GBK Golden Globes Gift Lounge; Set Up

The GBK Golden Globes Gift Lounge was one of my first events I ever participated in with The Artisan Group, many (many) years ago. I was lucky enough to be able to head back to La La land for this years Golden Globes Gift Lounge.

Not familiar with gift lounges? They are a ton of work so much fun! Everything about it actually makes me happy. I love being in such a fast paced environment, making everything look perfect, and putting my game face on while schmoozing with the celebs. Basically, the celebrities walk through the event with a "handler" and go from booth to booth getting tons of products and taking photos with each item- giving that brand the opportunity to use their face for their marketing materials and promotions.

The Artisan Group (TAG) has been doing these events since 2011. This was my 3rd time representing the TAG Team and the quality of work showcased never ceases to amaze me. But before getting to the products... we have to get to through set up day.

I woke up at 2:00 AM  to leave my house for 3:00 AM... east coast time. For any of you that know me... I am not a morning person. My flight was for 6:00 AM and I was scheduled to get in at 9:30 AM pacific time. I can't believe I was even functioning at that point. I am deathly afraid of flying may not be the best flyer. But I did it, landed safely, and waited patiently to meet up with Valerie, the head of TAG.

We get together and leave LAX. Make our way through Hollywood to the W Hotel. Woo.. Let me tell you... fancy schmancy.

This place is absolutely beautiful! We got to the hotel and the most important thing gets taken care of first....brunch.

That was the only photo I took of that. After my 6 AM flight, that was really the only thing I wanted.

After mimosas (which were phenomenal BTW), we went upstairs to start set up. It's so fun to see the before and after pictures of the space.

Just the basics. Table, risers, and backdrop. We were in a room with a couple other sponsors (I can't believe I didn't get pictures. I'm sorry!).

Setup takes about 2-3 hours. We have to individually unwrap each display piece (17 at this particular event) and arrange them to make sure everything looks perfect.

Table=completed!

Here is the before pic of the hallway where the event takes places. On either side are all of the rooms that have the sponsors in them. For this event I think there were 38 different sponsors.

Nothin' much to see here right? Well.... take a look at this.....

Beautiful, right!

And no GBK event is complete without their stunning cake celebrating the event.

Doesn't that just make you want to take a big bite? I know I was dreaming of it haha.

The W Hotel has the perfect ambiance for this event.... walking up to this beautiful gift lounge is a red carpet- just asking for celebrities to walk the halls...

After setup was completed, we headed down to the hotel lobby and got some much needed beverages.... setup really makes me very parched.

After one (or two) more drinks, we headed back to our apartment. Unfortunately, since I am 1- a 90 year old woman stuck in a 29 year old's body and 2- still on east coast time, I was exhausted. Valerie plans a "TAG" group dinner every event and this one was at 7 PM. I went and was falling asleep at the table. I had been up from 2AM east coast time.. so really it was like 10PM to me. I uber'd home about 3 minutes into the dinner and went to bed.

Getting a good night's sleep was essential. Onto Day 1.......

you'll have to come back for more! You'll get to see all the goodies TAG had on the table!