YPG Hosts Inaugural House Party to Celebrate the National Book Awards
NEW YORK, NY (November 22, 2010)—The Association of American Publishers’ Young to Publishing Group hosted the inaugural House Party: A Celebration of the National Book Awards on Wednesday, November 17, 2010 with more than 450 guests in attendance. The event took place at Random House.
The NBA House Party was planned by a committee of fifteen YPG members and volunteers representing various publishing houses and literary agencies. It was designed and produced by Jes Gordon of properFUN, who brought her downtown sensibility to a light-hearted celebration of the National Book Awards, one of the nation’s preeminent literary prizes.
The Young to Publishing Group partnered with the National Book Foundation to secure an exclusive live feed of the awards ceremony to the NBA House Party, allowing greater access to the Awards.
“We at the National Book Foundation were thrilled to be part of the NBA House Party and we applaud the organizers’ initiative,” said Harold Augenbraum, Executive Director of the National Book Foundation. “Bringing a live feed to hundreds of people creates a wonderful excitement, which we hope to not only duplicate but expand next year, using this year’s streaming as an example. And what energy in developing tweets and thought-provoking contests to make the experience even more fun than it already is!”
The Young to Publishing Group celebrated the launch of the MyNBA Awards, recognizing outstanding achievements in fields outside the National Book Awards categories. Voting took place online, and the winners were:
Best Blog to Book: SH** MY DAD SAYS by Justin Halpern (It Books)
Most Innovative All-Around Campaign: THE PASSAGE by Justin Cronin (Ballantine Books)
Favorite Hero(ine) Under 35: Katniss Everdeen, MOCKINGJAY by Suzanne Collins (Scholastic Press)
Best Film Adaptation of a Book: THE ACCIDENTAL BILLIONAIRES by Ben Mezrich (into) THE SOCIAL NETWORK (Doubleday)
Best Overall Pageturner: THE GIRL WHO KICKED THE HORNET’S NEST by Stieg Larsson (Knopf)
At the party, an auction to benefit Literacy Partners raised $2,000 for the New York City-based organization. “Literacy Partners was very excited to be the partnering charity with the Young to Publishing Group at the NBA House Party,” said Susan McLean, Executive Director of Literacy Partners. “The charity auction was a huge success and the proceeds from the auction will directly support adult literacy students in our free community based programs. At Literacy Partners we believe that the ability to read is an essential element of an enriched and fulfilling life and our partnership on this event was the perfect match for that mission.”
The NBA House Party partnered with Square—the payment system backed by Twitter cofounder Jack Dorsey—to allow guests use of a credit card to purchase auction tickets. The Square is a one-inch gizmo that plugs into the headphone jack of an iPhone, iPad or Android phone and has a thin slot to swipe a credit card. The device and the Square app are free. More than half of the auction tickets sold at the event were sold using Square, greatly increasing overall donations to Literacy Partners.
The Huffington Post sponsored a media room to serve as a hub for reporters who were covering the event. “HuffPost was honored to be a part of this year’s NBA House Party,” said Rob Fishman, social media editor for The Huffington Post. “We met—and interviewed—a great crop of promising new authors, and look forward to seeing them in print and on our Books page soon!” A video compilation of author interviews is featured on Huffington Post.
Guests sent party snapshots to Pixable, and the browser-based album editing company was on site to instantly create video slideshows to be shared on screens around the party. “Pixable’s instant video technology enhanced the NBA House Party by highlighting event sponsors, myNBA award winners, and candid shots of guests throughout the night,” said Loren Appin, Director of Marketing at Pixable. “Guests had fun taking photos and submitting them via their mobile phones and our computer uploading stations. Videos created from candid shots give guests an opportunity to enjoy not only their photos post-event, but other guests’ photos as well. We were pleased to be part of this event.” The videos are available at http://pixb.ly/nbahouseparty, and can be shared via various social media applications.
Throughout the evening, guests mingled and searched for the match to their color card supplied by Robert Redd—a multidimensional company that incorporates storytelling and imagery into every aspect of their product development and brand creation. The cards detailed individual stories behind Robert Redd. “Guests really enjoyed the Robert Redd and Lady Redd ‘color story game’ where over thirty men and women at the party found their story match and were awarded complimentary REDD® knit shirts,” said Robert Matheson, Founder and CEO of Robert Redd. “Additionally guests mingled in the REDD lounge all night, checking out the shirts, accessories, watercolor paintings, and learning about The Legend of Robert Redd™.“
The NBA House Party also featured the sounds of DJ Lars, an open bar, and giveaways. Guests dined on Pop Burgers and Rickshaw Dumplings while enjoying refreshments from Brooklyn Brewery and Carlei Wine as well as a specialty House Party punch.
In advance of the event, all guests received discounts to shop for cocktail attire at Rent the Runway, the premier online destination for dress and accessory rentals. “We were happy to partner with the Young to Publishing Group to help young professionals achieve a glamorous look for their evening out,” said Jennifer Fleiss, President and Co-Founder of Rent the Runway.
Archie Grand supplied the oversized guest books for the NBA House Party. Their range of unique and high quality notebooks were a hit with guests.
Local favorites Macaron and Nine Cakes provided an array of macarons and mini-cupcakes for NBA House Party guests.
For more information, please visit www.youngtopublishing.com/houseparty.
For photos of the event, please visit Guest of a Guest: http://guestofaguest.com/events/launch-of-house-party-2010-a-celebration-of-the-national-book-awards.
