For the Toronto International Film Festival’s opening-night party in September, producer Barbara Hershenhorn of Party Barbara Company surrounded the DJ booth in the main room with 18 TV screens looping a futuristic video.
At the Art Ball at the Dallas Museum of Art in April, Todd Events used honeycomb walls, interior Versa tubes, and lighting elements to build a decorative platform for DJ Lucy Wrubel over the registration desk.
Photo: Steve Wrubel
As part of Rolling Stone's “Rock Weekend” festivities at the Super Bowl in February, artists like Pete Wentz got behind the turntables in a flying DJ booth during a bash at the Crane Bay.
A tall DJ booth stood in the display area for the Chevrolet Sonic. Decals lined the base of the booth, and guests could decorate the Sonic models with sticky images of their choosing. Visitors could then have their photos snapped with their decorated cars, and receive the photos via email.
Photo: BizBash
At the show, PixZel Effects draped LED curtains on and behind a DJ booth for a big impact.
Photo: BizBash
Charles Miles, owner, Mix on Wheels
Photo:Juliet Quintero
Hermes Beverly Hills Flagship Store Opening Party
At the opening in Los Angeles last week, guests used special R.F.I.D.-embedded wooden tokens to interact with multimedia activities throughout the evening. For instance, attendees could insert their tokens into vintage-style sightseeing viewfinders where they could manipulate the view into a digital postcard to keep as a memento. Or they could visit digital touch-screen soundboards to make a soundtrack.
Photo: Nadine Froger Photography
2013 Holiday Party Trends: Activities Rule Over Splashy Headliners
While rare during the height of cutbacks, show-stopping performances from high-profile celebrities, comedians, and winners from reality shows such as American Idol are returning to some holiday affairs. However, these acts are the exceptions to the rule. “One new trend I’ve seen emerge at holiday parties is having several different activities in one room, like a virtual ski machine, a cookie-decorating station, and a craft area where guests can make snow globes to take home,” says Accomando, echoing a sentiment expressed by many other planners. Also popular: social photo booths like TapSnap and PhotoMingle, tarot-card readers and psychics, game-show-style challenges, and roaming performers. “With the popularity of the free-flowing cocktail setup, there’s no focal point for entertainment, so clients want to mix in performers that can move through a crowd, like magicians,” Gorjestani says. Pictured: At Refinery29’s holiday pop-up event in New York last year, guests could sit down with a tarot-card reader.