Jukely Unlimited describes itself as the "Netflix of concerts." For $25 per month, users can attend one free show per day in their area. The system, accessible on the Web and via a mobile app, currently includes listings in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Austin, Texas, Miami, Chicago, Seattle, and Toronto, with plans for more cities in the coming months. Users can sync their music libraries with the app so it can recommend concerts based on individual tastes; over time it also recommends concerts similar to ones the user has attended. The app also shows friends who are going to a show and allows users to earn points toward free concert tickets by inviting friends to events.
YPlan calls itself the “spontaneous going out app.” The app, currently offering listings in London, New York, and San Francisco, unveiled several new features in March. A curated list of recommended events is grouped in categories, for example date-night suggestions. Users can also search for specific venues or event types by location, category, or keyword. The app is also now integrated with maps, so users can see what’s happening in real time in specific locations, and new filter options allow users to refine selections by date and price.
Events.com is a new cloud-based mobile app that launched in February. Users can search for events, purchase tickets, and share events on their social networks. The system also displays Twitter and Facebook posts about the event and a map of the event location.
Eventjoy is an event management platform now owned by Ticketmaster that allows users to find events and buy tickets through the app. In January the app added new features, including the ability to chat with event organizers and view a live stream of social buzz around the event from Twitter and Instagram. Each listing in the app can include things such as maps, venue photos, and profiles of speakers, sponsors, and exhibitors. Users can also find out which of their friends are going and send personal invitations to those who are not.
Fever launched in 2013 and is currently live in New York and Madrid, Valencia, and Barcelona in Spain, with London launching soon. The app creates a personalized list of things to do based on the user's interests and the friends and trendsetters they follow. Fever provides “tastemaker intel” based on partnerships with trendsetters in each city who allow the app to show where they are going and what they are doing. As users purchase tickets and attend events through the app, the system learns their preferences and customizes suggestions based on those past behaviors. As of February the app has more than one million users worldwide.
Vuevent uses tags such as art, live music, food, and fitness to categorize events. In the coming weeks the system will add deeper levels of filtering, for example specific types of music. Each suggested event also shows other similar events. Users can add events to their calendar, share events with friends, and favorite an event, which saves it to their profile. The app currently displays events in Denver and Boulder, Colorado, and in Austin, Texas, and the company plans to expand to more cities.
Hypestarter currently lists events in Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill, North Carolina, with plans to add Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, and several other cities later this year. The free app includes details from online event postings such as live music, festivals, 5K races, comedy events, sporting events, art shows, author events, and speaker series. Users can filter events based on those categories or calendars of specific venues and organizations, or by following what their friends are doing. Each listing includes social sharing tools, and hosts have the ability to add a link to online ticketing.
The names of sponsors such as Ketel One appeared in frames on a step-and-repeat outside of the building. Inside the space, the liquor brand hosted bars and provided specialty cocktails including one that combined vodka with edlerflower and prosecco.
For personalized party favors, Magnetic Memories shoots guest photos and prints them with customizable designs, then transforms the images into magnets on site. Pricing is available upon request.
Bringing a special pop-up edition of its holiday catalog to life, Pier 1 Imports created a living pop-up book installation in an empty storefront in New York’s SoHo neighborhood. The space used vignettes to highlight Christmas style and decor trends, including one called Plaid Tidings (pictured).
For the pop-up’s press preview, Pier 1 chose Mariah Carey for a brief appearance. Carey made remarks and posed for photos at the December 1 event. A video presentation of the pop-up storybook features narration by Carey.
A 14-person table featured a fully loaded holiday table, complete with place settings for Santa and Mrs. Claus and Santa’s reindeer.
At the pop-up’s entrance, decor extended overhead to a display of ornaments, greenery, and holly berry garlands. The pop-up was open from December 2 to 6.
Target Wonderland, a 16,000-square-foot pop-up shop in New York’s meatpacking district, turns toys, homewares, and other goods from the retailer into holiday decor. In one example, a Christmas tree is made from 320 Hulk hands.
Visitors can climb aboard a Lego pirate ship dubbed the S.S. Free Shipping. The store opened December 9 and runs through December 22.
A wall of Disney’s Tsum Tsum characters is the backdrop for a photo opportunity. The pop-up contains a number of digital elements such as R.F.I.D. badges that can be scanned at various stations to a digital shopping list. Before leaving, guests can purchase the items.
The Washington bar Mockingbird Hill has temporarily changed its concept to become the holiday-theme Miracle on Seventh Street through December 24. The venue redecorated with kitschy Christmas decor and included a “Hanukkah Hangout” complete with a dreidel chandelier. Along with a list of holiday cocktails named after holiday references in pop culture, the bar is offering activities such as Christmas classic movie nights and Manischewitz Pong competitions.
On the Wednesday before Thanksgiving—traditionally one of the busiest travel days of the year—J. Crew and JetBlue offered a respite for harried travelers. A pop-up installation at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport had four claw machines offering treats such as jewelry, hats, and gloves from J. Crew as well as JetBlue travel certificates.
Brooklyn-based artist Greg LaMarche designed the colorful space. Complimentary catering came courtesy of vendors from J.F.K.’s Terminal 5: Starbucks, Baked By Melissa, Cibo, and Ben & Jerry’s. Other activities included a temporary tattoo station and a photo booth.
Another riff on the claw game idea came from Barclaycard, which offered passersby in New York’s Union Square a chance to play the classic arcade game in a tricked-out truck. Gift cards of various values were wrapped in presents that people tried to grab with the claw. The December 5 event also had a give-back component: Each card contained a secret dollar amount that Barclaycard will put toward buying toys for the charity Toys for Tots. BMF Media produced the activation.
Guests at Nintendo’s Winter Wonderland could play games on new Nintendo 3DS XL systems in a festival holiday atmosphere. Alongside the blue and white holiday decor were figurines of Nintendo’s Amiibo characters. ESE Lifestyle produced the event, which took place in November at the London West Hollywood hotel in Los Angeles.
The millennial-friendly office supply company Poppin hosted a Friendsgiving event at its New York showroom in November. The event combined elements of Thanksgiving and Christmas by encouraging guests to give thanks and pick out gifts for friends, family, and co-workers. Gift-wrapping services using Knot & Bow’s quirky paper were available, and cards from Crumple & Toss along with ink stamps and markers let guests compose their own notes.
Viceroy Santa Monica library has taken a sweet turn as the Sugarfina Holiday Lounge Pop-Up. The boutique candy company collaborated on a set of holiday-theme cocktails inspired by its treats, including the Love Story, which mixes creme de mure, lemon juice, white wine, and sparkling wine, along with a Sugarfina Kir Royal candy garnish. Groups who host their holiday party at the hotel can add a Sugarfina holiday candy cart with the brand’s sweets arrayed in apothecary jars and martini glasses. Guests can sample the treats or assemble take-home bags as gifts.
Bringing a physical presence to an online marketplace, the Tictail Market NY is a holiday pop-up for the brand, which features emerging designers of apparel and home goods. Stockholm-based Tictail brings a Scandinavian cool to the store, located on New York’s Lower East Side, with custom-designed blond wood displays and white painted bricks. It’s Tictail’s second version of the pop-up, and this year it also is adding markets in Paris and Stockholm. “Having a physical pop-up is a complement to our online community,” says Livia Moore, Tictail’s community manager. “It becomes a meeting space for our brands.” The market will remain open through December 22.
