Innovative Ideas

The brand's name and its horse logo appeared on the floor of the museum beside a turn-of-the-century water wheel.

Bartenders with white vests and gun holsters served Prohibition-era drinks such as the Bully Boy mojito, made with white rum; the Rough Rider, made with white whiskey and ginger beer; the Bull Moose, with vodka, dry vermouth and pickle juice; and the Commodore, with Bully Boy rum topped with Night Shift Beer.

DJ Nighttime Gallagher spun Prohibition-era swing music, '50s rock and blues such as “Twist and Shout,” and '90s throwbacks like Ini Kamoze’s “Here Comes the Hotstepper” and Ace of Base’s “The Sign.”

In the weeks leading up to the event, a QR code printed on bar coasters and posters took guests to the event's Web site, which revealed clues about the secret location.

White lights were strung throughout the museum, illuminating the Bully Boy whiskey barrels that were used as high-boy tables. Each table was decorated with votive candles encircled with cigarettes and liquor bottles holding with red roses and carnations.

A simple way to draw attention to an official hashtag is to place a call to action on a wall. Promotions like Wired magazine's pop-up, which took place in New York last November, used wall decals to encourage consumers to promote the store while on-site.

Signage is a more prominent way to direct guests to the designated hashtag, a strategy employed by last year's Sweetgreen festival in Maryland. The resulting tweets were broadcast on the large screens placed around the stage.

Increasingly common at events is the use of large video screens to display Twitter chatter. For the "Shops at Target" launch in New York on May 1, the producers took advantage of the IAC Building's 120-foot-long video wall to magnify posts marked with #TheShopsatTgt.

Services like Instaprint are popping up at many affairs, proving popular with guests as a tangible record of their active social media use. At a fashion show held by USA Network in New York, even the wall the machines were mounted on sported the hashtag, motivating curious attendees to snap a photo and post it via Instagram.

Staffers are a common sight at events, and some event producers have put hashtags on the outfits worn by greeters, caterwaiters, or even hosts. In February, the South Beach Wine & Food Festival advertised its official Twitter phrase on the T-shirts worn by participating chefs like Rocco DiSpirito.

The arrival areas of events involving celebrity guests tend to draw large crowds. To turn that to their advantage, the planners behind USA Network's upfront in New York placed a large canvas emblazoned with the official hashtag high above the carpet where passersby could see it.

Just as common as a red carpet are the rope-and-stanchion barricades that denote an entrance or V.I.P. area. Among the ways the Art Gallery of Ontario displayed the hashtag for its annual Massive Party fund-raiser on April 19, was the use of small signs placed atop stanchions.

The colorful plastic and paper wristbands used at concerts, festivals, and other big events can be customized to show a designated hashtag. To encourage guests at its Party in the Garden fund-raiser to upload photos via Instagram, the Museum of Modern Art in New York handed out entry bracelets printed with the hashtag #PitG2012.

Invitations and programs serve as physical reminders of an event's basic info—the date, time, location, and even dress code. An additional step would be to add the hashtag to such materials, which is what the Shorty Awards did in New York on March 26.

When the stage—or runway—is a central element of an event, a backdrop can call attention to something in a big way. The producers of USA Network's fashion presentation in New York on June 12 utilized the 60-foot-long LED video wall that served as the main decorative element of the catwalk to display its hashtag as well as the premiere date of show Suits.

Not every event has a stage, but any eye-catching area can be a smart spot to place a hashtag. That was the case with the June 5 release party for the Project X Xtended Cut DVD in Los Angeles. Produced by the Visionary Group, the backyard-bash-style affair for Warner Brothers and Break Media included an 18- by 10-foot pool, which had a banner marked with the event name and hashtag sitting at the bottom.

A more subtle approach is to use the hashtag on the cocktail napkins. The organizers of Travel & Leisure's first Social Media in Travel & Tourism Awards (the Smittys) in New York on June 7 made sure attendees saw the hashtag when grabbing a bite from a passing waiter or when taking a cocktail from the bar.

Similarly simple was the approach taken for the August 2011 press preview of Betsey Johnson's fragrance Too Too. The planners incorporated the event hashtag and the designer's official Twitter handle into the overall event design by placing the call to action in frames.

A playful, original idea created by the planners behind Travel & Leisure's Social Media in Travel & Tourism Awards replaced entrance bracelets with sweatbands and invited guests to embellish them with quirky pins, one of which displayed the hashtag.

Bars are almost always the most crowded areas of an event, and in addition to displaying the affair's signature cocktails, drink menus can be marked with a hashtag.

Sequoia Productions’ Cheryl Cecchetto

Founder Andrea Morris created a line of '80s pops with emblematic images from the decade, like the colorful Pac-Man characters.

Ogilvy & Mather commissioned strawberry-shaped pops to serve at a pitch meeting for its client, sweetener Truvia. Morris used Truvia in her cake mix, and also dusted the pops with the product.

Morris' Marie Antoinette-inspired cake pops, featuring marshmallow wigs, were her first design and have since become a signature for the Cocomori line.

As a fashion follower, Morris sometimes draws inspiration from the runways when creating her desserts. These cake pops were inspired by silk fabric and pearls.

For Children's Oncology Services' Campfire ball in May, Cocomori went with a summer-camp theme. Cake pops, some flavored like s'mores, were topped with tiny frosted replicas of life preservers, campfires, and archery sets.

Papabubble candy makers created custom sweets for guests to take home, with flavors for the treats inspired by the natural ingredients used in Fresh products.

To celebrate 21 years in business, Fresh built a gifting bar where guests could select products from each year since the brand's beginnings. Packages were messengered to attendees the following day.

At the Walking Dead booth at Comic-Con, staff from Sincerely snapped photos of guests using the Postagram Engage app. Guests received the photos instantly on email and also could opt to receive the image as a physical postcard.

A mock-up of a custom postcard for Comic-Con shows the sponsors' logos at the top and a brief message to the side of the photo.

Postagram Engage postcards can be customized with messages and artwork on both sides. The postcard Sincerely created for the Walking Dead booth at Comic-Con had the guest's photo on one side and the comic book's artwork on the other side.

Sincerely has tested the Postagram Engage app at more than 25 events around the country hosted by Gilt Groupe, including screenings of the movie Rock of Ages.