March 14, 2018

Event Marketing Case Study: The James Beard Foundation

Cashman & Associates was hired by Visit Philadelphia to design and execute a diverse and robust special events program surrounding the 2018 James Beard Foundation Awards Nominee Announcement, taking place for the first time in one of the nation’s most celebrated culinary cities – Philadelphia.

Over the course of two (2) days, C&A planned and executed two (2) large scale events – a 120-person benefit dinner at Osteria that raised $25,000.00 for the Foundation and a 150+ person press conference and breakfast at Parc to announce the 2018 James Beard Award Nominees.

C&A coordinated all aspects for each of the two events, including but not limited to: national & local sponsor procurement; floor plan creation; décor; A/V; food & beverage menu selection; budget management; VIP guest list management; run-of-show management, including speaking program creation; onsite support and staffing day-of; and securing day-of and post-event publicity.

Guests included Philadelphia’s food & beverage connoisseurs, James Beard Foundation stakeholders, critically acclaimed local and national chefs, Visit Philadelphia board members and key stakeholders and dozens and Philadelphia’s movers & shakers.

VIP guests included 2017 James Beard Award Winners Greg Vernick (Vernick Food & Drink), Michael Solomonov (Zahav) and Stephen Starr (STARR Restaurants); 2018 James Beard Award Semifinalists Camille Cogswell (Zahav), Pat O’Malley and Scott Schroeder (Hungry Pigeon), Ellen Yin (High St. Hospitality), Nicholas Elmi (Laurel), Richard Landau and Katie Jacoby (Vedge); President & CEO of the James Beard Foundation, Claire Reichenbach; President & CEO of Visit Philadelphia Meryl Levitz; 2010 James Beard Award Winner Jeff Michaud (Osteria) and Chef-Partner Michael Schulson (Schulson Collective); and dozens of local media including Food & Wine, Zagat Philadelphia, the Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia Magazine, Philadelphia Style and Eater Philly to name a few.