The pop-up featured cycling desks to provide a more active seating option. A variety of seating was meant to encourage different ways of working.
The dating and networking app’s sprawling SXSW space was split into three sections reflective of the different uses. Each had its own corresponding color theme, but were united by honeycomb details and sleek fonts, built out by design company Preacher. Production company Pen and Prue Productions produced the event.
"I mean, who doesn't love balloons? These giant colorful trees (built by Founders Entertainment with balloon arrangements supplied by Katie Balloons) were sprouting up around the festival grounds at Governors Ball this year. Talk about instant photo bait! And such a clever way to reinvent what some may consider a tired design trope." —Michele Laufik, style editor
"This year, for the first time ever, the event's dinner was actually held in the garden, as opposed to the Agnes Gund Garden Lobby. The greenhouse vibe with the clear tenting, faux grass carpeting, and the cheery springtime colors was an immediate mood-lifter, and fit the 'garden' theme of the annual event perfectly." —Michele Laufik, style editor
At the Tomorrowland music festival, which took place in Belgium over two weekends in July, R.F.I.D. wristbands replaced admission tickets and also provided a way for the 60,000 daily attendees to connect with one another. Prior to the event, festivalgoers registered their wristbands online and linked them to their Facebook accounts. At the event, if two people near each other pressed the heart-shaped button on their wristbands at the same time, each person's Facebook name was stored in the cloud and then sent in an email to the other person. So each attendee received a daily email of anyone they had met throughout the day. Organizers also illuminated the lights on the bracelets in coordination with some of the musical acts.
At IMG’s inaugural Taste of Toronto festival in July, attendees used R.F.I.D.-enabled cards to purchase food and beverages from vendors at the event. The cards were provided by IntelliPay, a division of Intellitix. Guests could go online before the event to load money onto the card, and they could also add funds at stations throughout the festival. At the end of the festival, balances remaining on cards were donated to Second Harvest Food Rescue. Each individual’s online account also provided a history of all food and beverage items purchased.
For Montreal’s C2MTL—Commerce & Creativity conference in May, Connect & Go created badges embedded with U.H.F. tags. Unlike N.F.C., which is intended for very close communication, U.H.F. tags can be read from as far away as 30 feet. As the 4,000 attendees passed through the main entrance, U.H.F. readers embedded in the gates instantly read their badges and alerted security personnel with either a green or red light to indicate whether they were approved to enter. Organizers also hung three U.H.F. “chandeliers” on the show floor. The devices could read attendee activity within a 30- by 30-foot zone, tracking when people arrived, how much time they spent in the area, and who else was there. Organizers received real-time information on tablets, so they could make adjustments as necessary, for example to ensure the most heavily trafficked food stations had enough staff and products.
At EMC World in May in Las Vegas, organizers used N.F.C. badges from ITN International to manage the distribution of conference bags filled with valuable gifts such as GoPro cameras and iPods. As attendees went to the bag pickup area, staff scanned their badges with a smartphone to determine which bag they should receive. The data was stored to ensure that the badge could not be used to obtain additional gift bags. ITN’s system also saved the activity so if a badge had to be reprinted, it still indicated that the attendee had received a bag.
At the Ryder Cup, set for September 23 to 28 in Scotland, guests will use R.F.I.D. wristbands from Intellitix for a variety of interactive experiences. In partnership with Active Scotland, a government initiative to promote physical activity, guests will be encouraged to walk the course and check in at various stations for a chance to win prizes. The wristband will track the distances they cover and will also post updates to social media. Guests will also be able to give a “virtual high five” to either the European or United States team by touching their wristbands at specified points, which then registers their support on a leaderboard. Guests who own BMWs will be able to use their wristbands to enter the company’s “Owners’ Cafe” at the 10th hole and spend preloaded tokens.
At the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival in Tennessee in June, organizers partnered with Microsoft to allow guests to create a photo history of their festival experience. Prior to the event, guests went online to register their R.F.I.D. wristbands and link them to a Microsoft OneDrive account. Then each time they swiped their wristbands at photo booths around the event, the pictures automatically uploaded to the online account. Guests could also swipe their wristbands at stations near each stage to receive a photo of the performance in their OneDrive accounts. Intellitix provided the wristbands.
The third annual Toronto Light Festival runs through March 3 in the Distillery Historic District, and features more than 30 installations from local and international artists. The Phoenix Rainbow was designed to symbolize love, hope, and possibility. The installation was constructed with more than 4,000 pounds of aluminum and steel, and more than 500 feet of R.G.B. LED lighting. It was created by a collective of friends, artists, engineers, and programmers based in Victoria, British Columbia, during a theater production of The Wizard of Oz.
Earlier this month, the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation hosted its fourth annual Blue Diamond Gala at Dodger Stadium. The evening event, which raised more than $2.2 million, featured a performance by John Legend and was emceed by Arsenio Hall and George Lopez. International Event Company handled the design and production of the gala, which showcased sponsors on large mirrored spheres that hung above the bar area.
