At the anniversary party at New York's Pier 92, staffers offered guests caviar and oysters from an ice bar that had brightly colored plastic sea creatures frozen inside.
To represent the Food Network magazine, artist Clare Herron spent the event inside an 8- by 8-foot Plexiglas cube with stacks of back issues and a pair of scissors. Throughout the evening, she created a collage by taping magazine cutouts to the walls.
On November 9, a tented space in New York's Duarte Square opened as the headquarters for “Talking Transition,” a nonpartisan forum for citizens to express their views to Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio’s incoming administration. In order to grab the attention of those walking by, black milk crates were stacked outside to spell out the word "talk." Above the entrance, a giant red arrow pointed inside, where more black milk crates hanging from the ceiling spelled out the word "here."
At its booth at the Los Angeles Auto Show, Acura set up several small informational tables that projected images of its cars onto smoky condensation that rose up from the tabletops. Using an iPad-like interface, guests could explore different aspects of the vehicles and make images larger or smaller by putting a hand close to the smoky screen. The event wrapped on December 1.
After the theater's performance of The Tempest at the Koch Theater, guests sat to dinner in a stormy environment designed by Bronson van Wyck. In the theater's promenade, seven 39-foot prop cyclones swirled up to the ceiling. In the dinner space, a hand-painted 180-foot storm scene wrapped one side of the balconies, and handmade paper cyclones stretched from the floor to the ceiling.
A photography theme was prevalent at the event, which benefited the Photography Gala Fund. INDO handled the decor, which included centerpieces made of glowing, vintage slides. To add to the shutterbug-friendly atmosphere, a curtain of slides hung from the second floor balcony. And, naturally, the event had no shortage of photo booths for guests.
The Holiday Chic Suite, a lush pop-up space at the 900 Shops on Chicago's Michigan Avenue, is rife with ideas for D.I.Y. office gatherings or home entertaining this season. Overseen by Debi Lilly of A Perfect Event, the setup features place cards tacked onto green apples with bejeweled pins.
Here's a new idea for breakfast catering: the Mexican breakfast buffet, or Cocina del Barrio, with Mexican hot chocolate, mango-passion-fruit and grapefruit-carrot juices, fruit empanadas, tropical fruit in a bag, pastel pan dulce, egg scrambles with squash blossoms and queso fresco, and tortillas, by Four Seasons Resort Rancho Encantado Santa Fe in New Mexico.
At HP's live music recording session in Los Angeles, on-site graphic artists translated YouTube users' comments into a highly visual backdrop for the track's video.
New York City caterer Carla Ruben of Creative Edge Parties is offering a new dessert buffet in time for the holiday season. On November 12, Ruben hosted an intimate pre-holiday luncheon to introduce her latest creations, including the company's “Bar Bar,” a selection of bite-size brownies, blondies, and dessert bars in flavors such as peanut pretzel, Oreo cheesecake, and apple crumb displayed in repurposed desktop file sorters.
Hawaii-based Maui Jim created a tropical vibe with palm frond light fixtures that overlooked six high-top tables where brand representatives met with buyers.
Recessed shadow boxes decorated the shingled walls of Salt Life's booth, creating the illusion of looking through a window underwater.
Legacy, a maker of apparel, headwear, and home decor, surrounded its booth with barn wood planks and corrugated metal to reflect the brand's vintage, classic style.
Exhibit staff for High Range Designs said the '51 Ford Shoebox parked along the aisle served as the "ultimate booth babe" to attract attendees.
Recycled materials such as wood crates, corrugated metal, and particle board framed the booth for Ocean Minded, a company that makes footwear, apparel, and accessories.
Ocean Minded used its exhibit to educate attendees about its beach cleanup projects by creating displays of trash volunteers had gathered at recent company-sponsored events.
Sherry Manufacturing used 20-foot bamboo mats and a straw roof to create a tropical backdrop for its screen-print products.
Freaker, a maker of fabric bottle insulators, used a box truck as its booth. Staff drove the truck from the company's North Carolina headquarters right onto the trade show floor in Orlando.
Billabong's large, contemporary booth had an enclosed area in the center where models showed off the latest fashions and buyers could meet with brand representatives.
Uluwatu Bali Island, an apparel company from Bali, used carved teak wood panels around the perimeter of its booth.
Bote placed four large monitors on the floor around its welcome counter, which allowed attendees to watch product videos while having an unobstructed view of the company's stand-up paddleboards.
Quaker Oats teamed up with filmmaker Jordan Vogt-Roberts to produce a short film about the so-called "human energy crisis" (or, people's low energy in a fast-paced world). The brand showed the video in a pop-up setting that had a chalkboard. Visitors could write on the chalkboard to fill in the blank after the phrase: "If I had more energy, I would..."
The step-and-repeat at the activation was lined with stacked packages of Quaker Oats products.
Udi's Gluten Free, a brand of health-conscious health products, hosted a pop-up restaurant called Udi's Gluten Free table. In what was a common design motif at the festival, sliced cross-sections of tree trunks lined the wall, with select circles of wood embossed with sponsor logos.
New this year, the Park City Live Day Lounge had gifting and hospitality suites that showcased brands such as Motorola. In its Moto X lounge, which was papered in scenes of snow-covered tree trunks, the company invited celebrities to test out its new Natural Collection phones.
Within the lounge, guests sat on pillowed couches to take in presentations. Prop taxidermy hung over pillars to add to the woodsy, ski-lodge feel of the space.
With a large Motorola emblem as its backdrop, the lounge's bar had slices of tree trunks covering its base.
More subtle Motorla logos appeared on the wood that decorated the bar.
Fingerprint Communications produced a dinner to celebrate its Oakley Learn to Ride activation, which let celebrities hit the slopes on snowboards on January 17. The dinner, presented by Luminara and SOS, took place later that night at a private home. Decor included white candles and snowy white floral arrangements.
The Hotel Chantelle provided catering. Menu items included ramekins of hot soup, house-cured charcuterie, and truffle-honey rack of lamb.
The vodka company took over a space on Main Street to host nightly dinners and cocktail bashes. Servers dressed in the brand's signature blue shade—and wore toasty beanies as a nod to the wintry climate.
The dinner series ChefDance returned to the festival for its 11th run, this time with El Tesoro de Don Felipe Tequila and Suja Juice as partners. Held at Park City Live, the dinner had colorful elements from Finnish design company Marimekko. Different chefs, including former Top Chef stars, prepared the nightly meals.
To help guests warm up—and even break a sweat—popular fitness studio SoulCycle hosted a pop-up at Sky Lodge. Open January 17 to 19, the activation had 30 bikes and classes led by top instructors.
To showcase its juicers, Bella Housewares hosted a smoothie bar at the SoulCycle pop-up.
On January 20, Black Label Media hosted a dinner for 50 guests at producer Molly Smith's Park City home. With production from Hatch and SBE Catering and Special Events, the event had seasonally appropriate eats such as mushroom risotto and almond profiteroles in a spiced hot chocolate sauce. UGG was a sponsor.
