At the Kohl's Launch of Juicy Couture, an elaborate press wall of roses was inset with a sparkling logo. The event took place at the John Lautner-designed Sheats-Goldstein residence in Los Angeles in September.
Photo: Angela Weiss/Getty Images for Kohl's
Vogue Eyewear's Los Angeles launch party for its campaign with Eva Mendes in 2013 had a playful feel throughout. A step-and-repeat wall made up of logo balloons arranged in a rainbow grid set the sunny, colorful tone for the alfresco affair.
Photo: Alesandra Dubin/BizBash
The Veuve Clicquot Polo Classic is known for its whimsical decor done in the brand's signature yellow-orange color. In 2013, the Los Angeles event included a vintage flower-stand-style step-and-repeat. In addition to flowers, bottles were potted like plants and logo plaques on wooden sticks were planted in moss.
Photo: Claire Barrett Photography
At Christie's “Green Auction: Bid to Save the Earth” in New York in 2012, the arrivals area was dominated by a wall of live plants. Many of the flowers used—including phalaenopsis, clovers, cabbage, ferns, and ivy—were replanted following the event.
Photo: Carolyn Curtis/BizBash
For a May 2014 event to fete its new premium skincare collection, Target invited bloggers to a Beverly Hills estate, where they collected products from four theme stations at which beauty concierges gave them personalized consultations based on their skin types. All along, guests posted to social media—the event also included highly visual vignettes and decor—and the attendees with the most online traction for a single post at the end received a gift bag filled with the whole skincare collection.
Photo: Kim Genevieve
Online retailer ModCloth launched its first in-person fit shop event in Los Angeles, known as ModCloth IRL, with an April luncheon for fashion bloggers and other social influencers in that sphere. Wildflowers in shot glasses with name plaques served as seating cards, prompting many guests to share their own arrangement on social media.
Photo: Alesandra Dubin/BizBash
Vanity Fair brought its Vanity Fair Social Club to Emmy weekend for the first time this year; previously, it happened only during the Oscars. The event produced by Caravents and held at the creative co-working space WeWork Hollywood hosted panels, events, and activations aimed at bloggers as well as digital journalists. A bar offered goods from various sponsors like Brooks Brothers and Viktor & Rolf; guests could step up, select their offerings, and post to social media channels in exchange for the goodies.
Photo: Alesandra Dubin/BizBash
In February 2014, W Chicago City Center hosted a Valentine's Day event for bloggers and other media. Given the event celebrated the romantic holiday, the property’s in-house mixologist, Lauren Parton, created personalized love potions at the bar, after inquiring about their cocktail preferences. She also wrote down the recipe, and sent guests home with jars of their potions printed with cheeky labels.
Photo: Jenny Berg/BizBash
Kenneth Cole drew a group of 30 bloggers to its New York showroom in March 2011 to showcase the new collection alongside a screening of Rebel Without a Cause. The line was partly inspired by the iconic James Dean movie, so the host nodded to rebellious youth culture with motorcycle gear and the brand’s well-known style of cheeky eyebrow-raising quotes printed throughout decor. The original concept was to transport guests to the event on motorcycles with pro drivers, an idea cancelled due to rain. However, bloggers did nevertheless receive custom helmets—a social-media-ready visual.
Photo: Courtesy of Kenneth Cole
The gumball machine held several styles of the watch, and guests could only receive one if they posed in the photo booth.
Photo: Kent Miller Studios
The Fabergé Big Egg Hunt kicked off under the Brooklyn Bridge at Jane’s Carousel in Brooklyn Bridge Park. The initiative included more than 260 large egg sculptures, each designed by globally renowned artists, designers, architects, and brands.
Photo: Lyn Hughes Photography
The Big Egg Hunt smartphone app guided participants, revealing egg locations on a digital map. By checking in at the eggs, hunters were entered into a sweepstakes to win Fabergé prizes.
Photo: Courtesy of The Big Egg Hunt
The Waldo egg, designed by Martin Hanford, appeared in a different location every day. Hunters could follow the @TheBigEggHuntNY Twitter account for hints on its location.
Photo: Charlie Clift
Hunters could follow hashtag #TheBigEggHuntNY on Twitter and Instagram to locate the sculptures or serach the individual eggs’ unique hashtags.
Photo: BFA NYC
A select group of eggs were sold during a live auction, produced by HL: Creative, on April 22 at Sotheby’s. Bidders raised $1.6 million, with all proceeds benefiting two charities—Studio in a School and Elephant Family.
Photo: BFA NYC
In addition to the live auction at Sotheby’s, the remaining eggs were sold through a corresponding online auction with Paddle8. Auction attendees could peruse the catalog at iPad stations.
Photo: Kent Miller Studios
4. Use Them to Encourage Interaction
Hashtags that encourage interaction on site through gamification or another kind of activity are sure to facilitate broad interaction online as well. At Target's Feed U.S.A. event, menus encouraged guests to interact and mingle with tablemates through social media prompts on menus.
Photo: Nilaya Sabnis
Make Gift Bags Conditional on Posting
Retailer South Moon Under partnered with Rock the Vote for its inaugural Summer Spin Pool Party August 3 at the Embassy Row Hotel rooftop. To expand the reach of the intentionally intimate pool soiree beyond its 100 invite-only guests, event planner Jessica Hoy of NeuProfile put a social media spin on a familiar item: the gift bag. Converse, Lacoste, Stila, Kate Somerville cosmetics, and others contributed beach-related products like towels, sunglasses, and sunscreen to the gift bags. Hoy set up stations for each of the 11 sponsors with tent cards of the hosting brands’ Twitter handles and event hashtags. Bloggers and other partygoers took photos of the tables and wrote about the products individually rather than just collectively in a single story. Guests then showed a staffer their tweets on the way out to receive a bag.
Photo: D. Channing Muller for BizBash
"Budgets for signature drinks are on the rise again. We are getting a lot of requests for welcome beverages for corporate events, especially with the huge cocktail craze," says Steve Sanchez, chief marketing officer at Camp Hill, Pennsylvania-based catering and events company JDK Group.
Photo: Seth Nenstiel
For Comcast Spotlight's '70s shindig at the Chameleon Club in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in November 2014, designed by the JDK Group, guests sipped on raspberry-garnished champagne and Chambord cocktails with decorative LED ice cubes.
Photo: PhotOle Photography
At an event for the Knot, held at the New York Public Library in October 2014, executive chef Robin Selden of Marcia Selden Catering & Event Planning hung small crystal orbs filled with two types of salad—a fruit and kale one with shaved coconut and a wheatberry salad with mushrooms, caramelized shallots, and roasted fennel—from a tree.
Photo: Courtesy of Marcia Selden Catering & Event Planning
For the Knot event, Selden created a next-level breadstick bar. Hand-rolled breadsticks were served with flavored dips like spiced butternut squash, curried cream, and ricotta and fava bean, along with carrot and ginger and truffled wild mushroom soups. "You'd never guess it's a less expensive option because of the abundance of food on the table," the chef says.
Photo: ReadyLuck
At a party celebrating the Toms for Target partnership in Los Angeles last year, colorful nonalcoholic drinks were presented in glass decanters.
Photo: David Crotty/PatrickMcMullan.com
Guests could get toasty (and tipsy) at the hot chocolate bar with alcoholic mix-ins, which was set up at a private holiday party, held at 26 Bridge in December 2014 and produced by New York-based event firm Rock Paper Scissors Events.
Photo: Elizabeth Bruneau
At the How I Met Your Mother holiday party in Los Angeles at Fox Studios in December 2013, the show's cast and crew ate and played at a gingerbread-decorating station set up by Marina del Ray-based Schaffer's Genuine Foods.
Photo: Courtesy of Schaffer's Genuine Foods
