Creating an inspiring environment is one of the four pillars of the conference, and each year has a different look and feel. "We want to be a bit edgy, a bit shocking even," said Richard St-Pierre, C2MTL president and partner.
Photo: Beth Kormanik/BizBash
The conference had custom furniture designed to give people a place to perch but also facilitate conversations. Overall, there were fewer chairs than people, so "they're connecting whether they like it or not," joked St-Pierre.
Photo: Beth Kormanik/BizBash
Attendees could peer through a periscope that rotated 360-degrees for different views of the conference.
Photo: Beth Kormanik/BizBash
For attendees who wanted to skip the main stage talks—or couldn't find a seat—there was the Garage, a more casual venue with a vintage design aesthetic. The space showed live feeds of what was happening on the main stage but also offered its own programming, such as smaller presentations, business pitches, musical acts, and a bar and grill.
Photo: Jimmy Hamelin
The bars at the conference each had a different design. In the Garage space, retro cassette tapes covered the bar front.
Photo: Beth Kormanik/BizBash
Attendees could eat their words, literally, at an installation from Glasgow Studio that turned their tweets into dried pasta. A wheel of alphabet pasta would spell out the words of tweets from attendees who used the hashtag #EatThat. Clear bags holding the pasta also had stickers printed with the original tweet.
Photo: Beth Kormanik/BizBash
This year, C2MTL highlighted the efforts of the Montreal-based nonprofit One Drop, which works to provide clean water across the world. At drinking water stations throughout the floor, disposable cups were printed with messages that encouraged attendees to purchase reusable water bottles, with the proceeds supporting the charity.
Photo: Beth Kormanik/BizBash
Montreal-based caterer Agnus Dei created a popular interactive sorbet station. Rings of raspberry, mango, and coconut sorbet spun around a wheel, while guests simply had to hold a scoop up to the device to build their own cone.
Photo: Beth Kormanik/BizBash
Massivart organized a collection of interactive art installations including a giant Lite Brite created by local design studio La Camaraderie.
Photo: Jimmy Hamelin
Artist Miss Yad sketched live scenes from the conference that represented "moments of inspiration, moments of connection, moments of experimentation, and moments of celebration." Each day saw new sketches posted to a board near the entrance to the main stage that was marked with the hashtag #Momentum.
Photo: Beth Kormanik/BizBash
In the food area, colorful vegetables and herbs in tin cans provided a rustic contrast to the high-tech spaces inside.
Photo: Beth Kormanik/BizBash
Fast Company, the conference's media partner, sponsored a Reading Lounge in the middle of an outdoor plaza.
Photo: Beth Kormanik/BizBash
The Fast Company tent, with dramatic lighting and colorful seating, was a focal point to the plaza, which was designed with a more festive, casual feel than the indoor conference.
Photo: Beth Kormanik/BizBash
Several outdoor sponsor lounges were located in shipping containers. Although they held different companies, the lounges had a consistent design. About half of attendees are women, and the event design is purposefully "slightly feminine," said Will Travis of Sid Lee, which produced the conference.
Photo: Beth Kormanik/BizBash
Between speakers in the main Forum Microsoft space, author and strategist Justin Kingsley presented lighthearted segments called C2 Minutes. Designed to introduce the audience to Montreal culture, they often included interactive elements, such as inviting attendees to try the traditional greeting of kissing each other on the cheeks, while on stage, a "volunteer" couple started kissing on the mouth.
Photo: Jimmy Hamelin
For the main stage, organizers chose speakers that represented diverse sectors such as fashion, telecommunications, spirits, and fine art. "The main focus for this year is about transformation and helping people get into the mindset that they're comfortable changing their agenda," Travis said. "How are they going to transform their businesses, themselves, their lives?"
Photo: Beth Kormanik/BizBash
This year, C2MTL moved to a cashless food program to speed up service. Mobile boxed-lunch stations were stationed throughout the conference grounds and accepted credit cards as well as prepaid cards. Attendees could email themselves a receipt.
Photo: Beth Kormanik/BizBash
On the opening night of the conference, Cirque du Soleil performed a show called "The Creative Spark."
Photo: Jimmy Hamelin
Picnic tables in a covered dining area on the plaza encouraged attendees to interact. "Every area in the space is designed with a purpose," said Travis.
Photo: Beth Kormanik/BizBash
A marketplace stocked by the city's official design bureau sold Montreal-theme merchandise. The wares were also promoted as stylish gifts for meetings and events held in the city.
Photo: Beth Kormanik/BizBash
In 2013, Hermès hosted its “Les Jeux d’Hermès”—or Hermès games—in Palm Beach, where a croquet field section of the party space sat beneath colorful tenting inspired by the brand’s famous prints and scarves.
Photo: Matthew Carasella
At the Coachella festival last year, Forever 21 hosted its so-called “Party in the Sky,” where two cranes hoisted the event’s DJ booth into the air. The booth was made out of a shipping container painted in bright neon colors.
Photo: Courtesy of Forever 21
Also at last year’s Coachella fest, the Ace Hotel hosted its annual Desert Gold event program, where color-blocked flags at the hotel’s entrance nodded to the eyewear designs of new title sponsor Marc by Marc Jacobs.
Photo: Paige Jones Photo
In February, Mindy Weiss and Wedding Paper Divas feted their social stationery collaboration with a Los Angeles party meant to show off specific wedding trends represented in the new collection. Among them was Chinoiserie, represented at the event in an area decked with upturned blue parasols strung overhead.
Photo: Tiffany Rose/Getty Images for Wedding Paper Divas
Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS held its second annual Picnic by Design fund-raiser on a New York rooftop in 2013. There, the interior and lifestyle design company Steilish created a scene inspired by The Wizard of Oz that included fabric poppies, votive candles covered in ruby-red glitter, gingham napkins, and a picnic basket designed to mimic the look of a hot-air balloon.
Photo: Becky Yee Photography
At the TEDActive conference in the Southern California desert in 2013, the La Quinta Resort & Club provided a sprawling venue where individual seating groups in intimate settings encouraged interaction. Oversize orange lettering spelled out words to inspire conversation and creative thinking.
Photo: Marla Aufmuth
For an Arizona Jeans Company event targeting millennials in New York last year, Mexican-style paper lanterns and flowers hung from the ceiling for a vibrant look and feel.
Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
SloMo Lounge
The SloMo Lounge from Air Graffiti Dallas turns four seconds of video into a 30-second slow-motion playback. The system uses a high-speed, high-definition camera to record guests interacting with one another and with quirky props so the playback can reveal funny facial expressions. Guests receive a copy of the video, and they can select stills from it to print on site; all the content is shareable via email, text message, or social media. The activation can be set up in a 10- by 10-foot area and can be done with a plain white, black, or green screen backdrop.
Photo: Courtesy of Air Graffiti Dallas
Zoeasis
The Projects produced the Zoeasis event, where guests could customize their own denim using patches and other finishes under a branded tent.
Photo: Tory Stolper
Illustration: Cornelia Stiles/BizBash
Illustration: Cornelia Stiles/BizBash
The New York City Opera's spring gala in 2008 celebrated the opening night of King Arthur. At the event, long strips of multicolored drapery served as a tent over the promenade of the New York State Theater.
Photo: Joe Fornabaio for BizBash
