To mark the launch of a collaboration between Mindy Weiss and Wedding Paper Divas on a new collection, the well-known social event planner and the social stationer hosted an intimate, feminine luncheon at Los Angeles's new Lombardi House on February 25. Guests created their own terrariums using succulents, moss, and twigs for a D.I.Y. take on the trend of incorporating living elements into wedding decor.
Guests could play on a colorful hopscotch grid at the Sunglass Hut Summer Block Party Miami in 2012, which marked the opening of a Sunglass Hut in Miami Beach.
Guests played oversize Jenga at Ocean Drive's Sun Covered pool party at the Raleigh Hotel during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Swim.
Ping-pong shouldn't be limited to basements. At a match set up at Ocean Drive's Sun Covered Pool Party during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Swim in Miami, sponsor PopChips covered the table to promote one of its flavors.
For a stylish spin on classic beach volleyball, Hermes wrapped the perimeter of a net in its silk scarf print at its "Les Jeux d’Hermès" beachside event in Palm Beach earlier this year.
Executives can channel their inner Prince Harry at polo teambuilding activities offered by Executive Oasis International. Participants are taught how to play and then compete for a trophy.
At a carnival-themed presentation of Stella McCartney's resort 2013 collection in New York, guests and models played games such as throwing darts at balloons.
An early summer event launching new flavors of Svedka vodka in Beverly Hills had several lawn games for guests, including lawn-bowling stations featuring prop bottles of the product.
Guests played glow-in-the-dark boccie at Absolut's launch of its Orient Apple flavor in New York.
Fans attending the Preakness Stakes in Baltimore last year played the backyard beanbag game cornhole on boards sponsored by Jägermeister.
A giant chess set was placed outside the venue at a gala for the National Ballet of Canada in 2011. Event guests as well as passers-by could play or take photos.
This sandbox is a bit more highbrow than your typical beach version. For an archeology-themed party at Ardbeg Day at Miami's Cafeina Wynwood Lounge in June, the whiskey brand invited HistoryMiami to create a simulated archeological dig site and competition.
On festival grounds, the Samsung Galaxy Experience provided opportunities to participate in interactive experiences; attendees could also kick back on lounge furniture plied with Samsung-branded pillows. A display case with a see-through cutout of the number six showcased the brand's newest devices, including the Samsung Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 edge phones. Bolthouse Productions produced Samsung's festival activations.
Guests stood in long lines to participate in interactive experiences at the Samsung Galaxy Experience. Activities included designing keepsake T-shirts at a design station using the Galaxy Note 4.
Guests who downloaded the Samsung Milk Music app received vouchers for complimentary items from "Chow Town," or Lollapalooza's version of a food court. The brand also employed a Samsung Galaxy Truck, which let Galaxy owners outside of the festival download the app; those who did would receive a voucher for a food truck stationed near Grant Park and could also win prizes including festival tickets.
Samsung also hosted a V.I.P. lounge for Samsung Galaxy owners. While other private areas required special passes that went for from $1,800 to $3,600, device owners could get free access to Samsung's lounge by getting a wristband from the Galaxy Experience. Some 150 passes were distributed each day. Perks of the lounge space included concert seating and elevated viewing platforms. The lounge looked out over the Samsung Galaxy stage, which hosted performances from the likes of Paul McCartney and Metallica throughout the weekend.
At Samsung's Galaxy Experience, as well as in its Owner's Lounge, guests could interact with the new Samsung Gear VR. The virtual-reality device gave guests an up-close view of the performances on the Samsung Galaxy stage.
On Saturday, Charlie XCX did a DJ set in the Samsung Galaxy Owner's Lounge. The English singer and songwriter celebrated her birthday during Lollapalooza weekend, so Samsung staffers presented her with a surprise cake and led the lounge-dwellers in a "Happy Birthday" serenade.
At the bar in the lounge, guests could order frozen treats using the GS6 Edge device. The flavors were designed to represent different musical tastes. The "R&B" treat had a raspberry-rose flavor, for example, while "Rock" was honeydew-ginger.
In addition to the icy treats, guests could grab snacks from Catering by Michael's throughout the day. Items included homemade granola bars, fruit kebabs, and pasta salad. Many of the items on the buffet were gluten-free.
On festival grounds, Toyota hosted the Toyota Music tent. With a "psychedelic" theme, the activation was produced by the Anthemic Agency and Reach. One display vehicle was labeled the "Kaleidoscope Corolla." Guests could sit in the car, watch a short video, and then have their photos snapped. The resulting pictures had a kaleidoscopic look.
The tent also housed a wall called the "Feel Factor." Built out with prop mushrooms and giant pieces of candy, the wall had prizes hidden within.
The Toyota Music tent also had a stage, where Lollapalooza bands such as Of Monsters and Men performed at intimate shows.
Toyota recently teamed up with VH1 Save the Music to produce a new activation and social media campaign, which launched at Lollapalooza. The activation featured a life-size glowing willow tree. On the tree, festivalgoers hung messages about what music meant to them. One person wrote: "Music is peace," while another message read: "Music helps me sleep." Many messages bore the hashtag of the new campaign: #ToyotaGiving. For every social media post regarding the activation, Toyota donated $1 to VH1 Save the Music.
Bud Light brought its traveling House of Whatever activation to festival grounds. Produced by Mosaic, the activation had a prominently displayed hashtag—which served as a popular photo backdrop—at its entrance.
The activation was open only to guests aged 21 and above, and staffers checked IDs at the gate. Once inside, festivalgoers could purchase cocktails including "Beer-a-Ritas" in flavors such as strawberry and lime.
A live DJ spun in the "Rita Cabana," and guests could play a game that involved fitting a small ring, which was hanging from a string, onto a hook. The difficult game proved addicting for festivalgoers, who played it for several minutes at a time.
In a House of Whatever area called "Local Heroes," street artists sketched guests. There was also a mural depicting superheroes, and guests could strike superhero-inspired poses, snap selfies, and submit their photos to the artists. The artists sketched some of the guests into the mural.
The House of Whatever area also contained a "Tattoos and 'Dos" booth decked with colored lights, folding screens, and patterned rugs. Inside, guests could get temporary tattoos.
The "Tattoos and 'Dos" booth also offered braiding, hair chalking, and other festival-inspired hairstyling services for men and women. All services were complimentary.
In a V.I.P. area, guests could have their photos snapped inside the "Bud Light Lolla-Scope." The machine took rotating, 360-degree photos of guests, who then posted the images to their social media accounts. The images were automatically populated with the phrase: "And this happened at Lolla 2015," along with the #UpForWhatever hashtag.
The company's biggest annual fund-raiser, typically held in the winter, was known as "Spectacle Lunatique." And it was always full of surprises. At the 2008 event, a strange performance featured Redmoon performers pulling faces behind window panes.
At the next year's event, a Redmoon actor poured drinks from his perch atop the theater's wine bike—a machine with an umbrella of rotating glasses. The company offered the machine for hire, and it appeared (with an attendant) at several Chicago events.
Also at the 2009 gala, performers dressed as pregnant women opened papier-mâché bellies to reveal tiny puppet shows.
As guests arrived to the 2010 event, performers wearing giant fists cheered them on and shouted "ooh" and "aah."
The company routinely offered innovative ideas for food presentation. At its 2011 fund-raiser, a performer lay in a bathtub covered with a pool of candlelit wine bottles. Two trays at the side of the tub held hors d'oeuvres such as deviled eggs.
The company's "Spinning Vehicles" were rolling platforms with elevated, performer-activated, rotating vignettes including a tilted bathtub with a bather. The tropes appeared at the 2012 fund-raiser.
On highboy tables throughout the general receptions space, unusual centerpieces included flowers and bits of machinery sprouting from patches of grass. Other tables held jars filled with tiny winged ladders.
With the "Teapot Libation Machine," a Redmoon performer wore a metal backpack with an extended arm that held a porcelain teapot at its end. The teapot, mechanically operated by a switch on the performer's wrist, poured cocktails into guests' glasses.
A trio of roving characters in illuminated swan headdresses made their way throughout the event space. By moving their arms, the performers made the ghostly swans appear to fly.
Redmoon's musical entertainment was far from standard. Referred to as the "drum cart," a three-tiered, pedal-powered contraption held several percussion instruments. At the 2013 benefit, drummers dressed in bird masks and feathery headdresses commandeered the instruments as they rode the cart through the warehouse space.
The 2014 event showcased fresh ideas for raising money. A series of "give and get" experiences treated guests to Redmoon-style activities after paying for the opportunity via BidPal. One such experience was called the "Bearthday Party," which let guests celebrate their birthday (whether or not it was their actual birthday) on stage with a bear and a clown. Other treats included a cupcake with a sparkler and a birthday serenade. The experience ended with an explosion of confetti from the theater's so-called confetti cannon. "It was like your own personal celebration of you," said a rep for the theater company, after the function.
Another experience, given to guests who bid $1,000 (including Mayor Rahm Emanuel, pictured), was a 10-minute dinner prepared by Schwa chef Michael Carlson. Along with the rapid meal, bidders were treated to a private opera performance and champagne service from the theater's champagne chandelier. Dishes included melon with carbonated peaches, short ribs with dehydrated corn, and a caramel-apple-style dessert.
An amenity that was offered to all guests: snacks from the "Cyclone Grill." Stationed at the entrance to the event, the fixture contained 16 grills donated by Weber. At the start of the night, the grills held roasted pig, plantains, and black beans. Later in the evening, the grills held slices of pizza.
A costumed bear nodded to the theater's upcoming spring spectacle, "Bellboys, Bears, and Baggage." At the event, guests could bid $50 to play pool with the bear. Those who beat the bear at the game won a six-pack of beer.
The company also hosted events for holidays such as Halloween and Labor Day. The theater described its Joyous Outdoor Event—which took over Lakeview's South Belmont Harbor park over Labor Day weekend in 2010—as “a spectacular festival of performance, live music, and art for ordinary Joes and average Janes of all ages.” Lines formed outside the Luminarium, a cocoon-like, dimly lit structure from British company Architects of Air. Billed as "an inflatable, walk-in sculpture,” it contained a maze of glowing areas.
Described as a “skeletal spectacle,” Redmoon Theater’s 2012 Halloween party in Chicago featured dozens of the bony Halloween icons, and planners created unique ways to combine food and entertainment. At a s’mores station, two performers in lingerie and face makeup warmed chocolates over candles in a bathtub; blowtorches were used to sear the marshmallows.
Redmoon also threw parties to welcome in the New Year. At the 2013 gathering, aerialists in giant swaths of silk manned "sky trays" that held items such as strawberries and grapes.
The performers swooped down on silk swaths to drop the fruits into guests' mouths.
Stress-relieving coloring books for adults from Scarborough & Tweed offer a creative alternative to traditional party favors and corporate gifts. Coloring pencils are included. Pricing is available upon request.
During the Soup'er Sandwich event at the New York City Wine & Food Festival in October 2013, Martin's Famous Potato Rolls handed out squeezable stress balls shaped like packages of the brand's bread rolls.
Wool and the Gang delivers full “knit kits,” including yarn, chunky needles, easy-to-follow patterns, and a link to online video tutorials, to offices or event spaces for knitting parties. (The repetitive action of needlework can reportedly induce a relaxed state like that achieved with meditation and yoga.) Projects range in difficulty from a clutch, pillow cover, knit snood, crochet snood, and hat; items will change for spring and summer season. The party hosts receive their kits for free, while guests receive discounts on their kits, ranging from $27 for a clutch to $35 for a snood or hat. Knitters can also attend preplanned parties that Wool and the Gang hosts in cities around the country. Tickets are approximately $40, depending on the project; the price includes the materials needed.
At last year's Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago, Whole Foods offered guests scented sprays as well as sunscreen, hair ties, and bobby pins. A sign nearby read, "Refresh yourself before you wreck yourself."
To bring more energy to the trade show floor, organizers of the 2013 National Auto Dealers Association Convention & Expo created four destinations that offered activities such as makeovers, 20-minute dance workouts, health screenings, and chair massages. One section provided pinball machines, arcade games, Nascar simulators, a photo graffiti wall, and golf swing analysis for attendees to play.
Zeel sends massage therapists to meetings and events in several cities throughout the United States, including New York, Las Vegas, Chicago, and Washington. Massage therapists arrive at venues with their own massage tables and can perform services such as Swedish or deep-tissue massages for 60, 75, or 90 minutes. For meeting breaks, therapists can give 10- to 15-minute chair massages. The services can be booked 30 days in advance.
IMEX America, as part of its Be Well at IMEX program, offered a meditation room at last year's conference, which was held in Las Vegas in October 2015, to encourage the mental and physical well-being of attendees.
The mobile spa At Your Service travels to events and meetings throughout greater Toronto and specializes in providing services at fashion shows, media events, corporate gatherings, and spa parties. Hosts can book services including facials, manicures, pedicures, hairstyling, and eyelash application.
To promote health and wellness, Bonnaroo organizers expanded its yoga program in 2013, offering a variety of classes each day including vinyasa and meditative yoga.
