The January 10 event took place at the Miami headquarters of the National YoungArts Foundation. Stephen Starr Events catered the benefit, and menu items included tri-colored cauliflower, French beans, and French breakfast radish with house-made lemon hummus and roasted artichokes.
At the PGA Merchandise Show, held this week in Orlando at the Orange County Convention Center, Puma erected an inflatable cube instead of a traditional expo booth. The cube had various sporty goods displayed inside.
The 30th annual Cubs Convention took over Sheraton Chicago Hotel & Towers January 16 to 18. During the "Kids Only Press Conference," kids could ask questions of Cubs players Anthony Rizzo, Justin Grimm, Kyle Hendricks, and Travis Wood.
At Pitti Uomo, a men’s trade shows in Florence, Italy, Dexter and Byron Peart found a way to leave a memorable impression on editors and retailers. In lieu of building a trade show booth, the co-founders of the accessories brand Want Les Essentiels de la Vie collaborated with interior designer Maria Rosa Di Loia to build a greenhouse-like showroom reminiscent of a small residential home.
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 designed to feel like an artists' live-and-work studio. Daily activities include collaborative art making; there are also storytelling competitions, talks, dance parties, and screenings.
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.
BuzzFeed hosted its first activation on festival grounds this year. The "BuzzFeed Basecamp" was open on Main Street from January 24 to 25. The venue was open to the public and hosted private events at night. Activities included posing in a GIF booth with vintage ski gear. The booth's backdrop was a snowy mountain scene.
BuzzFeed also plied guests with spiked hot chocolate and so-called "BuzFeed Bites," which were snacks inspired by photos posted to its vertical BuzzFeed Food.
On Saturday, haircare brand Keratin hosted a pop-up salon at the MTV Music Lodge, a space where reporters conducted interviews with celebrities. Before they were interviewed, celebrities such as Jessika Van had their hair touched up by professionals. The pop-up salon space had decor inspired by a film set. Though the brand had hosted a gifting suite at the festival in 2013, this was the first time it had hosted a pop-up salon.
Keratin also provided branded props for celebrities to use in photos. Modeled on an Instagram post, a prop frame was printed with the activation's hashtag for easy sharing on social media.
Also at the MTV Music Lounge was Wonderful Pistachios, a new sponsor this year. The brand hosted a Nut Bar that offered celebrities samples of the snack in flavors such as Sweet Chili and Salt and Pepper. There was also a costumed plush pistachio manning the station, and complimentary branded earmuffs to help ward off the Park City cold.
Pure Barre, a workout studio, hosted its first activation at the festival this year. The brand set up a pop-up space that offered exercise classes to festival attendees and celebrities alike. Offering four daily classes from January 23 to 26, the activation drew famous guests including Ethan Hawke. While on site, celebrities posed for photos in front of Pure Barre's step-and-repeat.
Produced for Canon U.S.A. Inc. by Sunshine Sachs, Dentsu America, and A Creative Force, the Canon Creative Studio at Sundance took over another space on Main Street. The venue offered programming and a hospitality hub that showcased the company's products. Window light boxes featured an image of Park City taken by photographer Carla Boecklin, who used a Canon to snap the photo. Canon has had a presence on festival grounds for five years, but has only hosted the daytime venue for two years.
Produced by Best Events and PMK-BNC, Village at the Lift is a 13-year-running tradition. Held in Park City's Town Lift, the venue was open January 23 to 26 and housed a nightclub, a café, a portrait studio, and more. Dark House Wine is the official wine of Village at the Lift, and the brand served samples of its mulled wine. Celebrities such as Kellan Lutz could spin a wheel to win prizes such as a one-year supply of the wine.
Dream Hotels and Nylon magazine partnered to host an Après Ski Party for 350 guests, including actors James Franco and RJ Mitte. The party served drinks from sponsor Heineken and had plenty of magazines for guests to flick through. There was also an on-site V.I.P. lounge where celebrity interviews were conducted. Dream Hotels has had events at Sundance for the past 2 years, but this is the first year it partnered with Nylon.
USA Network's public-service campaign "Characters Unite" is aimed at putting an end to hate and discrimination. Earlier this month, the network launched a national bus tour called "I Won't Stand For." Stopping in cities such as Nashville, Atlanta, and Cleveland, the activation lets visitors personalize the "I Won't Stand For" tag line by adding in a word or phrase that resonates with them; choices include "sexism," "religious intolerance," and "homophobia." Guests can have their pictures taken with their custom statement and then share the images on Instagram using the hashtag #IWontStandFor. The photos also become part of the network's online photo gallery.
In a nod to its exhibit on bioluminescent organisms, the American Museum of Natural History's junior benefit in 2012 featured bright lighting and glowing decor. Illuminated spheres and LED neon-colored wires decorated the dinner tabletops.
The fifth annual Coachella Neon Carnival took place at an airport near the festival grounds in 2014. Produced by Brent Bolthouse, the event included an enormous neon-lit dance floor.
At South by Southwest in Austin, Texas, in 2014, event production agency MKG brightened up a dark room using neon masking tape and ultraviolet lighting, creating an edgy, Pop Art-inspired look for the party for online magazine xoJane.com. Upstairs, guests were encouraged to take selfies with mirrors; images were printed by the Bosco to add onto the Shameless Selfie wall and were projected in the main room.
A 10-foot Lite-Brite-style decor piece spelled out the band Fun's name at an AOL and T-Mobile concert event in 2012 in Los Angeles.
The Art, Speed, and Design event hosted by Italian design house Pininfarina at Art Basel in Miami in 2014 showcased a 2015 Maserati GranTurismo splattered in neon paint by street artist Mr. Brainwash.
The 2013 Imagination Ball, from the Adrienne Arsht Center for Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County’s Arsht Families membership circle, was designed for children. To that end, decor popped in colorful neon hues.
The Museum of Modern Art's annual Party in the Garden in 2013 had a modern, tropical vibe. Inside the lobby and atrium of the New York event, exotic, lush greenery and pops of neon stood out against a stark white background.
The arrivals backdrop—featuring the Cartier and MoMA logos rendered in neon and marquee lights—echoed the dense arrangements of tropical greenery found inside the dinner space.
At the Tate Americas Foundation's Artists Dinner in 2013, designer David Stark filled the raw event space Skylight at Moynihan Station with industrial elements. The cocktail area included giant metallic tubes decorated with florescent lights that changed colors.
In honor of the opening of High Line Park, Friends of the High Line hosted a benefit in New York in 2009. At the after-party, held in a covered portion of the High Line, an illuminated bar decorated the main event space.
At the inaugural Electric Run, a nighttime 5K run/walk set to electronic dance music, the more than 10,000 participants were encouraged to wear LED-lit clothing and neon colors, and carry glow sticks.
To launch its Shops at Target program in 2012, the retail giant constructed a pop-up store at New York's Highline Stages. Bright neon signage incorporating the Target logo marked the diner-style "coffee shop" that served as the bar area.
For the 2010 MOCA gala in Los Angeles, the museum commissioned artist Doug Aitken to transform the benefit into an experiential work of art. The event took place inside of a tent topped by a dramatic installation in the ceiling: a sculpture made from 2,400 feet of running white PVC pipe interspersed with 191 pieces of VersaTube.
During the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner weekend in 2012, Google and The Hollywood Reporter hosted an event that welcomed guests with an alphabet-board sign.
At AOL's NewFront in 2012, neon signage in the arrivals tent pointed guests toward the event entrance at Highline Stages in New York.
At the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Massachusetts Bay's Big Night on February 7, neon masking tape spelled out the event's hashtag. Corinthian Events handled the decor at Boston's House of Blues.
In a nod to the event's '90s theme, table numbers looked like splattered neon paint.
For Sparkle Lounge on January 8, the annual client and vendor appreciation event from the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center, the building’s signature Atrium space was transformed with futuristic lighting effects and angular graphics. Two sleek, minimalist bars flanked the space, which popped in shades of pink and purple.
The event also previewed interactive displays, including a fog screen holographic video projection.
At the Barneys New York and Oxfam benefit dinner hosted by Rooney Mara, candlelight illuminated an understated tabletop at Chateau Marmont on February 18.
Guests left with M.A.C. gift boxes curated by Oscar-nominated makeup artists from The Grand Budapest Hotel (Frances Hannon) and Guardians of the Galaxy (Lizzie Yianni-Georgiou).
Chicago catering company Limelight makes a summery drink that puts a spin on the usually fruity sangria. The Vegetable Sangria Punch incorporates white wine, fresh herbs, heirloom tomatoes, watermelon radish, and cucumber.
At the Canadian design fair the Interior Design Show in 2013, Ikea took over the ticket counter, using a lamp as a simple, homey touch that made the space feel less clinical. The brand also decked the back wall with a leafy, wallpaper-like design and placed its bright red logo front and center.
In 2012, the Washington Ballet's Jeté Society hosted an Alice in Wonderland-theme dance party. A large white tree decorated with red hearts inspired by the story's Red Queen served as the backdrop for the check-in desk.
For a Catch Me if You Can screening in New York in 2011, Stella Artois transformed the restaurant Casa Lever into a 1960s airport lounge. The hostess stand was remade as the departure gate counter, where guests could check their tickets against a seating chart.
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.
When Progressive Insurance hosted auditions in 2010, the company built a space inside the Metropolitan Pavilion designed to look like the fictional Progressive store in its commercials. As such, the check-in desk at the front was decorated in the brand's signature white with blue and orange accents, and a large sign touting the website served as the backdrop.
The check-in area at Turner's 2010 upfront in New York included cut-outs in the walls and 3-D logos on pedestals. David Stark handled decor.
Fairchild Fashion Media's Kristen Wildman worked with XA to create the modern design of the WWD C.E.O. Summit inside the Plaza in New York in 2013. A color scheme of bright yellow against white was used throughout, including in the registration desk, giving the decor a clean, uniform look.
At the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's annual ball in 2013, the theme of "Saturday Night Blues" influenced the decor at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. The check-in area reflected the theme with statement decor pieces including hanging saxophones and crystal orbs.
At a private event by David Beahm, the check-in area was "influenced by our surroundings. We let the decor of Blue Hill at Stone Barns rule our aesthetic, letting nature dictate the design," Beahm said. "The hand-hammered copper urn visually grounded the design."
Shiraz Events designed the registration desk at the FN C.E.O. Summit in Miami Beach in 2013. The bold blue and yellow table featured a grid behind it featuring the summit logo, and it held flowers and candy jars with white treats.
The check-in desk at a law firm's "Big Gay Party" in July 2014 included draping that matched the rainbow hues in the pride flag.
