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Continuing through to the main ballroom, guests found themselves inside a giant jail cell. Metal scaffolding and wire fencing lined all four walls from floor to ceiling. Built into the scaffolding were bars, a DJ booth, and a raised area for Southern Audio Visual, who controlled the audiovisuals.
ASI provided the staging where the entertainers performed and the awards ceremony took place. Guests watched from long tables dressed in steel-gray satin linens from Panache Party Rentals and topped with ice sculptures from Ice Magic (which were embedded with prison-appropriate objects such as cigarettes, playing cards, and files). Tin trays, each of which held a loaf of bread and a glass of water, served as place settings. The napkin holders were sets of handcuffs. Gray spandex-covered chairs sported cell block numbers that doubled as table numbers.
Once the crowd was seated, the 200 nominees were ushered into the cell by Keystone cops. Then dinner and the entertainment began. New Century Dance Company performed numbers from Chicago, and Add Fire sparked the crowd's interest by shooting holes through the onstage backdrop to reveal the Special Event logo.
After the award winners were announced and Mona Maretsky of COMCOR Meeting & Event Productions was presented with a Lifetime Achievement award, an actor dressed like Herbert Hoover issued a presidential pardon, and everyone got out of jail just in time to walk down the hall (passing additional jail cells by Event Makers), where a supper club—complete with stylized lounge furniture from Unique Options—had replaced the speakeasy. Guests sipped cocktails, relaxed in club chairs and chaise lounges, and listened to the sounds of Nestor Torres. Then DJ Anthony from Pure Energy Entertainment played until the last partygoer left.
—Shari Lynn Rothstein
Continuing through to the main ballroom, guests found themselves inside a giant jail cell. Metal scaffolding and wire fencing lined all four walls from floor to ceiling. Built into the scaffolding were bars, a DJ booth, and a raised area for Southern Audio Visual, who controlled the audiovisuals.
ASI provided the staging where the entertainers performed and the awards ceremony took place. Guests watched from long tables dressed in steel-gray satin linens from Panache Party Rentals and topped with ice sculptures from Ice Magic (which were embedded with prison-appropriate objects such as cigarettes, playing cards, and files). Tin trays, each of which held a loaf of bread and a glass of water, served as place settings. The napkin holders were sets of handcuffs. Gray spandex-covered chairs sported cell block numbers that doubled as table numbers.
Once the crowd was seated, the 200 nominees were ushered into the cell by Keystone cops. Then dinner and the entertainment began. New Century Dance Company performed numbers from Chicago, and Add Fire sparked the crowd's interest by shooting holes through the onstage backdrop to reveal the Special Event logo.
After the award winners were announced and Mona Maretsky of COMCOR Meeting & Event Productions was presented with a Lifetime Achievement award, an actor dressed like Herbert Hoover issued a presidential pardon, and everyone got out of jail just in time to walk down the hall (passing additional jail cells by Event Makers), where a supper club—complete with stylized lounge furniture from Unique Options—had replaced the speakeasy. Guests sipped cocktails, relaxed in club chairs and chaise lounges, and listened to the sounds of Nestor Torres. Then DJ Anthony from Pure Energy Entertainment played until the last partygoer left.
—Shari Lynn Rothstein
A view of the room from behind bars in the audiovisual area.
Cool LED pillars flashed the Special Event logo onstage during the award ceremony.
Guest sat at long tables during the dinner at the Gala Awards.
In the supper club, Nestor Torres and his band played on a lit stage by Ice Magic.
