Event-planning company for Oprah is reinventing itself | Shia Kapos | Blogs | Crain's Chicago Business
Wednesday, April 20th, 2011
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Event-planning company for Oprah is
reinventing itself
Posted by Shia K. at 4/20/2011 6:56 AM CDT
With Oprah Winfrey leaving town, those who worked closely for and with
her are finding ways to reinvent themselves.
Staffers staying in the Windy City will have to get used to how Rosie
O'Donnell likes her coffee. Andre Walker, Ms. Winfrey's hairstylist, has
branched out with his own hair-care line. And vendor Event Architects, which
spent a significant amount of time during the past 10 years focused on
Oprah-related events, is changing its corporate identity and brand.
The event-planning company, owned by the husband-wife team of Fergus
Rooney and Gabrielle Martinez, had for years worked behind the scenes
planning some of Ms. Winfrey's most extravagant events—from taking all her
employees on all-expenses-paid trips (extravaganzas) to Europe to bringing
the American audience to Ms. Winfrey's "Ultimate Australian Adventure"
earlier this season.
But those events were executed based on what Ms. Winfrey's team
requested.
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Now, "instead of responding to what clients want, we're also coming up
with the creative ideas and helping them implement and execute them," Mr.
Rooney told me.
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AgencyEA began as Event Architects in 1999 with two employees. It now
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July 2010 (30)
The company is likely up to the task. Over the years it's also handled some
of the parties for President Barack Obama's inauguration and oversaw "the
big reveal" of Boeing's new 747-8.
The company also is expanding to do work in other states.
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