This week's roundup includes a new company that recycles floral decor, a cake shaped like a clothespin, a champagne trunk at the U.S. Open in New York, and a giant hair dryer with custom projections.
Shiraz Events recently produced a launch party for Conair's new 3Q hair dryer. Held in a Tesla showroom in New York's Chelsea neighborhood, the event featured an oversize sculpture of the hair dryer. The sculpture was custom fit with video projections that displayed hologram-like images of the 3Q's inner workings and brush-less motor.
On August 14, Sid Lee teamed up with Aramique, a director at digital production company Tool, to design an event to build buzz for a partnership between Intel and SMS Audio. At the center of the activation was the so-called “Heart Bot,” which was an installation that functioned as a drawing machine controlled by human heartbeats. The event took place at New York's New Museum.
The U.S. Open returned to New York on August 25, bringing thousands of tennis enthusiasts to the U.S.T.A. National Tennis Center in Queens. Moët & Chandon, the official champagne of the U.S. Open, offered guests glasses of bubbly from a trunk display at an outdoor lounge within the complex.
Serena Williams, TV host A.J. Calloway, and chef Masaharu Morimoto prepped sushi rolls during a cooking demo at the 15th annual Taste of Tennis Gala on August 21 at the W New York as part of the debut Taste of Tennis Week. The event also featured some of New York’s most acclaimed chefs including Marc Murphy of Landmarc, Zac Young of the David Burke Group, and Sebastien Chamaret of Bagatelle.
At the Tomorrowland music festival, which took place in Belgium over two weekends in July, R.F.I.D. wristbands replaced admission tickets and also provided a way for the 60,000 daily attendees to connect with one another. Prior to the event, festivalgoers registered their wristbands online and linked them to their Facebook accounts. At the event, if two people near each other pressed the heart-shaped button on their wristbands at the same time, each person's Facebook name was stored in the cloud and then sent in an email to the other person.
At the Montreal conference in May, Connect & Go created badges embedded with U.H.F. tags. As the 4,000 attendees passed through the main entrance, U.H.F. readers embedded in the gates instantly read their badges and alerted security personnel with either a green or red light to indicate whether they were approved to enter. Organizers also hung three U.H.F. “chandeliers” on the show floor. The devices could read attendee activity within a 30- by 30-foot zone.
Thomas Keller's French Laundry feted its 20th anniversary with an event at its famed Napa Valley home earlier this summer. The celebration included a cake with the roman numeral XX, for 20, speared by the restaurant's clothespin logo.
At the Eat (RED) Drink (RED) Save Lives benefit in New York, the food stayed true to the red theme. One of the inventive dishes was a red pepper brodetto served with olive-oil-poached squid. The event took place at Birreria at Eataly.
Rebloom is a new company that provides floral recycling services for events in New York and Boston and has plans to expand to the West Coast. A few days before an event, Rebloom posts a photo and description of the event's flowers. Afterward, hosts can purchase the arrangements at a discount of 70 to 90 percent off of the original price.
Regardless of global economic trends, affluent consumers continue to spend money on luxury experiences, and new offerings are popping up. In May, Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, announced plans for the world’s first private multiroom cabin on a commercial passenger aircraft. In April, the Four Seasons unveiled the hotel industry’s first fully branded private jet (pictured), to be used for private tours that include stays at its properties.
