Lush canopies of natural greenery popped against neon green Lucite tabletops at the Museum of Modern Art’s 2013 Party in the Garden benefit in New York.
At Thinkery's Imaginarium gala, held in Austin in September, staff wore necklaces with Scrabble pieces that spelled out their names. These were used in lieu of traditional name tags.
At Stella McCartney's store opening at St. Regis Bal Harbour Resort in South Florida, Scrabble sets served as name plates. The event took place in 2012.
The Pacific-12 Football Championship Game took place at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California, on December 5. The day-of tailgate party, organized by staffers of the Pacific-12 Conference, took place at the new Great America Pavilion adjacent to the venue. Mascots from each of the college football teams represented by the Pacific-12 Conference attended the event and played "Giant Jenga" with guests.
At a Svedka vodka promotion in Los Angeles in 2013, guests played "life-size Jenga" using huge game pieces stamped with the name of the vodka brand.
One of the largest installations at the 2013 Maker Faire at the New York Hall of Science was a life-size version of the board game Mouse Trap. Maker Faire is put on by Make magazine, and it's a place to sample what the magazine calls “the Maker Movement": a tech-focused D.I.Y. community of hobbyists and students who profess to be more concerned with creating than consuming.
In 2012, the designer gathered a crowd at the New York restaurant One if by Land, Two if by Sea for a fashion presentation that included game-playing models staged in intimate vignettes.The mezzanine of the restaurant was converted into a games room for the soirée, and included a table where models clad in the pre-fall collection played Scrabble.
A modified Twister board replaced the game's classic colored circles with Havaianas flip-flops at a promotion for the brand at Miami's Shore Club in 2009.
A different type of Twister board—this one inflatable—beckoned guests at a 2009 celebration for The Simpsons 20th anniversary. The event took place at Barker Hangar in Los Angeles.
In Chicago, the Joffrey Ballet's annual Nutcracker Family Dinner in Chicago offers activities for children and adults alike. At the 2011 event, young guests played Twister on the ballroom floor at the Palmer House Hilton.
Born in Miami, Sunglass Hut returned to its roots in 2011 for the opening of its largest outpost to date, located on Lincoln Road. At the game-filled gathering, adults and celebrities played chess with life-size pieces set up in the 11 11 Lincoln Road parking structure.
At the July 2014 music festival in Chicago, V.I.P. guests could play checkers at staggered tables or rest on colorful hammocks.
Starbucks hosted its first Lollapalooza activation in 2013 at the It's so Miami Lounge at the Hard Rock Hotel Chicago. The suite offered oversize chess and Connect Four games, plus small café tables stocked with buckets of bottled iced coffee.
In October, New Yorkers gathered in Times Square to play a life-size version of Monopoly to celebrate the launch of Monopoly Millionaires' Club, a multi-state lottery game and TV show. The gathering featured appearances from actor Billy Gardell, New York Lottery personality Yolanda Vega, and a costumed "Rich Uncle Moneybags" character.
The top-hat-wearing character also made an appearance at the 2012 Chicago Auto Show, where Toyota Hybrid teamed up with Hasbro to create a 30,160-square-foot "Monopoly Ride Experience." The closed course let guests test out the Prius, Pruis V, Camry Hybrid, and Highlander Hybrid. Attended by costumed staffers, the course was inspired by the popular board game and had S-curves, tight roundabouts, a bridge, and train tracks based on Reading Railroad.
In late January, Jodi Moraru of Evoke designed and planned a Mad Men-inspired corporate event at the National Building Museum in Washington. A lighting projection on the floor evoked the image of a falling man from the show's opening credits, while a black-and-white backdrop was inspired by Roger Sterling's office on the show.
At the Washington event, servers in retro-style uniforms—and with 1960s-style hairdos— shook up martinis at mirrored bars.
A cake at the Washington event was decked with iconic images from the show, including a suit and two martini glasses.
Following the Global Business Travel Association's annual conference in Boston last July, participating company Carlson Wagonlit Travel hosted an after-party at Symphony Hall. The event, produced by Kuoni Destination Management, had a "Thrive in Retro" theme inspired by Mad Men. Models dressed in sleek, '60s-style outfits carried doily-adorned cocktail trays of Manhattans and sloe gin fizzes.
Snacks also matched the retro theme at Carlson Wagonlit Travel's after-party. Served in spoons, on square plates, and in decorative bowls, menu items included deviled eggs, Caesar-salad spring rolls, and B.L.T.-stuffed tomatoes.
To introduce brand changes to employees, clients, and partners last August, Canteen turned Fulton's on the River in Chicago into a celebratory setting that would have made Don Draper feel right at home. Kehoe Designs handled decor, creating mod lounge areas in the company's signature colors of gray, lime, and emerald green. Each table held prop ashtrays and popcorn and truffle chips in mini fryer baskets.
Passed snacks at the Canteen event included mini burgers with truffle aioli, cheddar, and onion straws. The retro-style bites were garnished with sandwich picks and cornichons.
When throwing its annual Best New Chefs event, Food & Wine magazine usually opts for a new or recently opened location. But in April 2010, a Mad Men-inspired theme drove organizers to select a classic New York institution: the Four Seasons Restaurant. Organizers dressed the space with hanging feathered orbs, candles, and pink lighting.
At the Best New Chefs event, a centerpiece of blue plumage dressed up the main bar.
Macquarie Private Wealth hosted a Mad Men-inspired cocktail party in Toronto in the fall of 2011. Kim Graham and Associates produced the event and incorporated the 1960s into every aspect, including the menu. Appetizingly Yours served hors d'oeuvres on picture frames so that guests could see descriptions of each dish. The baked new potatoes were made to look like deviled eggs, a popular dish in the 1960s.
Bartenders and servers wore blazers and bow ties to match the Mad Men theme.
At AMC's public screening of the show's third-season premiere in Times Square in 2009, staffers dressed as cigarette girls passed out popcorn to costumed fans.
At Diffa's Dining by Design in Chicago in 2008, Eastlake Studio's table for Geiger International had a Mad Men vibe, featuring ashtrays, martini glasses, and a decidedly retro wood veneer.
Ballet Hispanico's 2015 Spring Gala honored Cuban civic leaders. The event, which had a theme of “Noche Cubana,” took place in March at the Plaza Hotel's Grand Ballroom in New York and featured performances by the Ballet Hispanico Company as well as other entertainers.
At the Phillips Collection’s annual gala in 2012, the Washington Art Museum chose “Havana Nights” as the theme of its after-party to honor the Havana Arts Biennial. A 1959 Chrysler parked outside the Anderson House as well as palm tree projections set the tone at the entrance. In the back lawn, a cigar roller and salsa and meringue music from the Latin band Sin Miedo continued the theme.
Food and beverage from Occasions Caterers at the gala included buffets of Cuban-inspired cocktails served in coconut glasses, as well as savory and sweet items like plantain chips, ceviche, empanadas, and coffee parfaits.
Branded hand-rolled cigars from Cigar Stud Events were among the treats for guests at the the grand opening of the Miami Beach location of Puma Lab Powered by Foot Locker. The event, planned by Cluxe Brand Management, took place at Skydeck Miami on July 23.
Cuban cigar boxes served as charming containers for flower arrangements at an “Old Havana”-theme welcome party that the New Orleans Saints hosted before Super Bowl XLIV in Miami in 2010. The event took place at the InterContinental Miami Hotel.
To build buzz before the opening of a new Ikea store in Miami in 2014, the furniture and home goods retailer engaged customers with a mobile tour that stopped in five local neighborhoods. At a stop in Little Havana, the activation set up an area for playing dominoes, complete with Ikea-branded tiles.
Colorful bongos decorated a bar front at an alfresco cocktail party for the international consulting firm FICO, which held its 2010 world conference in Miami.
“Hemingway’s Cuba” was the theme of the 2005 New York Public Library’s Young Lions Benefit, chosen because of the library’s extensive collection of works by Ernest Hemingway. Staff offered guests hats, woven fans, faux orchid boutonnieres, and cigars to help them embody the theme.
The 2011 Ravinia Gala in Chicago celebrated the music of George Gershwin through a concert, but also through catering. The first course from Food for Thought Chicago, called the "Cuban Overture" after the Gershwin song, was shrimp ceviche with mango-jícama salad.
With a base of El Dorado three-year rum, the Old Cuban cocktail evokes a Caribbean feel. The beverage, available at new Washington cocktail bar the Speak, mixes in lime juice, prosecco, simple syrup, Angostura bitters, and mint leaves. The Speak opened in May.
