Alright, where did we leave off? That’s right, Los Angeles … .

It was a whirlwind trip, but this year’s event was a success — if I do say so myself. After a slight delay in baggage claim at LAX, I joined two of my colleagues at the airport and headed to the hotel. We stayed at The Peninsula Beverly Hills, so we opted for lunch at the Roof Garden, where we enjoyed delicious Arnold Palmers and food. L.A. was gloomy and kind of cold for this time of the year but lovely compared to what I left back home that morning.

Later that night we joined the rest of the GT team for a lovely cocktail hour and dinner at The Sofitel Beverly Hills — this meal deserves its own blog, so keep an eye out for my next blog.

The next day, in between meetings and setting up the event space, we escaped to Eataly to grab a quick lunch; the food and service were phenomenal. We shared a simple and bright kale salad and yummy fried calamari. I then opted for its eggplant parmigiana pizza. We tried to walk back to the hotel, but, lo and behold, it rained like no other that day.

Luckily, the rain did not stop our show! As I mentioned earlier, the event was a success, and it felt special being back at The Peninsula to close out the year. Liz Watts & Company kicked off the night with an energizing and heartfelt flamenco performance, which flowed nicely with our theme. I was honored to receive this year’s Globility Award — an important and greatly appreciated distinction from my amazing colleagues. You can read more details and a full recap of the evening in our upcoming March 2022 issue.

After our event, we grabbed a nightcap at the bar, where I had a delicious and refreshing 90210 cocktail — can you even say you stayed at The Peninsula if you don’t have one? I appreciated the hotel’s décor and called it a night early enough to get some rest before heading south, where the fun really began … .

— Yasser Ogando, advertising and production manager