Malika Dalamal, London editor of Daily Candy and Alison Whelan co-founder and co-chairman of FBC, sweet talked their way through a packed audience at the Swarovski CrystallizedTM Lounge on Thursday the 30th of July.



Alison Whelan & Malika Dalamal
Malika, looking very DC and gorgeous gave the low down on DailyCandy’s humble beginnings. Set up in 2001 by Dany Levy, who frustrated by long lead times for fashion magazines wanted something faster and leaner. Coming up with the idea, she pushed her first set of emails out to 700 friends and family who in turn forwarded them on – by the end of the first week DailyCandy had racked up 7,000 subscribers!ÂÂ



The AudienceÂÂ
Not much has changed in the overall look of the site – the much-loved illustrations have always been created by Sujean Rim – and the tone remains the same throughout the 13 cities DailyCandy thrives in. On the business side of things, life has definitely become like fairy tales and lemon drops – Dany sold a majority share to Bob Pittman of Pilot Group in 2003 for an estimated $3.5M, and then in 2008 the US communications giant Comcast paid a staggering $125M cash for the company.


Caroline Burstein, creative director of Browns shares her positive DailyCandy experience with the group
Anyone wanting to sample the DC sales spike needs to ensure exclusivity and have an excellent product or service – Malika, who is now an FBC member, likes to sample as much as possible before championing anything to her dedicated sweet spot of 29 year-old, female readers.


Champagne networking
At precisely 4pm our marvellous host Stine Brogaard, marketing operations manager of Swarovski CrystallizedTM, popped the champagne corks giving a sparkling boost to the networking session. FBC members and guests were also treated to a Swarovski CrystallizedTM goody bag and 15% off anything that sparkled in the store downstairs. 
Sweets and sparkles – perfect.
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Photos by FBC’s Dave Wise of Dave Wise Photography
