Event Themes

On June 8, Chrysalis hosted its summery Chrysalis Butterfly Ball at a private estate in Brentwood. The event's hospitality sponsor, the Palazzo Resort Hotel Casino, provided costumed characters from its Carnevale festival—and guests were particularly intrigued with one leafy performer. A so-called "living vine" almost blended in with an ivy-covered fixture that was erected on the venue's grounds. "Her motions were slow and methodical, and she played with guests by moving over and around them," said Matt Stoelt of Stoelt Productions L.L.C., which designed and produced the event. "Guests seemed to be almost mesmerized."

On June 6, Travel and Leisure hosted its Social Media in Travel and Tourism, or SMITTY, awards at the DL in Manhattan. Although photo booths are commonplace at events, the one at this function had a charitable twist. For a $1 donation that went toward Room to Read, guests could pose for snaps with jungle-themed props. The photos were instantly emailed for social-media sharing on the spot.

Lincoln Motor Company brought 10 of its 2013 luxury vehicles to Washington on Thursday for the second stop of its 11-city "Hello Again" marketing tour. Focused around the new MKZ, the tour creates a series of unique experiences for drivers to see their home city from the driver's seat of a Lincoln and is part of the company’s recent rebranding efforts. Independent arts organization RAW set up prints of its artists' work in an alleyway to create a drive-through art gallery as part of the Washington drive.

Epicurean email publication Tasting Table hosted its fourth Lobster Roll Rumble on June 6 at the Metropolitan Building in Chelsea. The event, which sold out in two weeks, saw 20 seafood shacks competing for the title of "America's Best Lobster Roll." Tagstand provided N.F.C.-enabled wristbands that allowed guests to vote for their favorite roll with a tap of their wrists. Guests could also opt to link the bracelets to their social media accounts, allowing them to tap the prox cards against signage to check in on Facebook, tweet preset phrases, win a V.I.P. gift bag, or download the official Rumble playlist.

On June 3, the Council of Fashion Designers of America's black-tie industry celebration took place at Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall. A new Swarovski crystal lectern, created specially for the awards, served as a centerpiece onstage. The crystals were attached to acrylic panels to create a light and airy look, which allowed attention to be focused on award recipients like Oscar de la Renta.

The 67th National Stationery Show ran from May 18 to 21 at New York's Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, where more than 800 stationery exhibitors showcased their latest designs. Laser cutting is a technique that involves a computer-controlled laser cutting paper into intricate patterns. The Avie Designs booth displayed several delicate laser-cut designs.

The Women's Wear Daily Beauty Summit took place at Metropolitan Pavilion on May 21 and 22. The meeting had a sleek, all-white design from Shiraz Events. At breakfast, guests sat in clear Miro chairs at communal tables topped with white linens. The floral arrangements were simple birch vases holding cobble moss balls. "WWD aims for all summits to have an environment that is 'digital, modern, and global,' so we chose to work with the space at hand and create a futuristic aesthetic by the use of all white," said Brian Hanley of Shiraz.

On June 6, the mountains came to Manhattan. History built a forest in the middle of Union Square to promote the second-season premiere of its television show Mountain Men. To represent the Teton Mountain Range, the event had two rock walls, which visitors were invited to climb. One of the walls was sponsored by Blue Range Mountain.

To mark the 10th anniversary of its popular-if-terrifying show Bridezillas, WE TV hosted a cake-eating contest at the plaza at Madison Square Garden on May 30. Grand Central Marketing produced the event, which had 10 brides-to-be competing for a grand prize of $10,000. Each engaged lady had five minutes to scarf down as much cake as she could from a three-tiered confection, with her hands tied behind her back. A bride-to-be herself, and one who's not particularly known for her grace, Jersey Shore personality Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi served as the M.C.

Viennese dancers waltzed down a wall at Chicago's Navy Pier on May 25. To promote Austrian Airlines' new direct flight from Chicago to Vienna, the Vienna Tourism Board staged a promotion that let locals see Vienna from a different angle—literally. Dressed in costumes inspired by Austrian culture, performers descended a 21-meter vertical stage as onlookers gazed up from below. The stunt was part of a public, daylong celebration hosted by the tourism board.

Food-obsessed crowds turned out in droves for the sixth annual New York City Wine & Food Festival, held October 17 to 20. The DJ booth at one of the festival's events, Olmeca Altos Tequila Presents Tacos & Tequila, was set in front of a giant screen that projected guests' Instagram photos and sponsor logos arranged inside a Mondrian-inspired configuration of squares and rectangles.

Another event associated with the New York City Wine & Food festival was Todd English's late-night walk-around tasting at the Plaza Food Hall. Food Network Star winner Justin Warner was on hand to promote General Mills's "Hello, Cereal Lovers" campaign, and he served cereal-inspired cocktails.

At the Whitney Museum of American Art Gala at Skylight at Moynihan Station, sponsor Louis Vuitton offered guests glitter tattoos from Glitter Tattoo New York.

On October 14, the Knot Gala took over the New York Public Library. Abigail Kirsch provided the catering, and the menu included a new spin on a classic carnival snack. Holding wooden boards, servers circulated with artisan corn dogs that were sliced into pieces. Accompanying the skewered snack, little jars held condiments such as house-cured pickles, kraut-caraway mustard, and cheddar ale fondue.

The Life Is Beautiful Festival took over downtown Las Vegas this past weekend, bringing a slate of music, food, art, and educational programming to the city's redeveloping downtown area. At one spot, guests shot paint balls to decorate an interactive art piece.

Although the festival took over a paved urban area in downtown Las Vegas, a small grassy area known as the "Secret Garden" invited guests to sit (and snap photos) amid a backdrop of eye-catching art.

The Boston Lyric Opera hosted its annual gala on October 4.The evening included a performance of The Magic Flute at the Shubert Theatre, as well as a preshow gala and an after-party across the street at the Wang Theater. Dancers from the Touch Performance Art Group escorted guests between the two venues, boogieing en route.

Grey Goose created a pop-up pastry and coffee shop this month as part of its Fly Beyond brand campaign. The cheery storefront appeared to be a new French bread and pastry outlet but was a four-day activation that offered free treats to passersby. A nightclub, speakeasy, and tasting room were located elsewhere in the venue.

For the October 3 event, organizers wanted to create a moving, memorable experience for the 300 guests. While the crowd gathered in front of a small stage, a narrator read a fictional story about women she had known throughout her life, highlighting those that had dealt with health issues. As the eight-minute story progressed, the 15 windows on the building’s third floor began to illuminate, one by one, revealing actresses portraying each of the women.

Coca-Cola partnered with streetwear designer Darren Romanelli—better known as Dr. Romanelli or DRx—to create a limited-edition fashion collaboration, which was unveiled at a New York pop-up gallery last week. Display cases at the gallery showed marketing materials from Coca-Cola's archive in Atlanta, including ads, posters, and promotional merchandise.

Three of the festival's largest events were held on the top level of an open-air parking structure at Pier 92, adjacent to the West Side Highway, including the signature Burger Bash on Friday night. As part of its Community Created Art program, Burger Bash title sponsor Blue Moon had a professional artist on hand to help guests paint a pre-outlined mural of a giant beer bottle nestled among the New York City skyline.

Some sponsorships were baked right into the food: Inside the Betty Crocker tent at the Burger Bash, staffers served Blue Moon-flavored cupcakes.

Delta flight attendants pushed carts around the party, offering guests mini pretzels and other snacks. The staffers, real attendants for the airline, also passed out tickets that automatically entered guests to win two round-trip tickets to anywhere in the continental United States.

Throughout the weekend, Groupon hosted a tote-making station atop the Pier 92 parking structure. Guests were given an object to find on a giant photo mural, such as a cocktail or a car. Once they located the item, staffers handed them a token that could be redeemed for a screen-printed tote bag.

Hosted by Restaurant: Impossible star Robert Irvine, Thrillist's Barbecue & the Blues event took place on Friday at Good Units inside the Hudson Hotel. Guests could pick up containers with logos holding toothpicks and breath mints—must-haves for any food tasting event.

On the upstairs mezzanine at Thrillist's Barbecue & the Blues event, sponsor Samuel Adams had a portable cooler set up to serve draft beer.

Held on the terrace at the Hudson Hotel and hosted by Food Network's Sandwich King star Jeff Mauro, Saturday's Soup'er Sandwich tasting saw 15 local chefs offering their best sandwich-and-soup combos. Title sponsor Hidden Valley presented its own farm-theme display of sandwiches, each featuring one of four new Hidden Valley Sandwich Spreads.

Soup'er Sandwich sponsor Martin's Famous Potato Rolls handed out squeezable stress balls shaped like packages of the brand's bread rolls.

One of the new events the festival debuted this year was Jets & Chefs: the Ultimate Tailgate, which took place on Saturday afternoon at Pier 92. In addition to more than 20 game-day cuisine samplings, guests could partake in activities like ladder toss, a game set up in presenting sponsor Pepsi's activation area. The space was marked off by low walls made from empty Diet Pepsi cans.

As part of Glad's Save It Sunday campaign promotion—which encourages people to avoid food waste by properly storing produce—guests helped color in a giant mural of an apple.

Coors Light created a football-theme photo op display at the family-friendly tailgate-theme event.

Hosted by Bobby Flay and sponsored by Olmeca Altos Tequila, Saturday night's Tacos & Tequila event filled an indoor space on the second floor at Pier 92. As guests entered the room, they saw a giant tiered display of televisions playing news clips from supporting sponsor NY1.

The DJ booth at Tacos & Tequila was set in front of a giant screen that projected guests' Instagram photos and sponsor logos arranged inside a Mondrian-inspired configuration of squares.

Guests lined up at the event's MasterCard-sponsored bars to receive margaritas served in glowing glasses.

On Saturday night, chef Todd English hosted a late-night walk-around tasting at the Plaza Food Hall. Food Network Star winner Justin Warner was on hand to promote General Mills's "Hello, Cereal Lovers" campaign. In addition to pop-art installations made with Trix and waitresses wearing mod dresses covered in images of Cheerios, Warner served cereal-inspired cocktails to guests.

The inaugural La Sagra Sunday Slices event closed out the festival. The pizza-centric affair showcasing 15 of New York’s best-known pizzaioli (pizza chefs) was held on the roof of Pier 92. Presenting sponsor Ronzoni placed vases filled with pasta and hydrangeas on rustic wood tables throughout the event space.

On Sunday, the Travel Channel's Andrew Zimmern and Pat LaFrieda Meats hosted an Oktoberfest-theme affair at Long Island City beer hall, the Garden at Studio Square. Sponsor Samuel Adams handed out on-brand beer steins and felt hats to attendees.

Pier 94 was packed with brand activations, food sampling stands, and drink stations on Saturday and Sunday for the festival's Grand Tasting. Coffee brand Illy brought its Push Button House, an enormous shipping crate that opens up into a mobile café space at the push of a button. The "house" hosted book signings and chef tastings, and guests could tag selfies taken inside with #IllyCoffee and #NYCWFF for the chance to win prizes, like a coffee maker.

Tables in the Illy Push Button House displayed centerpieces of fresh red roses arranged among coffee beans.

To promote its new Guy Fieri-hosted show Guy's Grocery Games, the Food Network booked the Shopper Chopper, a nine-foot-tall drivable shopping cart. In addition to touring around Manhattan, the on-brand cart made a pit stop inside the Grand Tasting.

At the Celebrity Cruises booth, produced by Grand Central Marketing, attendees could pose for photos while sitting in an oversize deck chair.

MasterCard set up a candy-shop-theme counter, where attendees who signed up to receive more information on the brand's Priceless New York experiences could help themselves to a sweet.

The Do AC campaign brought its two-story pop-up experience, designed by BMF Media, to the Grand Tasting floor. Each cubicle emphasized a different interactive experience themed around Atlantic City's offerings, including a gambling table and free mini massages.

The Do AC activation also included a Twitter-activated vending machine. Eventgoers tweeted using a specific hashtag to receive a free T-shirt and a chance to win a free trip to Atlantic City.

At the Cooking Channel's booth, staffers served freshly made savory pizza-, miso-caramel-, and black-and-white-cookie-flavored popcorn. Guests could also pose in a nearby photo booth, using props displayed in vases filled with popcorn kernels.

Pier 94 also hosted a series of KitchenAid-sponsored culinary demonstrations by Food Network personalities throughout the weekend. The audience was able to easily see what the chefs were doing thanks to a reflective mirror placed above the cooking area.

The Cupcake Vineyards truck, which is currently making its way to more than 25 states across the country, made a stop at the Grand Tasting. Guests could climb into a cozy lounge in the back of the truck and sample different varietals.

At The New York Times booth, attendees used iPads to make Word Cloud portraits—staffers captured images of guests, which were then recreated by a computer program that searched for food-related words within the Times’s article database.

Inside the Grand Tasting, guests could relax at Delta's Sky Club lounge, choosing to sample sommelier-selected wines served in-flight or chow down on pulled pork sandwiches from barbecue restaurant Blue Smoke. Outside, Delta offered guests free pedicab rides to and from the far-flung piers and Columbus Circle.

Featuring a rustic farm aesthetic dotted with freshly picked floral arrangements, Buick's setup was dubbed the Honey Garden. Attendees could sign up via iPad to win a car, plus sample cocktails made with honey-flavored syrup.