Thursday, September 17, 2026 · Cipriani Wall Street · New York · Black tie
The Evening
6:00 – 6:30Red carpet & VIP arrivalCoat check, carpet, photos, then check in on your way up to the mezzanine
6:30 – 7:00Doors & cocktail hourBellinis on the mezzanine. General check-in on the right
6:55Hosts to your tableBe standing at your table before your guests are seated. This is the whole job
7:00 – 7:15Guests take their seatsCaptains guide them down. You greet them as they arrive
7:15Welcome, then your tableDebbie Pearce and Jamie Domenici open the room. Run your intros and icebreaker straight after
7:15 – 8:15DinnerThree courses. Your table talks
8:15 – 9:30AwardsColleen Waters opens at 8:15, then fourteen awards, then closing remarks from Colleen and Debbie
9:30 – 10:00Bar stays openThe room closes at ten
1 · Coat checkThrough the revolving doors, turn left. Across from the AV booth. Drop everything first.
2 · The carpetWalk down the center of the room toward the stage. Photos at the step and repeat at the far end of the carpet. You do not go up on stage.
3 · Check inAfter your photos, head straight for the mezzanine. Check in at the foot of the stairs on your way up — that is where you collect your table number.
4 · Your tableCocktails upstairs, then down to your table by 6:55. Not walking the carpet? Check in on the right as you come in.
Your table is marked on this plan. The carpet splits the room down the center. Four bars: one on the mezzanine for the VIP reception, three on the main floor. The step and repeat works the head of the carpet during arrivals, then moves to the far side for the rest of the night. Table numbers are current as of September 10.
Your Table
Greet every person
You will have their names and faces in advance. When someone arrives, get up, say hello, and introduce them to the two people beside them. Nobody should have to introduce themselves to a stranger at a black-tie dinner.
Run intros and the icebreaker
Right after the 7:15 welcome. Go around the table, names and brands, then open with a question. Questions are below. It takes ten minutes and it sets the tone for the next three hours.
Nobody sits in a corner
This is the real job. If one person has gone quiet, bring them in by name and hand them a question. You were asked to host because you can hold a room together.
Mark your table as they sit
Tap each guest attended on your table in the platform as they take their seat. That is our live count for the room. It takes seconds and it is the only admin we are asking of you.
Not your job · check-in
We have eight check-in staff at the door and at the foot of the stairs. Send anyone who has not checked in their way and get back to your table.
Not your job · seating strangers
Cipriani captains and the CartStars team handle wayfinding for the room. You only own your ten.
Everyone sits at their assigned table. Dietary requirements, partner pairings and the seating plan are all built around the exact seat. If someone at your table wants to move, or someone turns up who is not on your list, point them to the nearest CartStars team member rather than reseating them yourself.
The Icebreaker
How are you thinking about leveraging AI this BFCM?
What are the biggest measurement challenges you are facing right now?
How are you approaching AI across your business — where are you leaning into automation, and where do you still want humans in the loop?
What is one marketing test you have run recently that either worked well or failed?
No pressure to hit them all. One good question that the whole table wants to answer beats four that get a sentence each. If the conversation takes off on its own, let it.
Your Dossier
Before the 17th you will get a dossier on all ten people at your table — names, brands, titles, and something worth asking each of them about. Read it on the flight. The whole point is that you walk up to your table already knowing who everybody is, so the introductions land warm.
Your table is live in the platform now. You can watch it fill between now and the 17th, and you will see every guest as they are approved.
Your Fellow Hosts
Ada DesmondHint
Alice KimPerfectDD
Allison GagnonTibi
Allyssa KaiserNest New York
Andy ChiuTsu Lange Yor
Aniesha JonesProse
Bobby RegerOnnit
Claudia GoncalvesElie Tahari
Clemens HerrmannISDIN
Colleen WatersSteve Madden
Daniel UptonHoneylove
David XuTeePublic
Domonique BrownLiquid I.V.
Esteban RestrepoGrowarber
Freya SeegerWindsor Fashions
Hattie GilpinBird&Be
Heaven Schydlowskynatureofthings
Jennifer PetersOLLY
Jennifer Villalba32 Degrees
Joy Martinez-SamaniegoFast Growing Trees
Justin SilverAAVRANI
Katie FungFIGS
Kellie BaileyOnnit
Laura CantorNew York & Company
Leah EdunProcter & Gamble
Louis MonoyudisArtware Editions
Marilee ClarkRahua Beauty
Melissa GodesLumens
Melissa RogersStila Cosmetics
Michael VillaClean Skin Club
Nancy GurdCaraway Home
Nargiza DakmakViome
Nevin JethmalaniCleanBoss
Rashana TrimGeneral Motors
Roshan VarmaPHOENIX
Shari AjayiSaatva
Somi BasathiaSmoothSkin
Steven SashenXero Shoes
Yingying KuangKITSCH
Zach FeinbergIn Good Taste
40 confirmed hosts, one per table. Every table in the room is hosted — that is the whole design, and it is why Cipriani will feel like a CartStars dinner rather than a ballroom.
