Looking for more audience engagement to rev up the energy? Get the crowd going with color-changing, motion-sensitive Zygote balls from Crowd Activation, a newly launched division of Canadian creative studio Tangible Interaction devoted to the company’s physical interactive products. An updated take on the crowd-surfing beach balls often spotted at rock concerts, the lightweight, seven-foot-wide helium-inflated balloons respond to human touch with random or pre-programmed colored light displays. Customized interactions—like letting guests influence the music or video-screen graphics when they touch the Zygotes—are also possible. Made from fireproof material and containing wireless LED lights, the rechargeable balls have a one-hour operating life. Custom vinyl stickers or logos can be applied to the Zygotes.
If guests can't clearly see what's happening on stage, you've lost them from the word go. Use multiple screens to keep the program accessible, and incorporate them in a way that grabs the eye. Like this: ESPN's big annual ESPY award show took over the Nokia Theatre L.A. Live, where multiple screens and illuminated panels created a vibrant and dynamic stage set that continually changed its look throughout the program.
Recessed shadow boxes decorated the shingled walls of Salt Life's booth, creating the illusion of looking through a window underwater.
In an effort to find an innovative way to encourage tweeting at AT&T-sponsored events, Team Epic worked with Brightline Interactive to develop what it calls a “Twitter balloon”: a balloon six feet in diameter connected to an air compressor that is activated by tweets with a particular hashtag. “There are a lot of Twitter walls that show tweets as they come in, but this performs a physical action and it happens within less than a second,” said Andrew Knutson, manager for Team Epic. “As soon as you tweet, you hear the air going to the balloon, which is pretty cool. You’ll see crowds forming, especially as the balloon gets bigger.” AT&T unveiled the balloon at the N.C.A.A. Final Four men's basketball championship last spring and has since used it at events such as the Outside Lands Music & Arts Festival in San Francisco, the College World Series in Omaha, CMA Music Festival in Nashville, and Music Midtown in Atlanta. Signage at the events encourages attendees to tweet with a particular hashtag. Each tweet triggers a burst of air into the balloon, and the person whose tweet causes the balloon to pop wins a prize such as an AT&T phone.
A curved 130-foot marquee extended over more than two dozen demo stations at the Dealertrack Technologies space by MC2 at the National Automobile Dealers Association show in Orlando. The stations were uplit with blue LED strips, and blue-edge-lit partitions offered privacy by separating the stations and dampening sound.
National Oilwell Varco wanted a red-carpet-themed customer appreciation experience, so the booth design by 2020 Exhibits at the Offshore Technology Conference 2013 in Houston included a café, a lounge with touch-screen coffee tables, a small-scale movie theater, and an interactive area with iPad stations.
Family-style dinners were a huge trend last year, but they’re actually quite expensive to pull off, and the platters of food require significant table real estate, says Calder Clark of South Carolina-based Calder Clark Designs. So, what’s next? Bar-height tasting stations, where guests receive artfully plated, fork-friendly miniature meals prepared on the spot by stationside chefs. Experts say guests love the variety.
“Today’s couples are serious foodies, and they come bearing recipes and resolute memories from their favorite restaurants,” Clark says. “They want to include them in the reception, and there’s no easier way to do that than with the tasting plate—it’s petite, going back for seconds is totally kosher, and guests are able to be more experimental with unfamiliar foods.”
Pictured: For a wedding designed by Calder Clark, chef Johannes Klapdohr created an elegant tasting plate of Southern fried tomatoes drizzled with aged balsamic vinegar and accented with edible nasturtiums.
Photo booths are practically de rigueur at receptions. But for couples who want something new: Enter the slow-motion video booth. It’s the same idea—guests take turns posing with props like confetti and neon sunglasses. But the station is set up with a video camera; after the wedding, the footage is edited into a slo-mo mini movie trailer and set to a catchy pop tune.
“The result is a keepsake video that captures the fun of the wedding day in a totally different way than stills,” says Rebecca Grinnals of wedding industry consulting firm Engaging Concepts.
Pictured: Production company Super Frog Saves Tokyo creates slo-mo booths.
Tablets arranged on a wall invited guests to "give yourself a gift" by hovering their N.F.C.-enabled badges over a sensor. Sponsors offered digital swag that was delivered via email. Meanwhile, a group of staffers dubbed the "Selfie Squad" took photos with event guests and immediately posted them to social sites.
Tiny robots called Blabdroids contained N.F.C. readers that allowed them to recognize guests and have a personal interaction based on questions the guests answered during registration about their gender, marital status, occupation, and political affiliation. "Guests wonder, 'How the hell does the robot know that?'" said Event Farm C.E.O. Ryan Costello.
Lush canopies of natural greenery popped against neon green Lucite tabletops at the Museum of Modern Art’s 2013 Party in the Garden benefit in New York.Â
Adult Swim also brought elements of its Funhouse—the activity-laden experience it first debuted at last year's Comic-Con in San Diego—to the upfront, including a mirrored maze and a room criss-crossed with fluorescent bungee cords.
A 60-foot-long green carpet was meant to resemble a forest from the series. More than 200 live trees lined the walls, which were decked with live sod and fake rocks to seal in the fake-moss carpet. Four Hyundai vehicles were positioned into the carpet, making it appear as if the vehicles were driving through the forest.
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.
The Children's Defense Fund's Beat the Odds award ceremony at the Beverly Hills Hotel in 2012 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.
A rustic, three-piece bar made from wood pallets is now available to rent in the Washington area from Amaryllis. The footprint of the U-shaped bar is about 15 feet long and 6 feet deep, and open crevices on the façade can hold floral arrangements.
