PCMANCC members get into the masquerade spirit.
The veil was lifted on the newly renovated Palace Hotel, which hosted the 9th Annual 2018 PCMANCC Bay Area Meeting Industry Excellence (BAMIES) Awards, our Chapter’s 25th Anniversary and our remarkable Industry. Masquerade was the theme, and many of the 350 attendees embraced the idea and donned extraordinary masks for a great portion of the evening.
As is tradition, the evening began with a networking reception, which afforded attendees the opportunity to mingle, drink, nibble whilst meeting old and new friends – and of course bid on the silent auction items. Several of our regional partners and wineries were pouring samples that easily paired with the delightful Palace hors d’oeuvres. These included Folktale Winery & Vineyards, Beringer, Wine Country Destinations and Visit Santa Barbara.
This annual fundraiser raised nearly $26K for the chapter, which enabled the chapter to give back to several worthy charities including the PCMA Education Foundation, who received a check for $5,000, and Wardrobe for Opportunity with a check for $3,700.
Outgoing President, Zorianna Smith, dons an elaborate mask.
Early evening entertainment included a photo opportunity by Flix In Motion and a super electric violinist from Entire Productions. The surprise of the evening were our delightful Emcees, Penelope Planner and Cecilia Supplier, who entertained the audience with music, magic and banter throughout the event and were provided through Curated Entertainment!. The Palace ballrooms were beautiful transformed with lighting, décor and furnishings truly evoking a Masquerade Ball for the ages.
Incoming President, Elisa Sandoval Wong
Our outgoing President, Zorianna Smith hosted the evening in full masquerade attire and presented the very deserving winners of each BAMIE Award (winners listed below) and was assisted by incoming President, Elisa Sandoval Wong also elegantly attired in masquerade. When you see these amazing industry leader nominees and winners, be sure to offer congratulations!
The evening ended with a spirited after party in the Gold Room, transformed with lighting and DJ music from Verducci Event Productions, which had guests dancing and generally letting their hair down!
Gala Chair, Bonnie Hoag (center)
As we close out our 25th Anniversary year it is important to remember that we are a community of professionals and volunteers. It takes a village to put an evening like this together, and at the helm was Gala Chair Bonnie Hoag, who with the help of her team, brought together close to thirty sponsors that made this evening a resounding success. Acknowledgements of each are listed at the end of this article.
We thank each and every person that was a part of the evening, and we look forward to achieving even higher heights as we move into the next quarter century of the Northern California Chapter of PCMA.
BAMIE Winners:
Rising Star: Desiree Bruce
Supplier of the Year: Rhanee Palma
Planner of the Year: Heather Friestsch
Member of the Year: Anthony Mancuso
PCMA Legend: Rose Stanton
Sustainability Champion: Pat Swan
Event Sponsors
Signature Sponsor: MGM Resorts International
Premium Sponsors
Cavallo Point, Levi’s Stadium, Meet Los Angeles, The Venetian, Visit Oakland
Venue Sponsor/Catering
The Palace Hotel
Event Décor
Abbey Party Rents, Event Architects, Freeman
Entertainment
Curated Entertainment, Entire Productions, Innovative Entertainment, Verducci Event Productions
Photography
BreakBeatBilly, Flix in Motion
Wineries and Wine Sponsors
Beringer, Black Stallion, Blue Rock, Charles Krug, Chateau St. Jean, Cima Collina, Folktale Winery and Vineyards, Monterey County CVB, Scheid Family Wines, The Hess Collection, Visit Santa Barbara, Wine Country Destinations
Contributing Writers:
Neil Adams
Business Development Manager
Bright Event Rentals
[email protected]
Jennifer Lee Witherington, CMP, CMCP
Director, National Accounts
ACCESS Destination Services®
