Past Events
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Over the period of 2005 to 2018, while working with Sir John Soane's Museum Foundation, Chas helped to produce more than 150 lectures/events/receptions in New York City and around the country, produced 39 patrons trips to Europe, Turkey, Argentina, Cuba and Japan, and organized 12 Gala Dinners highlighting the work of 24 great honorees. Below are 4 images with links to further details on some of these activities.
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| The Union Club, New York: The Duke of Devonshire in Conversation with artist Jacob van der Beugel on a permanent installation at Chatsworth. This was part of THE GREAT COLLECTORS series of talks. Click on the image to go to a page with VIDEOS from several talks and projects of the Soane Foundation. |
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| Over the years, the Soane Foundation has hosted an amazing aray of speakers like Philippe de Montebello, Barry Bergdoll and many others. |
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| The Rainbow Room glows for a Soane Foundation Gala Dinner. The Soane has held eight dinner there - and Chas previously organized dinners there for Global Green USA, The Olana Partnership and others. |
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| SOANE FOUNDATIONS HONORS are presented each year at the annual Gala Dinner. Left image: Honoree David Adjaye (R) with Presenters Adam Lerner and Thelma Golden; Image right: Thomas Heatherwick and Annabelle Selldorf. Click on the image to go to a Soane Foundation page on gala honorees. |
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| Additional Past Projects and Events
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A Night at a Museum...
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NEWPORT, RHODE ISLAND
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Location: Newport Art Museum's John N. A. Griswold House, originally designed by Richard Morris Hunt and completed in 1864.
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Occasion: Visit by Tim Knox, Director of the Ftizwilliam Museum at Cambridge University. UPDATE 2018: Tim Knox has been appointed to head the Royal Trust Collection.
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| Table set for 14 guests. Flowers by Paul Erkhart of Broadway Floral. |
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| Place card designs by Birch Coffey; Calligraphy by Judith Ness |
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| Catering by Russell Morin |
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| Photo: Barbara Kinney |
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| The press has labeled it. . . .
The Wedding of the Decade
or
The Wedding of the Century
or even
The Wedding of the Millennium
Chas Miller and Birch Coffey served as the Owners Representatives at the property assisting, working over the course of the months ahead - then the two weeks of set-up - and during the events, for this beautifully executed and lovely gathering of family and friends.
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| The facade of Astor Courts on the evening of the wedding rehearsal |
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| Photo from AP - Aerial shot. The large white-roof structure is a special purpose built tent building and complex to hold the 600+ guests. |
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| The view from the front lawn of the Hudson River and the Catskills on the evening of the rehearsal. |
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SIR JOHN SOANE'S MUSEUM FOUNDATION
ANNUAL GALA DINNERS
Here are some pictures of one of my favorite's that was held at 583 PARK and featured a huge wall projection. For more on the Soane Foundation, please go to SoaneFoundation.com
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| 2013 Gala at 583 PARK |
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| 2013 dramatic wall projection of J.M. Gandy image |
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| Part of the original larger image - this was used as the wall projection in 2013 |
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| 2010 |
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The Soane Foundation's Annual Gala Dinner Dance. Here are the amazing three-dimensional invitation covers designed by Robert Van Nutt. Click on an image to go to the Gala page for details and pictures of each event.
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| 2009 |
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| 2012 |
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| 2011 |
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COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK
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ENGAGE. DEBATE. CELEBRATE.
The Columbia Alumni Association gathers alumni, faculty, world leaders and great thinkers for a three-day weekend of discussion and celebration for the European launch of the Columbia Alumni Association.
WHO ARE WE? A CAA Forum on Globalization, Arts and Media featured Saturday day-time sessions with:
Her Majesty Queen Rania Al-Abdullah, The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan (regrettably, she had to cancel just days before)
Kofi Annan
Carol Becker
Lee C. Bollinger
Susan Fuhrman
Nicholas Lemann
Michael Oreskes
Jeffrey Sachs
Richard Sambrook
Joseph Stiglitz
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Attendees came from 30 countries to join together in Paris for this first global gathering.
This Paris event was held one-year from the date of the launch of THE COLUMBIA CAMPAIGN.
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The organizing team for this amazing gathering was numerous... however two need to be singled out: Karen A. Sendler, my leader and comrade on all aspects of this event - and a colleague I first met four-years ago related to my very first assignment for Columbia (the dinner with HRH Duke of York, Prince Andrew, celebrating the end of Columbia's 250th Anniversary Celebration). We worked under the direction of Eric J. Furda, Vice President, University Development and Alumni Relations. It was an pleasure to work with them and all the members of the Columbia Alumni Association team, plus the Office of Presidential and University Events, and our Paris team members with Publicis Consultants and Publicis Events. Also working tirelessly in Paris on our behalf was Christophe Knox, President of the Columbia Club of France and Julien Regnault, Vice President of the Club.
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| SATURDAY - La Bourse, also known as Palais Brongniart, was completed in 1825 and served for many years as the stock exchange. While it still functions as the headquarters for Euronext... the main portions of the building now serve as a conference center. This was the perfect venue for our Saturday daytime events and luncheon. |
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| 600 seats waiting for guests... |
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| .. not my best shot... but action on the stage. |
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| FRIDAY - the day before the CAA Forum was an afternoon of events at Columbia's Reid Hall and that night the festivities got off to a grand start with six cocktail receptions around town for alumni of various schools plus a Paris Host Committee Cocktail that was hosted in the Penthouse and Garden Terrace of Publicis, the French consulting firm we'd worked with. Their headquarters building on the Avenue des Champs Elysees has the best view of the spectacular moment, the Arc de Triomphe.
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| The welcome carpet is out for us at the Grande Galerie. |
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| SATURDAY NIGHT - Over 700 alumni and friends gathered at Le Grande Galerie de l'Evolution which is adjacent to the famed Jardin des Plantes and is all part of Le Muséum National d'Histoire. The building was originally constructed for the Exposition Universelle of 1889 - the same year the Effel Tower was completed to be the centerpiece of the expo.
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| An interior shot during a walk-thru. |
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BREAKFAST in NEW YORK
LUNCH in LONDON
DINNER in HONG KONG
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The Global Launch in September 2006 of
THE COLUMBIA CAMPAIGN
with simulaneous events in three cities
and connected by inneractive satelite.
The campaign goal was to
raise $4 billion dollars -
which was achieved!
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As part of an amazing team working for months to pull together this global multifaceted event... by late August with just weeks to go before 29 September, it was decided that I should do site visits to finalize many of the details for the dinner in HONG KONG and the lunch in LONDON.
Thus in the middle of dealing with details details details, I headed off flying to San Francisco to connect to HONG KONG. Then from there after 2 nights, I touched down in Bangkok, changed planes in Bahrain, and arrived in LONDON for 3 nights, before heading home to JFK.
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| HONG KONG - By day it is one tower amongst many, the Conrad Hotel at night is a beacon of light. |
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| HONG KONG - the old Star Ferry Terminal in Kowloon, since demolished... looks toward Hong Kong Island. |
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| HONG KONG - While staying there, besides ultra hummid weather and rains, we also had an earthquake... thankfully no damage. |
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| NEW YORK - Command Central - a $6 million plus trailer for the satelite, video and audio was located in Wein Courtyard adjacent to Jerome Greene Hall. At the command of the AV and Prodcution was Jeffrey A. Szmulewicz, Director of Columbia's Center for Biomedical / AV Services. |
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| NEW YORK - Set up underway... |
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| Ready and waiting... |
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| NEW YORK live with Trustee Chair William V. Campbell... and with LONDON soon to join on screen left and HONG KONG llive on screen right. |
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| A long central bar divides the Low Rotunda in half, with cocktails on this side, and then dinner tables and stage for panel dicussion on the other side. |
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NEW YORK - Columbia hosted a 3-day conference on "Goverance, Dispute Settlement and Developing Countries" with the opening night Gala Dinner & Discussion at Low Memorial Library as part of the 10th Year Anniversary Celebration of the World Trade Organization.
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| WOW - what an amazing look for the exterior of Low Memorial Library - 30 November 2006. Photo credit: photographer unknown to me... |
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| Columbia University
in the City of New York
What an amazing event was held as a collaborative evening with The Metropolitan Opera to salute the new production,
THE FIRST EMPEROR
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| Daytime roll out of the red carpet. |
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| 10am it sure doesn't look like a party. Amazing how in 8 hours, transformations take place! |
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| Lanterns ready for hanging. |
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| In the space designer Marc Wilson mounted three tall stands with a wagon-wheel like structure at the top for the hanging of the lanterns. |
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| Daylight doesn't do them justice. |
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| Another professional WOW shot. Lighting by FROST LIGHTING. Photographer unknown to me... |
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| The interior of Low Memorial Library designed by the firm of McKim Mead & White. |
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| Here are some shots at Columbia University in the City of New York - where I have served as Senior Events Consultant since 2004.
Here, first up in academic year 2005-2006 was the World Leaders Forum, now in its third year at Columbia. Heads of state and foreign ministers are invited to speak to students, faculty and friends while they are in NYC attnending the United Nations General Assemby. This year we had 9 leaders over the course of a week. I coordinated a reception for the President Tarja Halonen of the Republic of Finland, a reception for the President Aleksander Kwaśniewski of the Republic of Poland, a seated lunch for the President Pervez Musharraf and First Lady of Pakistan, a reception for the President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela (who had cancled 30 minutes prior to the start of his talk due to a ongoing meeting at the UN...), a reception for the President Jalal Talabani of Iraq, and a reception for the President Alhaji Ahmad Tejan Kabbah of the Sierra Leone.
More news to come . . .
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| A classically elegant table set for the luncheon honoring President Pervez Musharraf and the First Lady of Pakistan. |
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Here are some shots at Columbia University in the City of New York - where I worked on over 48 events during the Academic Year 2004-2005 . . .
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| Low Memorial Library of Columbia University is the site of many prestigous events. |
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| HRH Prince Andew addresses the dinner audience at the close of the C250 Celebration - commemorating Columbia's 250th Anniversary of the founding of King's College which became Columbia after the American revolution. |
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| Presentation cakes by Glorious Food. |
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| The Rotunda of Low Memorial Library is prepared for a taping of ABC's The People Speak. |
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| Moderator: Geroge Stephanopoulos with panelists Dan Senor, former spokesman for the U.S. in Iraq, Chilean Ambassador to the United Nations Heraldo Munoz, Former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, along with Columbia President Lee C. Bollinger and UN Foundation President Timothy E. Wirth. |
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| Swifty's Catering Director Jay Jolly outside Low on his cell following up on details. |
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| Like much of the campus, the President's House was designed by famed architectural firm McKim Mead and White. |
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| At the President's Holiday Party - Qimmah Saafir, Buff Kavelman, Natasha Lambropoulos and . . . |
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| The Rotunda at Low set for a big reception. The catering was orchestraed by David Castle of Sonnier & Castle. |
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| Another day, another event - plates awaiting dressing before a lunch. |
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FORWARDMILLER LLC
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formerly FORWARD MILLER & COMPANY LTD.
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The Olana Partnership
celebrates the
40th Anniversary
of saving the historic home, studio and property of 19th century landscape painter Frederic Church...
and the creation as one of the premier historic sites open to the public.
The evening was held at the famed Rainbow Room with table decor orchestrated by JODY HARRIS in colaboration with Chas Miller.
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| The view south from the 65th Floor of the GE Building of Rochefeller Center towards the Empire State Building. |
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| The rooms glows awaiting guests. |
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| Low silver votive holders reflect the candle light beautifully off the elegant tall square'ish silver containers holding seasonal red apples and roses. Thank you Jody - she was challenged when the wrong silver containers had been delivered, these being 3 inches bigger than planned. When you x3 inches by all the tables, that takes a lot more flowers and apples... but good planning won out - and they were spectucular for this event! |
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ASTOR COURTS - Rhinebeck NY
Featured on the Front Page of the HOME Section of The New York Times.
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Up in the Hudson Valley...
Chas Miller started consulting with longtime friends on planning for events while they undertake a complex historic preservation project of a famed Hudson River building designed by Stanford White and constructed 1902-1904 for John Jacob Astor. This amazing building includes America's first indoor swimming pool and a enclosed red-clay tennis just off the Main Hall. It formerly also inlcuded squash courts, a bowling alley and a shooting range.
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A Summer Wedding in Connecticut
A 10-month process of consulting and discussions during the planning stages to final preparations . . .
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| A beautiful bride... |
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| Preparations begin two days before... |
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| always amazing as it comes together! |
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| Colors used were taupes, blues, creams and whites. Here, hand calligraphed table seating cards on an outdoor recieivng table with gauze ribbons to hold in place in case of a breeze. |
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| Simple beautiful country arrangements adorn the dinner tables. |
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THE CHRONICLE OF AN EVENT:
One of the most dramatic and amazing events of my career was held at Gotham Hall.
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TAILS IN NEED
was founded in 2000 for the express purpose of promoting mixed-breed dogs and their adoption as pets. The yearly focus was to raise awareness of mixed-breeds through the GREAT AMERICAN MUTT SHOW. Over the course of three-years, major shows were put on in New York City with satelite shows in New Jersey, Maryland and Chicago.
Sadly the economic climate was not great for corporate sponsorships and given the fact that Tails In Need did not provide direct funding for shelters or related programs, the organization started to fade. In the last year, we developed a promising format of an online GREAT AMERICAN MUTT CONTEST with over 195,000 visitors visiting the contest web site during the course of the six month event. The winner was announced that year in December 2004 -- Toby, a wonderful blind dog stole the contest.
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| Toby - Winner GREAT AMERICAN MUTT of 2004! |
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| Lucky from California was runner-up with 34% of the vote. |
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| 2003 - MSNBC Picture of the Week - Sept 26 to October 3rd. |
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| | The table in the Great Hall at The Metropolitan Club with 350 plus votives provide a dramatic focal point.
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