On Wednesday, August 17th, 15 children from 15 countries gathered at the Marriott Marquis in Times Square to compete in the 3rd Annual Franklin Global SpellEvent Championship. The Franklin Global SpellEvent is a competition specifically designed for non-native English speaking students who are learning English as an additional language. Each child was the winner in a local or regional competition in their home country and was awarded an all expense paid trip to NYC (with a guardian) to compete in the finals.
The children arrived with their families on Monday, August 15th and many were both shy and nervous. Tuesday they spent the day together touring NYC and establishing friendships. By Wednesday, the day of the final, they were like any other pack of kids, just excited to be hanging out with friends in the Big Apple and ready to congratulate and console each other after the competition. Competing countries in the event were : Argentina, Mexico, Chile, Russia, China, Senegal, France, South Korea, Germany, Turkey, Italy, UNited Arab Emirates, Brazil, Czech Republic, and Spain.
The Championship began at precisely 1:30pm and ran approximately 2 hours, with 12 year old Yeo Jin Jung, representing South Korea, walking away the grand prize winner with a trophy and a $10,000 scholarship check. The winning word was “repetitious”. In 2nd place was Jiri Fof from Czech Republic and in 3rd place was Julia Harumi Namba from Brazil.
Funnily enough, this is the 2nd consecutive year that South Korea has walked away with the grand prize. Franklin partnered for this event with TESOL International Association (TESOL); the global association of English language educators, and their network of 100 affiliate organizations around the world.
For a complete list of student finalists and winners, or to learn more details about the Global SpellEvent Championship, please visit: www.spellevent.org.
Please see the videos below to catch a glimpse of the competition as well as the top 3 finishers appearingon WPIX NYC.
On Monday night, June 6th, Boston-based restaurant and catering company, Milk Street Cafe, hosted a private press preview event at their NEW New York City location in the Trump Building at 40 Wall Street. The new Milk Street Cafe (opening Thursday, June 23rd) is a 23,000 square foot ‘food hall’ featuring a high-end selection of international gourmet cuisine.
With its 8,000 square foot restaurant space (with seating for 100) and its 15,000 square foot kitchen, all the food at Milk Street Cafe will be freshly prepared on-site daily for each of the various food stations, which will include: a barista station, made-to-order breakfasts, made-from-scratch breads, desserts and pastries, pasta bar, Asian specialties, sushi bar, two create-your-own salad bars (one vegetarian, one not), homemade soups, a grill, a rotisserie and a carving station. The diverse menu is the brainchild of premiere Executive Chef, Steven Mettle (former Executive Chef of AIG).
When it comes to the new restaurant, owner Marc Epstein says that it’s all about the customer experience. Keeping that in mind, the space will introduce all kinds of innovations such as Produce Soak Sinks (they will be the first in NYC to install a sophisticated whirlpool system for cleaning fruits and vegetables), Flat Technology tables (making it the first NYC restaurant to use this new invention from Australia), Line Busters (a hand held checkout system to speed-up the payment process for those using credit cards), and a website that will allow customers to sort by dietary needs (ie: if a customer is vegan, it will automatically eliminate all non-vegan items from the menu).
At Monday nights preview event, guests were treated to guided-tours of the space (with fresh baked cookies when they passed through the kitchen), interviews with the owner, as well as samples based off of the menu including brushetta and risotto, spring rolls and pan fried noodles, fresh sushi and sashimi, and specialty dessert smoothies like strawberry-banana, vanilla bean, and mocha espresso.
On June 23rd, Milk Street Cafe Food Hall will hold a grand opening event for the public from 10am-11am, including the ringing of the “opening bell” and complimentary coffee and cookies.
Take a look at some shots of the space and the preview event:
On Monday, April 11th, Singer/Songwriter Marcus Goldhaber and The Jon Davis Trio will be performing two sets at 7:30pm and 9:00pm presented by GlenGrant Scotch at Opia—a restaurant & lounge in the mezzanine of the Renaissance Hotel.
The event is free of charge and will feature live jazz including both standards and original music by Marcus Goldhaber, as well as complimentary scotch tastings courtesy of GlenGrant throughout the evening.
At the show, Marcus will be joined by The Jon Davis Trio, featuring Tom Hubbard (bass) and Marcello Pellitteri (drums).
Opia is located at 130 East 57th Street at Lexington Avenue (nearest subways: 5, 6, N, R, Q to 59th Street).No cover, no minimum.For reservations, phone 212-688-3939 or email Opia@AMP3pr.com.For more information about Opia, visit www.OpiaRestaurant.com
6th Street is composed of Mike Miller and Grant Cook, childhood best friends who grew up in a suburb outside of Chicago, IL. The electro pop band, whose sound is reminiscent of Owl City and Postal Service, is celebrating the release of their eponymous debut EP. Music blogger Annie Reuter writes: ”With catchy melodies and moving ballads, electro pop duo 6th Street offer listeners much diversity throughout their danceable tracks. Whether it’s the beautiful piano based “Angels Falling” or the fast paced “Try and Stop Love,” Mike Miller and Grant Cook capture the listener’s attention.” Reuter is offering 2 lucky readers free tickets to their May 1 gig at Arlene’s Grocery! Click here for instructions on how to enter! Hurry - contest ends Thursday April 29.
New York Buzz is a blog all about the latest and greatest that New York City has to offer. It's for New Yorkers who want to hear about cool new happenings in their city (and beyond). Although the blog is run by AMP3 PR, it's not just another one-way PR vehicle aimed at endorsing our clients. Yes, New York Buzz will feature the New York Public Relations Firm's latest news and events, but it’s also about telling the stories of the people and places we connect with.
Anyone who has a cool New York event they want to promote can shoot us an email (via: NYBuzz@AMP3pr.com) and we'll consider featuring it on our blog! We're also always on the lookout for interesting New Yorkers to interview - so if you know of one, send them our way! Thanks for your readership.
