Venue: 214 Lafayette St., a multi-story edifice near the corner of Kenmore St. (Fun fact: The building used to be the home of Heidi Klum!) Black drapes used as scaffolding on either side of the front doors marked the spot. The ground floor featured a red-carpet area for celebrity snapshots and the bottom of a swimming pool where a diver flashed the familiar yellow border of Neo Geo’s logo at attendees. The second floor featured two rooms. The largest one was home to the pool, with body-painted models at either end looking like living Pablo Picasso-like mod art to highlight the upcoming second season of Genius). (Note: Have a hunch this room may be familiar to Mr. Robot viewers. Was this where Sandrine Holt got zapped to death in an episode telecast almost two years ago? Would a confirmation from Robot creator Sam Esmail or USA be possible?) In the other room, attendees could explore Mars via virtual reality headgear. A lavish dinner was served one flight up, and the top floor two flights up featured exhibits tied to long-running series Explorer and an outdoor patio where after dinner, dessert was served and guests could mingle with puppies looking for a home through North Shore Animal League. Also, Frankenstein’s Monster made an appearance (more below). Another fun touch: Factoids were written on several steps on all of those staircases, making each climb both physically and mentally beneficial. Grade: 5 Jacks
Presentation: All about positioning Nat Geo as a home for unscripted and scripted storytelling with a purpose, according to Nat Geo Global Networks CEO Courtney Monroe, who spoke between courses during the dinner. “We’ve become part of the zeitgeist,” she said, introducing clip after clip demonstrating the quality and scope of Geo/Geo WILD/Geo Mundo content. Monroe and National Geographic Partners CEO Gary Knell interspersed their comments between dinner courses, served by Lighthouse chefs Naama and Assaf Tamir. Grade: 4 Jacks for the format; 5 Jacks for the videos.