On Sunday, November 2, Fairfield County, Connecticut, will host ‘Wine N Chill’, a chic, premium party that event conceptualizer, Jamaican-born Jerry McDonald, said is the fall’s most anticipated premium lifestyle event.
McDonald is, however, most excited about a promotional partnership his company negotiated with San Francisco-based tech giant Yelp that connects millions of people with local businesses. For 2024, Yelp posted $1.41 billion in revenue with net income of over $133 million. The company is also using AI-driven innovations such as the Yelp Assistant to assist the platform in connecting users with high-intent experiences.
“Yelp’s track record of success underscores the importance of the partnership,” McDonald told Caribbean National Weekly.
“The partnership is an important strategic, marketing alliance for us, given that Yelp has a global platform that reaches millions of people. It will give us national branding, way beyond Connecticut, which is an important part of our business objective. It is a very big deal for Wine N Chill and our partners,” he added.
Speaking about the partnership, Lanasha Robinson, Community Manager at Yelp, said, “Here at Yelp Connecticut, we are always partnering with and uplifting local businesses to showcase all the fun and unique experiences that are right here in our backyard. And what better way than to invite them out to experience it firsthand.”
Key components of the partnership are that Yelp will provide local Yelp features on Wine N Chill. The event will also be featured in the Connecticut Yelp Elite Squad newsletter and Swag for Yelp Elite guests in attendance, among other benefits.
Yelp was founded by former PayPal employees Jeremy Stoppelman and Russel Simmons, who have grown the company into a household brand with over 178 million unique monthly visitors across its platforms, which has garnered more than 308 million cumulative reviews, making it one of the largest online communities for local business insights.
McDonald also announced a partnership with wine brand Entangle Vines, which is owned by Jamaican ‘diasporian’ Dr. Karen Dunkley.
“I am very excited about how negotiations with Dunkley’s team are going so far. We will elaborate more on this once our legal team has finalized the partnership,” he noted.
New to Wine N Chill this year is that, for the first time, the upscale event will be exclusive. In explaining what this will look like for patrons, he said, “We plan to closely manage the guest list by requiring direct email contact with all attendees. We will also announce the address of the event to only confirmed attendees who must request an invitation by reaching out via Instagram @WineNChill_events or by email winenchillevents@gmail.com.”
Patrons are urged to come out early for the chic event that begins at 4 pm and ends at 10 pm sharp.
Music will be provided by Connecticut’s own Marlon Famous and Buddha Luv Jonz.
“Both selectors were invited back to this year’s Wine N Chill after delivering scintillating performances last year,” McDonald shared.
