event

During the cocktail reception on the main floor of Christie's Auction House, the producers set up multiple bars to prevent guest congestion. Bartenders served two specialty cocktails, dubbed "Midnight Highball" and "Le Fizz," made with Grey Goose's new Cherry Noir flavor.

Inspired by Jeff Koons' "Puppy" sculpture at the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, event producer Van Wyck & Van Wyck built a four-foot-tall topiary shaped in the form of a griffin. The mythical animal is sponsor JW Marriott's logo and the floral version, which was created as a surprise for the brand executives, had eyes made of mums.

Adorning the James Christie room for the live auction were a series of seven-and-a-half-inch scrim panels painted with the JW Marriott griffin logo. The auction concluded with a live solo performance by Grace Potter, of Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, on the stage in the space.

Students from the Illinois Institute of Art, mentored by fashion designer Maria Pinto, designed a table setting inspired by Alice in Wonderland.

To handle large crowds waiting for a single elevator at a 2004 Dom Perignon event, Susan Magrino Agency hired the Harlem Gospel Choir to entertain guests as they waited in line.

The Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art’s 2009 ArtEdge benefit had a lighthearted feel, with childhood games and activities including a large swing set.

At the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, Johnson & Johnson displayed photographs on a wall that curved upward.

The American Heart Association’s 2006 Rhapsody in Red event had a dramatic event entryway designed by Matthew David Events: a model wore a silk organza dress with a 30-foot-long skirt that draped over the New York Public Library’s entrance.

Snapple’s 2006 “High Tea Tour” combined large-scale product placement and entertainment with free hot-air balloon rides in public spaces in nine cities.

Travel & Leisure used oversize balloons as a cheap and effective way to mark a pathway for its 35th birthday celebration, held in Los Angeles in 2006.

At design firm Trollbäck & Company’s fifth anniversary party in 2004, everything was white, even the clothes of Latin jazz band Jose Conde y Ola Fresca, to serve as a blank canvas for constantly changing projections.

A game inspired by the show Minute to Win It let guests stand in an air tube and try to grab as much prop money as they could in 60 seconds to win prizes from Neiman Marcus.

Adidas Originals showcased merchandise and introduced its new iPhone app, which recommends shoes for users and also gives directions to the nearest Adidas store, in a shoe-box-like structure on Lollapalooza grounds. Guests could also sign an oversize replica of the brand's new Mega sneaker.

Porsche's event had a racetrack setup with three remote-control cars and two car simulators for journalists to race each other.