The Starlight Children's Foundation's Starlight Gala
The Starlight Children's Foundation hosted its Starlight Gala, sponsored by Toys "R" Us, at Toronto's Fairmont Royal York Hotel on April 6. Organizers created a whimsical bash filled with circus-inspired ideas. Dinner tables were topped with miniature Ferris wheels that held cupcakes with colorful frosting.
Photo: George Pimentel Photography
3. HBO
In January, HBO hosted a New Years-themed party to celebrate the second season of its hit show Girls. Held at the Skirball Center of Performing Arts in New York, the cheeky function invited guests to pen resolutions on placards with the Twitter hashtag for the show #Resolutionsgirlsbreak. (The show's creator, Lena Dunham, wrote: "I resolve to wake up within two hours of my alarm.") Guests snapped photos holding their placards, and the fun shots were posted to HBO's Instagram page.
Photo: Courtesy of HBO
This table at Toronto's Canadian Film Centre gala is beautiful, yes. But I'd be worried placing my cocktail, glasses, and notebook.
Photo: Carla Warrilow/BizBash
Event staffers should be prepared to answer these questions from guests.
Photo: Nadia Chaudhury/BizBash
11. Make It the Focal Point
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.
Photo: Mark Davis
Illustration: Carolyn Curtis/BizBash
1. Write It on the Wall
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.
Photo: Jika González/BizBash
2. Put It on Signage
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.
Photo: WanderingHat
3. Make It Larger Than Life
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.
Photo: Nilaya Sabnis
4. Provide a Memento
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.
Photo: David X Prutting/BFAnyc.com
5. Make Staffers Wear It
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.
Photo: Elizabeth Renfrow for BizBash
6. Add It to the Red Carpet
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.
Photo: Brian Brooks/MB Productions
7. Place It at Entry Points
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.
Photo: Emma McIntyre for BizBash
8. Mark It on Tickets
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.
Photo: Nadia Chaudhury/BizBash
9. Include It in Printed Materials
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.
Photo: Rose Chevalier/BizBash
10. Put It Onstage
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.
Photo: Anna Sekula/BizBash
12. Print It on Functional Items
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.
Photo: Anna Sekula/BizBash
13. Use It as Decor
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.
Photo: Anna Sekula/BizBash
14. Turn It Into an Activity
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.
Photo: Anna Sekula/BizBash
15. Put It Where Guests Gather
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.
Photo: Anna Sekula/BizBash
Illustration: Carolyn Curtis/BizBash
Callaway Golf gathered comments about its products that had been posted on Twitter and printed them on banners that draped its booth at the P.G.A. Merchandise Show.
Photo: Mitra Sorrells/BizBash
Moët & Chandon's 'Great Gatsby' Premiere After-Party
Moët & Chandon hosted an after-party for the New York premiere of the film at the Plaza in New York. The evening began with a festive procession, which saw costumed performers making their way through the crowd holding champagne bottles from 1921 and sparklers.
Photo: Dave Allocca/Startraksphoto.com
Washington Ballet's Inaugural Soiree
At the 2011 fete, ballerinas performed an excerpt from the ballet The Great Gatsby just before the live auction and DJ began.
Photo: Tony Brown/imijphoto.com
Washington Ballet's Inaugural Soiree
Entertainers dressed as 1920s flappers served as greeters.
Photo: Tony Brown/imijphoto.com
"Love in the Air" Event at the New York Botanical Garden
Live musical acts are borrowing inspiration from the evocative 1920s period. Costumed entertainers took the stage at a collaboration between the New York Botanical Garden and Stephen Starr Events in March.
Photo: Lina Jang Photographers
Wedding by Swank Productions
A Great Gatsby-themed wedding planned by Swank Productions Inc. featured escort cards arranged inside of a vintage card catalog.
Photo: Sean T. Smith
Lincoln Park Zoo’s Zoo Ball: “The Great Catsby”
The Chicago zoo’s July benefit had a theme inspired by The Great Gatsby. Designers from Frost and Event Creative aimed to bring an East Coast-mansion feel to HDO Productions’ dinner tent, stringing bunches of chandeliers over the dance floor.
Photo: Photo: Alain Milotti
The Plaza's Moët & Chandon Pop-Up
In celebration of the upcoming film, the Plaza recently transformed its champagne bar into a Moët & Chandon pop-up. The space holds an old-fashioned champagne cart, meant to resemble a fixture at one of Gatsby's parties.
Photo: Courtesy of The Park
A 1920s-Style Setup From BBJ Linen and A Perfect Event
A Perfect Event and BBJ Linen recently collaborated on a Great Gatsby-inspired birthday celebration in Chicago. Customized, mini champagne bottles stood in for place cards at each setting. BBJ's pearl-strewn napkin rings evoked the fashions of the jazz age, while A Perfect Event's ostrich-feather place mats, orchids in silver dip-dyed glasses, and gilded Moroccan votive holders "added true Jay Gatsby excess to the tables," said Debi Lilly of A Perfect Event.
Photo: Courtesy of a Perfect Event
A 1920s-Style Setup From Revel Decor
Revel Decor recently brought in 1920s-style decor for a photo shoot with Carasco Photography at the Art Institute of Chicago. BBJ provided Art Deco-style linens while Okyne Medialab brought in sepia-hued lighting.
Photo: Carasco Photography
A 1920s-Style Setup From Revel Decor
For the photo shoot, Hall's provided vintage-style champagne glasses, including a coupe adorned with polka dots.
Photo: Carasco Photography
A 1920s-Style Setup From Jewell Events Catering
At a 1920s-style private event in Chicago, Jewell Events Catering served a blackberry-champagne sorbet intermezzo in a cored apple. The palate cleanser was presented on Hall's Gothic Gold china set on gold Sunburst chargers, with Amber glassware; Private Label Linen created custom, Art Deco-style linens.
Photo: Courtesy of Jewell Events Catering
The AdBall
Toronto's AdBall, held at the Mod Club on January 31, had a Great Gatsby theme. Performers dressed in period garb entertained on a digital runway created by 5th Element Events; later in the evening, the runway held a fashion show that featured ad industry bigwigs as models.
Photo: Stefania Yarhi
American Harvest Organic Spirit Launch Party
Event Creative designer Meredith Treinen brought an East Coast look to the Ivy Room for the spirit's launch party in Chicago last summer. Decorative elements included fresh wheat in birch containers, blue hydrangeas in wood boxes, and votive-filled Mason jars. Lighting cast leafy projections on the walls.
Photo: AveryHouse
Booze is a surefire hit as a take-home gift. Pinhole Press can create custom-branded bottle labels ($10 for nine; bulk pricing available) for wine or any other type of beverage.
Photo: Courtesy of Pinhole Press
Digital signage provided information about the QVC Presents FFANY Shoes On Sale benefit. Nearly a dozen designers donated shoes for the auction.
Photo: Sonja Garnitschnig
