About 300 attended what was called the “unveiling” of the JW Marriott Hotel at L.A. Live last week (the ribbon cutting was held last month). Guests mingled in the new hotel’s cavernous Diamond Ballroom, sipped wine and noshed on treats prepared by Master Chef Eric Branger.
In attendance were such business leaders as Gary Toebben of the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, Jane Pak of the L.A. chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners and Mark Liberman of L.A. Inc.
Also attending were political leaders Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard, City Councilman Ed Reyes and County Supervisor Don Knabe. Not in attendance: City Attorney Carmen Trutanich, who allegedly once threatened to throw City Councilwoman Jan Perry in jail and who “bullied” AEG chief Tim Leiweke, in Leiweke’s words. AEG, of course, is the developer of the L.A. Live complex.
Leiweke couldn’t let that pass. While introducing Councilwoman Perry at the event last week, Leiweke thanked her for her support and for the fact that she’s one city official “who never threatened to throw me in jail.”
Music Industry Tune-Up
Eric German is headed to Austin, Texas, next week for the South by Southwest music festival, and the entertainment attorney will be doing more than rocking out.
German will moderate a discussion, featuring such music industry executives as Charles Caldas, Michael Huppe and Mark Piibe, on how record labels are developing new revenue streams. But the opportunity to host the panel discussion at South by Southwest didn’t come easily.
German, 39, was one of 300 who submitted his topic to festival organizers. Eventgoers voted on which discussions they wanted to hear most, with German’s ranking among the top 10.
“It’s like spring break for the music industry,” said German, who has attended four South by Southwest festivals. “You get no sleep. You are out late, up early and everything is packed in between. Your feet hurt and your throat hurts from shouting, but it’s great.”
German has been involved in the music world since his teenage and college years, when he played in hard rock and heavy metal bands. But these days, he stays offstage, representing up-and-coming musicians in their dealings with record labels.
Card-Carrying Tutor
Most days, Javid Javani spends his time in the relatively tame profession of tutoring business students at his Javid Tutoring service near USC. In his off time, however, Javani pursues a more exciting avocation: poker. And it’s getting lucrative.
His skills were on display Feb. 20 at the Commerce Casino’s HORSE Championship, an event featuring different styles of poker every eight hands.
After 20 hours of continuous play, Javani bested a final table of several competitors to win $129,000, bringing his lifetime poker earnings to more than $221,000.
“It’s just a hobby, but I’ve been playing for more than 30 years,” the winner explained.
Javani said he doesn’t have any particular plans for the money. “It’s just going to be in the bank,” he said, “and I’ll spend it on vacations, paying taxes – things like that.”
Does his victory portend a career change?
Hardly.
“I like having my life contribute to something,” he said, “so I’ll remain a tutor.”
Staff reporters Alexa Hyland and David Haldane contributed to this column. Page 3 is compiled by Editor Charles Crumpley. He can be reached at [email protected].
