When the invitation came through to our office we squealed with excitement! An EXCLUSIVE evening hosted by American Express and Michael Fazio, Concierge extraordinaire from NYC no less, at the very cool Thompson Hotel in Toronto (extra squeals when we spotted the most adorable baby, with his parents, in the lobby decked out in a baby lumber jacket). We didn't know just how exclusive it was until the PR pros told us only 30 people were on the tight guest list. Ok..now we're talking! 30 of the MOST INFLUENTIAL SOCIAL MEDIA bloggers to be exact. Of course UrbanMoms.ca is ON this list!
The event is part of AMEX UNSTAGED series that gives Cardmembers special access to unique lifestyle experiences. It showcases some of the music industry's most breakthrough artists playing at landmark venues around the world, while engaging with some of today's most influential film-makers to direct the live-streams to the live shows in unexpected ways. This event featured COLDPLAY in Madrid. Yes...insert additional squeals here!
We were greeted with Sangria (carrying through the Spanish theme, natch), treated to nibblies and then a full sit down meal. I leaned into Coveted Magazine's editor Rhonda Riche seated to the left and said "doesn't this feel like a family dinner only taking it up a notch with the coolest band streaming in the background?" and throughout the dinner we glance at each other and the other bloggers in the room while putting our forks down to tweet to #AmexunstagedCAD about the experience. The beauty of social media!
Michael Fazio introduced the evening with his hilarious stories and experiences as a concierge and about taking those extra steps to do the job but always going beyond expectations. He's here also plugging his tell-all book "Concierge Confidential" ..I quickly flipped through and noticed a Hall of Shame list starting with Sarah Jessica Parker??? Hmmm....
It was apparent that the American Express takes social media quite seriously - every detail of this event did not miss a beat. Service was impeccable. Social chatter was worthwhile for both guests and hosts. They mentioned several times that AMEX always goes that extra step with their customer service and exceeding expectations.
Ok..so, what really hit the ball out of the park for me? This morning I woke up and remember that I got a parting gift from the event...a copy of the book (awesome!), Coldplay's new CD (woohoo!), a box of all the elements to make my own Sangria (yum!)...but what was the coolest? My name was printed right on the tote bag..saying "at American Express we don't see you as a number, we see you as a person". Definitely exceeded expectations!!! It's those fine details that I will be talking about for days!
And by the way...even though we were watching it on live-stream here in Canada it was good to know that the weather in Madrid was only 12C and drizzly too!
Coldplay Unstaged was directed by Anton Corbijn and live-streamed globally from Plaza de Toros de Las Ventas in Madrid. Coldplay fans will be able to enjoy the rebroadcast immediately following the livestream for 10 continuous hours at www.youtube.com/coldplayVEVO
Other AMEX UNSTAGED SERIES EVENTS include:
Arcade Fire directed by Terry Gilliam
John Legend & The Roots directed by Spike Lee
Sugarland directed by Kenny Ortega
Duran Duran directed by David Lynch
My Morning Jacket directed by Todd Haynes
That sounds like it was made of Awesome, Sonya! Tres cool!!
So...if you're an Amex card holder how do you get to go to these events? I love Coldplay!!!!