PROFESSION REPORTER MIAMI

MIAMIBEACH AND BASEL, SWITZERLAND CELEBRATING 10-YEAR ANNIVERSARY WITH A PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT

On November 28, 2011, the City of Miami Beach will be celebrating 10 years of collaboration with the City of Basel Switzerland through the intenationally acclaimed art fair Art Basel Miami Beach.

Mayor Matti Herrera Bower with City Manager Jorge Gonzalez, the Miami Beach Sister Cities International Committee, elected officials and personalities from both cities will celebrate the 10th anniversary of their relationship with the signing of an agreement that formally seals their partnership .

The partnership agreement focuses on economic cooperation, exchanges in education and culture and promotes the marketing of both cities in both countries.

Through this agreement the City of Basel will join the list of the 10 Miami Beach Sister Cities while the City of Miami Beach will connect with Basel partnership city of Shanghai in China and maybe soon partner city of Basel the russian city of Moscow.

Basel-Stadt has also been in a partnership with its american Sister State of Massachussetts since 2002.

It is also since 2002 that the phenomenal success of Art Basel Miami Beach the most prestigious art show in the United States has raised the cultural profile of Miami Beach.
As the sister exhibition of the international contemporary art fair Art Basel held each June in Basel since 1970, Art Basel Miami Beach combines an international selection of more than 260 leading galleries showcasing more than 2,000 artists, also bringing more than 40,000 art aficionados, art buyers, museums curators, collectors discovering and enjoying in our city every year.

The tremendous economic benefits of the weeklong summit of the art world are obvious and generate each year $500 million of economic activity including revenue from the art sales, hotels and restaurants for the city of Miami Beach and South Florida.

Cultural institutions in Miami Beach equally benefits from the art show and among others majors events this year Art Basel Miami Beach will inaugurate a new collaboration with the Bass Museum to transform Collins Park with unique artworks and performance by renowned artists, and for the first time art videos will be projected on the outdoor projection wall of the New World Center.

This year again Miami Beach will be an exciting destination for the international artworld to celebrate a decade of culture.

Art Basel Miami Beach December 1-4, 2011 http://www.artbasel.com/

LIFESTYLE RETREAT LOUNGE BACK FOR MIAMI SWIM WEEK 2011

Lifestyle Retreat Lounge is back during Miami Swim Week 2012 on July 15 & 16, 2011 at The Gansvoort Hotel.
For the second year Lifestyle Retreat lounge will give designers and swimwear brands the opportunity to showcase their collection while the industry and guests will enjoy presentations, a pop-up beauty salon, media and photo lounge, and music lounge.

Kendra Wilkinson did her Miami Beach guest appearance in 2010 at the Lifestyle Retreat Lounge to present her book " Sliding into Home", it was a huge success.

Mostly known for being one of Hugh Heffner's three girlfriends in the E! reality show The Girls Next Door on which her life in the Playboy Mansion was documented until 2009, Kendra was the coolest and funniest of the 3 girls, never taking things too seriously.

Kendra left the Playboy Mansion after she met her husband Hank Baskett in 2009 and start her own reality show Kendra.
Tv show Kendra in its 3rd season on January 2011 premiered on June 7, 2009 with a record breaking numbers for E! of 2.6 million viewers being the highest-rated reality show debut for the network since 2002, Go Kendra!

Kendra Wilkinson just few months after she gave birth to her first son, appeared in a great shape sporting a colorful silk dress smiling and natural as simple and laid back personality as she is on most of her show.

For some who might wonder why a memoir book at such a young age Kendra gave the answer
“My whole life is in this book. You would think, what does a 25 year old have to offer? I wanted to write it not just to tell all, but to put an inspirational twist to all have I have been through”. Convinced?

And about the possible reaction of the Playboy Magazine Founder and owner Hugh Heffner she mentionned : “That was the hardest part about writing the book: What would have Hef say?" she confessed to Niteside. "I was really scared about that. And finally, he emailed me saying congratulations and he tweeted out to the world that it couldn’t be a more accurate book.”

SWIMWEAR DESIGNER NICOLITA BRINGS CUBAN FLAVOR TO MERCEDES-BENZ SWIM WEEK

Just after her runway show Californian designer Nicole Di Rocco threw a party in the penthouse of The Raleigh Hotel to celebrate the success of her first appearance at the Mercedes-Benz Swim Week 2011.

Nicole Di Rocco in a way started her career while in college by creating a little handbag she sold on campus, “ it was a hit I sold 2,000 bags just like that out of my dorm! and I wanted to be an entrepreneur so that was a great start” (she graduated from USC's Marshall School of Business with a degree in Marketing and Entrepreneurship).

And after she decided to really work in the fashion industry she focused on a bathing suit line inspired by both Cuba and the Latin body.
Nicole Di Rocco launched her collection NICOLITA Swimwear in 2003 with in mind the elegant city of La Havana in the 40’s, an inspiration she found in her family’s Cuban roots.

"The nostalgy of the 40’s in the island with a modern twist it is all about the memories of my family and the photographies my parents were showing me when I was younger.

Each bikini collection is reminiscent of Cuba's exotic atmosphere: a blend of vintage glamour with modern day silhouettes and NICOLITA'S signature fit of 'Cuban-style bottoms' is designed for the curvaceous Latina figure." she explains, "Cuban-style bottoms" are designed with more coverage on the hips, a heart-shaped backside and 'no-pinch' fit elastic".

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Nicolita 2012 Spring/Summer collection was shot in Cuba for the catalog and will be shown for the second year during Mercedes-Benz Swim Week 2012.
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FILM DIRECTOR BRETT RATNER HONORED BY THE CITY OF MIAMI BEACH AND THE SOUTH FLORIDA FILM COMMUNITY

"Conversation with Brett Ratner"

On May 13th 2011 an invitation for “ a conversation with Brett ” had been launched upon the initiative of Miami World Cinema Center’s Founder and CEO Patrick de Bokay, former Director of the 25th Miami International Film Festival, with the purpose to honor in a special homage Miami Beach native Brett Ratner as a successful filmmaker and true cinematic icon, “an ideal ambassador for the South Florida film community whose achievements have had tremendous impact in the industry” as explained by Mr de Bokay in his introduction.

photographies courtesy of MWCC

Brett Ratner lead most of the evening non stop explaining with enthusiasm, passion, humor everything he could let us know about the most of his all life in 2 hours from his early days growing in the 70’s and 80’s in a smaller Miami Beach, his dreams about being a movie director since he was 8 years old, the short movies he did while studying at NYU Film school, his way to Hollywood fulfilling his dreams with multi-millions dollars production directing some of the most talented actors like Anthony Hopkins and Edward Norton in "Red Dragon" (Box office in the US $93,149,898) , Nicolas Cage in "Family Man" and in 2006 "X-Men, The Last Stand" (gross revenue worldwide total of $459,359,555).

Of course everybody loved his funny story about how he got the idea to cast Chris Tucker and Jackie Chang together for his hit movie "Rush Hour" (1998 gross revenue over $244 million worldwide) .
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Today he is one of the most accomplished blockbuster Hollywood filmmaker and a passionate photographer and there is still so much he wants to accomplish: “I was a fearless kid, in filmmaking, it's drive, preparation and perseverance that count, I am still fearless".

The audience was entertained under his spell and incredible charm during the all event totally seduced by his extraordinary talent as a story teller, enjoying and laughing most of the time at the funny anecdotes he loved to recall along the memory lane while some excerpts of his short movies or music videos were screened as visual guide of his incredible stories.

Brett Ratner explained how interesting was the work done at Miami World Cinema Center to help young people and students get hands on experience about filmmaking, a very good initiative he totally supports as he explained nothing like that existed when he started his career “ nowadays you can put a great film up on internet and be discovered. When I was growing up, there was no way to do that”
Brett Ratner, Jose luis Martinez, Students at MWCC
Patrick de Bokay, Brett Ratner, Ms de Bokay

After the conversation Miami Beach City Commissioner Michael Gongora presented Brett Ratner with a City of Miami Beach proclamation designating May 13 “Brett Ratner Day” in Miami Beach.
According to the tradition a dinner was thrown in his honor by his close childhood friend and “Big Brother” Shareef Malnik at his restaurant The Forge.
Brett Ratner receiving a Proclamation from Miami Beach Commissioner Michael Gongora and Patrick de Bokay

During the dinner Brett Ratner sat and chat with friends, family member and celebrities among which movie star and Burn Notice actress Gabriella Anwar, tennis player Serena Williams, activist Anthony Shriver, Lady Gaga’s producer Walter Millsap, Kenneth Crear (Janet Jackson manager) and photographer Bruce Weber.

Brett Ratner, Nancy Bush, photographer Bruce Weber, Jose Luis Martinez creative director MWC

2011 NAPTE CONTENT FIRST : ALL ABOUT TELEVISION

TV Anchor, TV personalities, TV Hosts, Telenovela stars were at The Fontainebleau Hotel January 24-26 2011 to celebrate Venevision’s 50th birthday with some of the most important players in the TV industry gathered in Miami Beach for 2011 NAPTE: Content Only, Market and Conference.

Annual NATPE Conference & Exhibition recognized throughout the world as a key media event is the only American program market serving the worldwide television community alike since 1964 the French world leading content market MIP-TV and since 1984 MIP-Com in Cannes France.

President and CEO of NATPE, Rick Feldman announced an increase of approximately 22% with 4,504 register attendees this year over registered attendance at NATPE last year with one explanation that the relocation from Las Vegas to Miami Beach has attracted more European and Latin American buyers, visitors and attendees than usual with 67 countries represented.
“With a diverse array of programs featuring some of the industry’s most prominent leaders in advertising, broadcast and new media, NATPE Miami will be a vibrant and engaging forum for every facet of the content community,” Feldman remarked while announcing the highlights of 2011 NATPE Conference.

Among attendance celebrity Osmel Sousa President of Miss Venezuela Organization and judge of TV show Nuestra Belleza Latina-Our Latin Beauty on Univision TV. -Merelisa Gibson

Osmel Sousa took the presidency of the Miss Venezuela Organization in 1981 and since then a large number of Miss Venezuela has became Miss World, Miss Universe Miss International and Miss Earth, O.Sousa was giving interviews and introducing some of the smiling Miss he has been working with helping them reach the top. With him that evening: Stefanie Fernandez Miss Venezuela 2008 and Miss Universe 2009, Dayana Mendoza Miss Venezuela 2007 and Miss Universe 2008 who also model for MaxMara, Versace and Cavalli, Merelisa Gibson Miss Venezuela 2009 and Vanessa Golcalve Miss Venezuela 2010 and pageant for Miss Universe 2011 in July. And they will come back next year!

POLO PONIES AT FULL SPEED ON THE SANDY BEACH FOR AMG MIAMI BEACH POLO WORLD CUP

The ponies are back on the beach with some of the world’s top polo players ready to play beach polo competition on the sands of Miami Beach during the upcoming 6th edition of The AMG Miami Beach Polo World Cup in April.

The traditional sport of polo is a team sport played on horseback between 2 teams of 4 riders and their mount using a long-handled mallet to kick a white plastic or leather ball at full gallop on a grass field of 300 yards long, like in most team sports the winning team is the one that has scored the most goals against the opposite team under the control of 2 mounted officials referee called umpires.

Put that way polo looks quite simple, but this game reported to have started in the royal courts of ancient Persia about 2500 years ago to train the king’s guard or the elite cavalry was said to be a miniature battle.

Today the former sport of warriors is a popular sport and a lifestyle, a game played in beautiful country clubs around the world in more than 80 countries and recently recognized by the International Olympic Committee.

Polo player can be professional but polo is unique among team sports in that amateur players most of time the team patrons usually owns the ponies, hire the pros and play alongside the sport's top professionals in the same team.

The AMG Miami Beach Polo World Cup on the sand in an slightly different version than the traditional polo game brings this year eight teams of women players and six teams of men players prepared to compete on the sunny shores by teams of three riders on a smaller playing area than regular polo field making it faster than on grass field with non-stop end-to-end action.

More entertaining and more exciting for the audience closer to the field and the action, beach polo is also more physical for both the ponies and their riders, therefore the game usually consists of four period of play of 6 minutes called chukka or chukker where ends are changed at the end of each chukka and not after a goal is scored.

And because the well trained thoroughbred horse accounts for 60 to 75 percent of the player's skill often between chukkas players switch to fresh ponies for a better chance to win the match.

Of course in Miami Beach it takes a whole different level. Spectators come not only for the polo competition but also to enjoy music, cocktails, good food, networking and mingling with polo aficionados, internationally renown polo players as well as local celebrities, all this being definitively part of the backdrop for the weekend’s polo tournaments and a good way to broaden public participation in this often said exclusive sport.

Every year the AMG Miami Beach Polo World Cup is a huge success on the beach where polo has a long tradition since 1919 when developper Carl Fisher openned the first polo field on the grounds of The Flamingo Park for the rich and famous to play their favorite sport in Miami Beach.
Information: Federation of International Polo, Federation Francaise de Polo

GOOD REASONS TO COME ENJOY MIAMI BEACH

If Miami Beach a little island of 7,1 square miles is one of the most amazing tourist destination in the world with about 8 millions visitors per year coming to enjoy everything the city has to offer from museums, cultural events, art exhibits like Art Basel Miami Beach, Winter Music Conference, major Film Festival, sports tournaments, boat and yacht show, shopping, Food and Wine Festival, hotels, lifestyle and nightlife, there must be some good reasons.

One can think no wonder with all the sun, beaches, parties, amazing people, this tropical resort is the place everyone want to come to play a part and enjoy a stay, but there is more for that would not be enough in a XXI century global economy with fierce worldwide competition.

The “million dollar sandbar” incorporated in 1915 and developed to be the world’s playground is still a all year round tropical paradise with about 229 restaurants, 72 bars and lounges, 22 night-clubs and 140 hotels for a total of 14,372 hotel rooms generating an approximative revenue of 787,555,687 Millions dollars in sales and 948,336,198 Million dollars revenue in food and beverage ( http://www.miamibeachfl.gov/ Statistics).

All those restaurants and hotels have incredible decoration and atmosphere, quality and inspiration are in every details, creativity from some of the world top designers and architects working together with the most influential and exclusive group of hospitality owners, operators and design professionals that dominates the market.

The choice is so diverse between small Art Deco hotels to Boutique hotels, luxury and exclusive hotels, chic resort hotels and mega hotel complex, even membership–only

hotels like Casa Casuarina The Villa

or the newly opened Soho Beach House Hotel you really find the latest trend and your favorite choice.

Just to speak about the hotel industry, it is no surprise the one billion dollars renovation in 2008 for The Fontainebleau Hotel

or the 400 millions for the recently opened W Hotel, the 40 millions for the restoration of the Betsy Hotel or the beauty of iconic and now classic Delano Hotel, among others, are mostly about upgrading comfort level, decoration, materials, fabrics and furniture which create the ambiance of each place.

Not to mention some incredible piece of art often displayed in the lobbies, The Fontainebleau Hotel used to have a Yves Klein Monochrome Blue bust sculpture next to the reception desk,

the W Hotel displays in its hallway the owners’ art collection consisting of Jean Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring, Richard Prince, Andy Warhol,

(photo courtesy W Hotel Miami Beach)

Damien Hirst pieces all waiting for the customers to stare at it on the marble wall, and everybody loves the African masks at The Delano Hotel in the outdoor restaurant where they have been a symbol of the hotel for more than 15 years.

The goal of the 2010 Hospitality Design Boutique Exposition & Conference (HD Boutique) is said “ …to reflects the energy and the influences of Miami Beach where Latin, South, and North America converge and act as a barometer of what’s happening in hospitality ”, as a tradeshow where leading hospitality design professionals could find the best design elements from both the largest manufacturers to the most exquisite artisans, providing with an inspiring array of ideas and products as appliances, bed, bedding, fabric, flooring, furniture, seating, signage, tables, tabletops products, wall coverings or window treatment.

There professionals can expect to find top quality goods and innovation products like 100% cotton or 100% wool hypoallergenic carpet with soft colors to walk on barefoot, the very same plus the logo Chanel Chanel puts under their customers’ foot in their boutiques same does Ralph Lauren in the company stores in Sweden.

Sooner or later in one of Miami's finest hotel,

you might also find at the exhibit beautiful outdoors chairs from Italy, gorgeous “tailored textures” for wallpapers from New Jersey and the finest world collection of quality leather for furniture, curtains, carpet or wallpaper for residential, hospitality, aircraft, and marine use in amazing colors from the premier European brand of luxury leather for upholstery a must-see and if possible a must-have .

At the Boutique and Lifestyle Hospitality Awards Ceremony including Michael Depatie CEO of Kimpton Hotels, Jim Chu Senior V.P of Hyatt Place, John Russell CEO NYLO Hotel for a brief presentation on the state of the hospitality business two awards were given to hospitality groups in Miami Beach: the Boutique Hotel of the Year Award to The Clifton Hotel and an Award to The Morgans Hotels Group with The Delano, Mondrian and Shore Club Hotel in South Beach.

On the same day everybody was eagerly waiting for the Nobu Hotels’ Team presentation not that actor Robert de Niro one of the Nobu’s shareholder for 20 years was announced on the panel but because Nobu has become one of the top world food experience, the most successful luxury restaurants in the world with 23 restaurants in 15 countries referred to as a Japonese restaurant turned into a culinary phenomenon with 3 million customers each year and Meir Teper co-founder of Nobu, Struan Mc Kenzie COO Nobu Hotels and Trevor Horwell CEO Nobu Hotels were to present their new project.

Nobu Hospitality announced the launch of a small luxury exclusive chain of hotels the Nobu Collection to be opened soon in different places around the world, and certainly soon in Miami Beach with this precision in a former interview given by Robert de Niro: a great hotel is about “ service, comfort and warmth. I am not crazy about hotels that are cold ”.

Well the atmosphere will certainly be hot when Chef Nobu Matsuhisa will make a culinary appearance during the 10th anniversary of the South Beach Food and Wine Festival on February 25th, 2011 at The Fontainebleau Hotel.

At the same time the hospitality business was having its summit, a major announcement for a new airline between Europe and Miami was made jointly by American Airlines and AirBerlin the second largest airline in Germany with 8,700 employees and more than 10 awards for service and quality in 2009.

The fifth largest European carrier AirBerlin increases its presence in the US market with the launch of a new route Miami-Berlin and the start of codeshare flights with oneworld© alliance member American Airlines as of November 2010.

For Air Berlin with 28 million passengers in 2009 carried around worldwide in 165 aircrafts to over 160 destinations in 40 countries it was time says Ceo Joachim Hunold for the company “to go global with the best possible service at a fair price ” as for American Airlines Florida Caribbean and Latin America Managing Director Peter Vittori “American’s Miami Hub growth and expansion since 1989 is one of the most remarkable success stories in the history of commercial aviation ”!

MIA-Miami International Airport’s international arrivals saw the 2010 July’s greatest increases with 853,229 international passengers, a 7% augmentation compared to July 2009 and in 2010 set a new all-time record for annual passengers traffic with 35,6 millions passengers with 16,89 millions international passengers, that's a lot of people for the pool party!

SINGER MATISYAHU UNPLUGGED

Wether at night club venue like Set, The Vagabond or The Florida Room singer Matisyahu often comes to perform in Miami Beach always playing in front of a large audience in always packed room.

Therefore it was again a sold out concert for “Matisyahu Unplugged” in February 2011 at The Adrienne Arscht Center for the Perfoming Arts when Matisyahu decided to be on an empty stage alone with his friend Adam Weinberg, a classical guitar player, for an acoustic show made of songs from different records.

Though the show started late it was an immediate success and a round of applause when Matisyahu who had missed the sound check in the afternoon because of his observance of Shabbat started the mic check and guitar tuning while speaking to the audience, setting the mood of a two hours intimate show between talk show and Q & A with the public sometimes asking people to help him with some of the lyrics he pretend he would have forgotten and then taking back the control of the theater as soon as he thought it would be best for his next song .

Despite the appearance of an unprepared impromptu performance everyone could enjoy an incredible great professional artist playing without a setlist upon request of the audience with a huge sense of humor, explaining here or there the reasons for such song often wrote according to his religious beliefs or his different musical influence.

And a deep silence of obvious admiration accompanied the musical skills of Matisyahu, his unbelievable skills of beatboxing or his equally unbelievable pure crystal voice when singing a capella.

No band, no decor, no special lighting but a truly spiritual peaceful experience through a musical journey half song, half talk, half jam mixing different sources of music influence hip hop, rock, rap, jazz and of course reggae, nobody else can do so cool and entertaining.

Just a fantastic magical authentic artist.

Matisyahu will be back in Florida in Miami Beach during his Summer Tour where he is scheduled to appear on August 25,2011 at The Fillmore - Jackie Gleason Theater.