SCP Gets Credit; Irvine Company’s Star on Instagram

Last week brought word of the buzz of activity stirred up by the Lunar New Year around these parts, with everyone from homebuilders to shopping malls beckoning members of the various Asian-American communities in Orange County to the larger American Experiment. The website Quartz—for “business people in the new global economy”—also picked up on the trend, citing OC as home of one of the earliest adapters in South Coast Plaza, “the first shopping center in the U.S. to accept China UnionPay, the Chinese bank card.” The website also noted that there’s an aspect of mutual appreciation between China and OC, as evidenced by a gated community an hour outside Beijing called Orange County … The Orange County in China has been pilloried aplenty as a mishmash of architectural styles based on misplaced notions—no surprise, given how misconceptions still abound about the real OC, even on this side of the Pacific Ocean. Anyone who wants to see what’s really going on around here when it comes to architecture can take a gander at Irvine Company’s new 21-story office building at 200 Spectrum Center, which will be the subject of a private grand opening next week. You don’t even have to drive over there to check it out, either. The Insider has learned that the evanescent beauty is the most—or perhaps the proper term is best—photographed building in the developer’s long history. A recent count found 75 artsy shots on Instagram, including a number that capitalized on some recent cloudy days. Don’t know if there’s something special about the glass used in the building or if it’s a matter of its orientation on the landscape, but it has established a dramatic relationship with the sunlight, and it puts on a reflective show that gets downright bold on cloudy days … Speaking of artsy—check out Laguna Beach-based MacGillivray Freeman Films’ latest IMAX movie, “National Parks Adventure.” It recently debuted on 40 of the giant screens across the U.S., earning plaudits ranging from the L.A. Times notation of its “eye-popping footage” to the Washington Times’ testament that the aesthetic bounty of the nation’s national parks has been “captured gloriously” by Director Greg MacGillivray … There’s a buzz in the air at Visit Anaheim, too, as the destination-marketing outfit waits to see if this week will bring a couple of California Poppy Awards, which are handed out by state-funded Visit California to honor “the best and brightest of California tourism promotion.” Visit Anaheim CEO Jay Burress says his crew has been nominated in the categories of Best Content Marketing for a destination video that wove promos into a touching narrative, and for Best PR Campaign for an effort that accompanied the group’s recent name change … The buzz continues with Burress’ pal Ed Fuller, head of the Orange County Visitors Association, which is behind an exchange program that will send OC chefs to promote tourism destinations here to folks in the Middle East. First up will be Executive Chef Andy Arndt of the Newport Beach Marriott Resort & Spa, heading to Discover America Week, a promo backed by the U.S. Embassy and the American Chamber of Commerce in Qatar, with Qatar Airways handling transportation. Look for an association between The Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel and Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways in the near future, with the Fairmont Newport Beach likely to partner up with an entity over there later in the year.