Westfield welcomes NBA All-Stars
In honor of the 2011 NBA All-Star game being held in Los Angeles, Westfield Culver City teamed up with Adidas and Foot Locker to stage the four-day All-Star Fan Jam. Fan Jam brought NBA All-Stars along with other sports and entertainment celebrities to Culver City to sign autographs, take pictures and answer questions for fans.
Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony, Ray Allen, Santa Monica native Kevin Love, and Derrick Rose were among the 2011 NBA All- Stars who participated
Other celebrities who showed up were Laker fan favorite Shannon Brown, 7 time NBA champion Robert Horry, rap mogul Snoop Dogg, as well as NFL wide receiver Terrell Owens, who made milkshakes for customers at Millions of Milkshakes.
Westfield Culver City was adorned with NBA All-Star merchandise, signing booths, and red carpets as Fan Jam encompassed the entire mall. The majority of the festivities, however, took place at Footaction USA.
Outside of Footaction, the scene was chaotic as passersby tried to catch a glimpse inside the store. They were swiftly ushered away by the ample security, as superstars conducted Q&A sessions inside.
Inside Footaction, people crowded around whichever celebrity was present and offered them their basketball, shoe, or jersey to sign. They then answered a few questions from a moderator after which, they'd take questions from fans.
Although All-Star Fan Jam was ultimately a success, some mall goers left unsatisfied. The main complaint was that the event was unorganized and that it proved too exclusive.
Westfield Culver City distributed wristbands required for specific "meet and greets" the day before they occurred. This brought about complications because they allowed for only 150 wristbands, and unless you had prior knowledge of the event you had absolutely no chance of getting in.
Littered with anecdotes of bad experiences, threats of boycotts, and suggestions for improvement, Westfield Culver City's Facebook page became a forum for troubled mall goers to air their grievances.
Mall goer, Cassandra Santana, described the Fan Jam as "total chaos" and sought out an apology from Westfield Culver City due to its disorganization.
The inconvenience of a few notwithstanding, All-Star Fan Jam was successful in its attempt to provide Angelenos with an opportunity to meet NBA superstars along with other prominent entertainers.