Scottsdale 16 hotties paid to party All-Star-style

The Scottsdale 16 (Credit: Tom Tingle/azcentral.com)

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Tempe's Amber Reedy, 23, will spend All-Star Weekend on the A-list.

The bubbly, blonde Arizona State senior isn't a celebrity; she just gets to party like one.

As a member of an elite group of young women called the Scottsdale 16, Reedy is one of the hostesses for VitaminWater Nash Bash at the Mondrian Scottsdale Friday night. The event, hosted by Phoenix Suns point guard Steve Nash, requires a minimum $1,300 donation for entrance ($13,000 for the Dinner Gathering).

Reedy admitted it's a pretty sweet gig getting paid to mingle with celebs at one of the coolest parties in town.

"If it's anything like the Super Bowl parties, then I'm sure it will be star-studded," she said.

As one of the Scottsdale 16, Reedy is paid to attend, host and work VIP parties and events in the Valley. Last year she attended several celeb-packed Super Bowl XLII events and plans to do much of the same for this weekend's NBA All-Star parties.

Event promoter and coordinator Steve LeVine assembled the group last year while organizing the P. Diddy Experience at Axis/Radius as well as other high-profile events for the Super Bowl.

Beautiful women are often hired via event talent agencies or casting calls to work these types of events to promote products, hostess, bartend or just to make a happening appear, well, happening. But LeVine wanted his own troupe of talent for events beyond the Super Bowl.

"Sixteen's a party," he said. "You show up with ten girls, great. But, if you show up with 16 girls, everyone's going to notice."

Since then, the 20-something women have hosted an event at the Bank nightclub in the Bellagio resort and casino in Las Vegas on an all-expense-paid trip. They've modeled in fashion shows, walked red carpets at club and hotel grand openings and rubbed shoulders with celebrities at VIP parties. They host their own party every Thursday night at the W Scottsdale Hotel and Residences. And last month, they attended the FBR Open as guests of the Phoenix Thunderbirds, selling tickets for the Bird's Nest and mingling.

"There were lines as deep as 30 to 40 people to buy tickets from them," said Steve LeVine, of Steve LeVine Entertainment, the promotional company that created the group. "You should have seen it. At the end, people were just kind of gathering around the girls."

Among the gatherers was actor Luke Wilson.

"That was really cool," said member Brittany Williams, 22, of Scottsdale.

Even though celeb sightings are becoming routine, Reedy admitted she can still get a little star struck at times.

So, it was probably a good thing she didn't recognize Phoenix Suns forward Amaré Stoudemire when she ran into him at an event at a Scottsdale club last year.

"I had no clue who that was," Reedy said with a laugh.

Reedy had asked the star to take a picture of her posing with her friends. As in, he was the one holding the camera.

"He looked at me weird," she said. "And everyone was like 'what are you doing?'"

The women are becoming mini celebrities themselves, even getting recognized on the street.

 "I've been out on Mill (Avenue) and people are like 'you're the girl from those pool parties,'" Reedy said, referencing the handful of parties she worked last summer.

The Scottsdale 16 are paid for some events, get swag bags at others or just get VIP admission in exchange for showing up and looking gorgeous. They also get VIP cards for discounts at local boutiques, restaurants and gyms and VIP admission into nightclubs.

But these perks are not just for the pretty.

Williams, an event coordinator for LeVine, is responsible for assembling the Scottsdale 16. But it's not just about picking women that make a party look cool. She has to find ones that can actually make a party be cool. Williams says it's a question of personality and ability to mesh with the group.

Reedy says it's about self-presentation more than anything.

"It has a lot to do with conversation skills and confidence," Reedy said. "There are a ton of pretty girls out there."