The woman's board's opening celebration comprised two distinct parts: at 6:30 p.m., a cocktail reception and sit-down dinner took place in the Modern Wing's Griffin Court, and at 9:30 an after-party dubbed "Crash the Gala" struck up in upper-level restaurant Terzo Piano.

During the three-course dinner, guests sat at long, mirror-top tables with decor from Bill Heffernan of HMR Design Group. Inspired by Lichenstein's painting "Whaam!," Heffernan topped tables with dramatic crossed mirror shards. Meant to look like they were exploding out the tables, the colorful structures contrasted the airy white backdrop of the event space. According to Heffernan, the decorative scheme employed "110 seven-foot shards, miles of internal LED lighting, and 110 panes of glass mirror."

The name of well-known boutique owner and fashion stylist Ikram Goldman headlined the after-party invite. "Think of Ikram as a special host for the Lichtenstein opening celebration," said the museum's associate director of public affairs Chai Lee. "She was asked by Francie Comer, who is the president of the Art Institute's woman's board, to organize the party. Ikram is so well connected not only in Chicago but all over the world. The Lichtenstein exhibition opening was the perfect occasion to throw a fun, out-of-the-box opening soiree to celebrate an international exhibition of such magnitude."

Known for her lavish and dramatic style of entertaining in addition to her fashion sense, "Ikram brought her creativity and style to all aspects of the evening," Lee said. "She definitely brought her talents and extraordinary ideas to the Art Institute." 

Kehoe Designs took over decorative duty for Crash the Gala, surrounding the normally minimalist restaurant with red and metallic drapes. At the entrance to the fete, an abstract art installation included a graffiti wall and sculptures made from painted hangers. Inside, Rococo-style lounge furniture with golden pillows provided seating in one room, while overstuffed white couches and a ceiling filled with balloons spruced up the next. A tiled bar with an illuminated-vodka-bottle backdrops was a popular attraction in the first room; in the second, guests got drinks at illuminated white bars.

While the earlier gala offered Blue Plate Catering's venison with lingonberries, sun-dried apricots with whipped Stilton cheese, and herb-roasted lamb loin, Bon Appetit servers circulated the after-party with pizza in cardboard boxes, corn dogs, and plates full bacon. Hot dog carts offered the Chicago-style snacks with all the traditional toppings, and an ice cream bar served casual desserts.

As the night wore on, entertainment ranged from dance tracks spun by DJ Jesse De La Pena to drag performers belting out show tunes and to a burlesque performer who bore (almost) all for the crowd. Goldman herself spun around the room with a microphone, shouting that certain of her friends and clients were "in the house" and providing frequent whoops of "woot woot" to ramp up the crowd.

"The after-party is a great opportunity to attract an entirely different crowd to the event with a lower ticket price," Lee said. "Crash the Gala definitely achieved that." Some 600 guests attended the $1,500-a-head dinner, while 500 purchased $100 tickets to the late-night celebration.

According to Lee, "coordinating two large, back-to-back events in one night added extra layers of logistics. Working with two caterers, two decor companies, navigating guests through shared spaces, etc., all required additional attention to detail. The work paid off."

Women's board members Margaret Unetich and Suzette Bulley were the co-chairs, and they wrote in a collaborative email that the glitzy event "did take two years to plan." The main challenge of the lengthy process, they said, "was to bring a theme that is unique and fresh to the [gala] attendees."

Board members looked to France's rich fashion history for guidance. "We were inspired," Unetich and Bulley said, "by the … 50th anniversary of the start of the iconic designer Yves St. Lauren's fashion house," and, further, by one of the icon's favorite vacation haunts. "Yves Saint Laurent had a passion for Morocco, where he would go to rest after each collection at his home, the Jardin Majorelle. The Alliance had never celebrated a gala with a Francophone theme, so we decided to pay tribute to Morocco by bringing people to the souks of Marrakech and dinner in the Jardin Majorelle."

To execute the exotic vision, board members tapped designer Kim Merlin, owner of KKM Design Group. During cocktail hour, guests perused silent auction lots showcased in thematic setting. "We created an auction souk by draping colorful fabric across tent-like fixtures," Merlin said. The auction area, as well as an orange-and-candle filled fountain set up on the dance floor, emitted a spicy floral scent that was created for the evening by French Chevalier des Arts and Letters Perfumer, Francis Kurkdjian.

To further the streets-of-Marrakech vibe, cocktail-hour entertainment included a belly dancer and a henna artist, who decorated guests with temporary tattoos depicting everything from butterflies to elaborate vine patterns. Severs passed orange-blossom-flavored specialty drinks, and a table filled with colorful Moroccan slippers offered guests the chance to purchase comfortable dancing shoes for $30 a pair. 

The ballroom took on a sultrier vibe inspired by Jardin Majorelle. "We wanted to incorporate rich Moroccan colors, including the garden's deep blue," Merlin said. Frost's  lighting cast the nighttime-inspired hue throughout the ballroom, while pink henna patterns illuminated the side walls. On the long dinner tables, Merlin and her team grouped Moroccan tea glasses filled with hydrangeas and colorful roses. Floating white roses, candles, lanterns, and bowls filled with fruits such as figs, oranges, and mangoes added to the look—and the aroma. "The scent of citrus is so nice," Merlin said. "It adds a clean, fresh element to the table."

Several of the fruits that were used in the decor also played into the Moroccan menu created by the hotel's executive chef Kevin Hickey. Items included a baby-spinach salad with dates and orange segments, an intermezzo of ginger-citrus sorbet, and a fig-almond macaroon with orange blossom gelée.

The event had its biggest-ever live auction this year, and lots carried through with the francophone theme. "The Alliance Française is lucky to have a passionate board of directors and a long list of supporters who are important business leaders in Chicago and beyond," the co-chairs said. "We sold 40 tables prior to invitations even going out to this group, which made us very excited for the prospects of the auction.

Prizes included a three-night stay at Château de Chambord in the Loire Valley, a trip to the French Riviera, a Saint Barths vacation,  and a stay in a Moroccan palace. Led by Leslie Hindman Auctioneers, the live auction raised an estimated $126,000.

This year, ensemble members acted in a few scenes from current production The March, directed by Frank Galati and based on E.L. Doctorow's novel, which is set against the backdrop of the Civil War. "Using this inspiration, our designer, Jeffrey Foster from Event Creative, transformed the venue into a world honoring the words of E.L. Doctorow and our production," Van Kempen said.

"The design direction was very modern, which was a complete departure from last year," Foster said. In the raw reception space, Foster and his team hung giant columns that were meant to look like script pages fanning out over the 550 guests. Text from the play was carved into the structures, and back lighting made the words glow.

More words from the script shone in the main bar surround, and the table centerpieces were illuminated lamps also decorated with snippets of text from The March.

Also new this year was a paddle raise for the Steppenwolf for Young Adults education programs. After the live auction, a 90-second video showcased "all the incredible things that the … program does for teens at Steppenwolf and in the classroom," Van Kempen said. "Through the video, we were able to quickly capture the attention of the room and encourage support." The paddle alone brought in $85,000, and the overall gala raised $1 million.

The butterfly haven was one of seven stations labeled on colorful museum maps that all attendees got at check-in. Guests who stopped at at least two stations could enter a drawing to win two United Airlines tickets.

Another area partygoers were encouraged to stop by was a new, self-curated exhibit called "Bikes! The Green Revolution." With vintage bicycles and a virtual pedicab experience that wends through local neighborhoods, the exhibition inspired the tone of the entire evening.

"Each year the ball has a different theme, inspired by a nature museum exhibition, that ... connects [guests] to nature and science," said Marc Miller, the museum's vice president of external affairs. "The 'Tour de Nature' theme this year is in conjunction with the exhibition 'Bikes! The Green Revolution."

Event Creative's design took the theme into account, and chandeliers made out of bicycle wheels complemented the black-and-white decor in the dinner tent. Entertainment also stayed in character: Performers riding unicycles welcomed guests at the entrance, and during the dinner program, senior curator of urban ecology Steve Sullivan rode into the tent on a bike to share some animal-related fun facts.

The speaking program took place before Calihan's three-course dinner was served, and it included a paddle raise. Within minutes, five guests had pledged $10,000 apiece toward the museum's educational programs. The event also saw a good share of corporate support, with presenting sponsors Allstate, Aon, Sun-Times Foundation, ITW, Motorola Solutions, and Nielsen among the table hosts. In all, the evening raised $1.6 million.  

"The celebration of the 10th anniversary of the women's board is what is truly different about this year," wrote co-chairs Candace Jordan and Helen Melchior in a collaborative email before the event. "We have a tribute book for the first time honoring our past and present members. ... It is an incredibly successful fund-raising tool with ours bringing in over $50,000 and counting." Containing archival photos and a history of the board, the program also contained congratulatory messages from sponsors such as Harris Private Bank.

The evening also included a video tribute produced by Donna LaPietra of Kurtis Productions. "We have gone through clips and videos and photographs from 10 years of events, and Donna has masterfully edited and produced something that will be incredible," the co-chairs said. "The video will include photos and videos of people thanking the women's board for their amazing contributions over the past 10 years. We have raised [more than] $16 million, including our gala revenue, thus far." Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who was present on Sunday night, was one of the featured guests in the video.

For the first time this year, the women's board hosted its gala in conjunction with the junior associate board's "Grand Finale" party, which has traditionally been a standalone event that lets the dancers kick back after the last performance of the season. This year's party struck up at around 9:30 p.m., after the dinner program had wrapped. Held in the hotel's Empire ballroom, the late-night fete had a table of glitter-dusted Magnolia cupcakes, mini grilled cheese sandwiches, and—because ballerinas were in attendance—a dance floor that saw exceptionally skilled moves, as a DJ from Sounds Abound Entertainment spun current hits.

Combining the main event with Grand Finale "was a great [way] to entice a younger crowd and expand the reach of the gala," Jordan and Melchior said. "The Junior Auxiliary Board is 185 members strong and is the future of our Joffrey. We are all on the same page in our desire to honor our dancers and thought this way would be more inclusive, with everyone who loves the Joffrey involved in some way. We do hope this partnership will become a tradition."

In the lobby, Amuse is a new eatery with small and large plates, specialty cocktails, and wine. With a soundtrack of DJ beats, televisions, and multimedia plug-ins, the restaurant has a semiprivate reception space that can hold 15 to 20 guests.

The so called "Classic" meeting space, which comprises a grand ballroom, a large salon, and private suites, has new wall coverings, carpeting, and technology, along with a new color palette that blends monochromatic hues with tones of red and gold. The updates were meant to make the meeting rooms more consistent with the feel of the event center, which opened in 2009 as an extension of the hotel and offers 38,000 square feet of meeting space.

The hotel is the first Chicago property to offer Nervana's Bonfire Events Management app for meeting planners and attendees. The tool allows users to track schedules, flights, and presentations, connects meeting participants through a social media site, and sends alerts for any schedule changes.

Additional updates to the hotel include a new Vitality program, which provides access to in-room exercise equipment like yoga mats and Pilates rings. Jogging tours and yoga classes are available each week, and chefs will add a larger selection of light, healthy dishes to menus later this year.

On the second floor, a boardroom with a kitchen can host meetings for 10, while a larger space overlooking Lincoln Park can hold 75. Combined, the two rooms can host functions for 100.

Boka Restaurant Group's Perennial Virant is on the property's first floor, and it supplies catering for meetings and events as well as in-room dining. Elaine's Coffee Call, also on the first floor, is a European-style coffee bar that serves pastries and La Colombe coffee.

In June, a rooftop lounge will open and will hold 175 outdoors and 75 indoors. The lounge's menu, overseen by chef Virant of Perennial Virant, will offer high-end bar snacks and seasonal craft cocktails. The space will offer views of the Chicago skyline and Lake Michigan.

During the meal, the chef interacts with guests and describes his culinary process. Offerings may include quinoa fries with sheep's milk cheese, foie gras with brioche crisps and pickled peaches, or quail with pistachio sausage. Courses come paired with wine. Classic and seasonal cocktails, champagnes, and specialty craft beers are also available.

The staff of exercise physiologists and registered dieticians can work with groups of 10 to 200 guests; for larger functions, they call on catering companies for assistance. They can organize functions in offices, event spaces, and at partner restaurants.

"We do not consider ourselves a catering company," says a rep. "However, we provide healthy appetizers and low-calorie cocktails to educate [groups about] how to socialize in a healthy manner."

Skinny Socials offers cold and hot appetizers, desserts, and low-calorie cocktails, with most edibles served on platters for 20 guests. Calorie counts are listed with each item, like their 41-calorie baked crab rangoon, 70-calorie Honey Bee tarts with melted brie and honey, and 50-calorie cosmopolitans. Snack platters range from $15 to $52 each, and cocktails for two- to three-hour events range from $12 to $20 per person. There are additional culinary fees for services such as planning, prep, setup, and cleanup. 

The sets include lip balms, candles, bath teas, and bath salts in scents such as Lavender Vanilla and Rosemary Mint, and starting in February, deHebreard will introduce a new scent, Neroli Rose. A separate line of more masculine products, called Clyde, offers gift-worthy candles in Leather and Balsam Spice scents.

Gift sets cost $25 each and can be shipped throughout the city and suburbs. DeHebreard can produce 30 or 40 gift sets at a time, with a five- to seven-day lead time.

The increasingly successful event has a newly extended four-day run, 60,000 international buyers expected to attend, and more than 2,100 exhibitors. "Approximately 25 percent [or 500] of our exhibitors did not exhibit last year," said the show's vice president, Mia Rampersad. "Exhibitors see the value of the show and understand that it is a global marketplace that allows them to see buyers from all over the world in one place over a four-day period." From her post at McCormick Place, which has been her unofficial home for the past week, Rampersad spoke with us about what's new at this year's show:

In 2010, there was speculation that the show might leave Chicago due to high exhibiting costs at McCormick Place. Now that the city has put new legislation into place to prevent your event and others from leaving, is it easier for you to do your job?
Chicago is a world-class city and has always been our industry’s first choice to hold our show. However, with the new legislation and labor reform in place, our exhibitors have a broadened ability to set up their booths and products using their own personnel. This makes the process of operating an event at McCormick Place more viable, customer-friendly, and in the process helps exhibitors control costs.

On the flip side, what has been the most challenging aspect of producing this year’s show? 
Keeping the show new and exciting is always challenging. Every four years we refresh the visual branding. In 2012 we will again present a fresh face to our industry, and achieving this new look takes significant focus from our entire team. We have a completely new look in signage, new purple and green colors, new graphics, entryway panels, aisle banners, and … visual materials. We will use this new look for the next four years. In addition, recruitment and retention of our exhibitors—which is now over 2,100 for 2012—keeps us busy.

What is Jim Beam's involvement with Operation Homefront? How is Kid Rock involved?
Last year, Jim Beam donated approximately $250,000 to Operation Homefront through corporate donations, local market events, and support from distributors and retailers. This summer, 50 cents from every Kid Rock ticket sold will be donated to Operation Homefront to fund emergency aid, moving assistance, computer programs, and care packages in local chapters. And we give a number of the V.I.P. tickets that Kid Rock and his team provided us directly to soldiers that are returning home—we're trying to give them and their families a very positive experience as they work to resettle after duty.

Why is now the right time for the McCafé launch?
It always starts with the consumer. If you start with the consumer, and focus on what consumers are looking for, the answer is right there. We have a wonderful business research [and] consumer insight team and we talk to our customers regularly. We also have the benefit of our restaurants, which let us communicate with consumers and understand what they're looking for at the restaurant level on a day to day basis. These are products that our customers want [right now].

This year, the show will occupy Chicago’s McCormick Place from May 16 to 19, offering booths from nearly 2,000 food-service related companies and a wide-reaching schedule of seminars, celebrity chef appearances, networking events, and education sessions. As she puts the finishing touches on this year's production, Heftman spoke with us about the lasting relevance of face-to-face interaction, working with international partners, and how exhibitors can make the most of their marketing dollars.

How are you preparing for the possibility of reduced attendance this year?
We’re still in the midst of registration, and traditionally it’s heaviest within the last month, so it’s too early to say [if we'll see a decline.] But we have a history of being successful through all kinds of economic environments, and we feel we have just as much buzz as ever this year.

How did you get Nissan to exhibit at the show, after the company had made plans to pull out?
Nissan and the dealers got together and realized that the purpose of an auto show is to sell cars. And this is a very strong market for Nissan. Their dealers and regional office felt that it was a beneficial thing for them to be in our show. Frankly, we never received any type of an official notification that they were not going to be in the show. We’ve seen what their displays are going to be in 2009, and they’re more active in the displays than they were in previous years. They’ll have local salespeople on the show floor who can talk about actual attributes of the vehicles, instead of product specialists as in previous years [employees who travel from show to show]. But Chicago is a great auto market, and it’s good to have people at the show who can relate to the Chicago customers.

Best Corporate Event Under $25,000
Total Event Resources

Best Corporate Event Over $75,000
Chicago Travel Consultants Inc.

Best Wedding Under $25,000
The Meetinghouse Companies Inc.

Best Wedding $25,000-$75,000
Renaissance Schaumburg Convention Center and Hotel

Best Wedding Over $75,000
Christina Currie Events Inc.

Best Fund-Raiser/Nonprofit Event Over $75,000
Total Event Resources
Kehoe Designs

Best Fair/Festival
The Meetinghouse Companies Inc.

Best N.I.C.E. Team Event
Christina Currie Events Inc.
The Meetinghouse Companies Inc.
Classic Party Rentals

Best Catered Event Off-Premise Over $25,000
Food Evolution

Most Creative Planned Menu
Food Evolution

Best Entertainment Over $15,000
Stitey Entertainment

Most Creative Invitation
DBY Invitations

Best Theme Decor Under $20,000
Oliveairé Artisan Events and Meetings

Best Theme Decor $20,000 to $50,000
Oliveairé Artisan Events and Meetings

Best Theme Decor Over $50,000
The Meetinghouse Companies Inc.

Best Floral Design
The Meetinghouse Companies Inc.

Best Tabletop Design
The Meetinghouse Companies Inc.

Best Use of Tenting
Classic Party Rentals

Best Use of Rentals
Classic Party Rentals

ISES Rising Star
David Calzaretta/Magnificent Events Ltd.

Lifetime Achievement
Deborah Borsum/The Meetinghouse Companies Inc.

 

Association/Nonprofit Planner of the Year
Erin Dahl, Lincoln Park Zoo

Caterer of the Year
Rita Gutekanst, Limelight Catering

Best Catering at an Event
Chicago Symphony Orchestra's "Remix" Fund-Raiser
Submitted by Food Evolution
The orchestra’s inaugural midwinter fund-raiser, held at Architectural Artifacts, had a fusion theme that carried over into Food Evolution’s menu. Filled with unexpected ingredients and presented in a unique style, items included lemon-rosemary flavored water in a lit glass urn, meat loaf topped with creamy basil polenta, and—at midnight—passed breakfast martinis filled with chive egg scramble and sugared bacon tuille.