For Super Bowl LI, ESPN hosted its 13th annual ESPN the Party event on February 3 at a 65,000-square-foot warehouse located just outside of the Arts District in downtown Houston. The event, which was produced and designed by Event Eleven, featured decor including custom paneling with imagery printed onto raw sheets of plywood.
Philips has created a small theater in its booth where it is hosting 21 educational presentations, most led by external thought leaders. The company is also live-streaming some of the sessions using Periscope Producer, which launched in October to give brands a way to stream high-quality video from professionals cameras rather than just from a smartphone or tablet. The first six sessions streamed via Periscope have garnered a total of more than one million impressions and 450,000 views.
Artists set up in a shipping container created customized Vans sneakers hand-painted with motifs from the California-set show.
At a wedding for a member of Qatar’s royal family in November, David Corwin of Megavision Arts designed an impressive, undulating 3-D projection on a 30- by 360-foot fabric-covered wall.
An oversize Absolut Lite-Brite-style installation allowed guests to interact by placing pieces into different slots to create their own patterns and art. The green palette was a nod to Absolut’s lime flavor.
At Lucky Lounge Presents: Desert Jam at the Ingleside Inn in Palm Springs, produced by BMF Media, an eye-catching three-dimensional press wall included such all-American items as a flag and denim—placed in front of the mountain and palm tree natural backdrop.
Wild Turkey featured a decorative wall that depicted how the brand's bourbon is made with informative captions and illustrations.
Miller Lite set up its traveling Bar 75, produced by MKG, at the festival. There was a magnetic board where people could recommend similar bands for the headliners. Another white board asked people to recommend songs for different moods.
The decor reflected a literal but playful take on the bar's designation as a place for "real fans."
FEED, an organization that raises funds to support programs that fight to end hunger and malnutrition, celebrated its 10-year anniversary on October 16 at Empire Stores in Dumbo, Brooklyn. The event also celebrated the organization’s new milestone of providing 100,000,000 meals to children across the world with a wall of living green numbers. The wall, which was designed by Tinsel & Twine, will be on display in the venue lobby for the next few weeks.
This massive 40-foot-tall installation from All About Balloons featured almost 6,000 confetti-filled, custom-branded, and lighted balloons. The company’s eight-foot-tall balloon robot named Rupert was also on the trade show floor.
Humanscale, a designer and manufacturer of sustainable workplace furniture and products, showcased a booth designed to resemble an office environment. The booth was produced by Inspired Exhibits.
Absolut Lime and Spotify teamed up for a pre-Grammy celebration that featured a performance by Rita Ora in honor of the Open Mic Project, an initiative from Absolut that asks fans to share their stories of acceptance in an effort to create a more open world. The event was held on January 25 at the Public Hotel.
The party, which was produced by creative agency MKG, featured dangling lime decor over the bar, along with a neon green Absolut "infinity bottle," a digital wheatpaste wall, and a custom T-shirt distressing station.
The “Canstruction” wall, which was made from Pepsi cans, served as a clever background for the step and repeat area.
Metro Events—the in-house venue managers of Pier 35 in San Francisco—partnered with Danielle Gibson Events to plan and design the Camp Pier 35 Showcase, which transformed the venue into a glamping-theme space highlighting 40 local vendors on January 23. Upon entering the event, each guest was given a wooden coin to spend in the “General Store.” The store space—which was designed by Bright Event Rentals and M. Design Styling and Florals—offered camp-theme swag such as beanies, tote bags, candles, homemade granola, and more.
N.B.A. partner Kia hosted a public activation at Hudson Loft in downtown Los Angeles. As part of the experience, fans could guess how many basketballs were in a vehicle for a chance to win a $1,000 gift card. The space, which had athlete appearances throughout the weekend, was decorated with roughly 700 basketballs that were later donated to the Girls Inc. Center.
Southern-theme products were on sale, such as treats from Tennessee favorite Miss Bobo’s Bakery.
Bumble’s pop-up for co-working, networking, and mingling launched in a vacant space on Melrose Place in Los Angeles on February 1. The space was painted in the dating app’s signature yellow hue and includes yellow furniture, as well as light and wall fixtures inspired by honeycomb. The pop-up, which runs through March 25, was designed by experiential marketing agency Manifold.
BET created an interactive meme exhibit in New York February 9 and 10, ahead of the network’s inaugural BET Social Awards on February 11 in Atlanta. The pop-up gallery, which was produced and designed by Team Epiphany, featured social media-theme wall that highlighted some of the most notable hashtags—both comedic and serious—created by black social-media users in response to newsworthy events. One section explained how live streaming platforms such as Facebook Live and Periscope became important outlets for raising awareness of the issue of police brutality.
An edible garden by Sweet Guilt allowed attendees to pick floral treats at Sweet-Moves: Late-Night Desserts & Dancing hosted by chef Bobby Flay and his daughter, Sophie. The event took place at Loews Miami Beach Hotel.
In January at the Bomb Factory in Dallas, the Birthday Party Project, which hosts monthly birthday parties at homeless and transitional living facilities across the country, celebrated its own birthday with help from Gifts for the Good Life. The design duo created the Joy Store, in collaboration with Emily Clarke Events, for the event, a pop-up fund-raising station that featured goods, including watches, hoodies, hats, and superhero costumes, for kids and adults with low price points, allowing all guests to participate.
The New York International Auto Show kicked off March 30 and runs through Sunday at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. At the Lexus booth, the centerpiece was the 51- by 22-foot, 7-inch Takumi Craftsmanship Interactive Touch Screen, which told key stories of Lexus’s passion for craftsmanship. Featured here via LED content was such content as a color and trim configurator; safety system plus interactive touch screen; Lexus racing interactive touch screen; and Mark Levinson sound experience. Hakuhodo developed the initial booth concept, while design and execution came from George P. Johnson and digital engagements were from sister agency Spinifex Group.
After the McDonald's Worldwide Convention in Orlando, Freeman disassembled the "Marketplace" exhibit and donated it to a local fairground, transporting it in three tractor trailers. Parts of the remaining 16 booths were also donated to other groups.
A gallery wall decorated with nods to motorcycle culture, denim, and the West Coast helped to visually evoke the brand's ethos.
Decor from Revolution Event Design & Production included mirrored bars that elegantly reflected the surroundings. Rentals were from Perfect Settings, DC Rental, and Table Manners.
Craft C.E.O. Brian Donahue posed in front of a decor wall that mixed framed logos of sponsors with artwork produced for the event.
A dessert display featured cupcakes provided by Georgetown Cupcake and cookies by Dog Tag Bakery. The event also recognized veterans, in particular Wells Fargo’s veteran home donation program and NS2 Serves’ training and hiring programs.
Following a brief presentation, attendees could explore installations based on the network’s shows and offerings, including its extensive soccer coverage.
Virtual-reality company Oculus celebrated the launch of its new headset May 17 at a vacant space in New York’s SoHo neighborhood. The company’s internal events team created a giant sculpture with 376 items that were hand-strung from the ceiling. The all-white items, which reflected the content the headset offers, included a real spacesuit (inspired by the VR series Space Explorers) and a dinosaur head created with polystyrene for the game Jurassic World: Blue.
Once again this year, Citi cardmembers were able to link up their R.F.I.D. festival wristbands to their Citi credit and debit cards in advance. The wristbands served as a cashless payment device and also offered access to the Citi viewing deck. The elevated area provided a view of the main stage and a cashless bar. Live Nation produced the activation.
The inaugural Rosé Day L.A. was held on June 9 at Saddlerock Ranch in Malibu, California. Headlined by Moët & Chandon, the Instagram-friendly daylong picnic was designed and produced by Ben Biscotti of 1iota Productions, Tony Schubert of Event Eleven, and hospitality veterans Bobby Rossi, Sylvain Bitton, JT Torregiani, and David Jarret.
Iron Chef Marc Forgione selected gourmet food trucks for the day, and DJs including Zen Freeman and Caroline D’Amore entertained the crowd from a booth constructed of on-theme pink crates.
Moët & Chandon’s Rosé Imperial, Grand Vintage Rosé 09, and Ice Imperial Rosé were displayed as decor throughout the event. In addition, Forgione prepared a rosé-inspired menu for an invited group of celebrities and influencers; the Food Matters handled additional catering.
HBO launched a pop-up activation celebrating the L.G.B.T.Q. community in Provincetown, Massachusetts, on July 2. The hub will host 93 events including workshops, classes, screenings, social events, art exhibits, and appearances by talent from HBO series through August 19. Brooklyn-based creative agency the Gathery designed the 1,026-square-foot space.
The design of the space incorporated the brand’s story in blue letters, and it also featured tips on how to throw a dinner party. In a wine-tasting section, different wines and their descriptions were showcased on wooden shelves.
The network hired Kilowatt Events to design and operate the award show red carpet, which included an installation by sponsor Ebay. To promote itself as an online retailer, the company erected a shelf featuring merchandise curated by ESPN sports analyst and reporter Maria Taylor.
The gathering also featured a vintage beauty salon area decorated with antique brushes, hair dryers, and mirrors; an infinity room; and professional portrait photography.
During the sunset party, guests noshed on Cuban fare and craft cocktails, while trying out products from the collection. The event was produced by creative agency HangarFour Creative, which is part of DKC.
In May, Kim Crawford Wines hosted a “Sip Into Summer” rosé soiree at Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles. An elegant gold and black step-and-repeat was adorned with bottles of rosé and a variety of pink flowers.
The brand also had a V.I.P. lounge replete with a lush, leafy bar serving up specialty Bloody Marys. As another part of its Lollapalooza presence, Tito's hosted a contest in which participants could tweet at the brand for a chance to have Bloody Mary ingredients delivered to their doorsteps.
