Interesting Ideas

The OC Fair & Event Center in Costa Mesa hosted the first Electric Run November 30, a trippy nighttime 5K run/walk set to electronic dance music that saw more than 10,000 participants dressed in glow-in-the-dark costumes surrounded by a million watts of lights.

Plastic red cups played heavily into Saucony's December 4 gathering at the Coppertank Events Center. A satellite event to the Running Event in Austin, the party featured a fence wall that spelled out the brand's name using Solo cups. The installation was meant to evoke a backyard or block-party feel.

At the AIDS Foundation of Chicago's "World of Chocolate" event on November 29, a silent auction let guests bid at different levels and choose a number on a punch board that corresponded to that level. Event staffers dressed as professional boxers would then punch a hole through that number and reveal a corresponding prize.

John Laraio of Mobius8 performed at the Fusion Fashion & Art Show December 6 at LMNT Contemporary Art Space in Miami. Mobius8 is electronica performance art that combines lighting, visual effects, and lasers that morph to the beat of dance music.

At the Miami Beach launch of William John Kennedy’s portraits of Andy Warhol December 7, guests ate roasted Peking duck moo-shoo rolls with hoisin-marinated scallions served in mini take-out boxes adorned with Warhol's portrait of Chairman Mao Zedong. Other Warhol-inspired bites from the Villa by Barton G. included tomato gazpacho served in mini iconic Campbell's soup cans and Kobe beef sliders served on a tray of Coca-Cola bottles.

A branded shuffleboard game at Harper’s Bazaar's ShopBazaar.com pop-up last week at the Buena Vista Building in Miami offered winners free T-shirts, cash prizes, and gift certificates. XA produced the space and its events.

For the season three premiere party for Portlandia, IFC took over New York’s American Museum of Natural History and created quirky displays to match the show’s offbeat portrayal of Portland. The Monday night event included miniature scenes of Portlandians everyday activities in glass terrariums.

The Children's Defense Fund's 22nd annual Beat the Odds award ceremony December 6 honored five Los Angeles high school students who overcame personal obstacles and achieved academic excellence. To incorporate the teenagers into the night's visuals, the organizers used a gallery of black-and-white portraits as the backdrop for the stage at the Beverly Hills Hotel. Art Arellanes produced the event; Revelry handled the scenic production and Richard Taylor provided the lighting design.

An inventive ploy for on-the-spot donations, Charity:Water invited guests at its seventh Charity:Ball in New York to buy helium-filled balloons for $5 a pop. The attendees at the Monday-night event then could release the inflatables in a net shaped like a giant jerry can—an image the nonprofit uses to symbolize its mission of bringing clean water to developing countries.

Bloor Street Entertains, a fund-raiser for CANFAR, took place in several venues on the Toronto street on November 28. Students from Seneca College worked with event producer Spinraduis to design a table with an Elegant Winter theme in the William Ashley china shop. At each place setting, Christmas tree ornaments shaped like glittering presents served as name cards, and guests took home the festive trinkets at the end of the night. Ecostems designed the lush centerpiece.