Best Industry Parties of 2013
By Lucas on Dec 12, 2013
We may be biased, but we must say, the homebuilding industry probably throws some of the best parties. We attended many this year, so it’s time to take another stroll down memory lane and highlight some of 2013’s best!
Listed below in chronological order are some of our favourite parties of the year:
Wendel Clark at King Blue Condos
When King Blue Condos by Easton’s Group first launched, they held a special preview event, which included a fashion show featuring designs by Easton Group’s own Reetu Gupta, and it was well attended and fully catered. That was a great event, and we wondered how they were going to outdo themselves for the public opening. Well, they got former Toronto Maple Leaf Wendel Clark to come by and sign some King Blue hockey pucks. When was the last time you went to a grand opening and a Maple Leaf was there to greet you?
During the summer, RAW Design hosted their annual industry party atop a parking garage at 211 Adelaide Street West in Toronto. Hundreds of professionals from the design and architecture community came out for it. The theme of the party was the power of people, to remind the industry that technology isn’t the only force behind the growth of cities. The entire party was powered by cyclists and a human-sized hamster wheel, and a number of food vendors were preparing food on the spot; one of them even mixed drinks with a cycle powered blender! Rooftop in the summer + designers and architects + amazing food + great music + people-powered installations = one of the best parties of 2013.
In celebration of the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), The Daniels Corporation hosted a White Night Gala in the lobby of the under construction Cinema Tower. The theme for this one is pretty obvious - everyone had to wear white! Daniels laid out the red carpet, white treats like marshmallow-pops and popcorn were served, and the model suites up on the 13th floor were open for touring. Over 350 people came out for the night, and now we know how many people can fit in the Cinema Tower lobby if need be.
Painting group Ladies of the Brush consists of Angie DeGasperis, Grace Bruno D’Alessandro, Mary Gabriele, and Nikki Anderson. For years, they painted for the pure joy of it, never selling their masterpieces, until one day, they found a cause worth painting for. The Nanny Angel Network (NAN) is an organization committed to providing in-home professional childcare support for mothers and families suffering and recovering from cancer. An auction sponsored by OPUS Homes and many other members of the building industry was held at Copper Creek Golf Club in Vaughan to raise money for NAN. There were over 50 paintings available that night and they raised $80,000! Wine and food was served, a professional auctioneer ran the show, and the proceeds went to an amazing cause - it doesn’t get much better than that.
“The Journey: A Living History of the Regent Park Revitalization”
Okay, so this wasn’t really a party, but it’s probably the first time the president of a development company wrote an original theatrical production about one of their revitalization projects. Mitchell Cohen of The Daniels Corporation wrote a musical about Regent Park’s past, present and future, and it was performed at the Daniels Spectrum. The performance starred Canadian jazz veteran Jackie Richardson and members of the Regent Park community. The amount of talent on stage really made it a night to remember.
These are just a few of the amazing parties we attended this year. We can’t wait to see what 2014 holds, party-wise.
