Panasonic Chooses Empire Entertainment Japan to produce the first international Kid Witness News Global Awards Ceremony
Kid Witness News, (KWN) is a global video education program supported by Panasonic. The program uses video production experiences to boost creativity, communication skills, and to foster teamwork in children from elementary to secondary school levels.This year for the first time, the global awards ceremony was held outside of Japan, at the Globe Theatre in Universal Studios Hollywood. To ensure a smooth and successful program, Panasonic and their agency Dentsu chose Empire Japan to serve as executive producer for the project. Empire's role would include selecting the venue, working with local PR and production vendors, and managing the overall look and production of the awards ceremony.For this year's global awards, there were six finalist schools participating from six different countries including Japan, New Zealand, Russia, Singapore, Slovakia, and United States. The students involved in the video production from each school were invited to Hollywood, CA to participate in "Winner's week" and the Awards Ceremony.After spending two days experiencing Hollywood, the main event would be the awards ceremony. The ceremony started off with the students walking a red carpet, where hired paparazzi were placed to photograph the surprised student celebrities.Next the students participated in interviews, which were distributed to PR companies in each of their home countries. The awards program began with an Olympic style parade of the nations, with a voice of god introducing each of the countries as they entered the theatre and took their seats.The ceremony began with an introduction video, then a viewing of each of the school's nominated video works. The awards ceremony included seven different awards, and Panasonic had invited special guests and judges from the U.S. and other countries to present each of them. Chairman & CEO of Panasonic Corporation of North America, Joseph M. Taylor served as the award presented for the Grand Prize.The day's Grand Prize went to Val Verde High School in the United States for their work "Without Me."After a 15 minute intermission, the students returned to the Globe Theatre to enjoy the special performance by "Everybody Dance!" from Gabriella Charter School. After the great performance, all of the guests enjoyed the dinner with each participant feeling like a Hollywood celebrity.Between the ceremony and the reception, members of the U.S. and foreign media interviewed the students, which resulted in excellent exposure and very successful PR for Panasonic. The ceremony also garnered substantial media coverage with students and teachers appearing on a live interview for KCAL channel 9, and numerous Internet news hits including the group picture front of the Globe Theatre being chose as the "Picture of the Day" in Yahoo News.Empire Japan was thrilled to take on the many challenges of helping this honored client, helping them take this event overseas for the first time. With the success in Hollywood, Empire Japan has already been engaged to produce the 2012 KWN Global Wards Ceremony.For more information please watch the YouTube video, that explains this 2011 KWN Global Awrads Ceremony.Empire Japan is among the most extablished, world-class event companies in Asia and, in partnership with Empire Entertainment, Inc. is a leading producer of innovative event programs throughout the world.
Guests received their first taste of technological innovation at registration, where they were welcomed by name on a reactive LED screen installation covering the full width of the entry wall. A large lunch café was created with a décor scheme that incorporated custom-built, ceiling-high steel LED frames draped with foliage to create smaller, intimate restaurant-style spaces that displayed both technology and nature.
A series of breakout sessions presented content targeted to attendees’ varied interests, while imagery displayed throughout the venue showcased real-life applications of how products designed to empower developers help to unleash the power of data and reimagine possibilities that will improve our world.
Every element of Microsoft Connect(); from registration, breakfast and keynote, to lunch and evening cocktails, were custom-designed to communicate exacting brand messaging and to deliver a high-touch guest experience to this important audience. The keynote and breakout sessions were livestreamed through an onsite studio built for this purpose and content was watched online by millions around the world.
Empire is proud to collaborate with Microsoft on this annual, top-tier business communication event.
To view excerpts of Connect(); 2017, please visit https://www.microsoft.com/connectevent
