New York DMC and event producers Jaclyn Bernstein, DMCP, and partner Rob Hulsmeyer, CSEP, DMCP, CMP, co-owners of Empire Force Events, showed their signature Manhattan style on an episode of the NBC hit show “The Apprentice” two weeks ago.
The New York-based reality show featured the two teams vying to work for Manhattan tycoon Donald Trump charged with renting out the 90th-floor penthouse of the Trump World Tower, the tallest residential building in the world, to the highest bidder for a one-time event. The penthouse is used only for Trump events and rented only on rare occasions.
That’s why the minimum bid for the outside bidders was set at $20,000 and the two wannabe apprentice teams had just 10 hours to show the venue and convince the planners that the place was worth it.
The meetings between the Empire team and the would-be apprentices were carefully staged, and Bernstein let no chance to add a little drama slip away. When touring the venue, “I nitpicked. I opened every door,” Bernstein says. “I asked a million questions, many of which they couldn’t answer.”
Bernstein and Hulsmeyer were nicknamed “Team Oy Vey” by the Web site televisionwithoutpity.com because she used the term in the show.
How does Bernstein feel about her 15 minutes of fame? Since the episode first aired two weeks ago, she has received about 1,400 e-mails, from friends, colleagues, and people she hasn’t seen since in years (like old boyfriends’ mothers). Hulsmeyer has even been stopped by total strangers on the street.
She, obviously, is pleased with the promotional mileage. “Now I tell my potential clients, if Donald Trump and his apprentices wanted me, so should you.”
Thanks for our sister property, Meetings.Net, for this story. For more on the celebrity status of event planners and what it means to the industry, see the May issue of Special Events Magazine.
