For the Toronto International Film Festival’s opening-night party in 2012, producer Barbara Hershenhorn of Party Barbara Company surrounded the DJ booth in the main room with 18 TV screens looping a futuristic video.
At the Coachella festival in 2014, 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.
In Los Angeles, Wolfgang Puck Catering & Events uses vertical buffets. The bookcase-style shelf takes up minimal floor space and lets guests grab their own dishes from various levels of shelves.
San Francisco's Blueprint Studios has a rental piece known as the "Picnic Chill Table." The table has a built-in aluminum tray which allows it to chill drinks; the tray can also hold floral arrangements.
In 2013, the Boston Lyric Opera hosted its annual gala on October 4. The evening included a performance of The Magic Flute that was set in the Mayan ruins of Mexico. Dancers from the Touch Performance Art Group escorted guests between the two venues, and some dancers dressed in Aztec-inspired costumes.
To celebrate the return of its "All You Can Eat Pancakes" promotion on January 11, IHOP asked people to tweet photos to @IHOP using the #Panuary hashtag. Pancake artist Nathan Shields of Saipancakes then rendered the images in pancake batter. Shields created more than 70 pancake portraits of people and pets, working from IHOP’s social media headquarters in Princeton, New Jersey.
To celebrate the launch of JetBlue's direct flights from New York to Palm Springs, California, the Greater Palm Springs Convention & Visitors Bureau partnered with the airline on January 7 to give New Yorkers warm-weather-related prizes including an airline ticket—which were sealed in ice blocks. Passersby in Washington Square Park and the Flatiron district's pedestrian plaza were encouraged to use whatever they had to break the ice blocks, which were designed by Ignited and built by Apple Ice.
Target hosted its Star Wars consumer event on December 12 and 13 at L.A. Live. The event featured four domes with interactive experiences, including the Use the Force dome, where visitors donned a Jedi robe and could move a ball through an obstacle course with an iPad-connected headband.
As an unusual way to get the attention of busy New Yorkers—and camera-happy tourists—FX put a cozy sweater on wheels in the streets of Manhattan to promote the network premiere of its original series Fargo in 2014. More than a week before Fargo's premiere, FX's sweater-clad double-decker bus toured New York City.
As part of an advertising campaign centered on the phrase “In an Absolut World: Opportunities Always Pop Up,” Absolut Vodka commissioned artist Justin Broadbent to create an art installation in the Toronto Transit Commission's abandoned Lower Bay station in 2009. The end result was an art exhibit by day and a party space by night, with themed subway cars. The "Love" subway car, filled with gerbera daisies and oversize paper flowers, included a love-letter vending machine.
For a tiki take on a coffee cocktail, Chicago’s Three Dots and a Dash developed a drink dubbed the "Cacchan Some Rays." It mixes cold-brew coffee with reposado tequila, dark Jamaican rum, overproof rum, passion fruit, lime, and pineapple.
Beauty brand Dove invited media to the Unilever R&D headquarters in Trumbull, Connecticut, on February 2 for an event focused on the making of the brand's Beauty Bar soap. As part of the experience, Dove partnered with dessert layer jar company Jars by Dani to serve guests custom designed, layered Mason jars that evoked the brand's colors. The jars contained white chocolate "soap" bars, French vanilla cake, white chocolate chips, sprinkles, and whipped cream.
During a talk by Chris Milk, C.E.O. of virtual reality company Vrse, a Google Cardboard viewer and headphones sat on every chair in the theater. Attendees were invited to download his latest virtual reality film and watch it together as he spoke.
Each year organizers create a variety of lounges where attendees can watch a simulcast of speakers. New this year was a ball pit filled with beanbag chairs and beach balls.
Sponsor Delta Air Lines created an immersive installation to introduce its new collaborative research center dubbed the Hangar. Inside the space, 6,000 LED lights simulated a star-filled sky. Attendees could climb throughout the dream-like environment and then submit innovative ideas for Delta to explore.
TED invites baristas from around the world to set up coffee stations at the conference. In a workshop hosted by the Specialty Coffee Association of America, attendees also learned about “coffee cupping,” the practice of observing the taste and aroma of brewed coffee.
Sponsor Bluescape demonstrated its visual collaborative software by erecting several multi-touch video walls around the conference. On the walls, attendees could read about conference activities and speaker content and bios, watch live streams of presentations, and contribute comments. Attendees could also access Bluescape using a Web browser.
Vancouver architect and past TED speaker Michael Green worked with local design students to create two 16- by 30-foot “warming huts” where attendees could gather outside the convention center. Following the conference, the huts will be permanently installed in one of British Columbia’s outdoor recreation sites so they can be used by climbers, skiers, and outdoor enthusiasts.
Steelcase, a TED partner for more than 20 years, provided a variety of seating options throughout the convention center. The company’s personal cubicles provided a semiprivate area where attendees could watch the simulcast and do work.
To encourage attendees to mingle, organizers provided blankets and picnic baskets filled with food for six and invited them to find others to share it.
Sponsor Target provided illustrators who created unique pieces of art based on guests’ descriptions of their hopes and dreams.
Heart-shaped cookies were an appropriate dessert at a reception for the 21 TED Fellows on Valentine’s Day, the day before the conference opened.
Sponsor Lands’ End created a lounge where attendees could learn about its Sport Collection. The company also provided large totes that served as the conference gift bag.
