The 2016 World Chess Championship Match Opening Ceremony, the Black & White Gala, kicked off the three-week tournament on November 10 at the Plaza Hotel in New York. The event showcased a backdrop for musicians and speakers that featured illustrations of chess pieces and a screen with graphic animations that changed depending on the talent performing. The event was produced by Empire Entertainment.
Capitol Records celebrated its 75th anniversary with a gala at the Capitol Records Tower in Los Angeles on November 15. The event, which was produced by Done and Dusted, featured a display of colorful Capitol Records books.
The event also featured a branded Duvel bar that served the Belgian beer in tulip glasses.
Tinder partnered with Glaad to celebrate the dating app's new update—which improves the user experience for transgender and gender non-conforming people—with an event on November 16 at Skylight Clarkson Square in New York. The event, which was produced by Factory PR, featured a life-size video installation that compiled P.S.A.-style videos of people sharing their dating experiences, which helped shape the update.
To celebrate the launch of its 2017 New York City Restaurants Guide, Zagat hosted a pop-up cafe in New York from October 27 to 29. The activation, which was produced by Deeplocal, served passersby free mini dishes from local restaurants.
Morimoto Las Vegas at MGM Grand hosted its opening celebration on November 3. The event included a dramatic making of a 100-foot-long maki roll.
HubSpot's Inbound conference took place November 7 to 10 at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center. Organizers set up a large blackboard and provided chalk so attendees could share their impressions of the event with one another.
The event's hashtag was presented in giant block letters and located at the central gathering spot for attendees.
Salvage Supperclub, a dining series founded by Josh Treuhaft, aims to draw attention to food waste and encourage cooks to get creative by reducing wastefulness with food experiences that are staged in unusual venues—such as a dumpster—and offer "inedibles" such as aged bananas and bruised beets.
Business and financial software company Intuit hosted its QuickBooks Connect conference October 22 to 26 at the San Jose McEnery Convention Center. Event organizers used N.F.C.—near-field communication—technology at a kiosk that was moved five times each day of the conference, inviting attendees on a mobile app to find it and enter to win a prize. The goal was to ensure that attendees would spend time in both conference halls.
For the City of Hope’s Spirit of Life gala, which was held in November, Natalie McAdams of Namevents designed a night under the stars—inside a tent in the parking lot below the Santa Monica Pier in Los Angeles. To recreate the outdoor evening look, the production team built a stage that resembled the moon's surface and used fiber-optic panels to resemble stars.
Howard Brown Health held its second annual Halloween soiree, the Big Orange Ball, at restaurant and event space Carnivale in Chicago in October. More than 400 costume-clad guests attended and raised money to provide health and social services to Chicago’s L.G.B.T.Q. and allied community. RuPaul’s Drag Race season eight winner Bob the Drag Queen performed and emceed the event, along with a special meet-and-greet for “R.I.P.” ticket holders. Kehoe Designs provided the themed decor.
The Boston Symphony Orchestra held its opening night gala in September, raising $1.5 million. The gala dinner, created by Café ArtScience's Patrick Campbell, was served in four rooms at Symphony Hall, each decorated in different artistic themes (watercolor, charcoal, dance, and architecture) that were inspired by Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition," which had been performed by the orchestra prior to the dinner.
Luminato Festival’s Big Bang Bash
Submitted by Luminato Festival
The 2015 opening party for Toronto’s 10-day Luminato Festival took place at Hearn Generating Station. The decommissioned electrical plant served as a fitting backdrop for the event’s theme, which explored the juxtaposition of nature and industry. The cocktail hour and the after-party took place in the same space, and organizers used music and decor to transition the vibe from lush forest to post-Apocalyptic wasteland. McNabb Roick Events handled decor, and the event raised $800,000.
Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago’s Art Auction 2015
Submitted by HMR Designs
In keeping with the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago’s mission to create outside-the-box fund-raisers, HMR Designs sought to fully recreate the space for the institution’s Art Auction. To accomplish this, the design team covered the entire tent—including floors, ceilings, walls, and even tables—in the same striped pattern. The event was the museum’s most successful Art Auction to date, raising $3.7 million.
