Last Night's Opening Party!
The L.A. Center Studio—the former Union Oil Company of California HQ-turned-production facility—rolled out the red carpet for attendees of last night's 2015 BOMA International Conference & Expo opening party, graciously hosted by BOMA Greater Los Angeles.
Happy Birthday, BOMA GLA! We snapped the local association's Latrice Lawson and Michele Ware with the party's co-chairs, ABM Onsite Services' Stan Bochniak and NBC Universal's Terri Reno. Not only does the chapter get the honor of hosting this year's conference, but it's also celebrating its 100th anniversary. (It was born the same year the city began annexing the San Fernando Valley; the Universal Film Manufacturing Co opened near the Cahuenga Pass; D.W. Griffith's Birth of a Nation caused a stir; and direct steamship service began between LA and Japan.) Among some of the exciting events the chapter has planned is a Heart concert on Aug. 21 at the Hollywood Bowl to raise money for BOMA PAC.
We also snapped Hunton Services' Kevin Thoms and Transwestern's Lynn Thoms, both from Houston. They were among the many guests who enjoyed music, stunt actors, classic movie cars and tours of Stage 1, which currently has Amazon's Just Add Magic in production. The studio (which is BOMA 360 designated) has been used by many well-known TV shows and movies, like Mad Men, CSI and Cold Case. (Also the oft-forgotten Newlyweds: Nick & Jessica and Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2.)
Here are Rubbermaid's Kathy Helmick and Preston Knapp posing in front of the Batmobile, one of the many famous rides featured at the party. They're at the expo to promote the company's newest products, including a step-on, slim-design trash container made out of commercial-grade stainless steel. It has different compartmentalization options for multi-stream recycling, Preston tells us.
Do you recognize this car? It's the Bluesmobile from The Blues Brothers, and here with it are CBRE's Mike Pugh and Peloton's Mark Wilshire, both from Dallas. (Rumor has it that Los Angeles named a famous boulevard after Mark. Sadly, he says there's no relation.)
With Oct. 21—Back to the Future Day—quickly approaching, we thought it was timely to snap Colliers' Kathy Reed (BOMA Nashville past president) and Caterpillar Financial Services' Keith Hargis (current BOMA Nashville president) with the iconic DeLorean DMC-12 featured in the movie. And here's a bit of the future for you: They tell us Music City is hosting the 2017 BOMA International Conference & Expo.
And we can't forget KITT of Knight Rider fame. Although The Hoff was nowhere to be found, we did find these dashing fellows: ABM's Eric Johnson and RF Connect's Sean Smith.
Lillibridge Healthcare Services' Chuck Wagener and wife Susan with BOMA Chicago's Michael Cornicelli. Chuck tells us he's on the lookout for interesting new technology, which the expo floor is full of this year.
AMST Elevators' Carol Gray (in 50 shade of blue), CBRE's Lydia Fehr, Parkway Properties' Sammie Baker, BOMA San Francisco's Akiba Davis-Everett and Idaho National Laboratory's Chris Ischay. Lydia, who's from San Antonio, is heavily promoting the industrial sector at the conference this year. "There's not enough info about it out there in the market," she says.
We also snapped Kilroy Realty's Sara Neff, JLL's Darlene Pope and Diane Slack, and Institute for Market Transformation's Adam Sledd. IMT is a DC-based nonprofit that promotes energy efficiency, green building and environmental protection in the US and abroad, with its work addressing market failures that inhibit investment in energy efficiency and sustainability in the building sector.
