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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

An award-winning mission

Local biz selling luxury products at Golden Globes

By: Murray McNeill

19/11/2009 1:00 AM | Comments: 0

It'll be a trade mission like no other, with Manitoba entrepreneurs descending on Beverly Hills to pitch local luxury products to A-list celebrities attending the 2010 Golden Globe Awards.

We're talking $225 cakes by Winnipeg's Lilyfield Cakes, $145 boxes of chocolates from Chocolatier Constance Popp, and yacht trips around Lake of the Woods on the Grace Anne II.

We're also talking "incognito" braces that can be installed on the back of your teeth by local orthodontist Dr. Bruce McFarlane, and one-of-a-kind vintage jewelry pieces from Vintage Bling.

And if that's not spine-tingling enough, how about a ghost-whispering session with local spirit messenger/medium Michaela de Vasconcelos.

Dubbed the "Oh Canada Premium Gift Lounge," the three-day, mid-January event is being organized by Lilyfield Cakes owner Heather Stewart. Stewart hopes to sign up 25 to 30 companies and entrepreneurs from across Canada to participate in the event, which includes an opening reception at the Canadian consulate in Beverly Hills. And because of her roots, she's hoping about half of them will be from Manitoba.

"I've done a few of these big events over the years," Stewart said, noting her firm supplied decorative cakes for the best actor/best actress nominees at the 2008 Academy Awards, and for guests at U.S. President Barack Obama's inauguration gala.

"I just think we've got so much talent here (in Canada) and that it would be great to take other Canadians there and let them show their stuff."

Although she hopes to have her lineup within the next couple of weeks, Stewart said there's still room for additions. "If somebody is doing something special, we would love to hear from them. We're looking for the best of what we have, and sometimes there are these gems out there that we haven't heard about yet."

Participants have to pay for their own airfare and lodgings. And it will cost $3,000 to rent a table for two days at the Gift Lounge, which will be held in the prestigious Peninsula Beverly Hills hotel on South Santa Monica Boulevard.

Chocolatier Constance Popp owner Constance Menzies figures it will be money well spent if she lands a few new celebrity customers for her two-year-old business.

Menzies wants to go international with her hand-made chocolate offerings, but first needs to build up the company's profile. And what better way to do that than to get some A-list movie stars singing the praises of her products.

This won't be Menzies' first brush with celebrities. Her company also supplied chocolate treats for the Manitoba party at September's Toronto Film Festival.

McFarlane said he doesn't expect to be straightening the teeth of any Hollywood stars any time soon. He said he conducts training sessions for dentists once a month in California on behalf of a manufacturer of incognito (ibrace) systems. He said he was going to be in California that week anyway, and saw the Oh Canada event as a way to spread the word about ibraces and to promote his training sessions.

"There's also the coolness factor of being associated with celebrities," he said. "And it's also kind of cool to be part of an entourage from Manitoba."

De Vasconcelos said her mission to help other people discover their life's purpose through spirituality and spiritual healing. She sees the Oh Canada event as an opportunity to take her message about the benefits of spiritual healing to a larger, more influential audience.

Two other local companies planning to attend are Tiber River Naturals and KaTonGiovi Crystal Collection.

Stewart is organizing the event with the help of Swish Productions/Swish Model Management owner Elizabeth Crawford. She said if it's a success, they'll likely do it again.

murray.mcneill@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition November 19, 2009 B5

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