EVENT TIPS

To draw attention to its latest tortilla chip flavor, Doritos built a structure that was designed to look like a giant vending machine, dubbed the “Jacked Stage,” at South by Southwest in March. Artists including Snoop Dogg performed beneath it.

The stage at E!’s upfront in New York in April had three LED screens overhead and three curvilinear walls on the platform. The central panel, which remained in place during the presentation, later slid aside to make room for musical acts.

For the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee concert in June in London, producers built the stage around the Queen Victoria Memorial and employed wraparound LED screens and IMAG cameras.

A 60-foot-long, multitiered stationary float covered with glittering fabric was the central decor piece at the Recording Academy’s Grammy Celebration in Los Angeles in February. Decor elements soared to 25 feet in the air from the structure, which doubled as a two-sided projection screen and carried 30 costumed performers, dancers, and drummers.

As part of the TED Conference’s clean, on-brand stage design, producers used oversize letters that spelled TED to serve as the stage’s focal point.

The set for Marc Jacobs’ fall 2012 show during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week was inspired by Puritans and Pilgrims, with decaying multilayered grottoes made of Luan plywood composing the bulk of the 80- by 60-foot structure.

The Xbox E3 media briefing in Los Angeles in June featured a 35-foot-wide projection screen flanked by five LED screens, 11 high-definition plasma TVs, and a curved floor LED screen that pushed the content into the audience.

The Levi’s fall installation in New York's Fashion Week featured a 165-foot-long runway, with two catwalks—one covered with carpet to mimic a home, and a concrete-like one to resemble city sidewalks.

Inspired by an explosion, illuminated acrylic structures expanded out from the center of the main stage at the Much Music Video Awards in Toronto in June.

Univision hosted its annual Hispanic 411 forum, an event that educates brand marketers and agencies on Hispanic trends and culture, at the Epic Hotel in Miami in February. Produced by Production Resources Group and designed by Shiraz Events, the stage had to conform to the ballroom’s low ceiling height and sphere-shaped chandeliers, which were ultimately incorporated into the set.

Shiraz Events helped produce Oxygen’s upfront event in New York last year. At the colorful bash, held inside the Penthouse at Dream, the centerpiece was a presentation platform topped with a 25-foot-wide, 14-foot-tall yellow arch embedded with marquee lights. The piece was modular, allowing the team to construct it and break it down in under an hour.

In February, Teva Pharmaceutical hosted a three-day conference at the Fairmont Waterfront hotel in Vancouver. Playing off the event’s 007 theme, AVW-Telav designed the opening session stage to look like the office of MI6 head “M,” with a faux fireplace, working light fixtures, and a red leather door. The presentation began with a James Bond-inspired video montage starring the company’s vice president, who eventually appeared on stage via a hidden opening in the set’s bookcase.

In April, a Fragrance Foundation award breakfast took place at New York’s Mandarin Oriental Hotel. For the 20- by 12-foot stage, designers from Empire Entertainment created a floral backdrop that mimicked the blooms sprouting in Central Park, which the venue overlooks.

Diffa’s Believe gala in Chicago last year had a garden-inspired setting. A small stage was used only for the DJ and announcements, but producers from Event Creative added a pergola to give the raised platform more presence and to incorporate it into the event’s overall look and vibe.