
At the Gold Label Reserve bar, bartenders served cocktails of the Scotch mixed with craft sodas dispensed from custom siphons.
Photo: Nadia Chaudhury/BizBash

At the check-in table, organizers gave each guest an R.F.I.D. card and invited them to link it to their Twitter and Facebook accounts.
Photo: Nadia Chaudhury/BizBash

For the 15-minute tasting experience, guests sat at one of two 25-foot tables made of walnut and black glass.
Photo: Nadia Chaudhury/BizBash

A personalized welcome message appeared in front of guests when they put their R.F.I.D. cards into a designated slot of the tasting mat on the right.
Photo: Nadia Chaudhury/BizBash

The interactive tasting tables, created by Havas Adrenaline and Moey, displayed information about the products being tasted. Guests who had linked their R.F.I.D. cards to their Twitter and Facebook accounts could also use buttons on the tasting mat to instantly share the experience on social networks.
Photo: Nadia Chaudhury/BizBash

As a Johnnie Walker "Master of Whisky" talked about the different flavor palates of the Black and Double Black labels, the table displayed the ingredients and aromas in the different types of scotch.
Photo: Nadia Chaudhury/BizBash

In addition to sampling cocktails made with Johnnie Walker products, guests could also taste the whiskey straight.
Photo: Nadia Chaudhury/BizBash

A card catalog displayed coasters with recipes for the cocktails served at the event.
Photo: Nadia Chaudhury/BizBash

In one corner of the venue a video explained the brand's history. A map and nautical decor to reflected its introduction to a worldwide audience by ship captains who carried it around the globe.
Photo: Nadia Chaudhury/BizBash

A pixelated version of brand's logo illuminated a tall panel in the back of Fair Market.
Photo: Nadia Chaudhury/BizBash

Available to rent throughout California, Arizona, and Las Vegas, Lounge Appeal’s Beachwood Chalkboard table allows guests to doodle on the surface. The 2- by 4-foot table comes in 42-, 30-, and 18-inch-tall versions.
Photo: Courtesy of Lounge Appeal

At the Art Ball at the Dallas Museum of Art in April, Todd Events used honeycomb walls, interior Versa tubes, and lighting elements to build a decorative platform for DJ Lucy Wrubel over the registration desk.
Photo: Steve Wrubel

At a preview for Hard Rock Hotels & Casinos’ new music initiatives held in New York in December, DJs spun behind a booth designed to look like oversize speakers by We Came in Peace Inc.
Photo: Caleb Ferguson for BizBash

ESPN the Magazine’s “Next” event at Super Bowl XLVI featured a stage structure where DJ D-Nice spun alongside dancers and screens showcased sponsor logos.
Photo: Line 8 Photography

The September wrap party for So You Think You Can Dance Canada, produced by Mafalda Productions Inc., offered a black, mirrored DJ booth illuminated by LED tube lights from Westbury National Show Systems.
Photo: Carla Warrilow/BizBash

Photo: Colin Miller

Illuminated, colour-changing tiles decorated the DJ booth.
Photo: Ryan Emberley

Outfitted by Rag & Bone, New York-based string quintet Sybarite5 performed medleys of Radiohead and Led Zeppelin tunes from Alice Tully Hall's outdoor pavilion during the arrivals portion of the night.
Photo: Joe Schildhorn/BFAnyc.com

Although previous iterations of the C.F.D.A. Awards have featured colorful palettes, the hues this year skewed away from classic to vibrant in a nod toward being fresh and modern, and were reflected in everything from the chartreuse invitation to the purple arrivals carpet.
Photo: Joe Schildhorn/BFAnyc.com

CNN's Anderson Cooper was the host for this year's ceremony, but left early to report on the scandal surrounding Congressman Anthony Weiner. Diane von Furstenberg stepped in to close the presentation.
Photo: Clint Spaulding/PatrickMcMullan.com

Guests like model Miranda Kerr, clad in Michael Kors, posed for photographers next to glitter-box lanterns festooned with crystals from event underwriter Swarovski.
Photo: Clint Spaulding/PatrickMcMullan.com

A Wi-Fi connection inside the Starr Theater allowed the audience of 700 guests to tweet during the 80-minute ceremony. A light supper on the premises followed.
Photo: Joe Schildhorn/BFAnyc.com

In contrast to last year's curved, Richard Serra-style structure, set designer Scott Pask chose a more linear look for the stage. The design, which was 41 feet wide, 24 feet deep, and 22 feet tall, was inspired by the sharp angular work of Dutch architect and furniture designer Gerrit Rietveld and artist Kasimir Malevich.
Photo: Joe Schildhorn/BFAnyc.com

The council's executive director, Steven Kolb, worked closely with the team at KCD to produce this year's awards. The backdrop replicating building shapes was the default scene used between the presentation of awards.
Photo: Joe Schildhorn/BFAnyc.com

Kanye West, who presented Céline creative director Phoebe Philo with the International Award, joined a star-studded crowd of hosts that included Jessica Alba, Naomi Watts, Gerard Butler, and Sofia Coppola.
Photo: Joe Schildhorn/BFAnyc.com

This year's awards saw the introduction of video mapping, a projection-centric component used to introduce each of the category nominees and confirmed award recipients.
Photo: Larry Busacca/Getty Images

The dynamic videos mapped to the linear stage structures supplied a graphic look and a noticeable uptick in movement during the ceremony.
Photo: Larry Busacca/Getty Images

To achieve a smooth transition as the awards progressed, each video was filmed separately and then combined during the event with others to create an overall picture.
Photo: Larry Busacca/Getty Images

Lady Gaga, who removed the gown portion of her Mugler-designed outfit to reveal studded black undergarments, received the Fashion Icon Award. As with years past, the lectern onstage was embellished with Swarovski crystals.
Photo: Joe Schildhorn/BFAnyc.com

While the bulk of the award presentation used video mapping, the segment for Marc Jacobs's Lifetime Achievement Award was decidedly unique. Working with the fashion designer, Scott Pask engineered a three-piece, 22-foot-tall castered platform on a massive wagon wrapped in bleached white muslin. The center stage panel slid stage right to reveal 30 models clad in Jacobs's fall 2011 looks, all of whom then marched forward and onto the stage in a fashion-show-like procession.
Photo: David X Prutting/BFAnyc.com

Nadja Swarovski (pictured, center), whose crystal company marked 10 years of C.F.D.A. Awards sponsorship this year, was surprised by council president Diane von Furstenberg with a tribute from past Swarovski Award winners. She also received a one-of-a-kind Swarovski crystal-embellished Trova Award, handcrafted by Philip Crangi.
Photo: Joe Schildhorn/BFAnyc.com