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.
Lindsey Shaw Catering in Toronto offers a new passed appetizer of birch-glazed Atlantic salmon with apple and ginger slaw, served in mini Asian-style bowls with chopsticks.
Soar above San Diego’s Mission Bay via jetpack through Jetpack America. Groups can select half- or full-day options, and multiple “Jetlev” packs can be deployed to accommodate as many as 72 people.
For a conference in Philadelphia earlier this year, local florist Sullivan Owen Floral & Event Design created an eye-catching photo backdrop adorned with fresh flowers. Owen has since brought the backdrop to other events in the area and is working on new variations.
Is D.I.Y. pickling the next big trend in food-focused teambuilding activities? Walt Disney World in Orlando is offering new interactive food experiences for private events, including a canning and pickling station featuring pickles, sauces, conserves, and jams. Guests work together to create custom flavor pairings and take home the final products.
A professional photo studio on wheels, New York–based Motorbooth lets guests climb into the truck’s cargo bay to strike a pose. The Web-connected booth prints 4- by 6-inch photos, custom green-screen backdrops are available, and the exterior of the all-white truck can be covered in graphics. Rental fees start from $5,000 per day.
Bantam Bagels whips up bite-size bagel balls injected with flavored cream cheeses and topped with fresh ingredients, such as pepperoni and tomato. The company caters events anywhere in Manhattan, with a minimum order of $50 and a $15 delivery charge.
Available in the Los Angeles area from Town & Country Event Rentals, the oversize brass, nickel, and bronze Moroccan hanging lamps add an exotic touch to event spaces. Pair the lamps with the company’s new Kaleidoscope line, a colorful collection of modern furniture.
Talk about breathing life into a meeting break: groups can now book tickets for the VooDoo Skyline at the Rio Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. The motor-powered, aerial zipline sends guests flying more than 800 feet from the hotel’s 50-story Masquerade tower to the roof of another building and can accommodate two riders at a time.
Dallas-based Good Guy Mobile Internet offers portable Web connectivity kits. For $250 a day, each hub provides wireless Internet for as many as eight devices.
Nimble Well is a new Chicago company that specializes in uncommon rental items such as vintage cake stands, bowls, and napkins. Coming soon: a line of natural wood pieces, including 10- to 22-inch black walnut rounds and 18-inch shagbark hickory tabletop risers, as well as hand-painted backdrops.
Aiming to make office birthday parties easier to plan, Café de Boston offers a “Birthday in a Box” package, $50, which includes a cake with a custom message, candles, a card, and a $5 gift card to the café. The eatery, located in Boston’s financial district, asks that orders be placed 48 hours in advance.
As a way to honor its origins—the beer was originally brewed as a holiday gift to the people of Leuven, Belgium—and showcase its limited-edition crystal chalice, Stella Artois unveiled a window installation in New York's meatpacking district on December 4. The seasonal display was designed and produced by HL:Creative, HL Group's experiential marketing division, and uses mirrors to create an infinity effect for the Swarovski crystal-adorned piece.
Following the window reveal, Stella Artois hosted a formal holiday dinner for celebrities, media, and other influential New Yorkers at Bar Nana. Guests sat at communal tables for the four-course meal, which, of course, included the brand's beer.
HL:Creative, helmed by creative director Ryan Jordan, also designed and produced the holiday dinner. The elegant look for the tabletops included short arrangements of red flowers, black linens, and votive candles.
In time for the holiday shopping season, Samsung rolled out a series of pop-up experiences to showcase its latest gadgets to consumers. Dubbed the Galaxy Studio, the locations across the country showcased the Galaxy Note 10.1, Galaxy Note 3, and Galaxy Gear devices. As added incentive for consumers to interact, the Korean electronics brand integrated gamification into the pop-up, inviting visitors to accumulate points by participating in games and activities, redeeming for prizes such as gift cards, a USB speaker, and T-shirts.
Although Samsung's pop-up was more of a showroom than a shop—the devices on display were not for sale—the brand used the concept to show how its gadgets work in retail environments. As such, the studio included displays alongside accessories from partner Piperlime.
Quirky offerings at the Samsung Galaxy Studio in New York included latte artists that created portraits in foam.
As with previous years, the ION Network created a promotional program for the holidays, aimed at putting itself in front of media agencies. Dubbed "Get Wrapped Up in the Holidays," the campaign traveled to 13 offices in the New York area, filling agency conference rooms with festive decorations, seasonal music, and the holiday films shown on its network. The program was produced by the Michael Alan Group and took place December 2 to 6.
As part of its campaign, ION provided a hot chocolate bar. Agency staffers created their own box of edible goodies, choosing from a buffet-like selection. The broadcasting company also crafted a large white box tied with a red ribbon and invited staffers to drop in their business cards for an opportunity to win an iPad mini.
For a pop-up shop introducing a new line of men's underwear from the Swedish brand Frigo, producers Forward and designers Cortney and Bob Novogratz took a two-level empty retail space in New York's meatpacking district and created a sporty yet stylish gentleman's lounge. The pop-up, which ran from November 20 to 26, had a listening station with vinyl records and Beats headphones, a vintage pool table, and luxe touches like a disco ball sitting among books and floral arrangements on a dark wood shelving unit custom built for the space.
