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Also at the Courage Forum, guests received long pins to pop balloons that held the desserts.

The event celebrated Marwen's 25th anniversary, or silver birthday. To underscore the theme, guests entered the dinner tent through a tunnel of silver balloons.

Guests who scored high in skeeball could win prizes from Louis of Boston.

The teepee-style tents can hold as many as 400 people.

The big attractions at Keep a Child Alive's Black Ball may have been the roster of performers, which this year included Janelle Monáe (pictured), but the organizers also wanted to draw donations, so they added the new campaign's bar code to the step-and-repeat.

To keep the focus on the new mission statement and the bar code from the campaign, the organizers designed the cocktail area like an art gallery, with few extraneous embellishments.

The focal point of the reception area was a mountain of dolls, created by Keep a Child Alive creative director Earle Sebastian to represent the children affected by H.I.V./AIDS in Africa and India.

The TBWA/Chiat/Day-designed campaign's messages also littered the walls of the cocktail section in the form of colored neon lights.

Besides being an eye-catching element to the decor, the bar codes were functional: Guests were encouraged by staffers (and instructed in the program) to scan the vertical lines with their phones and make a donation to the nonprofit.

Producers also wanted to keep the dinner free from distractions, but hid the bar codes in various places, including on sticks in the centerpieces and in the programs.

Pregnant Alicia Keys performed alongside Sade, who hadn't made a concert appearance in six years. An important element to the evening was introducing the new "Buy Life" campaign to guests and explaining the importance of using the bar codes to make donations.

Following an introduction by Keep a Child Alive co-founders Alicia Keys and Leigh Blake, Deepak Chopra said a few words to the audience about how the world is a family and its members have to support each other.

As a precursor to the musical performances, Alexander Gilkes (pictured) of Phillips de Pury took to the stage for the auction. In addition to selling the high-priced lots, Keep a Child Alive also used this portion of the event to ask for pledges.