5. Second Life Centerpieces
At the 2008 Robin Hood Foundation gala, XO laptops on each dinner table displayed menus, statistics about the organization’s work, and images of flowers, and then were donated to city schoolchildren after the event.
Photo: Joe Fornabaio
9. Heightened Performances
To celebrate the renovation of Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall in 2007, Roy Braeger designed a vertical stage that tied into the event’s construction-themed decor and gave guests an unobstructed view of the musicians.
Photo: Philip Greenberg
49. Curtain Call
XA, the Experiential Agency, used long grosgrain ribbons to simply and effectively divide a large space at a 2006 Tag Heuer event.
Photo: BizBash
48. Telling T-Shirts
Waiters didn’t have to remember what they were serving (and guests didn’t have to ask) when now-defunct Match Catering printed T-shirts with food descriptions for a 2004 BizBash event.
Photo: BizBash
43. Self-Portraits
Digital photo booth projections, like this one from Mark van S. at the Whitney Museum of American Art’s 2006 benefit, have become an event staple for mixing interactive entertainment and decor.
Photo: Nicole Villamora for Bizbash
41. Help Yourself
At the opening party for the Felissimo Design House in New York in 2001, guests never had to wait for a waiter to come by with food. They could pick hors d’oeuvres right from the wall of an installation by French artist Dorothee Selz.
Photo: BizBash
38. Cutting Tradition
For the opening of the Hearst Tower in 2006, Van Wyck & Van Wyck brought in aerialists to perform 100 feet above the crowd, a dramatic twist on the traditional ribbon cutting.
Photo: Marina Senra
31. Show the Way
Travel & Leisure used oversize balloons as a cheap and effective way to mark a pathway for its 35th birthday celebration, held in Los Angeles in 2006.
Photo: BizBash
24. Food in a Field
Years before the locavore movement became popular, Mark Fahrer Caterers set up a nature-inspired buffet that had guests foraging for food at a 2002 party for outgoing New York City Parks & Recreation Commissioner Henry Stern.
Photo: BizBash
Angel Ball
At the 2003 Angel Ball benefit for the G&P Foundation for Cancer Research in New York, On3's gift lounge included chairs decked with feathery angel wings. It made for striking decor, as well as a way to acknowledge and differentiate the highest-level sponsors.
Photo: Alesandra Dubin/BizBash
Hudson Eats at Brookfield Place Opening
At the May 29 opening of Hudson Eats at Brookfield Place in New York, Shiraz Events created a step-and-repeat using stacked crates of fresh vegetables.
Photo: Shiraz Events/PatrickMcMullan.com
