The festival was held at the Dobbins St event space and featured props for photos including a doughnut pool float.
Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS hosted its 13th "Dining by Design" at Merchandise Mart in Chicago from November 2 to 3. Partners By Design designed Interior Investments' booth. The space was meant to evoke a café in Havana, Cuba, and featured wallpaper printed with palm leaves. Some guests ducked into the space during the opening-night "Cocktails by Design" event and had snacks and drinks at the low-top tables.
Art for Life Chicago designed a table for Knoll. With a graffiti-inspired design and a yellow, black, red, and white color palette, the piece was inspired by the Richmond Mural Project in Virginia.
The Ruder Group's table, designed by Nelson, reminded guests of the event's cause. On either side of the table letters spelled out "Strength" and "Courage." A design in the shape of the red ribbon that symbolizes AIDS awareness ran down the center of the table.
Coach celebrate the launch of its new collaborative Coach x Colette collection with a party at the American Museum of Natural History in New York on October 25, followed by a pop-up at the brand's SoHo story through November 1. Decor provided a photo opp for guests to imitate roaring like a prehistoric beast.
A colorful graphic scene decorated the DJ booth, suggesting a cartoonish representation of a prehistoric landscape.
French cognac Rémy Martin kicked off its new traveling pop-up experience at New York's Industria from October 21 to 23. The brand commissioned French kinetic artist Vincent Leory to create "Red Ripples," an installation inspired by the different colors of cognac as it ripples in a glass. The installation showcases movement caused by mirrored concentric circles connected by lightweight mechanisms.
Each tour ended with an "Opulence Reveal" in the Library room. The tasting experience featured an assortment of food reflective of the Rémy Martin XO cognac. Afterward, guests could enjoy cognac cocktails.
The inaugural Dessert Goals Festival took place in Brooklyn, New York, on October 23. Wowfulls’ Hong Kong-style egg waffle cones were a popular Instagrammed item. The event's hashtag was #omgdessertgoals.
Lighting amplified the dinosaur and neon themes, even in details like temporary tattoos.
The 10-camera Array from StudioBooth captures one moment from multiple angles to create dynamic 3-D gifs. It’s easy to set up and fits in a 10- by 10-foot space. The gifs can be shared immediately on social networks and via email.
Kiehl’s teamed up with Brooklyn-based artist, product designer, and animator Jeremyville for its new holiday gift sets ($30). The festive packages feature classic products from the beauty brand, including cleanser, facial cream, hand salve, and lip balm. Kiehl’s can also create custom gift sets with mix-and-match items (with a minimum of two and a maximum of five products).
Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey-based entertainment provider Bounce Music and Entertainment recently debuted “The Coolest Most Amazing New York Candy Table in the Whole Word!” The custom New York City-theme tablescape features eight branding opportunities on the subway tiles, in addition to interactive branding or animation on the screens in mini Times Square. An attendant is also available to hand out customized candy bags to guests.
Inspired by the fashion magazine’s futuristic light tunnel-style photo booth at the Met Gala, which was held in May in New York, Coco Events allows guests to strike a pose and rock out to music during their photo session. The booth is approximately 8 feet deep and 6 feet wide, and rents for as many as five hours for $2,500. Guests receive a print and video via email.
Using a special polish and printing process, Nail Printing Events creates custom nail art, including emojis, logos, and even selfies. The designs are printed directly onto guests’ nails and can be removed with nail polish remover.
Franco Vitella Catered Affairs served up “dragon’s breath” popcorn made with liquid nitrogen. Flavored popcorn is tossed with and frozen by liquid nitrogen and then when the ice-cold popcorn is warmed up (thanks to body heat), clouds of cold air are released through guests’ mouth and nose.
This multi-camera photo experience from Pixperience surrounds guests, taking photos from 360-degree angles simultaneously and stitching them together to make the moment appear to rotate in space. Guests can share the image on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. The setup can also be fully customized to match an event’s branding and theme.
Selffee’s technology uses edible food coloring to print directly onto coffee, cold drinks, cupcakes, cookies, and more. After guests take a selfie, their high-quality image is printed on the treat and is available to eat almost immediately. Selffee is available in the New York City area for social or corporate events.
Mixologist Jason Kindness offers boozy teambuilding activities such as Mixology 101, in which teams create an original cocktail in 10 minutes and then present it to judges. In addition, his Newport, Rhode Island-based company also provides cocktail-making lessons for groups, as well as serving private events. Plus, the Kind Spirits offers cocktail consulting services to venues.
In addition to professional bartending services, New York-based cocktail caterer Bar Club also provides a handcrafted mobile bar that’s customizable to any space and is available for rent alone or with accompanying staff.
Tickled Photo Booth is amping up its social photo-sharing options and analytics with its newest photo booth technology. Launching in early 2017, the new product from the Washington-based company will allow guests to share their photos directly to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat as well as via email. It will provide organizers with post-event analytics such as where the pictures were shared as well as impressions and likes. The company will also share a list of contact information from guests who shared through email. Booth rentals start at $1,500 per day.
Launched in April 2016, FêteFone is the tech equivalent of a traditional guest book and is a new option for on-site event feedback. To use, hosts set up the vintage-style phones (no telephone line needed) and record a greeting or question for guests, who are then able to record their messages, testimonials, or survey responses after the tone—just like a voicemail. The Bethesda, Maryland-based company will compile the recordings and return a digital download, both in a single file and as individual messages, within one business day of receipt of the phones after the event. There are more than 25 phone styles to choose from and prices start at $199 per rental. The phones can be ordered online and shipped directly to the event location.
Birmingham, Alabama-based Swell Fundraising, a new software platform designed by nonprofit professionals that recently launched in the Washington area, allows hosts to turn guests into advocates with personalized event pages, donation links, and a real-time display of social media and fund-raising results. After purchasing an event ticket, guests are given a custom link and landing page for their personal fund-raising efforts. They can then share the link via social media prior to the event. Swell will keep a running tally of donations collected, which can be live streamed at the event, creating a “competition” between guests to see who raises the most money. A nonprofit license for the software begins at $250 per month plus processing.
