Event Planning
With distinct opinions and a big fat rolodex of sources, speakers, songsters and symphonies, Abbe custom designs each event for maximum impact.
Abbe's events are as varied and unique as the lady herself. Abbe continues to honcho and orchestrate everything from power breakfasts to intimate cocktail hours. She works with individuals, not-for-profit groups and large corporations, in all instances pre-empting their every need and attending to even their smallest whim or wish. Currently in the works is an assortment of NYC- and Hudson Valley-based cocktail-n-nibbles soirees, off-da-hook weddings and lavish fundraising private dinners for the many meaningful causes that Abbe continues to support. Ask Abbe about her preferred locales and sources, including THE hottest caterer in all the land, Mary Giuliani Catering & Events.
Some fav annual events and recently wrapped…
The Woodstock Writers Festival, a three day literary bacchanal of readers, writers and those who love them. Now entering its fifth year, the Festival has featured superstars like Augusten Burroughs, Cheryl Strayed, Susan Orlean, Ruth Reichl, Philippe Petit, Shalom Auslander and more. (Swoon…Abbe's such a book nerd!)
The O+ Festival, now a national cutting-edge event where a group of carefully culled and curated musicians and artists perform in exchange for bartered medical and dental services supplied by volunteer health professionals. Given the current health care crisis, this Festival couldn't be more buzz-worthy. The 2013 roster of musicians included British space rock legends Spiritualized, who played the historic Old Dutch church in uptown Kingston in what could only be described as a heaven-sent performance.
The Byrdcliffe Festival of The Arts, a summer smorgasbord of theater, art, dance, music all revolving around the historic Byrdcliffe Colony here in Woodstock. The 2013 Festival included the Yale School of Drama department's performance of "8," the landmark play written by Academy-Award Winner Lance Dustin Black - how cool to bring this to town in the zeitgeist which hopefully results in equality for all!
A glittering benefit/book launch party for Marianne Schnall, one of the most celebrated feminist authors around. A standing-room-only event with fans and longtime admirers, major media and icons including Gloria Steinem and Eve Ensler ("The Vagina Monologues") More on Feminist.com
The book tour for the deliciously provocative mystery/political writer Larry Beinhart for his most recent novel, "Salvation Boulevard," as it was turned into a major motion picture starring Pierce Brosnan, Ed Harris, Marisa Tomei and Jennifer Connelly, debuting at The Sundance Festival and distributed by IFC/Sony (Beinhart also wrote "Wag The Dog," the celebrated novel-turned-film starring Dustin Hoffman and Robert De Niro). As we like to say here at Abbe Does It, "Keep an eye out for us on the red carpet!"
Of course, Abbe still bursts with pride when she thinks of her own conceptualized, launched and gorgeously executed "All Love, All Woodstock," a benefit for Constance McMillen and the ACLU. More on that success story on our fundraising page, but, as author and celebrity interviewer Martha Frankel remarked, "In the depths of a recession, Abbe was able to bring a town together - even reuniting people who hadn't spoken in years - and raise a considerable amount of money for a young girl who doesn't even live here! The whole community turned out for an amazing night...what a fantastic accomplishment!"
