Ideas I Like

For the New Museum's gala at Cipriani Wall Street, a 270-degree projection from Nuit Blanche New York added pops of color and a more modern look to site's Greek Revival architecture. The installation included work by artist Takeshi Murata, whose piece mixed neon hues with video imagery.

Pyrotechnic drummers—with the help of computer-generated fire—elicited a lively reaction from the audience during the opening number of Telemundo's May 14 upfront presentation at Lincoln Center in New York.

On May 10, Volkswagen launched its new joint dealership with Audi in Manhattan with a rooftop bash. Behind a counter designed to look like a miniature food truck—a VW truck, of course— chefs from Tacombi filled crispy shells with corn, peppers, and seasoned beef. A counter wrapped the side of the mock truck where guests could chow down on their snacks.

At the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum's Butterfly Ball in Chicago on May 3, the gala had a farm-like atmosphere. Playing off the event's "Savour Nature" theme, Event Creative brought in vegetable-centric decor. Tables were decked with miniature gardens potted with tomatoes, colorful peppers, asparagus, and kale; around the centerpieces, fairy lights in miniature Mason jars added to the elegant yard-party vibe.

On May 9, nearly 300 artists and art patrons celebrated the Santa Monica Museum of Art’s 25th anniversary. The dinner was prepared by Suzanne Goin of Lucques and envisioned by iconic chef Alice Waters of Chez Panisse. Dates and tangerines made a colorful presentation in the menu.

Nearly 750 people attended the 54th annual Clio Awards last week for a glamorous evening honoring the advertising industry at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. An interactive Winners Gallery, which allowed attendees to view 400 works from 10 different mediums, included a touch-screen format that allowed guests to browse and watch the winning commercials.

Grohe's New York showroom was covered in graffiti during the launch party for its Grandera bathroom collection. Held May 13, the event featured a digital art piece from French artist Antonin Fourneau. Called "Water Light Graffiti," the work comprised a wall of LED panels that lit up when they came into contact with water.

For a March 25 kickoff party for a corporate conference, GEP Destination Management recreated Washington's museums and monuments at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center. A replica of Julia Child's kitchen from the National Museum of American History area had star gobos and red and blue linens.

USA Network's upfront presentation was held on May 16 inside Basketball City, a massive sport facility in New York's Lower East Side. Just after sunset, a barge bearing the USA logo docked in the East River across from the deck to stage a spectacular fireworks show that had guests oohing and ahhing—and grabbing for their smartphones to snap photos.

The 13th annual Friends of the High Line benefit returned to New York's Pier 57 on May 14. To counteract the damp, chilly space, baskets of pashminas were left on benches constructed from reclaimed wood and cinder blocks.

From Serena Bass for Special Attention Caterers in New York, the updated take on sliders contains grilled sirloin meatball skewered with romaine hearts, tomato, cheddar cheese, bacon crisp, brioche crouton, and chipotle mayo.

Washington’s Shakespeare Theater Company and Harman Center for the Arts honored artistic director Michael Kahn’s 25th anniversary with the company in 2011 with dinner and dancing at the National Building Museum. Purple, pink, and gold uplighting from Atmosphere Lighting accented the decor at the museum.

Food stations included tubes of shrimp cocktail presented on a block of ice.

Chicken and vegetable kabobs were presented in American Express cups.

A fire juggler performed throughout the night.

Fear No Ice used power tools to recreate the event's logo out of a large block of ice.

The American Express name appeared on the top and bottom of the flip-flops given to each guest.

Swimsuit-clad bartenders served Nitro Sangria, a cocktail topped with freeze-dried fruit, from a bar inside the hotel's empty hot tub.

Organizers added American Express pillows to the chairs around the hotel's pool.

To go along with the "Fire and Ice" theme, candle-filled ice centerpieces topped some of the clear acrylic tables from Ice Magic.

Airstar America provided several large lighted balloons with the American Express logo.

Pat Corbett, American Express vice president for global supplier relations, spoke to the crowd from atop the Mix on Wheels hummer that served as the DJ booth.

At the slider station, guests could choose from beef, buffalo chicken, crab cake, or portobello sliders served in individual burger boxes.

All of the signage at the food stations was done on clear acrylic panels etched with the American Express logo.

As the night wore on, the sand was filled with the imprint of the American  Express logo from the flip-flops.

Team Sandtastic created a sand sculpture of the American Express logo.

Ice Magic provided its new leather lounge seating for the party and embroidered the American Express logo on the center cushion of the sofa.

The party was set up around the pool and on the beach at the Walt Disney World Swan hotel.

The American Express logo showed up everywhere at the party, including on cups, swizzle sticks, and lighted ice cubes.

As guests arrived at the beach party, they replaced their shoes with flip-flops bearing the American Express logo.

Entertain a crowd post-sunset with an alfresco movie experience. Utah-based Open Air Cinema is an outdoor cinema equipment supplier and event producer, with rental affiliates throughout the U.S. The company can provide screens up to 40 feet wide, as well as snacks such as popcorn and hot dogs. (The theater systems can also be set up for video games or karaoke.) Event production costs start from $2,000, and Open Air Cinema can help obtain a public performance license for movies, which can cost between $300 and $500.

Companies including Turner Classic Movies and American Express have booked water ballet company the Aqualillies. The female synchronized swimmers wear vintage swimsuits, flowered swim caps, and red lipstick, while performing a tightly choreographed routine to music. Based in Miami, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and New York, prices are available on request.

New York-based GrooveHoops performs a mix of dance and acrobatics while manipulating Hula-Hoops. The six performers stage choreographed sets that typically last four to seven minutes, while using standard variety, glowing LED, or fire-lit Hula-Hoops. GrooveHoops travels worldwide; fees start from $500 for one performer.

Entertainment company Zen Arts offers an array of entertainment options for dramatic outdoor entertaining, including fire dancers, costumed mermaids, and transparent “bubble spheres” that float on water while holding dancers. Most recently, six female Olympians joined the company’s synchronized swimming troupe. Based in Los Angeles, Zen Arts performers can travel worldwide; performances cost between $10,000 and $100,000.

Bicycle action performer Trevor Bodogh performs gravity-defying tricks on two wheels while traversing a portable set of obstacles like ramps and platforms. The 25-minute set features Bodogh executing moves like climbing up a six-and-a-half-foot-tall “Devil’s Staircase” on his seatless bike. Bodogh can perform outdoors on a variety of surfaces, and he brings his own equipment, music, and sound system. Based in Toronto, Bodogh travels across the U.S. and Canada; fees start from $1,500.

In addition to nighttime fireworks displays, PyroTecnico can also present daytime “fireworks” shows using colored smoke. With offices throughout the U.S., the company can stage performances anywhere. Prices available on request.

TEDActive guests scooped up logo water bottles upon their arrival (or any time throughout the conference) that served as giveaways, as well as a way to stay hydrated without the use of disposable plastic bottles. Hydration stations let guests fill up easily and as often as they liked.

Multiple venues around the property for simulcast viewing included an array of seating groups, including more traditional chairs and desks and armchairs—and even beanbags.

Don't find beanbags quite comfy enough? The main simulcast venue, the theater, also had several bed-style lounging groups complete with TVs overhead for cozy viewing of the TED Talks.

A picnic lunch Wednesday offered picnic baskets for groups of seven—so each person had to meet six new folks with whom to chat and chow.

The Sovereign Nation of You station encouraged attendees to make representational flags for creative expression during meeting breaks.

Adding to the easygoing vibe were dogs, which were allowed on the property and at the event; attendees with furry friends could bring them along.

The main stage backdrop got an appealing but spare look from wooden pallets—visually interesting, but not enough to distract from the high-level conference content.

Meant to offer attendees a low barrier to entry for creative expression, Paper Punk offered a station where attendees could use prefab templates to create small art pieces—think origami meets Lego—and affix them to an evolving wall.

In a thoughtful use of the environment surrounding the sprawling host hotel, individual seating groups invited attendees to gather and collaborate in cleverly arranged settings that themselves served to inspire.

To encourage folks to really engage with the content while being themselves, the TEDActive dress code was casual. Anything goes. So there were jeans, yes, but also plenty of flip-flops, shorts, and hoodies.

The TEDActive projects engaged attendees in brainstorming various ideas—and moving them forward through the course of the event.

TEDActive means to connect attendees whenever possible—and oversize name badges made it easy to identify new folks.

Talk about a fully immersive experience: The conference took over some of the venue's Spanish tiles for its own brand messaging. The special tiles also served to guide attendees' path along the walkways to the various event venues on the sprawling property.

Guests were encouraged to bring their own T-shirts, totes—whatever—and Hit & Run customized them live according to guests' own personal TEDActive experience with a range of designs.

Meant to keep attendees fit and moving, one station offered scooter and bike rental available any time.

Coffee and snacks are pretty typical at conferences, but TEDActive's offerings included coffee brewed in small batches by skilled baristas and snacks like roasted seaweed and organic dark chocolate peanut butter cups, available any time of day.

Sponsor Lincoln decked out one of the property's casitas with a space that was subtly branded and also offered guests a chance to walk through a series of functional art pieces on exhibit.

TEDx planners from around the world expressed themselves on an interactive chalkboard wall.

For a little collaboration in the get-to-know-you spirit, game stations dotted the event space.

Ever heard of flying a kite as a meeting-break option? TEDActive made one available for the taking, offering it adjacent to a casual seating cluster in the event's main outdoor space, known as the quad.

“Coffee and Donuts” meeting-break spread, featuring warm vanilla-­sugar, powdered-sugar, and cinnamon-sugar doughnut holes and ­organic, local coffee, by the Umstead Hotel and Spa in Cary, North Carolina

Twelve quail eggs sunny-side up, by the SLS Hotel Beverly Hills in Los Angeles

Miniature breakfast empanadas, by the Ritz-Carlton Chicago

Bite-size bagels with lox, by the Ritz-Carlton Chicago

Warm peach bread pudding with scrambled duck eggs and blackberry compote, by the Intercontinental Chicago

“Legs and Eggs,” featuring a pasture-raised confit chicken leg served with poached eggs, fingerling potato hash, and chive aioli, by the Harbor View Hotel in Edgartown, Massachusetts

Hanover Benedict, made with local eggs, sautéed spinach, red-pepper hollandaise sauce, and a potato cake, by Hanover Inn in Hanover, New Hampshire

Mexican breakfast buffet, or Cocina del Barrio, with Mexican hot chocolate, mango-passion-fruit and grapefruit-carrot juices, fruit empanadas, tropical fruit in a bag, pastel pan dulce, egg scrambles with squash blossoms and queso fresco, and tortillas, by Four Seasons Resort Rancho Encantado Santa Fe in New Mexico

Prosciutto with pickled red onion and feta cheese in a croissant, by the Revere Hotel in Boston

The “Still Awake From Last Night” breakfast spread, featuring a Philly cheesesteak sandwich, by the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa in Atlantic City

Make-your-own champagne cocktail bar with orange and pineapple juices, Angostura bitters, sugar cubes, lemon twists, fresh fruit, and champagne, by the Mandarin Oriental in San Francisco

The event's footprint grew from a 28,000-square-foot hotel ballroom in 2013 to the 43,000-square-foot space at the convention center.

Amaryllis used 20- by 12-foot pallet wood sections to create the center structures for the food pavilions. On the larger stations, chalkboards covered the wood with images affiliated with the station's sponsor.

The chalkboard drawings also included the menu of items served at each station.

Onomonomedia and Amaryllis worked together to create a photo opportunity outside the ballroom using a custom chalkboard drawings of Washington landmarks, echoing the decor used inside for the food pavilions.

A draft-only bar on the upper level of the ballroom overlooking the main event floor served Heineken and Newcastle beers.

A pavilion sponsored by the Citi Open tennis tournament focused on sports-event staples such as hot dogs, pretzel sticks with dipping sauces, and buffalo wings paired with Asian slaw, pasta salad, or potato salad.

Amaryllis also set up a lounge area for Citi Open and its guests with black leather chairs and a glass coffee table encasing tennis balls and paraphernalia.

Nearly 200 tables covered the floor around the food stations for event sponsors.

At food stations sponsored by Chile, dishes included ceviche and marinated shrimp with avocado pebre. Coordinating with the food, the chalkboard centerpiece depicted scenes of the country's harbors and fishing boats.

One of the most popular dishes at the Chilean station: grilled salmon over a rustic quinoa salad.

Chile served a traditional dessert made with Chilean olive oil and yogurt mousse topped with a berry compote.

Australia served Pavlovas—white meringue topped with berries—for dessert, a dish named for 1920s Russian ballet dancer Anna Pavlova after one of her ballet tours in the region.

Events DC sponsored a food pavilion and a champagne ice bar, while Amaryllis provided a lounge with circular white couches.

Rather than serving wine, as many countries did, the Peru pavilion served a cocktail made with the Macchu Pisco spirit, passion fruit, Earl Grey tea, and apple bitters.

Nearly 1,900 people attended the award show and dinner, after which they hit the dance floor to the sounds of the band Onyx and late-night DJ Neekola.