Yelp.com hosted "Fantasea at the Shedd," on
Wednesday, January 20, 2010, held at the Shedd
Aquarium, 1200 South Lake Shore Drive. What a
wonderful event held throughout the totally renovated
Oceanarium. Not only Yelp's hip coordinators found the
Shedd to be a cool cultural institute for Chicago, but just
under 2 million visitors visited the aquarium in 2009. It's
always been on my personal list to host an event, but I
must say, Yelp did a superb job!
Can I just say, fun, fun, & (one more time), fun?! The
ambiance was so beautiful and serene, with guests
ranging in age, ages and personalities- all with a worry
free agenda to just "escape" for an evening! It really felt
like Summer inside (despite the icy storm catapulting by
the time we all left outside).
One of my favorite highlights were the Beluga Whales.
While getting the schedule upstairs, I completely missed
the 6:30 VIP LIVE show in the AmphiTheater, but I got to
see them up close and personal with museum informant,
Patrick. I could have stayed in the Ocenarium for hours
as the whales glided across the perfectly turquoise
chosen waters, and often they came to the edge to say
hello and pretty much played at onlookers. A gorgeous
grayish white, their friendly bodies just glided as we
chatted. The Belugas here ranged from 37 days old to
3years, 10 years, & even 29 years old. Kayavak, was
actually trained by Oceanarium staff 'how to' be a Beluga
after being the first successful birth at the Shedd.
Unfortunately her mom passed, but she is quite the gal.
Her interaction with staff is remarkable. Across the way,
was a usually [public] unseen 37 day year old Beluga, and
across the walkway Californian Sea Lions.
After falling in love with the Belugas I went to see what
the humans were doing throughout the very large space
provided that evening. On the lower level were offerings
like hair consultations, and relatively new company,
Ortanic, a custom healthier option for tanning located
inside the Equinox Fitness at 1750 North Clark Street in
Chicago's Lincoln Park neighborhood. They
demonstrated how easy their trained estheticians could
accommodate at home, office, or at an event (obviously)!
The service is pricier than your local common companies,
but Yelpers seemed to enjoy the experience.
Upstairs there were several food & drink stations. Trendy
eats like Starfruit, which houses probiotic Kefir frozen
yogurt, smoothies, & parfaits, handed out rather large
portions to taste with choice of granola, strawberries, or
chocolate chips, while scrumptious Big Jones Coastal
Southern Cooking located in Uptown, shared fab tastes
of laughing bird shrimp, with andouille sausage and
pimento cheese on a benne wafer. While it looked
amazing, I declined to try on-site since needing to
interview more guests, but I did opt to grab one of the
$10 gift cards they were kind enough to leave for guests
to try some other time.
Don't think Yelp would leave you thirsty! Vendors like
Pyramid Haywire Hefeweizer, Blue 13, & even Monster
Energy were just a few to wet your palette in between
shark filled tours, and lobster walking sea life around the
Shedd. The facility never felt over crowded. Even the
awesome beats by Cage and Aquarium Productions was
held to a minimum as that was on the Mezzanine level not
to interrupt those enjoying just browsing or networking.
The facility even arranged decorated tables for seating,
with tuxed staff, and high boys for chatting & munching.
There was also plenty of information to make it easier to
return to the museum as a member, info about discount
days, or booking to hold your own private event.
The only thing I was certain to mention, was a better
placement of signs with the schedule of events so that
attendees could have made the wonderfully planned
tours, expo's and the like, on time, or even which room.
Other than that, it was certainly another great Yelp event.
Congrats Shedd Aquarium- I hadn't been (as many I'm
sure) since my grade school field trip days, haha. From
the well organized coat check, to elevator/tour
announcer, all of their staff were very accommodating.
Yelp had plenty company members on-site, while making
myself and Sandy feel extremely welcomed.
It was a huge facility, however, hospitality (sometimes a
rarity) was NEVER lacked. Red Carpet Concierge photog,
Steve Starr culminated the eve by getting guests to say
"cheese," in the most divine manner, of course...!
Become Members at Yelp.com to give your local
feedback on fav spots & events around Chicago a little
easier to decide. www.sheddaquarium.org
Review: Both fabulous thumbs way up...!
"Happens With Asha"
Creative Director/Fashion Personality,
Red Carpet Concierge
Asha's accessories courtesy of:
Necklace $490 at Mali Jewelry 204 N. Michigan Ave.
malijewelry.com
&
Slate Wrap Blouse from Impressioni Clothing
Downtown Naperville, IL 630.560.9135
| STEVE STARR Photographer ssstarrlight@gmail.com |