The Duke & Duchess of Cambridge Take SoCal by Storm: VIPs Turn Into Quivering Royal Subjects - Hillary Atkin

It only took a few moments in the presence of royalty to turn a room full of highlevel entertainment executives new media visionaries and venture capitalists into a giddy group falling all over themselves taking photos and video of William and Catherine the Duke and Duchess of CambridgeOne person likened the scene at the Variety Venture Capital and New Media Summit at the Beverly Hilton to an audience of young girls at a Justin Bieber concert amp8211 without the screamingIt was the first stop on the first day of the royal couple39s whirlwind visit to Southern California after they had traveled through Canada for more than a week eliciting large adoring crowds wherever they wentConference attendees and panel participants who included heavyhitters like Shari Redstone director Brett Ratner and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban had been warned that the bathrooms and the patio at the hotel would be locked down beginning at 3 PM and that anyone who left the room would not be able to come back inThat made for rapt attention to the panel discussions preceding the royal visit quotMegatrends Finding Opportunity in Today39s Major Societal Movementsquot and quotMasters of Social Mediaquot in which actress Dana Delany confessed she didn39t know what a VC wasamp8212and how she39s come to love TwitterThe grand entrance of William and Catherine came smack in the middle of a discussion on the benefits of London39s Tech City an area housing a slew of technology companies and startups which panelists talked up as the nascent British wouldbe competitor to Silicon ValleyIt fell to panel moderator Chad Troutwine to introduce the royal couple at about 5 PM They had come directly to the conference after arriving aboard a Canadian Air Force jet at LAX where they were greeted by Gov and Mrs Jerry Brown and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio VillaraigosaThe crowd immediately jumped to its feet as the world39s mostwatched couple even more handsomebeautiful in real life took their seats on stage with CEOs of several mostly UKbased tech companiesThe situation was a bit awkward as their royal highnesses were left entirely out of the conversation which continued for the next 15 minutes and were not mikedamp8212although hand microphones were available At the end Troutwine asked if any of the panelists had closing comments Catherine nudged William39s arm but he looked at her and shook his head As we said awkwardIt was then announced that everyone should stay in their seats as the Duke and Duchess made the rounds to several exhibiting companies that had booths set up on the perimeter of the ballroom including Hewlett Packard and Qualcomm which was showcasing its augmented reality technology that overlays a video or game over a photograph viewed through a smartphone In this case the example used was a photo of the royal wedding partyAs the couple chatted it up with the vendors accompanied not by Secret Service but security from the State Dept and Beverly Hills PD the place turned into a papfest People became giddy with excitement being just a few feet away from the royals close enough to see the sexy back zipper on Kate39s asymmetrical lavender dress and examine her creamcolored stilettos and to notice the lining in the back of William39s doublevented suit was showingSeasoned executivesmale and femalestood on chairs to get better shots in the crowd People even asked others to take shots of them with the royals in the background stuff you do at a concert It was insanity without the noisebut with all the heat and light that the heirs to the British monarchy brought to townWhisked out of the hotel they headed to their next event at the British consul general39s home in Hancock Park where they also bunked for the visit Kate changed into a green silk dress by American designer Diane von Furstenberg What39s nextWills in Ralph Lauren Polo These two know how to work a wardrobe and a roomand charm nearly the entire North American continent in the processTheir final appealing flourish to a threeday trip that took them everywhere from the Santa Barbara Racquet ampamp Polo Club to Skid Row to Sony Pictures Studiosamp8212flying home to London commercial aboardwhat elseBritish AirwaysHillary Atkin is an awardwinning journalist who began her career as a television news writer reporter and producer at KOBTV As a broadcast producer at KCBS in Los Angeles she won numerous Emmy Associated Press and Golden Mike Awards for live coverage and entertainment special events programming and then produced and directed biographies on Robert Duvall Elizabeth Montgomery Linda Darnell and Nicolas Cage for AampampE and E She can be reached at hillaryatkinyahoocom Check us out on Facebook at MediaBizBloggerscomFollow our Twitter updates MediaBizBloggerMediaBizBloggers is an openthought leadership blog platform for media marketing and advertising professionals companies and organizations To contribute contact Jackmediadvisorygroupcom The opinions expressed in MediaBizBloggerscom 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The Duke & Duchess of Cambridge Take SoCal by Storm: VIPs Turn Into Quivering Royal Subjects - Hillary Atkin

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