
The Shedd Aquarium in Chicago hosted its annual gala this year during what turned out to be the wettest June in Illinois history. In addition to tenting the terrace area of the party space, organizers took the extra step of securing umbrellas for guests to use as they checked in, to set a tone for hospitality.

To celebrate a year of partnership, Honest Company and Target hosted an event together in Los Angeles in April. Caravents produced and designed the event in a residential-like space, where even products as unsexy as diapers got an elegant presentation in the form of wreath-style wall art behind a seating group where Jessica Alba gave interviews.

In February, while Chicago was in the throes of winter, event space Hub Studio Loft hosted a grand opening party that created a summery environment capable of inspiring guests to venture out in the cold. A section of the event space included a tiki bar offering up "Puka Punch,” which guests sipped amid miniature palm trees, umbrellas, and Astroturf for mind-over-matter warmth. Flowers that evoked a tropical climate sat upon tabletops covered with sand and seashells.

Heal the Bay hosts a fund-raising gala each year, but it had identified a past problem with losing guests’—and donors’—attention in a disconnected environment. So this year, for its 30th anniversary, the environmental nonprofit worked with Events by Fabulous to tweak the layout so it would feel more intimate and inclusive. That meant a new stage design and program meant to draw an emotional response from guests by showing high-res video stories of the honorees and the mission of the charity, rather than by way of a speaker with a microphone. Beyond that, the team also created a multistage arena, with a catwalk that led into the center of the crowd and two additional satellite stages for performances that could better distribute the action within the event space.

Pandora hosted a free invitation-only concert event in Los Angeles known as Summer Crush—in the middle of a 100-degree heatwave in August. Anticipating the weather, the team worked with AEG and city planners to secure the L.A. Convention Center West Hall for offsite check-in and holding out of the heat. Organizers also arranged for 18 self-contained misters, a water truck on standby, and a Chevron activation in the form of a mini gas station with custom-designed pumps that distributed water into branded bottles.

As part of Herbalife’s 35th anniversary conference in St. Louis in July, producer Sterling Engagements located a venue that would represent cost savings from the company’s original selection. The group landed at the historic Union Station, a train station-turned-hotel and event venue with features including a broad staircase. Rather than locate the stage out of the way, Sterling set up a stage that incorporated the staircase as a dramatic backdrop.

The Anime Expo is the most densely populated convention at the Los Angeles Convention Center, and contends with massive crowds. Among its adaptive strategies are line areas marked out with tape, shoulders in the hallways, and a new mobile app that demonstrates how many people have signed up for an event or panel prior to the expo.

For this year’s Playboy and Mini Super Bowl event in Scottsdale, producer the Visionary Group had to place a vehicle for Mini Cooper onto the second-story pool deck of the W Hotel. Without a way to drive the car onto the rooftop, the crew hoisted the vehicle onto a crane lift and spent two rainy hours carefully lifting the car over the deck and placing it into position within the 18- by 18-foot footprint. The entire build was finished and approved within six hours, including the 16-foot-high three-dimensional backdrop behind the car, which would complete the Playboy Mansion photo booth façade.

When Fox Searchlight premiered its movie Juno in Los Angeles in 2007, the party went with a changing-seasons theme to underscore the main character’s developing pregnancy. The wintry section of the event took over the outdoor space, covering the Westwood sidewalk in white carpet and faux snow. That camouflage allowed the team to cover the existing parking meters in white fabric, rendering them almost imperceptible to guests.

For the UrbanDaddy/Grey Goose Summer Soiree in New York in August, the hosts entertained guests with lawn games, large sculptured topiaries, and string lights for a French backyard feel. For an efficient use of the event space, the team folded up a step-and-repeat after the event was underway, and revealed a crepe station for dessert in its place.

For its 2011 gala in New York, the National Center for Learning Disabilities used the vertical pillars in the space to its advantage, rather than viewing them as obstacles. Designer Bronson van Wyck created custom column wraps printed with colorful logos and key messaging about the group's mission. In addition to brightening up the room, the columns also served as places to affix screens that improved guests’ view of the evening’s presentations.

For the New York launch of Vevo in 2009, performances came from Adam Lambert and Lady Gaga. To keep things moving swiftly and keep the evening’s timeline on track, the musicians' gear was placed on rolling platforms, which a crew removed during a brief interlude and ushered off to a sidestage area.

Coachella, which took place April 10 to 12 and 17 to 19 in Indio, California, offered festivalgoers numerous health and wellness events to attend, including the Nylon Recovery Brunch. The event offered outdoor yoga, as well as other activities meant to help guests recuperate after the weekend.

Sparrows Lodge in Palm Springs was the location of Retreat, a wellness-minded, relaxation-focused event produced by Jeff Consoletti or JJ-LA and tour and event producer Tanya Slater. Taylor & Taylor was behind the production design, which included a silk patchwork canopy, Persian rugs, and kilim pillows. The event also offered free massages.

This year's South by Southwest Interactive, part of SXSW, which took place March 13 to 17 in Austin, Texas, had a Pursuit of Equinox cycling class at the Fast Company Grill at Cedar Door. Bikes pedaled by participants sent out data that was visualized on a screen.

For early risers, Spotify House held cycling classes by SoulCycle and dance classes, with a live DJ.

Many music festivals this year offered amenities to attendees that included beauty booths and necessary goods. Bud Light's traveling House of Whatever activation at Lollapalooza, which took place in Chicago's Grant Park from July 31 to August 2, had a "Tattoos and 'Dos" booth, which offered braiding, hair chalking, and other festival-inspired hairstyling services.

Whole Foods had a miniature market at Pitchfork Music Festival, which took place July 17 to 19 at Chicago's Union Park. The market offered fruits and snacks, as well as sunscreen, hair ties and bobby pins, and scented sprays. The station encouraged guests to take advantage of the free perks with a sign that read "Refresh yourself before you wreck yourself."

At a mini mart outside of a Soho House Chicago activation, guests could design their own parasols for portable shade during the festival.

Comedy Central's one-day Kegs and Eggs at Pelons & Bar offered attendees three key festival necessities: eggs, beer, and ponchos for that inevitable rainy day.

For attendees with dying phone batteries, Mophie had St. Bernards on hand with the brand's power reserve unit inside a barrel attached to the dogs' collars. Those in need of a charge took screenshots of their phone screen and location, and tweeted to the brand.

Off site but near festival grounds, Soho House Chicago teamed up with food website and mobile app the Infatuation to host an Ice Cream Social for festivalgoers on Friday. The event included a complimentary D.I.Y. sundae bar, where toppings inspired by the hotel's eateries included melon, basil, and bits of apple pie.

The Breakfast Sessions buffet was housed in the Red Bull Guest House at the Sagamore Hotel during the Winter Music Conference in Miami from March 24 to 28. Offered as a late-night snack, the buffet served munchies including Pop Tarts with dipping sauces, mac 'n' cheese, chicken-and-waffle sandwiches, and Twinkies.

Certain music festivals this year proved that going old-school can be the key to throwing an entertaining party. At the Essence Festival, which ran from July 2 to 5 in New Orleans, McDonald's threw a retro-theme community celebration, called the "Lovin' Skate Jam," which was designed by BPR and the Narrative Group. The fast-food chain's event offered roller skates and a skating rink for attendees, as well as a photo booth with '80s and '90s hip-hop-inspired props.

The Bootsy Bellows estate's party featured a colorful ball pit for adults, backed by the logo and slogan of sponsor McDonald's. The Narrative Group handled media, producing the party with support from ESE Lifestyle.

Brooklyn Brewery brought its traveling petting zoo, Tiny Tails to You, to the Grackle. One of the highlights was a tortoise race.

My Jewel Bar's table at the Retreat offered guests baubles that they could customize with festival-inspired charms and details.

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.

HBO’s Silicon Valley brought Scheimpflüg’s Time Slice 360-degree photo booth to the Mashable House. Guests could email the images they took to themselves.

Not a fan being stuck in a wild crowd at the front of the stage? Festivals this year provided the opportunity to watch artists onstage in a less chaotic setting. At Samsung's Galaxy Experience and its Owner's Lounge, guests interacted with the Samsung Gear VR, a virtual-reality device that gave them an up-close view of the performances on the Samsung Galaxy stage.

Local beer company Goose Island made custom periscopes, set back from the main stages, that let guests peer at the festival crowds near the stages.