely going to have to agree with Julie on the Brainstorming sessions. They are by FAR my favorite! I tend to have these 'mini revelations' because of them. I remember talking during one of our brainstorms about an LED wall idea and someone mentioned the example of FAO Schwarz (I had no idea what that was) and then, last week, I was out with a friend and I saw this ceiling light display in a huge toy store and then I saw the name and realized what they were referring to!! I spend my weekends wandering around the city so I end up seeing many of the venues/places that I hear people referring to or that I have researched so it's cool to gradually have a mental picture so go with the names.
Second to the brainstorming session would be participation in the actual execution of an event. I experienced my first event with MKG last Monday at the MAC (Kabuki) Presentation, which I feel was a great starter for me since it wasn't too intense, as far as production goes, and it didn't ever get hectic or stressful. We got to watch actual makeup presentation, which was amazing! But after researching more of Kabuki's work since the event, it wasn't as intense as some of the intricate and intense looks he is known for designing.
(check 'em out at http://www.kabukimagic.com/)
Here are the looks he created at last weeks presentation...



Thanks Caroline & Ashley for pulling me on board last minute! It was an awesome time for me and I'm so excited for the chance for more hands-on work (hopefully in the near future)!


- K'Boog

I <3 MKG

Happy Friday and Valentine's Day Eve everyone! Next week will be my fourth week at MKG and I am so grateful that I ended up with such an awesome internship! Especially after hearing horror stories from my internship class (one girl had to cut and glue paper all day long!). So far I have been compiling a powerpoint of as many NYC venues that I can find, I've learned how to make local guides, create binders, and make sure everything is MKG branded.  

My favorite thing to do so far is brain storming (I'm sure many of you already know this). I started working with Diane (who, by the way, happens to live one street up from me in Hershey, PA, my brother and her brother rode the bus together, what a small world) to incorporate more marketing into my learning here (since that is my major). Right now I am working on coming up with ideas that we can present to companies.  For example, an idea for Coca-Cola member rewards could be that we set up kiosks down by Ground Zero and for every 2 bottles of coke that are bought and their codes are entered into the member rewards data base the customer will be able to physically pick up a bottle of coke and put it in a package to be sent to one of our soldiers. 

If anyone wants to help me out with some ideas I have to come up with marketing ideas for Coke, Ugg, Home depot (college game day), Expedia, Loreal (Tribeca Film Festival), Hyatt (Andaz) Hotels, Axe, and Taste of Tennis (which I am really stuck on because I don't really understand the point of it, so please help!)

For something non-work related, if you need a good laugh watch this "Game show in my head" clip, the show is on Saturday nights and it is HILARIOUS! People have to do crazy stuff to win money (like this one guy had to go in a portapotty and get someone to give him reading material, something to wipe with, and to engage someone in a 1 minute conversation). Heres the link where you can view all the clips http://www.cbs.com/collections/game_show_in_my_head/

Another funny clip is from the Ellen show... she sends dennis quaid to a starbucks and he has to say everything she tells him to say in his earpiece. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C64ZYuR7PuQ

I hope everyone has an awesome V-Day! 

Julie's first blog

Hi Everyone! I am sure I have been introduced to almost everyone by now, but I must admit I am horrible at remembering names so don't hesitate to reintroduce yourself if you're walking by my desk! 

I go to the Fashion Institute of Technology and I am majoring in Advertising and Marketing Communications, I know it's weird that I go to fashion school but I don't major in anything relating to fashion but NYU was too expensive and FIT professors have to have at least 10 years experience in the industry so at least I'm not learning out of text books!

Enough about school though. I am from Hershey, PA (yes, it really smells like chocolate there!). I love to travel, I lived in Italy for 5 months and have been to Australia and New Zealand and tons of other places.  If I could hop on a plane and go anywhere today I would definitely go to Dubai (hopefully with an endless supply of money).  My brother works for US airways in Vegas so it works out well that I get to fly for free considering I am a poor college student. I also love sushi, cheesy reality shows (real world, the bachelor, the hills), and my top 3 favorite TV shows are Grey's Anatomy, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and Gossip Girl, and I loooove to eat (Thai and Japanese are my favorite but I set a goal that while I am living in NY I want to try food from as many different countries as possible. Other things I love: Facebook, the beach, Perez Hilton, the summer, driving (I miss my Jetta!), and hockey (Go Pens!). 

As for this internship, I really love it so far and I am excited to learn more everyday.  I am hoping to be able to learn all aspects from planning the actual event to marketing. I am still getting used to this IMing and E-mailing people in the same room as me because I would really prefer talking to people face to face so if I come to your desk instead of IMing that's why.  Also, I would really love to work at as many events as possible so I am able to see everything I have worked on come together. 

One last thing- Everyone should watch these two videos, they are AWESOME! It's a video of this guy matt that travels around the world and does a silly little dance in every place he goes. Make sure your volume is turned up! (If the links don't work go to youtube and type in where the hell is matt)

Don't forget to stop by and say hi!

Your new intern,

Julie

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNF_P281Uu4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWUrj22pRD0

To all of you new interns...

You are the luckiest people in the world right now. MKG is the greatest company to work for! Take time to really get to know everyone in the office. They are all wonderful people and really know what they are doing. I was only there for a short few months in the summer and I think about everything I learned and experienced every day. Have a wonderful experience and take time to remember how lucky you are to be in such a fantastic place.

Good luck!

Tess

Oh yes...please take time to read/watch REAL INTERNS STEP...ha it is an old blog from July.

NewBe #2

Dearest MKG-ers,

Kimber here! For those of you that I haven't had the chance to meet yet... hi! I'm sure I'll being seeing you soon. I am the second production intern to come aboard for this spring semester and, since I am just getting to know MKGand each of you, I thought I'd share a little bit about myself...

I just moved to the Upper East Side from Phoenix, AZ, where it is a GORGEOUS 74 degrees today! I am 22 and nearly a graduate at Arizona State.  I've known that I wanted to go into event production & planning since two years ago when I found out from an ASU professor that there was such a career, while at an event that I had planned and produced!  GO figure... I was already doing it!  I'm a bit of a foodie and I live for all things sweet... especially chocolate.  Something unique about me...?  I'm a professionally trained cake-decorator, I left a dog, a bird, 2 snakes, 20-30 tortoises & 1 turtle back in AZ, & I LOVE cliff jumping.

SO... I made it through my first week fairly easily and I am so excited to get into the good stuff :) & really get to know, more extensively, the design & production side of the events industry.  I look forward to my second week and I hope you guys don't feel the need to take it easy on me... I love this stuff so throw me into the mix!!

More soon! 

Special K

First Blog! Woot

Heyy-- Thought I would throw together my first blog before I took off for the day.  The last two days have gone by pretty fast despite by hellish commute haha... And after successfully mistaking Jake for Andrew and accidently bypassing Cody on all of Maneesh's calls (my B :) ) I'm definitely excited to tackle whatever you guys throw at me and have a lot of fun these next few months!  Everyone's been extremely nice and welcoming and I already feel like I've learned quite a bit for the time I've been here after stumbling across bizbash.com and picking up a few of the industry Mags.  A lot of the work I've been given has given me some good insight as to what I'm in for too.

Well, all I can say is I am very excited to see all things that go in to these events and get to know everyone better!  I'll have more for you next week I'm sure.  Stay cool ;)

Brit

Fresh Bait!

Lizzie here...

I just want to say we are so thrilled to be welcoming our new class of interns to MKG Productions.  Our first intern, Brittany Wier began on her journey yesterday and was quick to pick up on all things MKG. Kimberly Coonen and Julie Hudson will both be joining our team in the next few weeks, and I'm sure will definitely contribute to our "pink spirit".

So Hooray for the newbies! You have an awesome road ahead of you.

We hope you learn, laugh, and of course LOVE all things MKG.

Signing off now-

Hoots

I remember when I came into MKG for the first time. It was my interview and was a hot muggy August afternoon. Now as I sit hear on this freezing cold snowy December day I cannot believe it is my last day here. All the memories of everything that has happened lays behind me like something resembling my favorite dream. I can Honestly say I had the time of my life working with the MKG team. A group of young professionals so talented,bright,and eager to help one another is extremely hard to come across in a cut throat market like New York. I never once felt uncomfortable or afraid to ask a fellow MKGer to help or explain a project. I had the opportunity to work on a variation of projects ranging from research to executing an event with my peers. All the events were so different in their vision and design but one thing in common that was shared was their execution. They were all done with such pride and creativity that everyone involved could not help but be fulfilled with a great sense of dignity. I will take with me on my next adventure all that I have learned here. It makes me sad to know that I will not be here anymore. But It makes me proud and confident knowing that I had this experience over the past four months.  So I will not say goodbye but see you all later , its better fitting because I hope to stay on board as a production Assistant with the operations department for future events. So to everyone here, I will see you later , and thank you from the bottom of my heart. You are all rock stars. Peace.

Last Day :(

Wow... when they say time flies when your having fun they sure mean it. 

I can't believe today is my last day working at MKG PRODUCTIONS.  These past three months have flown by so fast and have honestly taken my breath away. Each day unfolded a new and exciting project that I had the pleasure of working on. From working endlessly on our hypothetical projects to working real events such as Ray Ban and Target I have honestly learned so much. I will be sure to take this knowledge with me on my future endeavors! I am so proud of all of the work we have accomplished in the past three months and honestly am astounded by what an incredible company MKG truly is. This internship has without a doubt exceeded all of my expectations. Each and every one  of you has made an impact on my life, and for that I am forever grateful. You are all truly amazing, innovative people and it has been an honor to have worked with all of you! Once again you will never know how thankful I am for providing me with the wonderful opportunity of working at MKG. I will miss you all and will be sure to keep in touch! 

My email is reden@uvm.edu

Please don't be shy to email me! I would love to hear from all of you and all of the amazing things going on in your lives!

Best,

Rachel 

Almost done with November. I can't Believe how fast the time goes when your working here at MKG. November was full of fun events and I am glad I got to work on the Cipriani event. What a beautiful venue they have at their 42nd street location. The event went smoothly as does all our events. A personal favorite moment of the night was when the ceremony was over and Ms lady Bunny started the after party. We all danced it up and had a great time as we watched Ms Zeena Divanni strut her stuff on the stairs. We all danced for about an hour and didn't want to leave the dance floor because the music was oh so good. 

Back at the office everyone is getting their talent ready for the retreat. I cant imagine how some of the performances will turn out, we have alot of talent here at MKG. But besides preparing for the talent show everyone has been pretty busy with events. The interns have been working in collaboration with Lizzie and Diane for our clients at Leahman Maupin . We really want to fill that space with some holiday events. We all called over a few hundred companies requesting their event planners contact information in hopes of getting some emails. It was all a numbers game because with a combined effort we managed to get over a hundred contacts for our email blast.Im confident that we will get some positive feedback. I hope this work makes Diane and Maneesh very proud. That's all for now. Hope everyone has a great retreat.

Just another typical day at work....

Projects!

Hello all!

As everyone knows, me and fellow interns are working on our intern projects. In December, we'll unveil our work for everyone to see! But, until then, a sneak preview as to what's been going on.

Among other tasks, we each are putting together this event from start to finish. From catering, to venue research, to lighting and sound, design, decor, props.... it's a lot to juggle! Fortunately, it's teaching us quite a bit about the underworkings of every event we've helped out with/attended/heard of around the office. Above all, it's been a great way to learn more about some of our vendors -- and hopefully find some new ones!

This week, our "clients" should be looking over our second round of design -- decor and furniture and props -- which we've all been working hard on. I'm excited to see how Robert and Rachel's design is coming together. Although we work side by side, we're often engrossed in our own projects to take a moment and appreciate each other's work.

So... hold on to your hats -- come December, we'll blow you away with our fantastic presentations! : )

Winna

Come one, Come all to Lehman Maupin!

With the phones ringing off the hook MKG Productions has been in fast and furious mode, entering brand new and exciting terrain in the world of event planning. Speaking of new and exciting, MKG has recently taken under its wing the Lehmann Maupin Gallery. Located at 540 W. 26th Street this gallery is nothing short of amazing. A trendy alternative to the typicall raw space, Lehmann Maupin emphasizes style and elegance with their beautiful artwork displayed throughout the gallery. Accommodating 300 standing or 215 seating and separated into two gallery spaces, Lehman Maupin is the perfect space for any occasion. The private gallery at the rear of the venue provides a great area for intimate gatherings or company meetings. The venue is fashioned after an industrial loft design, featuring beautiful travertine floors and museum hight ceilings with skylights. The exposed ceiling gives the space an industrial feel, another attribute unique to Lehmann Maupin. Additionally, there is a large balcony overlooking the grand gallery which not only provides an amazing view but is also perfect for lighting and a DJ. Not is only the gallery a great venue for parties but is also fully accommodated with an in house kitchen in the basement, perfect for catered events. Please be advised that this is not your normal, gloomy basement! It is a large finished basement useful for storage and extra work space, an incredible addition to this unparalleled venue. I HOPE YOU ENJOYED YOUR VIRTUAL TRIP THROUGH HEAVEN ON EARTH AT THE LEHMAN MAUPIN GALLERY! :) 

Hello all, its been a while since my last entry, sorry to keep you all waiting. October was full of exciting things for MKG including events, office birthday parties,and even an amazing cocktail party by one of our preferred catering vendors Creative Edge. We went over to the Creative Edge headquarters after a day in the office and were warmly welcomed by their creative team. We all got the chance to sample some of their newest and innovative hors d'ouvres , each extremly delicious and unique. My personal favorite was the fabrachi eggs filled with guinness beer and served with little mini bagel eggs with pepperoni. The cocktails were nothing short of amazing bliss, I believe I started with the mango Mojito's. Then we were all guided on a tour,which reminded me of Willy Wonkas Chocolate factory through the creative edge kitchen. It is quite a process to prepare innovative and creative food, and quite tempting to eat everything in site.

Our events this month were all over the place and done with great team effort. We had the Dig It events in LA, San Fransisco , Boston , and New York. The green initiaitve put forth by timberland for this event is something MKGers were proud to be a part of , not to mention how well we worked with our headquarters being in New York and our team throughout the country. Our other local events included CME at Rockefellar center and The Andaz hotel launch event. Kelly Markus is no longer with us but we wish her well and hope to see her in the future. 

Besides our fabulous events and cocktail parties we also got the the opportunity to celebrate some MKGers birthday's right here in the office. A Mariah Carey themed extravaganza for Zen, a legally Blonde fiesta for Lizzie and a great Indian Food get together compliments of Maneesh. Who said our creativity stopped when our the events are over. I have to say when you work long and hard its nice to be surrounded by people who take the time out to make your day brighter. Its just the MKG style. 

Newcomers!

So, a lot of new faces have come into the office in the past few weeks. I'd like to welcome newcomers, some of which are returning folks, to the MKG team! I'm especially excited to see how easily you guys have integrated here, getting right down to business as if by second nature. Your hard work and team efforts are an inspiration to me and fellow interns - we're all looking forward to working with you and getting to know everyone through upcoming fall events. : )

In the same note, September has quickly flown by, October is upon us, and the end of the year is rapidly approaching. The MKG team has shown me what an amazingly capable and phenomenal team is, one I am thoroughly excited to be a part of in every capacity. With a new intern project on the horizon, I'm thrilled to execute a few ideas of my own and get a true sense of event production from start to finish. It's a big project, but a big thank you all in advance for already having shown us the ropes by including interns in your day-to-day projects and being the fabulous, creative thinkers and hardworkers you are!

Goodbye September, Hello October

As September comes to an end it really feels like fall is upon us.  As we look back at the month past , I think we can all be proud of our accomplishments over the last thirty days here at MKG. The highlight I think for almost everyone was most likely The William Rast event. The level of hard work and patience from everyone exceeded that of prior events and projects. It was just the nature of the event. Not saying that prior events didn't take 100% from MKGers, but this event was exceptional and the first of its kind on our end. 

As October rolls around we all will once again be faced with new challenges. Alot of us will be out of the office for the Las Vegas event for Glaceau. I wish Lanie, Jeff, Lauren and Tina all the luck with that event. I also hope they have time to see Cher. You cant go to Vegas and not see Cher(business trip or not).But in all seriousness doing an event outside your city , or comfort zone takes an MKGer. So it's guaranteed to be no sweat. 

In the mean time , thanks to everyone for making September an incredible learning experience for me . I hope everyone has an even better month in October then they did in September. Let's go MKG.

All staff meeting

Today September 25,2008 was the last quarter all staff meeting. It was nice to hear and see from alot of employees the exciting events that are in store for MKG the remainder of 2008. Things are running smoothly thanks to Nathan and everyone using support. We are all sad to see Susan go but we know that she has an incredible travel experience ahead of her and we all wish her well. Jessi Blom is now full time , congratulations Jessi, and congratulations to all of the project managers ; their new title's are producers. That is something to really be proud of, and it most definitely suits them appropriately. Maneesh did a great job of explaining topics in the meeting clearly . I now have a better idea of the roles and responsibilities of each MKG member. This is important in that it gave me knowledge on the operations and players within the company. I was also excited to learn of the intern project that lies ahead of me and the other two interns. I am excited to know that I will be putting together my own event from start to finish. I am nervous because this will be the first of kind of project of that nature for me. However I am willing to make mistakes and fall flat on my face in order to learn and grow in this fabulous business of events and production.

Bowery Ballroom Walk Thru

DSQUARED2. DELIGHTFUL.

Last Wednesday DSQUARED launched the release of their fragrance He wood/ She wood at a fabulous event at the DSQUARED showroom on the west side. Thanks to MKG the event was one to be remembered. It was the party to see and be seen at, and with the champagne flowing and the music blasting it was sure to be a party not soon to be forgotten. The front of the house was set up with a wooden hand made(thanks to Andrew) beautiful step and repeat that led around the corner to a mysterious shaft elevator. After you reached the 9th floor, the elevator operator opened the doors to the fabulous revamped showroom that displayed fragrances almost everywhere you looked as well as models,caterers and socialites. It was quite a scene. The roof top was like the icing on the cake. This is truly where the party was. The drinking and social gabbing took place there as well as the press interviews, and smoking. Does everyone in fashion smoke? At the end of the event the clients were extremely happy; the fragrance was liked by all and the party even more. MKG pulled it off once again. We controlled the flow of the event with perfection. I learned some great communication skills and hand on experience field work that just cannot be taught in an office, so I am once again truly grateful for working an MKG event.Thanks everyone

First Day On the Job

Hey everyone! For those who don't already know me, my name is Rachel Eden and I'm MKG's newest intern. Although I've only been here for a couple of hours I can already tell its going to be an amazing couple of months. First off I would like to say that it is truly an honor to be apart of such a creative and intelligent group of people. To put it in a nutshell if I were to describe MKG Productions in two words I would use innovation and exuberance. The office illuminates with excitement and an undeniable sense of positive energy that is evident to everyone who enters the office. Although I was nervous, and suffered from the o so common first day jitters from the moment I entered the office my fears melted away when I was greeted by my new coworkers. Above is a picture of me and my fellow intern, Winna whom was extremely helpful with my transition into getting to know the company. I would use the word innovation because everyone is constantly on their feet thinking of new and exciting ways to create only the finest in cooperate events. One highlight of my day was attending the production meeting where I was able to gain further insight into the exciting world of event planning. I can't wait to see what else lies in store for me here at MKG Productions.