Event Ideas

In early April, attendees were sent a pre-arrival package that included a welcome note and a metal luggage tag.

At the hotel, the registration area was set up to resemble a boutique, displaying the items included in the welcome totes on shelves. “At the previous Engage! conference, we found out that some people didn’t open their welcome bag until they got home, but it included a lot of items meant to be used at the conference,” says Arak-Kanofsky. “So we wanted to make sure people knew what was inside. The merchandise walls created by Bob Gail Special Events allowed guests to see what they were getting.”

After picking up their totes, attendees headed to an area to be assigned their groups for the lunch roundtable and dinner dine-around. They selected a poker chip at random; each chip was printed with the name of one of the dinner locations.

Guests received a minibar kit that included recipes for three cocktails and the ingredients needed to make them, like Red Bull, Goldschlager, and candy drink stirrers.

The welcome totes also included a trifold vanity kit. Each day of the conference had its own corresponding pouch of items. The “Get Ready” section included bath salts, an aromatherapy candle, and a box of matches. The “Engage” pouch had a tube of mints, lip balm, and massage cream. The “Glow” pouch featured items intended for use at the gala event, like nail polish, a mirror, and a portable kit with Band-Aids, blotting papers, and fashion tape.

In the presentation room, each seat held a “Bento Box” of items intended to optimize their experience.

The boxes included pencils, sticky notes, a journal, mints and candy, and “Thinking Putty," a Silly Putty-like product to keep guests’ hands engaged. “We wanted to make all of the gifts as lightweight as possible so that people would be able to take them home in their luggage,” says Susan Arak-Turnock. To that end, the boxes were made from thick paper board.

Kristy Rice of Momental Designs created programs featuring watercolor illustrations detailing the conference's various events.

Continuing with the gambling theme, guests also selected a playing card (designed by Tricia Hay) that revealed the number of the table at which they’d be seated for the luncheon and which speaker would be hosting the table. “Like at any meeting, people tend to want to stick with who they know,” says Rebecca Grinalls. “So doing a blind pull like this helps create organic opportunities for networking with new people without making it feel forced.”

At the end of the first night’s poolside welcome party, everyone was given a “Hydrate and Chill” kit designed to help them beat the Vegas heat. The package included a fan, a water mister, a bottle of sleep-inducing Dream Water, and an insulated cup.

Flexible branded paper cubes served as easy decor throughout the conference. Custom USB cards included event information as well as all 250 attendees’ contact information, which avoided the need to pass out business cards.

Name badges doubled as an icebreaker: the number of crystal charms on the tag identified how many times the badge-wearer had attended an Engage! conference. Veteran attendees had nine balls, while first-timers had only one.

On the last evening, an “After Glow” kit was placed on guests’ pillows during turndown service. The pouch included a gel eye mask, a foot soak, and a box of hangover remedies like Tylenol, Alka Seltzer, eye drops, and ear plugs.

After the conference, Engaging Concepts sent every attendee a thank-you gift of fortune cookies; the fortunes inside were printed with quotes from conference speakers.

There was also a post-conference Twitter contest that asked guests to write a haiku that summed up their experience at Engage!12. Winners received a “Withdrawal Kit” that included detox drinks, candies, and a countdown calendar to the next conference. (The lid of the container was printed with the winning tweets.)

At Justice magazine’s launch party at Plus, guests played with the toy handcuffs that served as decor.

Along with issues of the magazine, toy handcuffs and gavels dotted the tabletops.

Plus’ bartenders and servers wore police caps.

Hot Shots Entertainment snapped mug shots of guests (editor in chief Randall Lane is pictured here) and handed them coded “get out of jail free” cards to redeem for their pics.

The Sagamore, Paul Kasmin Gallery, and Will Ryman unveiled blossoming sculpture "65th Street" on November 27 on the beachfront.

At Design Miami, which opened November 30, Copenhagen-based design firm Big unveiled an entry for the Audi Urban Future Award. The installation featured the A2 e-tron concept car on an interactive LED surface where light follows the feet of those who walk on it.

Fendi commissioned designers Elisa Strozyk and Sebastian Neeb to create an installation with antique furniture pieces from the 18th century. The furnishings were transformed from solid wood to leather and other pliable textiles, using Fendi's discarded leather materials.

Fendi's Design Performance piece "Craft Alchemy" took place in a gallery room inspired by Palazzo Fendi, the grand Neo-Classical building that houses Fendi's international headquarters.

The Gen Art Detour included Smart cars wrapped in designs by five artists showing at the Scope Art Fair, which ran November 29 through December 4.

On November 29, the Dot429Inspired event at the Epic Hotel showcased sponsor Fiat's 500 Cabrio model.

The V.I.P. opening for the 10th edition of Art Basel Miami Beach on November 30 at the Miami Beach Convention Center drew guests including Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Douglas.

More than 4,000 guests attended the opening reception for Bass Museum and artist Erwin Wurm November 30, including Estaban Betancourt, who stood inside one of Wurm's drinking sculptures at his latest exhibition, "Erwin Wurm: Beauty Business."

On December 1, Tiffany & Company held a preview of the 2011 to 2012 Blue Book collection at AD Oasis lounge at the Raleigh.

Camila Alves attended the Tiffany & Company dinner at the AD Oasis @ the Raleigh.

Exhale provided beauty treatments for guests during Architectural Digest's retreat at the AD Oasis lounge at the Raleigh.

Ruinart Champagne dedicated its V.I.P. booth to artist Gideon Rubin in the Collector's Lounge at the Miami Beach Convention Center.

Pop surrealist artist Aleloop presented an interactive Mini Cooper art installation December 1 through 4. Ten vehicles wrapped in pop art traveled around town.

Spectators of the Mini Cooper caravan and multi-sensory flash mob had the chance to add their own artwork to a car with a white canvas.

Online eyeglass retailer Warby Parker outfitted 10 bicycles by local company Republic with cases that held frames. A street team rode around Miami December 1 through 3 in teams of two with different eyeglass and sunglass styles for people to try on.

The mobile food truck, lounge, and bar, made stops throughout Miami. Bicyclists spread the word about the pop-up, handing out maps to people on the street.

At Veuve Clicquot's Lounge and Champagne Bar, tables displayed origami vases and ice buckets.

Contemporary artist Trey Speegle hosted a private party on December 1 at Hotel Breakwater's rooftop penthouse to launch his "You/Me" exhibit at the hotel, with paint-by-numbers on live models.

The Steinway Piano Gallery of Miami presented Pop-Up Piano Miami December 1 through 4. The public art project made possible by the Black Key Group comprised 10 pianos in and around the city, each designed by a featured artist.

Montblanc presented the Montblanc De La Culture Arts Patronage Award to design supporter Craig Robins (center) with Montblanc C.E.O. Jan Patrick Schmitz (left) and architect Zaha Hadid. A check for $20,000 was presented to DASH High School as part of the award.

Miami graffiti artist Jona Cerwinske worked on a live art piece during the gala event in the Miami Design District.

Eggwhites Catering provided a multicourse dinner including a dessert plate with a chocolate replica of a Montblanc pen.

Gilt City hosted a style lounge at the Soho Beach House for Art Basel, serving Gilty Conscience cocktails and snacks from the Gilt City Candy Bar December 1 to 3.

The oceanfront style lounge at Soho Beach House let visitors select merchandise from some of Gilt Groupe's top brands.

"Labrys Frisae" by architect Marc Fornes installed a 16-foot piece in Midtown Miami's glass Rotunda as part of Graffiti Gone Global. Fornes and this team assembled by hand more than 80 nodes, 12,000 unique parts, and 100,000 connectors.

Guests sat on a piece titled "Public Figure," a bench-like structure made of polyethylene by Volkan Alkanoglu.

Returning artist Billi Kid curated the "Eames Inspiration" series of chairs, part of Sushi Samba's permanent collection.

Bing hosted pianist Elew, who performed an hour-long set of jazz, rock, and pop on a custom Yamaha piano at the newly renovated Shelborne South Beach Thursday.

Guests posed at the photo booth with props at the Macallan launch party Friday.

The Macallan Single Malt Scotch launch at AD Oasis featured work by X-ray photographer Nick Veasey.

Attendees posed with pink props at the Guess photo studio area at the Refinery29 launch party.

Violent Lips provided colorful, temporary lip tattoos to guests during the Refinery29 event.

Lounge seating filled Cafeina Wynwood Lounge's lush courtyard area.

Fashion, beauty, and lifestyle Web site Refinery29 used Art Basel as a launching pad for its Miami edition. The event, held December 1 at Cafeina Wynwood, featured a garden inspired by Andy Warhol with 10 large-scale circular pieces of art created for Refinery29 by Not a Gallery artist Justin Belmont.

Pask Productions produced the Bombay Sapphire Artisan Series event, a partnership between Bombay Sapphire and Russell Simmons' Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation at the Alfred I. Dupont Building December 2.

The Artisan Series gave 20 artists from all over the U.S. the opportunity to have their work displayed at the Dupont building during Art Basel.

The New World Center displayed projections from the Joshua Light Show for the Art Basel Miami Beach's Ten Great Years celebration hosted by Art Basel Miami Beach and produced in collaboration with Performa on Friday.

The Art Basel Miami Beach anniversary event featured an alligator mounted next to an edible landscape of native plants and vegetables. The meat of the alligator was prepared in five ways by Shiraz in collaboration with chef Matthew Weingarten: alligator sausage and cat tail pollen corn dogs, Florida citrus glazed alligator ribs, fried popcorn gator nuggets with chili remoulade, alligator tail and crawfish terrine, and alligator and swamp vegetable gumbo.

Shiraz and chef Matthew Weingarten provided miniature key lime pies for Art Basel Miami Beach's Ten Great Years celebration.

Shiraz's menu items included oil-cured sardines, sweet braised eel, and horseradish-scented popcorn.

Servers passed around cigar-shaped mini Cubans with ham, cornichon, and cheese.

Three performances took place inside the orchestra hall for Art Basel's anniversary celebration.

On December 2, Beats by Dr. Dre and Fendi Casa held a celebration honoring artist Nick Cave with a performance by Robin Thicke.

Attendees at the Wolfsonian Art Basel party on Friday viewed pieces from the "Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity" exhibit.

On December 3, Usher and Mary J. Blige joined other guests at the 29th birthday party for music producer Rico Love at Vic & Angelo's Coal Oven Enoteca in South Beach.

On December 1, Mediterranean restaurant Baoli-Vita featured Pinocchio statues designed with pop culture images and colorful outfits created by Montreal-based artist Carlito Dalceggio.

Artist Dalceggio performed live painting on two models in addition to a free-standing wall in the restaurant.

Writer Anthony Haden-Guest designed T-shirts for the As If magazine launch party at Fendi Casa Luxury Living showroom on December 1.

Absolut Vodka debuted its pop-up December 1 with a four-day exhibit series hosted by pop artist Mr. Brainwash. The artist featured a piece inspired by the Absolut Bottle with Elvis at the Wynwood Lot.

Indie band Twin Shadow performed at the Friday night Absolut Vodka celebration featuring Mr. Brainwash.

Bing celebrated the grand reopening of Shelborne South Beach following Seth Browarnik's "Art of Night" exhibit unveiling. Performers and blown-up swans entertained guests Thursday night in the pool area.

Art Zoo, produced by Hope International, featured artists, designers, and performers dressed in animal print who came out to support Paws 4 You on Saturday poolside at Finnegan's River.

Artists painted images of dogs throughout the day to help raise money for the cause.

Guests attended the 1800 Tequila Coleccion breakfast at the AD Oasis Lounge at the Raleigh on Saturday.

The “Follow the Woody” cocktail reception hosted by Brad Ford took over the AD Oasis lounge at the Raleigh on December 3.

Each of the nine large reprints of articles from the latest Red Bulletin included a three-dimensional element