Looking to get an edge over Spanx, its main competitor in the shapewear category, the preview party hosted by Sculptz president and C.E.O. Jean Vernor and celebrity stylist Robert Verdi drew more than 100 editors and retail buyers to the 21st floor of the Glasshouses at the Chelsea Arts Tower.

To get an early start to the weekend, the hosts introduced the campaign with a party for 300 supporters on Friday night at Openhouse Gallery. Designed to conjure "nature's revenge," the intention of the launch was to build an environment that would bring to light the underlying mission of changing how Halloween is perceived by children—to make the secular celebration less about collecting sugary treats and more about inspiring creativity through interactive games and performances. Vincent Reverdy of Connected Productions designed and produced the affair.

Under the direction of New York Public Library events coordinator Emily Neidhardt and its event team, designer David E. Monn reinvented the venue for the seventh year in a row. "I always try to find a route of some integrity to base every event on, and this year I kept thinking of the paper in all of the books," said Monn. "When we sat down in the very begining [of planning], we wanted to be very careful about the tone and the message that was sent through the decor. It's always been beautiful, glamourous, and elegent, but I wanted it to maintain those elements without looking out of step with the times."

1. Bowlmor Lanes recently gave its former pool hall a makeover, and now the 16,000-square-foot spot near Union Square is home to Carnival, a circus- and carnival-style venue. Complete with Coney Island-style amusements and live circus performers, the nightclub sits under a big top and offers a full catering menu to match its theatrical motif. For guests less likely to partake in the dunk tank and other wacky activities, there's a lounge off the gaming floor and billiard tables. Carnival holds as many as 500.

On the ground floor of a warehouse-like space on West 37th Street, the venue consists of a large function hall, a mezzanine level, a lobby, a kitchenette for catering prep, and an additional area that can be used for storage or as a greenroom. Fully renovated as a blank-slate site for a wide variety of functions, Stage 37 has whitewashed walls, polished concrete floors, 26-foot ceilings, and only four support columns in its main area.

1. Cloth Connection just released a line of overlays called the Artistic Braided collection. The sparkly linens are available in an array of colors, including gold, silver, black, copper, red, turquoise, and purple. The linens are available throughout the U.S. and pricing varies, as the overlays are created to order.

The show's exhibition design is a collaboration with 2006 award winner 2x4, it incorporates a prefabricated shelving system as well as digital content, which will be available through free iPod Touch rentals. "Design USA" opens tomorrow and runs through April 4. Free admission to the museum is offered from Sunday through next Saturday, October 24.

In the Gym: Brooklyn Boulders, a new 18,000-square-foot climbing gym in Park Slope, Brooklyn, offers programs for corporate groups looking for an athletic approach to teambuilding. The gym has 30-foot grappling walls, a hanging stalactite for advanced climbers, a replica of the Brooklyn Bridge's archways for scaling, and graffiti walls by local artists. Teambuilding packages can be customized, but activities may include team climbing, where groups of four or five compete to see who can climb a wall the fastest, blindfolded climbing, where teammates guide each other, or non-climbing exercises like obstacle courses. Basic packages start at $1,500 for as many as 15 people and include four hours at the gym, branded T-shirts, and lunch.

Last week, I wrote about the plethora of food festivals happening this month in New York, most of which have no problem filling kitchens, dining rooms, stores, and other venues with paying, eager eaters. Yet at the same time, the industry’s oldest and most prestigious magazine, Gourmet, up and folded, and downtown, perennially top-rated Chanterelle closed its doors.

But at the New York City Wine & Food Festival this past weekend, it was as if those closings happened on an altogether different planet. The four-day affair kicked off with “Celebration,” a V.I.P. event on Thursday at the Food Network studio. There were so many celebrity chefs that festival founder Lee Schrager found himself in trouble when, during his speech, he began thanking present network personalities Alton Brown, Guy Fieri, and Sandra Lee, and suddenly a bunch of others started shouting out their own names. Lee wisely widened his thanks to “everyone at the Food Network, including the security guard, who five years later still doesn’t recognize me.”

It is 4:15 on a Saturday afternoon at the French Culinary Institute, and I’m sitting in on a New York magazine-sponsored deluxe weekend of instructional cooking, the New York Culinary Experience, with some of the world’s leading chefs. In addition to Monsieur Pépin, fellow F.C.I. deans André Soltner (formerly of Lutèce) and Alain Sailhac (formerly of the 21 Club) are sauntering around the room, assisted by six sous chefs, by my count. In two days, the announcement that Gourmet is closing will shock this community, but today we are all blissfully enjoying Food Month.

Of all the annual events you oversee, which one is the most difficult?
I would have to say the Times Square New Year's Eve celebration. The sheer number of people and mass media coverage create a much more challenging job for me—I wouldn’t say it’s more challenging, it just requires much more planning and overall coordination. It takes a good six to nine months of preparation, but [the event itself] is seamless. All the parties know our roles, and we all know each other. We do it so much we’re always ready to transition into the next event because of the simple fact that we’re always doing large events here.

"The numbers are in, and it's clear that Fashion's Night Out was a tremendous success. Thousands of New Yorkers attended the events in all five boroughs, supporting the city's retail and fashion industries, and helping a worthwhile cause. It's sure to be an even bigger event in 2010," Bloomberg said in a statement. Vogue editor in chief Anna Wintour added, "It was wonderful to see people embrace this initiative and we are thrilled that they wish it to return."

1. Now is the time to use your imagination. At his afternoon keynote, David Rockwell, founder and C.E.O. of architectural firm the Rockwell Group, provided insight to the importance of creativity. Rockwell, who designed the set and stage for this year's Academy Awards and published the book Spectacle in November 2006, detailed how he perceives events and design: "All of us have to deal with the fact that we have to make do with less—less money, less resources—and now is the opportunity to use our imagination. I'm excited about the challenge."