BuffyFest Drives a Stake Into Comic Con in New Orleans

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Parent Category: Expos and Conventions

Category: Previews

Published on Monday, 17 January 2011 07:27

Written by Eric Grunes

James Marsters, Julie Benz, Nicholas Brendon, Clare Kramer, James Leary, and Kelly Donovan who portrayed beloved characters in Buffy: the Vampire Slayer will appear at the Wizard World New Orleans Comic Con, January 29-30, 2011 at the New Orleans' Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. The six guests will greet fans and participate in panels and discussions that highlight their roles in popular Joss Whedon television series such as Buffy: the Vampire Slayer and Angel.

Gareb Shamus, CEO of Wizard Entertainment, today announced the addition of New Orleans Comic Con to the world's largest pop culture convention series.  The event is scheduled for January 29-30, 2011, at the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center.

The event will be the first on the 2011 Wizard World Comic Con schedule, and the first Wizard World convention in “The Big Easy.”

“We followed the Super Bowl Champions all the way to New Orleans this year,” said Shamus.  “We are thrilled to come to the home of Mardi Gras, the Saints and World Famous Bourbon Street.  New Orleans is the perfect place to create the type of pop culture event called Wizard World.  We look forward to seeing all our fans there!”

The freshly renovated New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center is an essential component of what makes the city's major business events so successful. With 1.1 million square feet of contiguous exhibit space, the Convention Center is the sixth largest convention facility in the nation, and it consistently ranks in the country's top ten of facilities that hold the most conventions and tradeshows annually.

Marsters, who played the vampire Spike in both series, has been a popular guest at past Wizard World conventions. His TV credits also include recurring roles in Caprica and Smallville. An accomplished singer, Marsters also crossed the pond with a memorable recurring role as Captain John Hart in the hit BBC Doctor Who spinoff, Torchwood. He also was the voice of Lex Luthor in Superman: Doomsday.

Benz, also well known for her roles on Dexter, No Ordinary Family, and Desperate Housewives, portrayed Darla on Buffy and Angel. She has been a regular in several other television series, including Roswell and Hi Honey, I'm Home.

Brendon, who played Xander Harris, Buffy’s reliable and clown-fearing sidekick, has also been seen on Kitchen Confidential, Without a Trace and in a recurring role as Kevin Lynch in Criminal Minds.

His twin brother Donovan, who played Xander's sinister double Suave Xander Harris, has also had roles in Undressed and City Guys.

Kramer, an actress, producer and restaurateur, played Glory, the evil goddess with a fashion sense, in Buffy and recently completed production on two films, Endure and The Dead Ones . She starred with fellow Buffy/Angel alum Eliza “Faith” Dushku in the cheerleader film Bring It On and Tru Calling. She has also been a popular guest at numerous Wizard World events.

Leary played Clem and has appeared in several other movies and series.

About Wizard Entertainment:
Gareb Shamus founded Wizard Entertainment in 1991.  Today, Shamus publishes consumer magazines Wizard, ToyFare, FunFare and numerous books about pop-culture’s top talent, comic books and toys.  Shamus also produces the largest North American Comic Con tour.  Wizard World Comic Con – The Pop-Culture Capital of the World!

BuffyFest
New Orleans Comic Con
January 29 & 30
New Orleans Morial Convention Center
900 Convention Center Blvd.
New Orleans, LA 70130
504-582-3023

2011 Winter Fancy Food Show

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Parent Category: Expos and Conventions

Category: Previews

Published on Monday, 17 January 2011 05:31

Written by Lynne Shannon

The 36th NASFT 2011 Winter Fancy Food Show is running January 16-18, 2011 at Moscone Center in San Francisco, California, the West Coast's largest specialty food and beverage event.  

Here, in one place, are the largest selection, latest trends and most innovative products the specialty food industry has to offer. This year’s Winter Show is the largest yet at Moscone Center, with 1,300 exhibitors, 80,000 specialty foods and beverages from the U.S. and beyond, including more than 35 countries, and over 17,000 buyers expected.  

What's New, What's Hot! features three tracks:

What is New – a first look at innovations and potential trends. Some products introduced include:

Bourbon Vanilla SweetSticks (John Wm. Macy's Cheese Sticks)
Baked Lentil Chips (The Mediterranean Snack Food Company LLC)
Beanitos Bean Chips (Bean Brand Foods)
Pumpkin Spice Syrup (Blackberry Patch)
Renfro's Ghost Pepper Salsa (Renfro Foods, Inc.)
Savory Garlic Buffalo Wing (Yancey's Fancy Inc.)
Tortuga Turtles with Sea Salt (Tortuga Rum Cake Company)

California Caviar Company introduces two infused salmon roes, one of which is a BBQ Salmon Roe, which combines “the bold flavors of an outdoor BBQ with the refinement of caviar”.

CookieZen is the first gourmet cookie company to offer the unique Cookies & Corks tasting experience featuring bite-sized gourmet cookies packaged to pair with wine.

Royal Blue Tea Japan presents “CHAEN”, a premium bottled tea beverage, as a new development in tea culture.  “Royal Blue Teas are meant to be paired with gourmet foods, much the same as any fine wine... We...recommend using a wine glass to better admire the color, aroma and flavor of Royal Blue Tea products.”

Experts are detecting trends with:

• Exotic citrus
• Gluten-free foods
• Good-for-you foods
• Grains, nuts and seeds
• Indian flavors
• Nostalgic foods
• Premium vinegars
• Squash, pumpkin and sweet potato

Natural & Organic Foods – both new and new twists on old favorites, some of which are:

Brown Rice Noodles, Gochujang (Annie Chun's Inc.)
GoPicnic ready-to-eat meals (GoPicnic)
Gringo Jack's Loco Local Salsa (Gringo Corp)
Tillen's Natural Maraschinos (Metzger Specialty Brands, Inc.)
Wyoming Fireside Beef Goulash (Frontier Soups)

Gifts & Holiday – presents not only gift ideas, but products specially packaged and prepared for any thoughtful gesture. Included are:

Get Beached Margarita Mixer (Blue Crab Bay Co./Bay Beyond Inc.)
Holiday Gift Sets-Holiday Dips (Robert Rothschild Farm)
New Christmas Soda (Chicago Importing Co.)
Rosemary Parmesan Wafer Crisps (The Kitchen Table Bakers)
Truffle Salt, Truffle Honey (Sabatino USA., Inc.)

Tastings are offered for a diverse menu from cookies and cupcakes to wines, cocktails and “mocktails”.

The 2011 Winter Education Program covers such topics as:

• Tasting Meats & Charcuterie – Bring Home the Bacon!
• Going Organic: Understanding the Steps to Becoming Certified Organic
• How to $urvive a Recall With A Lot of Help From Your Friends

For further information, go to www.specialtyfood.com and select “Winter Fancy Food Show”.

NASFT Winter 2011 Fancy Food Show
January 16-18, 2011

Moscone Center
747 Howard Street
San Francisco, CA 94103
(415) 974-4000,
(415) 974-4073

Consumer Electronics Show 2011

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Parent Category: Expos and Conventions

Category: Previews

Published on Sunday, 09 January 2011 03:54

Written by Lynne Shannon

The 2011 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is running January 6-9, 2011 at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. Some events are also being held at the Las Vegas Hilton, the Venetian and the Renaissance Las Vegas hotels.

This is the largest consumer electronics trade show in the world, and this year’s event spares no effort to be even better than ever, on a variety of levels.

For openers, the keynote speakers include such leaders in the field as:

Steve Ballmer, Microsoft CEO, who kicks off the show with his keynote address.
Gary Shapiro, CEA President and CEO
Ivan Seidenberg, Verizon CEO

This year’s show marks the debut of a new program, "Entertainment Matters," to address the needs of Hollywood's film, television and digital communities. Sponsored by Variety and Cricket, this program is intended to unite the interests of both technology and content.

Numerous "Conference Tracks" have something for everyone, and indeed more than one thing for all, such as:

Digital Hollywood – the enormously popular track with such sessions as:

• Hollywood and the Digital Consumer: How Technology, Content and Services Establish the Next Level of Consumer Entertainment Experience
• Advertising Strategy, Expenditure and Analysis: Broadcast and Cable vs. the New Platforms
• Venture Funding, Investment & Mergers - Leadership in the Entertainment & Technology Space

Home Entertainment and Lifestyle Technologies – the track that discusses the ever-more tech-savvy consumers as they vote with their dollars:

• In Search of TV's Next Big Thing
• The Great Slate Debate
• It's a TV. It's a Computer. No, It's a...

Media Money Makers – a matter of interest to all, especially at the nexus of Hollywood, Madison Avenue, Wall Street and Silicon Valley:

• Variety Presents: Tech You Can Take to the Bank
• Way Over The Top: Connecting TVs to Revenue
• Artists As Entrepreneurs

Silvers Summit – one of the biggest battle cries of the Boomers back in the 60's was “change”.  The new frontier for Boomers now is aging, and they are revolutionizing that as well, as they absorb tech tools into many aspects of their daily lives. Sessions include:

• What Boomers Buy and Why
• The Power Technology in Senior Health
• Creating the Smart, Aware Home

Smartphone and Tablet Conference – the tomorrow-is-here-today tools that are redefining mobile communications:

• The Smartphone and Tablet Platform: Establishing the Personalized Entertainment and Communications Experience
• The HyperConnected Consumer - Mobile Device and Mobile Network - Integrating the Full PC Experience into a Personal Communications Device
• Video on the Smartphone and Tablet - Programming, Content Relationships, Dealmaking and Commerce

The free "SuperSessions" feature panels:

• Hollywood Creative Masters: A Media Money Makers SuperSession
• Got Game? The State of the Games Industry: View from the Top
• CNET's Next Big Thing: After the Computer
• Big Thinkers and Disruptive Technologies – Today's Thought Leaders, Tomorrow's Technologies
• One-on-One With FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski
• Consumer 360 – Gadgets Everywhere and the Role of Wireless

Again, the show includes "Last Gadget Standing," a competition to see just who demonstrates a product that is "most likely to change the face of technology.”

Celebrity guests include Tim Kring (Heroes), Gale Anne Hurd (Terminator), 50 Cent, Olivia Wilde (Tron), Kevin Pollack and the producers of Lost, and Rick Fox (NBA).

The Exhibit Hall especially is not to be missed, as myriad companies display and demo their newest, cutting edge products.

For more details go to www.cesweb.org.  

2011 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES)
January 6-9, 2011

Las Vegas Convention Center
3150 Paradise Rd
Las Vegas, Nevada
(702) 892-0711

Las Vegas Hilton Hotel
3000 Paradise Road
Las Vegas, Nevada
Toll Free: (888) 732-7117
Main Line (702) 732-5111