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Visa’s Winter Olympics lounge at the Seamarq Hotel hosted client and employee events and also debuted three wearable payment devices. The lounge, which was produced by GMR Marketing, offered activities that included readings from a fortune teller.

Inside the Boston Park Plaza hotel is the 19,000-square-foot Lynx Fitness Club, which opened on January 1. The space features a virtual golf course in the TopGolf Swing Suite, a virtual gaming spot ideal for parties or casual networking events. Measuring 2,000 square feet, the suite can accommodate 40 guests. Each of the three simulators fits eight people, so a maximum of 24 guests can play golf at the same time.

Attendees were able to create friendship bracelets as part of Comedy Central’s annual taco and beer party, in honor of its television show Broad City.

The Sheraton San Diego Hotel & Marina has partnered with San Diego Bay Adventures for a nighttime water activity. Dubbed “Nite Opps,” the experience lets guests take guided tours through the San Diego Bay while standing on LED-lit paddleboards. Afterwards, guests gather around a fire for refreshments and Hawaiian-style storytelling. A typical group for the activity is 10 to 20 guests, but the program is available for larger numbers of attendees.

Hotel Madeline Telluride in Colorado offers a GPS Orienteering Quest that can be catered to any group size. Guests explore the mining town in a team-based mission to find hidden flags. Teams use two-way radios, GPS units, maps, verbal instructions, and a set of clues during the expedition.

Taco Bell celebrated the Canada debut of its signature Baja Blast drink with a pop-up hair dye salon June 14 to 15 in Toronto and June 16 to 17 in Hamilton. The salon, housed in a tricked out Airstream trailer, offered passersby free dye jobs using Baja Blast-colored Manic Panic hair dye. The activation was produced by Edelman.

Clever food- and drink-theme signs such as "Running for that Six Pack" motivated runners at the festival's 5K charity run.

Esports Arena Las Vegas opened on the Strip in March. The 30,000-square-foot, multi-level arena hosts electronic sports tournaments in a venue that features a competition stage, a 50-foot LED video wall, telescopic seating, and console gaming stations. The arena also offers a gamer-inspired menu with fare from chef José Andrés, and has classic arcade games at a first-floor bar. The venue has five V.I.P. areas, which include three private rooms that each seat as many as 15 people. The private rooms can fit six PCs for group gaming, and are equipped with 55-inch televisions for presentations.

The 36th annual Food & Wine Classic in Aspen took place June 15 to 17. At the Grand Tasting, cork muralist Scott Gunderson worked on a live art installation for #SGPAmEx. 

PopSugar held its inaugural festival for women June 9 to 10 at Pier 94 in New York. At the festival’s retail hall, which featured 125 brands and vendors, attendees could win store-branded cash and gift cards by spinning the Kohl’s Cash Wheel. 

Guests could get personalized manicures at a station from festival sponsor Words With Friends. 

Punch Bowl Social, a restaurant and activity center with locations across the United States, opened its first Atlanta location at the Battery Atlanta in March. The two-story, 25,000-square-foot venue serves Southern gastropub food and a variety of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages—including punch bowls. For events, the entire venue can be booked for as many as 1,000 people, who can play games including bowling, giant Jenga, bocce, ping pong, ‘80s arcade games, wall scrabble, and darts. The venue also has two karaoke rooms and two virtual-reality experiences. For smaller private events, the venue’s Holiday Lodge can hold 50 people for receptions

The Visionary Group produced an E3 event inspired by CBSi’s Miami Vice in June at the Standard, Downtown rooftop in Los Angeles. The event had interactive elements including a ping-pong table and old-school arcade games that guests could play.

To bring more energy to the trade show floor, organizers of the 2013 National Auto Dealers Association Convention & Expo created four destinations that offered activities such as makeovers, 20-minute dance workouts, health screenings, and chair massages. One section provided pinball machines, arcade games, Nascar simulators, a photo graffiti wall, and golf swing analysis for attendees to play.