Media-Whore D'Oeuvres

"Monday night, the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) and the FIT Foundation hosted their annual gala at Cipriani 42nd Street. They honored longtime supporter George Kaufman (chairman, Kaufman Organization), Kay Krill (president and chief executive officer, ANN INC.), and Stefano Tonchi (editor-in-chief, W magazine). This was a fashion affair – obviously – and the women dressed for the occasion. The annual gala benefits the FIT Educational Development Fund, which provides scholarship, technology, and student services support, among other priorities. This evening raised $1.2 million ... Tony Bennett, a longtime family friend, presented George Kaufman with his award. Supermodel Karolina Kurkova presented Ms. Krill with her award. In her acceptance she announced that ANN INC. has committed to endow a full year scholarship that will be awarded annually to a student with a passion for designing fashion for women. Actress Jessica Chastain presented to Stefano Tonchi his award. The gala also showcased a video installation titled Orbit Art Work by Jennifer Steinkamp. The evening’s chairs were Pamela Baxter, president and CEO, LVMH Perfumes and Cosmetics; Joy Herfel Cronin, group president, menswear and children’s wear, Ralph Lauren; Julie Greiner, chief merchandise planning officer, Macy’s, Inc.; Yaz Hernandez, trustee, FIT Board of Trustees; Jane Hertzmark Hudis, global brand president, Estée Lauder; and Liz Peek, chair, FIT Board of Trustees." (NYSocialDiary)

"The first thing you notice when you walk into the Electronic Entertainment Expo—E3 to those in the know—is the volume. It’s an eardrum-rattling, goose-bump-inducing, I-hate-my-neighbors sort of noise. It’s the noise comes from a thousand video games played all at once and at full volume: soldiers spraying clip after M16 clip, kung fu masters battling to the death, genetically altered monsters marauding through post-apocalyptic cities. There are less grating, almost pleasant sounds, too—a touchdown cheer in a football game, for instance—but you really have to listen for them. Video games, especially those big-budget commercial releases for the Sony Playstation and Microsoft Xbox, are famously (some would say notoriously) violent. But, of course, the on-screen fighting is all make believe. It’s in the boardrooms and cubicles of the $60 billion video-game industry where you find the real carnage. Case in point: Titanfall, a sci-fi shoot-’em-up,that was shown off for the first time yesterday morning at a Microsoft press conference. The release is among the year’s most hotly anticipated, and it represents an end to a bloody corporate battle that pitted the brash C.E.O. of the world’s largest video-game publisher, Activision Blizzard’s Robert Kotick, against two of the industry’s most successful game developers, Call of Duty creators Vincent Zampella and Jason West. The fight, which would ultimately involve allegations of corporate espionage, intimidation, and fraud, was all the more strange because Kotick’s collaboration with West and Zampella, who founded Respawn in 2010 after leaving Activision, had been one of the most lucrative in the game industry’s 40-year history. West and Zampella’s last title for Activision, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2—a military simulation that takes players through Russian gulags, Brazilian favelas, and a besieged Washington, D.C.—went on sale at midnight on November 10, 2009, and within 24 hours had sold nearly five million copies. Its first-day gross, $310 million, easily topped that of any movie, book, album, or other video game that went on sale that year. In a triumphant press release, Kotick, their boss at the time, called it 'the largest entertainment launch in history.' By January, Modern Warfare 2 had surpassed $1 billion in gross sales." (VanityFair)