This week's roundup includes a 6,000-pound floral arrangement from Preston Bailey, a worm-eating contest at a company meeting in Las Vegas, a Toronto catering company that delivers food on old-fashioned bicycles, and massive pool inflatables that double as an art installation at Art Basel Miami Beach.
For Art Basel, the Mondrian South Beach pool was filled with massive rainbow-hued inflatables. FriendsWithYou, Paul Kasmin Gallery, and Paper magazine collaborated on the installation with Morgans Hotel Group. The installation will remain at the hotel through January 15.
As part of Miami Art Week, Ketel One vodka debuted "De Nolet"—a replica of the vodka brand's distillery in Amsterdam—at an event in Wynwood. Guests entered through a windmill.
Pop artist Jeff Koons recently designed a limited-edition sculpture for Dom Perignon, and an event at the Book Bindery in Los Angeles celebrated the collaboration. Produced by RG Live Events, the soiree had a back wall filled with projections inspired by the metallic sculpture.
On Sunday, Chicago's Joffrey Ballet hosted its Nutcracker Family Dinner at the Standard Club. At the dinner tables, a sign read: "In the Land of Sweets, it is proper etiquette to eat dessert first." For guests who wanted to abide by the Nutcracker-inspired protocol, tables held edible-gold-dusted cupcakes from Magnolia.
Samsung rolled out a series of pop-up experiences to showcase its latest gadgets to consumers for the holiday season. In New York, quirky offerings include latte artists that customize drinks.
Here's a creative way to incorporate the trending fuchsia hue into events: In October, Allium at the Four Seasons Chicago hosted a "Go Pink" fund-raiser for the Lynn Sage Foundation. In keeping with the signature shade of breast cancer awareness, all snacks and drinks had a rosy hue. Even the deviled eggs, made with beets, turned pink.
Preston Bailey recently designed two larger-than-life floral installations for Wynn Las Vegas. Inspired by some of his favorite childhood tropes, the installations include a floral carousel that's 16 feet wide and 6,000 pounds. The installations will remain in the property's atrium indefinitely.
SparkleMasters can recreate any photographic or illustrated image entirely out of glistening sequins. The company pin-mounts the tiny plastic discs on individual panels that come ready to hang. When tiled together, each sequin acts as an individual pixel in the image, creating a giant, shimmering mosaic.
Toronto's Vert Catering provides lunch service for meetings via its "Pickle Cycle." Staffers on old-fashioned bikes deliver salads and sandwiches such as ham and cheese with candied apples. Items are served in eco-friendly, reusable takeout containers, which the company picks up weekly to fully wash and sanitize.
At the fourth-quarter meeting at the Smith Center for the Performing Arts near Zappos’s new headquarters in downtown Las Vegas last month, an M.C. picked five volunteers to compete to be the first to swallow a bowl of 10 mealworms to win a $250 Zappos gift card.
