At the City View Loft party, guests got to pick and choose hangover cures to take home as practical favors.
At IMG’s inaugural Taste of Toronto festival in July, attendees used R.F.I.D.-enabled cards to purchase food and beverages from vendors at the event. The cards were provided by IntelliPay, a division of Intellitix. Guests could go online before the event to load money onto the card, and they could also add funds at stations throughout the festival. At the end of the festival, balances remaining on cards were donated to Second Harvest Food Rescue. Each individual’s online account also provided a history of all food and beverage items purchased.
The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles's annual gala in 2011 drew 750 patrons who covered their clever and expensive outfits with white lab coats, and then ate their dinner as apparently disembodied heads, positioned as table centerpieces, stared at them unrelentingly. Performance artist Marina Abramović served as the artistic director for the event, produced by Bounce. The human tabletop centerpieces wore black turtlenecks and rotated on cushioned lazy Susans beneath the rectangular tables. They were allowed to communicate with the guests—but only nonverbally—and were required to keep eye contact.
Attendees could order Galaxy Floats, cocktails made with fruit popsicles and either champagne or beer and poured into a keepsake mug. Drink tickets were given to everyone with access to the Owner’s Lounge, and guests could win more by playing the Spin to Win game, where they could also win Samsung Galaxy devices and gift cards for local Austin vendors.
In the spirit of the show, each participant also had to spin the "sabotage" wheel, which would determine their sabotage for the 30 seconds (e.g. you can only use oven mitts, you have to wear an eye patch, or you may have your hands cuffed together). The bills collected could be exchanged for real dollar bills.
Dos Equis’s “Most Interesting Masquerade” in New York’s historic Masonic Hall in 2012 featured what at first glance appeared to be a painting of a lion. But a closer look revealed that the image was brushed across the bodies of two seated women, their feet just barely breaching the frame of the shadow box. Mirrorball commissioned New Orleans-based artist Craig Tracy to create the living canvas, a process that took approximately 10 hours. Guests were encouraged to pose for a photo with the models to share on social media via nearby iPads.
It really is a jungle out there thanks to Living World Entertainment’s the Original Living Vines, which come to life through a set of choreographed moves to create a fascinating leafy tableau for events. The human foliage can also interact with guests and comes in seasonal shades—including lush spring greenery or wintry branches. To book, contact Orlando-based Key Artist Group. Pricing is available upon request.Â
U.C.I. MIND's Time of Your Life 2013 Benefit
Submitted by Elite OC Productions
To raise funds and create awareness for Alzheimer’s research, Elite OC Productions utilized new technology to create an immersive experience for guests of U.C.I. MIND’s Time of Your Life 2013 Benefit. “Toast to the Holiday, Then and Now” took guests through four holidays, bringing back unforgettable memories for those who have experienced memory loss due to Alzheimer’s disease. At the Hangar at the OC Fairgrounds, 180-degree projection screens creatively displayed sponsors, holiday images and videos, and pictures and messages from guests who donated to the “Tribute Wall,” which honored family members. The event featured everything from a virtual performance by the Rockettes to a New Year’s Eve Times Square ball drop.
Staro-Bruskin Wedding
Submitted by En Masse Flowers
For a wedding at Volt Restaurant in Frederick, Maryland, En Masse Flowers was tasked with creating a “big flower statement” and a holistic feel to the overall design. The company responded by taking an architectural approach to the flowers and moving the blooms to the walls, mounted on canvas like pieces of art. En Masse also created entry sentinels of tall, leaf-covered pavé vases topped with red, black, orange, and violet-toned flowers. Tables were left open for food display. Outside in the tented courtyard, flowers hung from the ceiling, creating a manzanita branch armature of low-hanging multicolored mini amaryllis blossoms that canopied the dance area. When the bride saw the result, she moved her ceremony from the outdoor patio into the tent to take advantage of the unique decor.
ChiTown Yacht Charters' Launch Party
Submitted by Dragonfly Custom Design
Dragonfly Custom Designs knew it had to make a commanding presence when creating an invitation for a party given by a Chicago-based yacht charter company. ChiTown Yacht Charters was hosting an event to introduce itself to the area’s top concierge and destination management companies and had to make an impact. Given the event’s July 4 date, Dragonfly created an Americana-style invite with patriotic colors and nautical nods. Taking inspiration from Gilligan’s Island, the team designed a miniature wicker picnic basket that contained things the millionaire TV couple, the Howells, might have packed. Refined but lighthearted elements like custom bow ties, vintage compact binoculars, and a tin compass complemented items like champagne, caviar, crackers, and salt-water taffy, all in on-brand colors and motifs. Each basket bore a personalized nametag and was hand-delivered.
Activision & Blizzard's E3 Experience
Submitted by NCompass International
For the first time this year, video game publishers Activision and Blizzard exhibited as one entity at E3 to position themselves as the industry leader. For the exhibit, NCompass designed an experiential space that measured more than 17,000 square feet and was meant as a thrill ride. The exhibit’s footprint included an immersive 190-degree, 122- by 22-foot curved screen; 24 projectors were custom mapped to fit the wraparound screen, where uniquely choreographed shows for each of the four featured game titles played on a schedule meant to increase foot traffic. To engage crowds, the theater lit up minutes before each show, drawing passersby onto the elevated viewing platform, which had vibration motors that were programmed to be queued by on-screen content—a setup typically only found in permanent theme park installations. Wind, smoke, pyrotechnics, and four industrial robotic arms moving huge monitors rounded out the drama. The exhibit garnered closed to 100 million impressions, dominating social media.
2014 AMC Upfront
Submitted by Empire Entertainment
For its 2014 upfront, AMC aimed to live up to its mantra of “Something More” by going above and beyond the typical presentation. The network worked with Empire Entertainment to bring an audience of 600 to an interactive dinner theater event at Pier 36 Basketball City in New York. Throughout the night, a cast of 80 actors worked alongside 360-degree screen content, displayed on a 250-foot custom-crafted screen with 24 projectors. Video segments were reconstructed from AMC’s original program files and reformatted to fit the large resolution. The segment for AMC’s newest series, Turn, featured a panoramic animation sequence that slowly drifted from present-day Manhattan into 1776, the show’s setting. As gunfire broke out on the screen, actors dressed as soldiers ran through the dining room holding muskets.
SwarmGaming
Submitted by SwarmWorks
SwarmGaming is a unique, interactive technology for events meant to rethink the way groups experience entertainment. Via optical signals, the system allows hundreds or thousands of people to jointly play computer games as part of a live experience. Participants receive reflector devices with which they send signals, so a group can combine to control a sailing ship or an aircraft together, or split in half to play a game such as football-pong competitively. It works to energize a meeting group, wake up a crowd after a break, and generate team spirit.
Heineken Champions Express
Submitted by Coterie Spark
Heineken aimed to create a unique viewing experience for 1,200 Mexican millennial soccer fans in the Houston area. The beer brand worked with Latino marketing agency Remezcla on the event concept, design, and activation plan. Remezcla in turn collaborated with event management firm Coterie Spark to create a high-definition, custom-animated train for the viewing of the final match of the UEFA Champions league. The train “transported” guests from the check-in area to the viewing area (mimicking an authentic European rail experience and evoking the soccer team’s journey to the final), which had 400-foot screens, stadium-style seating, and, of course, plenty of Heineken products at the bar.
For the second year, hospitality company Airbnb partnered with the festival to host an activation in Park City. Dubbed the Haus, the activation took over a venue on Main Street. The spot, open through January 30, welcomes all festival attendees and offers a coffee bar with hot beverages from San Francisco's Four Barrel.
The Haus is also hosting an experiential art activation by San Francisco artist Ivan Cash. Called "Self Less Portraits," the activity lets strangers—festivalgoers from all over the world—draw portraits of one another based on Polaroids. The activities tie into Airbnb's #OneLessStranger campaign, which is designed by the brand to encourage its users to engage in acts of kindness and share experiences on social media.
Here's an idea for a springy check-in desk: At the WWD Beauty C.E.O. Summit in 2012 at the Breakers Palm Beach in Florida, the apothecary-inspired registration desk held different-sized jars filled with colored liquids, cotton balls, and Q-tips. Pink peonies in white vases, bright-colored towels, diffusers, and WWD magazine issues also adorned the desk.
Comedy Central hosted a Kegs and Eggs brunch at South by Southwest in Austin, Texas, in March. Kegs bearing the event logo and hashtag severed both decor and functional purposes, even serving as the base of a DJ booth.
The logos for the TV show Modern Family as well as the Union Square partnership were printed on pumpkins at an October event in New York's Union Square dubbed Modern Family Fall for All. Fox 5 hosted the activation to promote its syndication of the hit ABC sitcom.
At an event called Hotel Thrillist, Thrillist took over an entire San Diego hotel for a weekend in September. The rebranding included elevator wrapping with the event's logo.
Hype Hotel switched venues to a bigger space at the Fair Market for its music showcase, which allowed sponsor Taco Bell to create a storage container restaurant in the outdoor space, complete with a taco storefront and patio.
At National Geographic’s interactive scavenger hunt game, participating teams entered a shed-like space and had to solve puzzles in order to escape the cold during SXSW Interactive.
Yahoo and ABC co-hosted a reception at the Washington Hilton Saturday before the dinner. The decor, designed by Hargrove, celebrated the journalists who work at both media companies, including Katie Couric and Michael Isikoff. Guests were invited to pose for photos in a matching oversize frame.
The Simpsons' 27th season premiere took place September 24 at the newly renovated Krustyland in Universal Studios Hollywood. Yellow spandex and custom logo slipcovers covered 15 V.I.P. tables behind a 24-foot-wide LED screen that showed the episode.
Web-based mattress company Casper launched its Nap Tour on September 11 in Boston and will conclude in Miami on November 1. The tour offers pop-up camping-style tents for guests to try out mattresses and schedule 30-minute naps. Swag branded in Casper’s signature blue-and-white color palette included cocktail napkins with a custom Snooze Bar logo, which artists used to sketch out guests’ dreams.
The Canadian Art Foundation hosted its 20th anniversary gala at the Carlu in Toronto on September 17. Toronto-based artist Barr Gilmore designed the "Colour Barr," which offered drinks in a rainbow of colors. Cocktails included the purple "Queen Bee," made with gin, Campari, and Bols Blue and garnished with blackberries, and the green "Frog Prince," with scotch and créme de menthe.
