Broadway Update: Evil has never been so "Glee"-ful

In her role as psychotic coach Sue Sylvester on the Fox hit "Glee", actress Jane Lynch was kind of the "Miss Hannigan" of McKinley High School. 

She now gets to play the evil orphan task-master for real in Broadway's production of "Annie".  With appearances running through July 14, Lynch made her first New York stage debut in Off-Broadway's "Love, Loss and What I Wore".  Although her part didn't require the singing she'll be doing with "Annie", loyal fans of "Glee" might remember Lynch singing Miss Hannigan's flagship number on a recent episode.

Shackman Associates New York provides corporate meeting and destination incentive groups with unique Broadway experiences and have included backstage tours and interactions with key performers.  Don't worry, we promise any potential encounter with Lynch will not lead to your  attendees dropping and giving her 30!

Corporate Meeting Food Trends: Lobsters "Rolling" Southward with a Twist

New York City is proving that you don't have to schedule a corporate meeting in Maine to enjoy one of its most famous dishes - the lobster roll. 

As is typical in New York, chefs are not content serving lobster rolls in their most basic version, which is with fresh lobster, mayo, and butter on hot dog bun.  Here are a few new twists that can be catered for your meeting group: a) bacon and avocado with a Bloody Mary; b) Japanese-style, which features dashi, star anise and ginger; c) sweet-potato fries on the side instead of "chips"; and d) as a food truck, which is already a popular meeting component in Manhattan. 

Karen Shackman in USA Today: Data shows face-to-face corporate meetings are profitable

Shackman Associates New York was recently quoted in USA Today as an expert on a new study that found businesses that continued to send employees on the road during the recession were more profitable than those that cut back on business travel.

The study, conducted by Oxford Economics and commissioned by the U.S. Travel Association, shows how travel can affect a company's bottom line just as businesses are starting to once again spend money on trips to meetings and conferences.

U.S. companies generated $9.50 in revenue and $2.90 in profit for every dollar invested in business travel, which is based on an analysis of government data on 14 industries over an 18-year period.

An accompanying survey of 298 business travelers conducted in November found that 57% believed cutting their travel budgets during the economic downturn hurt their company's performance. Only 4% said it helped.

USA Today noted the importance of face-to-face meetings:

Business travelers believe that they would lose 42% of their customers without in-person meetings, the study found. They said they were twice as likely to get new customers with face-to-face meetings than without them.

Karen Shackman, founder of New York event management company Shackman Associates, which specializes in managing corporate meetings, said she is seeing meetings pick up in New York.

"The trend we are seeing in New York is more business travelers who opt to stay and meet in boutique hotels," she said. "New York is in the middle of explosive growth regarding boutique hotels and many offer amenities that reflect the individual style of business travelers."

Corporate Teambuilding: Be a New York City Chef

Corporate Meetings and Destination Incentives have been choosing New York City because attendees can enjoy cuisine from top chefs who are opening new venues in hot neighborhoods and in some cases, in hotels where are meetings are held.

Dining experiences are now becoming more interactive than ever with launch of “Chef for an Hour” experiences. Examples of these classes include:

 

1. Do-it-yourself Pasta. This experience is taught by one of America’s leading Italian chefs. Your meal is paired with wine and includes a recipe booklet, wheel cutters, and apron and rolling pin.

2. Be a Farm-to-Table guru. Attendees learn how to eliminate processed ingredients from gourmet food and make world-class dishes that are served at Manhattan’s trendiest restaurants.

3. Teppanyaki Table Theatrics. Meeting attendees learn how to wow their friends and co-workers by learning the ins and outs of Japanese cooking. This includes seasoning, dicing, spatula spinning, shrimp-tail flipping and other theatrics that are fan favorites at Japanese steak houses.

4. From Rooftop-to-Plate. With more corporate meetings choosing Brooklyn as a destination, attendees are right around the corner from multiple restaurants where chefs grow ingredients in rooftop gardens above their venues. Planting your own garden and cooking a meal to remember from some of these chefs’ top recipes is a great idea for planners who seek to schedule reoccurring meetings in New York.

Off-Broadway Update: "The Last Five Years" Gets an Extension

"The Last Five Years" is one of those Off-Broadway musicals that struck gold and maintains a huge, almost cult following.

The current production has been repeatedly extended and a movie version is in production.

"The Last Five Years" is unique as it follows a very complex courtship from chronologically opposite ends.  The audience sees Jamie's half of the relationship from the beginning going forward and Cathy's half of the relationship from the end going backwards.  Obviously, the key moment of the production is when their journeys intersect at "the proposal."

People have traveled all over the world to see "The Last Five Years" and it is estimated that thousands of marriage proposals have included the show's lyrics.

Shackman Associates provides unique experiences to corporate meeting and destination incentive groups that include insight into the best Off-Broadway shows, backstage tours and interaction with key performers.

Corporate Meetings at the Ballet

Spring is in the air throughout New York City, and so are many pairs of ballet slippers.

The American Ballet Theatre's Spring Season of performances is a great after-hours option for your corporate meeting.  In 2013, three fan favorites - Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake and Romeo and Juliet - return to the stage.  However, it is the three new productions - Ratmansky, Le Coursaire and Onegin - that are creating lots of buzz. 

Onegin, with production designs by Tony Award-winner Santo Loquasto, is a fantastic love drama set in Imperial Russia and inspired by Alexander Pushkin's novel. 

Shackman Associates regularly provides unique entertainment experiences for corporate meeting and destination incentive groups that include backstage passes and interactions with key performers.  

Corporate Meetings and Broadway: Motown in Manhattan

"If there ain't no mountain high enough", the cast of new Broadway production of "Motown" sure is serious about reaching any peak they choose to climb.  In addition to offering toe-tapping renditions of favorites from singers Diana Ross, Smokey Robinson, Berry Gordy and Martha Reeves, "Motown" might be the most extensively costumed show in decades.

It features approximately 350 outfits and 135 different wigs.  For example, with 26 outfit changes, "Motown" follows the career of Diana Ross from ages 15 to 39. 

Shackman Associates New York provides unique Broadway experiences to corporate meetings and destination incentive groups that has included back-stage tours and interactions with key performers.

Yo Adrian! Rocky headed to Broadway

The cast hasn’t been announced, but Rocky, after a well-received world premiere last fall in Germany, is headed to Broadway in 2014.  We're hoping it includes a great dance production to “Eye of the Tiger”!

Brooklyn Update: New Hotel on the Way by London Olympic Park Designer

The culture district that includes the Brooklyn Academy of Music has become so hot that a new hotel is now on the way.  Construction will begin this fall on a 200-room hotel in Downtown Brooklyn and will be complimented by multiple cultural projects.

The hotel is being designed by Thomas Leese, who has received rave reviews for the London 2012 Olympic Park.

Meeting Food Trends: A French Twist in New York

French food has never been hard to find in New York City.  However, a generation of hotel chefs and venues that cater to corporate meetings are taking the cuisine to new and exciting levels.

Traditional dishes such as Paris-Brest, a which is a ring-shaped pate a choux pastry stuffed with hazelnut cream, are being treated to unusual additions like Snickers Bars.  Meat-studded cassoulets are being replaced with beans as the principal ingredient, sweet bread medallions are taking the form of tasty nuggets, and the traditional French rack of lamb is getting an Asian infusion by celebrity chefs that features the neck as a key delicacy.

Additionally, some French-themed hotels are offering meeting groups options to incorporate healthy menus in meals for attendees that are usually served to dinner patrons.  The major shift we are seeing in French cuisine at meetings also includes creative new versions of fan favorites like French Toast and Pommes Frites.

Finally, all of the changes are creating more competition among venues, hotels and chefs, which is providing meeting planners better prices for galas, meeting breaks and off-site breakout dinners for destination incentives.